Josi Kilpack has always been a tremendous writer with a faithful following, but when “To Have or to Hold” was released, it marked the beginning of a new era. Readers, and fans, were made overnight with this unexpected love story.
When I first picked up the book, I really didn’t know what to expect. The basic storyline is that Andrew Davidson has been left a generous inheritance provided he gets married, and so he finds a girl to marry him for the money. I have read this storyline countless times and wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy the book at all. But then Josi does what Josi does best – she threw in twists and turns and subplots that took the book out of the ordinary and into a story that the reader can truly enjoy.
Our heroine in this book is Emma, a young woman who married her high-school sweetheart right after graduation. But she didn’t live happily ever after like she had planned. She’s twenty-one now, divorced, raising her fifteen-month-old daughter on her own and trying to live down her mistake. She’s trying to get back to church and to take some positive steps forward with her life, but finds that it’s more difficult than she thought it would be.
So when she hears Andrew’s ridiculous offer, it doesn’t sound so ridiculous to her. She can’t possibly mess up her life any more than she already has, right? And for a portion of the money, it should be easy to pretend to be married. She lays down some ground rules and thinks that she’s good to go. But then things get complicated, adding romantic tension and emotional upheaval, and Emma wonders what on earth she’s gotten into.
You’ll enjoy this book. It’s classic Kilpack, and that’s a very good thing.
(This book was published in 2005 by Bonneville Books.)
Related Blogs:
Author Interview: Josi Kilpack part one and two