Elizabeth Camden has written a trilogy somewhat about eminent domain. The State of New York Water Board has determined that a reservoir be built where the town of Duvall Springs stands. The purpose of the reservoir is to provide water to the city of New York. The citizens in the town of Duvall Springs have exhausted every avenue to stop the building of the reservoir, and so Eloise Drake has been dispatched to Duvall Springs to assess what the state will pay for each building and land to compensate the owners for displacing them.

Alex Duvall, the mayor of Duvall Springs, was once in love with Eloise and sees her coming as a way of reconnecting with her. The only fly in the ointment is her guardian, Bruce Garrett, who once had him beat up for dallying with Eloise when they were in high school.

Alex's other passion is the citizens of his town and how to take care of them. He comes on a rather dubious solution that will be chancy but if it works, will be genius. He proposes to move the buildings of the town to a new location on a high point above the town.

Elizabeth writes great novels with characters of depth and complexity, but this time she missed the mark with one character, Alex. He is shallow and somewhat two-dimensional. Eloise has a bit more depth, but she too is rather flat in her portrayal. While the book is still a great read, it is only a four-star book. I will say it's not often that one finds the male protagonist is a flibberty-gibbet, but Alex fits that bill entirely.

I want to thank Bethany House for providing the galley I read through NetGalley.com.

Accurate, detailed historical tales can be hard to come by which is why I treasure the work of Elizabeth Camden. Her newest novel, A Desperate Hope, is the third in her Empire State saga, a series that revolves around the history of clean water in New York. This story works fine as a stand-alone novel, although you get a much more thorough picture of the history if you read all the books.

The city of New York is growing and requires more clean drinking water. Various solutions have been looked at but the state determines that the best choice is to build a reservoir in the valley where the town of Duval Springs currently stands. The citizens of that community are deeply displeased with this decision but having exhausted all legal options they have no choice but to relocate. Alex Duval, their current mayor, is determined to do all he can to make the move as easy as possible for everyone.

Eloise Drake loves her job as an accountant for the New York State Water Board. She finds numbers soothing and delights in knowing that her abilities are contributing to the important work of providing clean water for America’s largest city. However, when her boss asks her to go to Duval Springs to calculate the value of the homes and businesses being demolished to make way for the reservoir, she is less than pleased. She grew up in the area and as a naïve teen had had a passionate affair with Alex. When her wealthy, powerful guardian learned of their liaison, he had Alex beaten and sent Eloise to a convent in Arizona. It was a harsh lesson and one she has never forgotten. She is prim and proper now, as well as sedate, cautious and rule-abiding. She is reluctant to return to the scene of past sins – and possible current temptation – and goes only under duress.

While Eloise is aware that she will see Alex – since her project specifications include the fact that he is mayor – seeing her comes as a complete surprise to him. He had tried to contact her after her guardian’s thugs had essentially driven him out of town but had never been able to find out where she was. Their relationship had never been a fling to him and this reunion immediately stirs up all the old feelings. The fact that they are on opposite sides of the issue regarding the community’s destruction is not a deterrent to Alex. He’s a dreamer, a mover, shaker and risk taker who goes full steam ahead towards what he wants and only counts the cost later. Right now he wants Eloise back and he is determined to convince her that theirs is a love for the ages.

This difference in approach – Eloise’s cautious, planned and detailed method of living and Alex’s rambunctious grab life by the horns attitude – initially serves as a barrier between them. That doesn’t last long, though, since Alex’s enthusiasm and joie de vivre quickly have Eloise aiding him in his latest scheme to help the townspeople. But while Alex and Eloise are able to set the past behind them and embrace the vision of a better, brighter future, not everyone agrees. It isn’t long before they find themselves battling outside forces not just to save the place they love or their relationship, but their very lives.

During the first half of the story, Ms Camden does a nice job of convincing the reader that these two disparate characters bring out the best in each other and belong together. I was especially grateful that Alex and Eloise didn’t blame each other for their messy past. They each accepted that it took both of them to get into the trouble they found themselves in and forgave both themselves and each other for the mistakes made. But while their past relationship is well handled, the future of it felt less sure to me. Something happened during the resolution of the mystery portion of the book that caused me to wonder if things would really be better for them going forward. While Eloise has worked hard to help Alex salvage what he can of his community, when she asks him for help to prove someone close to her innocent, he rejects her. Since this happens in the last quarter of the book, I can’t get into details over what occurred or how it’s resolved, but I will say that Alex’s behavior was unkind and petty. It tarnished the HEA, since Eloise had spent the whole book assisting him and he fails to do anything meaningful in return. He’s quick with empty romantic gestures – flowery speeches and declarations of undying love – but the equal measure of give and take I like in my love stories just wasn’t there. That didn’t ruin the book for me but it did take some of the shine off my overall enjoyment of it.

Fortunately, the overall appeal of the novel is helped by the amazing historicity, which is interesting, detailed and woven into the story in a skilled, engaging manner. I learned a lot about clean water and the difficult decisions faced by government officials and townspeople when one community must be asked to make sacrifices for the sake of another. Both sides of the issue are shown and we see that everyone has valid, reasonable points.

Ms. Camden typically sticks to light references of God and benign theology in her novels, and that happens here. Something slightly different from other novels of this genre is that the tone toward sin is far from the usual hard-line stance of Inspirationals, which insist on complete purity or a strong amount of shaming for those that don’t toe the line. In A Desperate Hope it is treated as a reality that humans are far from morally pure and the concept of repentance over repudiation is stressed.

A Desperate Hope is a nice reunion story with well-drawn protagonists. It’s also a great reminder that much of what we take for granted now – clean water, the right to hold a job of our choice – is due to the brave women who came before us and fought hard for those rights. I would recommend this tale to anyone who loves historicals that interweave their romances with real history.

A Desperate Hope by Elizabeth Camden 5/5 ⭐️

Thank you to Bethany House for the free review copy. All opinions are my own.

I was so excited to get my hands on another book in this series by Elizabeth Camden. I loved the first two, so I couldn’t wait to see where she went with this one. I think this may be my favorite out of the three.

I really like how Camden wrote Eloise to be a character with a not so great past. I think that this made her relatable and likable. Even if the reader had not done the same thing as Eloise, it is easy to connect to the feelings of guilt of doing something that should not have been done. This also set up perfectly to highlight the love of Christ.

The setting of Duval Springs also drew me right into the book. I was so shocked by the plot. I did not know about this part of New York’s history, so I also found this setting and predicament to be quite interesting. I loved how Alex’s character was strong headed. He wanted to do what was right for his community. He had a fighting spirit, and I am glad that he never gave up, even if that meant he may fail. His character also showed what it was like to fully trust in God with the future. I loved his passion.

Very interesting plot and characters. I recommend this book for fans of clean, historical romances. It was a bit predictable and slow at times, but still an enjoyable experience

A Desperate Hope is an historical fiction book. It is the 3rd book in the Empire State series but can be read as a stand alone book. The two main characters are Eloise and Alex Duvall.. They grew up in the town of Duvall Springs and were friends but were separated at 16 by a parent. At that age they liked each other. Years later Eloise is working for a very large accounting firm in New York City. She is very successful. She is working on the largest engineering project in 1908 in New York. New York City needs an irrigation system to help provide clean water and Duvall Springs in the area where the irrigation system is planning. Eloise is given the job to access the value of the homes and get the demotion done of the city. She is working for the government to plan the project. The town is run by Alex Duvall as the mayor. She has mixed emotions about dealing with all of the facets of the project. She remembers the past emotions with Alex but must get her business at hand done. It is challenging to deal with determining the values of the homes and dealing with the residents who will have to be moved to higher ground. Alex wants to save his town and also get Eloise back for himself. He has been looking for Eloise for years. Her Guardian Bruce Garrett does not like Alex, Bruce is very wealthy. Alex lives in the town tavern with his brother and his family. Duvall Springs has a personal feeling .The people in the town know each other well. The book takes lots of twists and turns and leads the reader to wonder what will happen next with Eloise and Alex, and Duvall Springs. Will Eloise and Alex and end up together.? Will the town be moved? The story has good historical back round and also the romantic twists. The cover is beautiful. The author invited me to be part of her street team which is supposed to prepare for the book launch by reading and reviewing the book. The book was given to me by netgalley and Bethany House graciously to read and review. The opinions of the book are mine. Thank you so much to Bethany House and Elizabeth Camden for allowing me to read and review this wonderful book. I hope the book is really successful and I am excited for the launch day today!

There’s something to love about an opposites-attract story! Eloise and Alex are complete opposites, both in personality and where they stand in the demolition of the city of Duval Springs. This is a beautiful story about a couple that has a past, gets reunited as adults, and must work through seemingly insurmountable odds to get to when they want to be. The author created characters that are flawed but lovable and the setting is wonderful. Duval Springs is like a secondary character that you come to care about!

This is the third book in the series, but having read them all, I feel that it can be read as a stand-alone. I’ll warn you though, if this is your first Elizabeth Camden book, you’ll want to read them all when you finish.

* I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but this review is my own honest opinion.

I found this book interesting in that it is filled with historical information, and is based on fact. The story line is good and it kept my attention, but my main problem is that there is a story line of sin, but not a true Christian read.
We have a strong woman here and her whole life she had a desire to be accepted, in her field as a CPA and by the man who fathered her.
Also offered is a man who has pulled himself up by becoming mayor of Devaul Springs, and now trying to fight the Government and save his town.
This is the third book in this series, and we are briefly reunited past characters, but this can be read alone.
This is a read that will keep you page turning and full of surprises right to the end.

I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Bethany House, and was not required to give a positive review.

A Desperate Hope sees Eloise Drake ( one of six female CPAs in New York State) reluctantly sent back to her hometown, Duval Springs to demolish it to enable NEw York's Water board to build a reservoir to provide NY with fresh water. Alex Duval, the mayor of Duval Springs has done everything in his power to prevent this imminent destruction but now he has to ensure the townspeople smooth transition. During this transition, Eloise and Alex path with collide and reopen old wounds as they seek to ensure that their positions armor compromised.


Despite being the third book in Empire State Series, A Desperate Hope can be read as a standalone. The romance is sweet and not cheesy. I am always glad to learn about historical New York and how it came to be. Judging by Ms Camden's backlist, she seems to write about women who defied the societal norms and took up jobs that were not traditional meant for women. So, I would be eager to read more from her.
This is my first Elizabeth Camden book and I am definitely looking forward to reading more from her

This is a well-researched and somewhat unusual Christian historical fiction novel. What happens to a town when it’s slated to be flooded in order to provide a water supply for New York City? Based on research done into the small towns that were taken over by the state of New York and flooded to build the Ashokkan Reservoir, the destruction of the fictional town of Duval Springs and its rebirth as the town of Highpoint, was a compelling one that had me cheering for the town residents as they struggled to find a way to remain a virbrant community in a new location. But this is also a story that has elements of mystery and suspense. Someone is trying to stop the town’s move by acts of sabotage and no one has any idea as to why this is happening. The tension increases as time is running out, and it may cost Alex both his town and the love of his life, Eloise. Eloise seems the most unlikely person to find herself in danger: A CPA who’s main interest is in numbers and organization. There’s not only a last minute rush to preserve as much of the Duval Springs as they can, there’s also a race to save Eloise’s life.

Alex and Eloise are great as the main characters in this book. They had a failed teenaged romance and now find themselves reluctantly working together to preserve this community. Eloise’s loyalties are divided, as she’s the one the state has sent to set the value of the properties that are condemned. Eloise is a force to be reckoned with as she is determined to both do her job for the state, and to ignore her feelings for Alex. All of these story elements come together to make an entertaining and intriguing book. Although this book is part of a series, it was easy to read this one as a stand-alone story, too. I’ve enjoyed this series as the author has given us three heroines in unusual roles for this time period.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Finally! A Desperate Hope by Elizabeth Camden is the third book in the Empire State series. I have been waiting to read this book for some time because Eloise is such a mysterious character in the previous book and I am happy to hear her story.

Eloise is an incredibly intelligent young woman with a knack for numbers. She has a job as an accountant working for a company that will engineer the building of a massive reservoir. She is told to go down to the construction site and give estimates to the town there so they can move before the construction. Eloise is familiar with the town since she grew up nearby. Obviously, the town is not happy about having to relocate and don’t provide a warm welcome. The town’s mayor is Alex Duval, Eloise’s first love. They were separated as teens after their affair had been discovered. Now, they are on opposite sides. That isn’t all, there is sabotage lurking nearby making it difficult for both sides to proceed with plans. Eloise and Alex need to work together to find out who is behind the sabotage and make a plan that benefits the town and the state. However, their past feelings make that difficult.

One thing that I love about this series is that every main character is a woman, who is incredibly intelligent, who works twice as hard to be taken seriously in the world of men. The characters have amazing development but it is their courage to preserve that always adds such an amazing layer to the story. The men in the story were a little lackluster for me. I wasn’t a fan of either love interest.

Even though this book is Christian historical fiction, it is not preachy which I really appreciate. Her characters are real and make real decisions, which makes them so much more relatable. Another thing about this series, Camden always has incredible historical detail. Some may say it slows the pace down but I think it adds so much to the story.

Overall, I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars!

This book releases on February 5th!!!

Thank you NetGalley and Bethany House for a copy of the book!

A Desperate Hope is the third installment from Elizabeth Camden’s Empire State series. I have read the other books in the series and this one is my favorite. It is set in 1908 New York with Eloise Drake trying to put the past behind her. She is an intelligent woman who works as an accountant for an engineering project. However, this project may put her into a situation she tries to stay away from. While, Alex Duval realizes the town he loves and is the mayor of is threatened to be destroyed. This leads him asking for help from someone from his past. Will these be able to get over the past and work as a team to do what is right?

I enjoyed Eloise and Alex’s story. They are two unlikely allies in the beginning and loved their determination and courage. It is a beautiful, well written and powerful historical that takes the reader back in time and teaches them the lesson of forgiveness and fight what is right.

I am giving A Desperate Hope a well deserved five plus stars. I highly recommend it. It is definitely my favorite novel written by Elizabeth Camden.

I received this book from the publisher. This review is 100% my own honest opinion.

This one is a real page turner so be sure to carve out some serious reading time before sitting down to start the book. I loved the first two books in the series so it was a safe assumption that I would love this one, too. I just didn't know how much I would love it!

I love the story of Eloise Drake a successful accountant in New York and Alex Duval the mayor of Duval Springs, a town that is about to be obliterated. He once loved her but when he discovers she is on the team charged with the demolition it's safe to say it's not the happiest of reunions. Ms. Camden brought the characters to life with her beautiful writing and vivid descriptions of the town , its residents and it's buildings. I found myself truly caring about what would happen to the characters, their businesses and their homes. Alex possessed an inner strength and the need to preserve what is near and dear to him and he is not letting anyone take anything from him that he cares about. I admired his spirit and soon started to see the same spirit in Eloise.

Overall, A Desperate Hope is a fantastic story that flows at a perfect pace with memorable characters who are easy to love. If you have read the first two books in the series you will recognize the names and their stories. This could be read as a stand alone but I suggest you read the series in order because it's just that good. I am sorry to see this series come to an end but I look forward to the authors future work.

I received a copy from the publisher through Netgalley and was under no obligation to write review. All opinions are my own.

Accurate, detailed historical tales can be hard to come by which is why I treasure the work of Elizabeth Camden. Her newest novel, A Desperate Hope, is the third in her Empire State saga, a series that revolves around the history of clean water in New York. This story works fine as a stand-alone novel, although you get a much more thorough picture of the history if you read all the books.

The city of New York is growing and requires more clean drinking water. Various solutions have been looked at but the state determines that the best choice is to build a reservoir in the valley where the town of Duval Springs currently stands. The citizens of that community are deeply displeased with this decision but having exhausted all legal options they have no choice but to relocate. Alex Duval, their current mayor, is determined to do all he can to make the move as easy as possible for everyone.

Eloise Drake loves her job as an accountant for the New York State Water Board. She finds numbers soothing and delights in knowing that her abilities are contributing to the important work of providing clean water for America’s largest city. However, when her boss asks her to go to Duval Springs to calculate the value of the homes and businesses being demolished to make way for the reservoir, she is less than pleased. She grew up in the area and as a naïve teen had had a passionate affair with Alex. When her wealthy, powerful guardian learned of their liaison, he had Alex beaten and sent Eloise to a convent in Arizona. It was a harsh lesson and one she has never forgotten.  She is prim and proper now, as well as sedate, cautious and rule-abiding. She is reluctant to return to the scene of past sins - and possible current temptation - and goes only under duress.

While Eloise is aware that she will see Alex - since her project specifications include the fact that he is mayor - seeing her comes as a complete surprise to him. He had tried to contact her after her guardian’s thugs had essentially driven him out of town but had never been able to find out where she was. Their relationship had never been a fling to him and this reunion immediately stirs up all the old feelings. The fact that they are on opposite sides of the issue regarding the community’s destruction is not a deterrent to Alex. He’s a dreamer, a mover, shaker and risk taker who goes full steam ahead towards what he wants and only counts the cost later. Right now he wants Eloise back and he is determined to convince her that theirs is a love for the ages.

This difference in approach - Eloise’s cautious, planned and detailed method of living and Alex’s rambunctious grab life by the horns attitude - initially serves as a barrier between them. That doesn’t last long, though, since Alex’s enthusiasm and joie de vivre quickly have Eloise aiding him in his latest scheme to help the townspeople. But while Alex and Eloise are able to set the past behind them and embrace the vision of a better, brighter future, not everyone agrees. It isn’t long before they find themselves battling outside forces not just to save the place they love or their relationship,  but their very lives.

During the first half of the story, Ms Camden does a nice job of convincing the reader that these two disparate characters bring out the best in each other and belong together.  I was especially grateful that Alex and Eloise didn’t blame each other for their messy past. They each accepted that it took both of them to get into the trouble they found themselves in and forgave both themselves and each other for the mistakes made. But while their past relationship is well handled, the future of it felt less sure to me. Something happened during the resolution of the mystery portion of the book that caused me to wonder if things would really be better for them going forward. While Eloise has worked hard to help Alex salvage what he can of his community, when she asks him for help to prove someone close to her innocent, he rejects her.  Since this happens in the last quarter of the book, I can’t get into details over what occurred or how it’s resolved, but I will say that Alex’s behavior was unkind and petty. It tarnished the HEA, since Eloise had spent the whole book assisting him and he fails to do anything meaningful in return. He’s quick with empty romantic gestures - flowery speeches and declarations of undying love - but the equal measure of give and take I like in my love stories just wasn’t there. That didn’t ruin the book for me but it did take some of the shine off my overall enjoyment of it.

Fortunately, the overall appeal of the novel is helped by the amazing historicity, which is interesting, detailed and woven into the story in a skilled, engaging manner. I learned a lot about clean water and the difficult decisions faced by government officials and townspeople when one community must be asked to make sacrifices for the sake of another. Both sides of the issue are shown and we see that everyone has valid, reasonable points.

Ms. Camden typically sticks to light references of God and benign theology in her novels, and that happens here. Something slightly different from other novels of this genre is that the tone toward sin is far from the usual hard-line stance of Inspirationals, which insist on complete purity or a strong amount of shaming for those that don’t toe the line. In A Desperate Hope it is treated as a reality that humans are far from morally pure and the concept of repentance over repudiation is stressed.

A Desperate Hope is a nice reunion story with well-drawn protagonists. It’s also a great reminder that much of what we take for granted now – clean water, the right to hold a job of our choice – is due to the brave women who came before us and fought hard for those rights. I would recommend this tale to anyone who loves historicals that interweave their romances with real history.

Buy it at: Amazon/Apple Books/Barnes & Noble/Kobo
Visit our Amazon Storefront

Thank you to NetGalley and Bethany House, for the read of Elizabeth Camden’s, A Desperate Hope.

I am a great fan of Elizabeth Camden’s work, but new to this series. Having said that, I completely enjoying A Desperate Hope.

It’s 1908 New York. Eloise, independent, strong, intelligent mathematician, takes on the project to figure out how to flood an area in order to build a reservoir for the growing city. What she didn’t count on was finding herself back on the path to the man who broke her young heart, Alex Duval.

Headstrong and persistent Alex, mayor of the town scheduled for demolition, is shocked when he learns that Eloise, his past love, is leading the project. Will Eloise’s involvement get in the way of his determination of saving the town?

Can Eloise and Alex work together to come to a mutual understanding to accomplish both purposes? And, will they be able to repair hurt feelings and broken hearts along the way?

Fabulous storyline. I really enjoyed how Elizabeth Camden beautifully set the pace to healing past hurts, and rekindling lost love, in a fictional, but very credible situation. I enjoyed learning the history about water supply and flooding towns, finding how both sides are affected: the lives of the people, and the need for development.

A Desperate Hope is a wonderful story of keeping your faith strong, and pursuing your dreams through the hope that God gives you in your heart.

I am grateful to have received a copy of this book from Bethany House through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in my review are my very own.

"Let's go change the world." In her latest book, A Desperate Hope, award winning author Elizabeth Camden has created an irresistible historical fiction story of faith, love, and resilience. A Desperate Hope is the 3rd book in Elizabeth Camden's Empire State Trilogy, but it can easily be read as a stand alone novel. Immediately, readers are drawn to the novel by its beautiful and captivating cover.

The story takes place in small town Duval Springs, New York in 1908. New York State Water Board accountant Eloise Drake is selected as part of the team to oversee the demolition of the town of Duval Springs in order to build a reservoir to carry water to the residents of New York City. Eloise's journey back to Duval Springs forces her to face her first love Alex Duval, mayor of Duval Springs, and a town full of people not ready to give up their homes and livelihoods without a fight. "I wish I could say the next years are going to be easy, but sometimes it's the hard things in life that make us great." The hardships that the townspeople of Duval Springs faced and their determination never to give up demonstrates the strength and resilience of the human spirit.

Readers will experience a range of emotions throughout the novel, while also rooting for Eloise and Alex to find their way back to each other. In Eloise Drake, Elizabeth Camden created an intelligent, well-educated female heroine who is not afraid to speak her mind. From the mistakes she made as a teenager and being forced to grow up too soon, Eloise becomes stronger as a person throughout the novel and uses her experiences to make a difference in other people's lives and to find purpose in her own life. This novel has a light Christian theme throughout, and the rich history of the New York water system was well researched. A wonderful novel by Elizabeth Camden and a must read for fans of historical fiction.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and Bethany House and was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine.

A Desperate Hope by Elizabeth Camden is the third book in the Empire State series. I love reading Camden’s works because she always has the most unique plots that teach you about forgotten pieces of history as they entertain you.

The focus of this novel is on the fictional town of Duval Springs in upstate New York. The state of New York has declared that the town needs to be torn down in order to create large water reservoirs for the larger cities south of Duval Springs. The people of the town are understandably upset, as their entire lives are about to be uprooted for the sake of the government and strangers in large cities.

Eloise Drake grew up outside Duval Springs, but always with an interest as to what was going on in the town. Now that she’s grown up and mistakes of her youth drove her away from her hometown, she is proud to be an accountant for the state of New York. When her job requires she access the value of property in the town of Duval Springs so that its inhabitants can be fairly compensated by the state, she wishes anyone else could go. She has no desire to uproot the new life she’s just begun in New York city.

Alex Duval, mayor of the town of Duval Springs, plans to fight the demolition of his home town with everything in him. What he doesn’t expect is to be fighting the flame of his adolescence, Eloise, after their relationship was abruptly broken up 12 years ago.

I adored and consumed this novel. Within 24 hours I had discovered it was available for me if I chose to review it, downloaded it, and read it. I love Camden’s works; I love that when I read her writing I’m always learning something unique and new, and my vocabulary is expanding. I love the characters she creates and the cozy settings I’d never have found myself in otherwise when reading them. I definitely recommend this book–and it works just fine as a stand-alone–and would recommend checking out other books by this author as well.

Thank you to Bethany House and Net Galley for providing me with an electronic copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own and were not required to be positive.
I received a copy of this book for free. I was not required to post a positive review and the views and opinions expressed are my own.

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention/review it on my blog. I was not required to give a positive review, only my honest opinion – which I’ve done. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.*

4.5 stars!
I've always enjoyed Elizabeth Camden's books and this is no exception. I had not read the first two books in the Empire State series but was able to fully enjoy the book. I had never given much thought to how NYC and the state of NY got their water supply in 1908 but this book made the history come alive with memorable characters, vivid descriptions of a small village struggling against change and loss, and a well-crafted plot. If you enjoy historical romance and also want to learn a bit of NY history, you will totally enjoy this book.

Eloise, our heroine, is an accountant - straight-laced and follow-the-rules kind of mathematician with a soft, tender heart and a secret hunger for adventure. She was once in love with Alex but they were torn apart by her guardian and her sense of shame. Alex is loyal, stubborn, impulsive, passionate, brimming with optimism and also the mayor of a small village that Eloise and her team from NYC are sent to demolish, in preparation for a reservoir to supply the water demand to NYC. They are complete opposites but make for a compelling team when they actually work side by side.

This is a lovely story about dreams, hard work to achieve them, and how God gives us dreams to pursue even when others think it's folly. I was given a copy of the book by Bethany House Publishers and the author and was under no obligation to post a positive review. All comments and opinions are solely my own.

Great ending by Elizabeth Camden to this series: A Desperate Hope (Empire State). I have loved all of Ms. Camden's book and this one was no exception! Set in upstate New York where state officials are set to flood the town to make a reservoir so the growing city of New York will have clean drinking water. Eloise Drake is a prim and proper lady who is sent to help calculate what it will take to flood the area. But in doing so it brings her back into the path of the mayor who had broken her heart as a young girl. Mayor Alex Duval has plans to save the town and hopefully save their former relationship. Will they be able to work together or will they take the safer path. Wonderful story. Can't wait for more from Ms. Camden.

I received this book from Bethany House through NetGalley and all opinions are my own.

If you enjoy historical romance novels then Elizabeth Camden is one of the best. Her novels are full of history, character building, some suspense and romance. This third book in her Empire State Novel series can be read as a stand alone, but with reading the prior two books in the series you gain some extra background. She takes a dull subject of water rights for New York City and develops a wonderful read full of emotions, suspense and a story line to keep you till the very end. Ms. Camden is one of my favorite authors and have enjoyed all her books.

I have followed this series from the beginning, and love it! Yet each book can be read as a stand-alone book as well. I love historical fiction, and this book captures the era of building a reservoir in upstate New York, which consequently meant having to dismantle several towns in its path. In real life, some of the smaller towns were able to relocate to higher ground. In A Desperate Hope, the fictional town of Duval Springs brings to life this particular time period. Elizabeth Camden paints of vivid picture of an idyllic small town losing its battle against the state and progress, and how they cope with the fact that their way of life will exist no more. The author also adds strong female characters, good guys, villains, mystery, past mistakes, family dynamics, and romance along the way. You don't want to miss the conclusion to Elizabeth Camden's Empire State series!