Romance, contemporary;
Heartfelt, tender, hurting and lovely romance with a fun military backstory/setting
Paige and Jake's romance was a sweetly honest, hurting, but hopeful romance. Dealing with family issues (Jake's mother's health, and Paige's family's expectations), career issues, miscommunications, and 'life' made for an honest, sweet romance and story that was a portrait of life as it happens. Poignant, yet so sweet when they were together. Their unconventional meeting, the 'moments' that they shared along the way as they moved through their relationship made for a lovely, satisfying romantic read. Loved this story of two hurting hearts coming together and finding their 'heart homes'. Beautifully done, and the flying/military back story made it all the more interesting and fun to read.
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review, my opinions are my own.

Flying in Love by Chalon Linton, 200 pages. Covenant Communications, 2020. $15.
Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
After surprising her boyfriend gives her the bigger shock, 25-year-old Paige is nearly run over in the grocery store parking lot. Life isn’t going very well. But then the driver who nearly killed her insists on buying her dinner -- maybe things will get better for Paige after all.
The story is cute, but I couldn’t decide whether or not I was enjoying it as I was reading. Sometimes the characters felt relatable and realistic, but then they would start to feel inauthentic and contrived, and the constant back and forth was distracting. In the end, I think Linton opted to write the characters idealistically instead of realistically, but I also decided it’s okay because sometimes that’s the point of a story.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

Sometimes a book is so confounding to me I don’t even know where to start my review.

Flying in Love begins with Paige Hall taking a surprise celebratory dinner over to her boyfriend’s house, only to be surprised herself when she finds him lip locked with another woman. She’s determined not to let the betrayal hurt her longer than it needs to (yay!). But of course she now has trust issues.

Shortly after her breakup, Paige meets Air Force Captain Jake Summers when he almost runs her over in a grocery store parking lot. He invites her to dinner to apologize for endangering her life and much to Paige’s astonishment, she finds herself enjoying her time with Jake.

They start spending more time together...Paige's best friend gives her some marginally sketchy relationship advice which she holds onto with a tight fist and uses to filter her whole relationship (with borderline disasterous results)...she has a rocky relationship with her mom...she questions her feelings and the circumstances of her relationship with Jake - does she really love him, does he really love her, are things moving too fast???

Jake is kind, sweet, earnest, and a gentleman. But his family is facing a difficult situation and his job with the Air Force makes his relationship with Paige complicated. He also behaves like a butthead a multiple times, making me concerned he suffered from some kind of personality disorder.

I really wanted to like this story. The meet-cute was just begging for a delightful, sweet story. Sadly, things fell apart in the execution. The writing itself was simplistic, with frequent instances of telling vs showing, dialogue that was often stilted and too formal for what a person would say in an actual conversation of today, and had awkward jumps in time. Then we have the hero’s less-than-hero-like behavior that really ruined things, especially when the last instance made very little sense and the resolution was unsatisfactory to this reader. The hero did a good job of apologizing, but somehow the heroine managed to feel she had a part in how he behaved, when in fact she did not. Then we have another awkward time jump and the story is ending.

I will say that I did enjoy that this story was focused more on the emotional development of the couple (no insta-love or falling into bed quickly or repeatedly). Sometimes it’s nice to read a sweet story that harkens back to the days of chivalry and women being cherished! This is an “inspirational” romance and thus has multiple references to faith and God. However, I never felt that the author’s primary purpose of the book was proselytizing. But it didn’t ever feel like a seamless part of the story either - with references thrown in at random and never fully developed.

Anyway...this story has good bones, but needed to be better fleshed out for me to connect with the characters and their story. These were not particularly endearing characters, and the author chose to spend more time on their conflicts than showing us why we should root for them as a couple.

* thank you to NetGalley and Covenant Communications for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

A terrific book by a wonderful author. There’s so much to love about this storyline. It’s a sweet, clean book with a romance that will touch your heart. You’ll enjoy reading Jake and Paige’s story, and come to love their characters. There’s a slight thread of faith that weaves in and out of the story. I’m looking forward to this author’s next book.

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

There are so many great things to love about Chalon Linton's new book, Flying in Love. As a military wife herself, this story hits some really great beats in the emotions of what it means to serve.

Paige Hall gets her heart broken when she catches her boyfriend cheating. She is trying to heal when she meets Captain Jake Summers. He seems almost too good to be true. He's great with children, loves to laugh, and has charm to spare, but Paige takes a chance. She is careful with her feelings and their love story has quite a few twists and turns to it that will keep readers up late to see if they get their happily-ever-after.

The author does a great job in weaving in military life and how transitory it can feel sometimes. Paige and Jake deal with some difficult issues both personally and professionally. The only drawback to the book were the times that Jake treats Paige horribly in front of family and colleagues without a good reason, but then he apologizes in private and she forgives him. I wish that cycle hadn't been introduced because that could be a red flag in many relationships. It sort of took the shine off his hero status for me a bit. Other than that, however, I thought the setting was well-done, the family relationships complicated and realistic, and Paige was very relatable. I'll definitely be looking for the next book from this author.

I felt like this book was a little cheesey. It kind of reminded me of what a hallmark movie would be if it was in book form. But if you're looking for an easy read this could be for you!

I thought the book had a good premise but I just didn't connect with the characters the way that I would have liked too. I thought the plot moved just a little too slow to keep my peak interest.

Flying in Love was a sweet contemporary romance that had me hooked from the very beginning! It was so fun to watch Paige and Jake grow throughout the story and some parts had me laughing out loud. I couldn't put it down!

Chalon Linton has made a very successful jump from regency to contemporary romance. This story is so cute, you won't be able to put it down.

I was thrilled to learn that one of my favorite Regency authors was writing a contemporary romance since I love both genres. I knew that with the author's background as a military wife, we would get an authentic story with details that really bring depth. I was not disappointed! Paige and Jake are great together, even with their flaws and mistakes, and I loved seeing how they not only fell in love, but overcame obstacles and supported each other. The tone of the book is definitely emotional and I was able to easily connect to the characters. The California setting was so fun since I live in San Diego, and it was easy to picture them in their environment. There are strong themes of insecurity, trust, family dynamics, and having a relationship with God. I loved that there was a faith element to the story that was tastefully done- no heavy preaching, but genuine and sincere. I'm excited for more sweet contemporary romance from this author... as well as her historicals!

(I received a complimentary copy of the book; all opinions in this review are my own)

Complementary copy given for honest review and opinion.
Lovely romance that shows that people can have good wholesome love and romance books. I enjoyed the military aspect of it as well.

Paige drew me in right from the beginning. We’re right there with her, experiencing the gut wrenching realization that her guy is a lousy guy. Right there as she mourns the relationship and comes to realize who she’s allowed herself to become in the relationship, as she learns what kind of person she’s allowed herself to become in ALL of her relationships.

And then along comes Jake, taking her by surprise just as she’s figuring out how to make some much needed changes. And it’s not perfect. Paige and Jake make mistakes and have misunderstandings and plenty. And then, somehow, everything comes together as they learn to balance the scales.

Okay, okay, I hate retelling reviews too. But this was just such a good character-driven story I can’t seem to help it. I really enjoyed this story and am glad my request via NetGalley was approved! This review is happily given all of my own accord.

I'm going to start by saying that I didn't read the synopsis for this book before I dove into reading it. I loved this author's previous books in a different genre and thought this cover is gorgeous and I can't wait to see what she's done with this new genre. As I opened the book, there's a preface from the author about writing this story. I read it and was excited to have a little inkling about what this book would be about. I couldn't set it down. Or rather, I didn't want to set it down. I was heading up camping in the mountains when I started reading so I didn't have nonstop time to read it. But I loved when I curled up with it in the evenings and the still of the mountain night.

This story and these characters were fabulous. There are lots of emotions and family ups and downs. I cried a few different times. I laughed. And I most definitely let out some happy contented sighs while reading Jake and Paige's story.

If you've read other books by this author and are up for a genre change, I suggest trying this new book of hers. If you haven't read her books and enjoy contemporary and military stories, this is one for you.

Paige needs time and healing. Not a new relationship. But something about Jake has her slowly putting her guard down. But his work keeps him out of contact for days and sometimes weeks at a time. Which is perfect for Paige right now. There's some hesitancy on both of their parts for a new relationship. But as a reader you can feel the chemistry and connection between these two. I found myself cheering for them and hoping that Jake would call her soon. Or even for Paige to take that chance and reach out to Jake.

And the emotional moments and family moments...I loved them. I loved how both Paige and Jake had to work through their struggles and sorrows. Sometimes they were so focused on one aspect that they couldn't see the hurt they were causing. But the loving people around them (great secondary characters) helped to encourage and open up their perspectives so that they could find healing and understanding. I'm being very vague. Some of what I'm alluding to is the relationship between Paige and Jake. Some of it is between the main characters and their families. I really loved it!

Content: Clean. Some kissing but nothing further. This book deals with some aspects of military life, death, cancer and some talk about letting God help heal you.

I received a copy from the publisher, Covenant Communications, via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions in the review are my own.

Happy Reading!!!

I love the cover for this book. I think it is a fantastic representation of what lies inside and it's also pretty.

This book was character driven which was perfect because Paige and Jake are great characters. The conflict was mostly internal as Paige and Jake deal with their own insecurities and doubts. Family relations are a big part of this book as well. It all seemed very normal and realistic. Their feelings and struggles seemed like those anyone and everyone might experience. I liked that. Both characters show growth and change which is satisfying as a reader.

There are no great climactic, heart pounding moments in this book. It all felt very gentle and sweet which was perfect for me this week when I read it. With the world in so much turmoil right now, gentle and sweet feels really good.

Content: Christian fiction (talk of God, praying, believing), kissing, death

- I received a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Learning to fly in love

The story is told from Paige's perspective as if we were friends who she was telling the story of how she & Jake ended up together, so it gives the narrative a casual, retrospective feel.

It's a relationship development type of romance depicting a young couple in love overcoming issues of insecurities &, to some extent, communication.

Reviews are a little mixed because the things it deals with are about maturity, which some people find make a story more believable but others just find frustrating. For me, it was a little of both, but I still enjoyed it.

It was readily engaging - yes, it was a little repetitive in a few places, but it readily pulled me in & kept me reading.

The secondary relationships are a significant part of the story. Paige's relationships with her sister, Heather, and best friend, Mandy, especially steer her relationship with Jake. She relies on them for advice & guidance.

SPOILER-ISH
Mandy's mom tries to manipulate her with guilt which is crappy, but Paige needed to address it by being forthright herself. Establish boundaries firmly but lovingly. Heather seemed to have something of an intuitive understanding, but apparently not well enough to explain it to Paige. At least Paige did eventually realize that her mom just wanted to be a part of her life & they find a more respectful balance.

Mandy had a valid point about keeping a healthy balance in a romantic relationship, but refusing Jake just for the sake of refusing him wasn't a good test at all (as becomes obvious but isn't really acknowledged). It would have made more sense to see if he would accommodate her when she wanted to do something different than he did - with the understanding/recognition that he might have a legitimate reason to be unable to, especially with his mom being sick.

The emotional confusion caused by Jake's grief was understandable. The loss of a parent, especially one we're very close to, hits hard. However, his later episode of emotional paralysis was harder to fathom, even after learning its cause. It was the weakest part of the story & should have either been developed better or just left off. Given its blatant parallels to what happened with Gavin, I'm inclined to believe that it would have worked better if it perhaps *initially* looked like it was going to be a repeat, but played out differently & positively in the inevitable comparison
END POSSIBLE SPOILERS

So, I think the book is good overall, but clearly it's going to depend on what you as a reader like & dislike with the plot conflicts in your stories.

*Clean romance level: sweet kisses, nothing graphic

*Religion: overtly Christian, but organic to the story not preachy

#netgalley #flyinginlove

This was a new-to-me author, and while the book/story wasn't my cup of tea it wasn't bad. The heroine a lot of insecurities that were mentioned over and over, and the hero didn't seem very hero-like. It was a good story, just not a great one.

I've read and loved Chalon Linton's historical and Regency romances, so I was excited to hear she had a new contemporary romance series coming out. That it was about Air Force pilots made me want to read it even more--my father was retired Air Force and I also served in the Air Force so I may be a little biased. I'm looking forward to reading all the books in this series.

Paige meets Jake when she's definitely not looking to date anyone, having just broken up with her boyfriend after catching him kissing another woman. Isn't that usually when you find a guy--when you're no longer looking for one? They have a memorable first meet when Jake almost runs over her in the parking lot of the grocery store, which leads to a I-really-want-to-apologize-for-almost-running-you-over-dinner a few hours later. These two are so cute and fun together.

I loved how Paige and Jake weren't perfect people or a perfect couple. Everyone has trials in life and Paige and Jake were no exception. I liked that these characters came across as real and imperfect. Just like real people don't always handle the hard times well--neither did they. Jake had something traumatic happen in his family and Paige was learning how to trust after having a cheating boyfriend and learning a healthier way to deal with a sometimes overbearing mother. I liked seeing their relationship grow from friends, to something more, then came a rough patch or two where they had to learn to talk about the hard things and trust each other. Jake's career as an Air Force pilot where he could be gone for weeks at a time with little communication was something Paige had to learn to deal with if she wanted to be with Jake.

This book made me feel all kinds of emotions and there were a couple of times I wanted to shake some sense into a character. I liked the Christian element in the book and thought it was well done. Having faith in God was mentioned several times as the characters were going through difficulties, but it wasn't overdone. I liked that Jake admitted he was struggling with his relationship with God during his family's difficulty.

I received a complimentary copy from Covenant Communications and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions expressed in my review are my own.

This was a fast-paced, engaging story I didn't want to put down!  The struggles the characters went through were very realistic and eye-opening.  Chalon Linton brought a sense of authenticity to the story as a military spouse, herself.  The romance was sweet and satisfying, the descriptive writing was vivid, the characters were strong, and the plot was smooth.  Wonderful story!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

This was a new-to-me author, and while the book/story wasn't necessarily bad, it just wasn't for me. The heroine had too many insecurities that were constantly mentioned, and the hero didn't seem like anything really unique or remarkable, and was too wishy washy.

This was a sweet romance and put a smile on my face many times. I thought the romance was well developed, belivable, and natural. This was a miliatry romance and had a nice introduction to what it can be like for the families & what navigating some challenges might look like. The military aspect flowed and was naturally woven into the story. Nothing was overdone. I did like the h & H and all supporting characters. I found the h a bit immature in regards to the H a couple of times. The focus on "keeping things balanced" Though when I was at 25 one could perhaps say the same about me! I thought the h did start to show growth and maturity. Especially, with the side story of her family dynamics. I've read Chalon Linton's historical romances and I think she transtioned well into comtemporary. IThe story was told in 1st person pov but I feel I was able to understand others motivations or drive. The H's challenge in the book was keenly felt. I loved how the auhor ended the story.