A sweet love story about longing, regret and miscommunication, “With This Ring”, by Amy Clipston, features two stubborn people fighting the dormant attraction and feelings still there despite the years.
I loved the yearning and longing in the novel and how the author portrayed the deep feelings, emotions and bonds still existing between Hudson and Dakota despite the separation.
The stubbornness is irritating in Hudson particularly when it comes along with a need to control her sister’s life.
His insistence and meddling come from a good place but make him really annoying. These flaws also make Hudson a realistic, engaging character.
And he’s such a caring, giving person that you tend to forgive him.
Dakota is a great heroine, too. She’s overwhelmed by her business responsibilities and trying to juggle everything by herself while also engaging in family and community activities.
The rekindling of the romance between Hudson and Dakota is heartwarming. There is a lot of miscommunication and misunderstanding, and real communication between both was delayed almost until the end.
I enjoyed watching them become aware of their feelings and the fact they never got over each other as if no time had passed. The sweetness, warmth and ache of the process is very well written.
The secondary characters are wonderful, too. There’s a lot of involvement from them in the story and sometimes I wouldn’t mind having more about the romantic couple instead. I was curious, though, about sweet Aunt Truddy’s past…
I also liked the atmosphere and setting of Flowering Grove.
A very enjoyable, well-written story!

I really enjoyed WITH THIS RING by AMY CLIPSTON. It is a romance novel with depth, in which we see misunderstandings, snobbery, stubbornness and the need to control, as Hudson Garrity comes back to his hometown to try and stop his younger sister Layla from marrying Shane Simpson, who he feels is not good enough for her……
Dakota Jamison, who broke up with Hudson seven years ago breaking both of their hearts, is shattered when he moves into an air bnb next door to her. She has started a bridal boutique in Flowering Grove and is providing the clothes for the wedding. When she is about to lose her business and her house, she realizes that she is just as stubborn as Hudson. Will the two of them get together or will he run away from his problems as he usually does?
I highly recommend With This Ring to anyone who enjoys a good romance.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Thomas Nelson. The opinions in this rebiew are completely my own.

I received this book as an arc in exchange for an honest review. In all honesty, I thought this book was well written, but I didn’t feel as much as I wish I would have. Overall good book though!

The writting style of this book was very hard to follow at times. The story seemed to drag at times.