By The Book

I love a good Christmas story with some romance and a definite merry-vibe. I got that and much more with The Heartfelt Formula by Leslie Kirby DeVooght. If you need a good book to get you in the holiday mood, then I recommend that you put The Heartfelt Formula at the top your TBR list.

She’s got a formula for love… but real life isn’t a Christmas movie.

After another breakup, Atlanta attorney Hope Elliot decides to stop waiting for her happily-ever-after and write it herself. Inspired by her beloved Christmas romance movies, Hope crafts The Heartfelt Formula: a foolproof plan including snowball fights, cookie baking, and a perfectly timed first kiss.

Trading the big city for coastal Georgia, Hope sets out to find her small-town soulmate. But the actors in her carefully plotted scenes keep shuffling—especially when Brennan Taylor, her ambitious co-counsel continues to fill in for Cole Walker, the carefree furniture maker, who Hope cast as her hero.

Between courtroom drama, a mismatched leading man, and a mistletoe mishap, Hope must decide if she’ll trust her formula or accept a plot twist that might leave her all alone, or perhaps, with happiest ending of all.

A faith-filled romantic comedy for anyone who believes love, like Christmas, can still surprise you.

PW Best-Selling Author Leslie Kirby DeVooght writes women’s fiction inspired by romcoms, coastal Georgia, and fried okra! While Leslie and her family live in Jacksonville, Florida, they often visit her hometown of St. Simons Island, Georgia, where she loves to go for long walks on the beach. A graduate of Florida Southern College and Mercer Law School, Leslie is always revising her life from prosecutor to judge to PTA president to author of happily-ever-afters.

My Impressions:

I admit that I am not a Hallmark Movie-gal. I really watch very little TV, preferring to indulge in romance reading instead. That’s not to say I am uninformed on the formulas those movies tend to use to get the characters to an HEA. Leslie Kirby DeVooght has taken the tried and true methods of finding the perfect man (at least by romance movie standards) and translated them into a sassy rom-com that will get you thinking about love and life. The Heartfelt Formula is a great read to begin your holiday season, whether you celebrate from the first nip in the air or wait until after Thanksgiving to trim the tree. On the surface this book is a fun and funny journey with main character Hope as she does everything to create the perfect playbook to get the love of her life. But DeVoooght takes the formula a step further to speak to the deeper meaning of love. This romance has meat! It really is the perfect combo of entertainment and thought-provoking moments that made me ponder my own relationships, especially with the One who really counts. The characters, both main and secondary, are wonderfully fleshed-out, the plot is fresh, and the spiritual truths are naturally woven throughout the narrative. I loved how Hope grew in her understanding of her past and the knowledge that her future was safe and secure. I laughed, I shook my head, and I may have shed a tear or two. 😉

So make sure you put The Heartfelt Formula on the top of your TBR. You’re going to love it!

Recommended.

Audience: Adults.

(Thanks to the author for a complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

Tags: Christmas fiction, contemporary romance fiction, Leslie Kirby DeVooght, rom-com