A review by camryn_reads_
Hopeless by Elsie Silver

hopeful inspiring fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Beau IS everything. And Bailey IS everything. And they are perfect together, truly. This story was beautiful for so many reasons and getting to crux of Beau’s story after so many things and teasers for four books was much needed. And seeing Bailey finally become someone was a final reminder of (in my opinion) the key features of small town romance. People finding themselves and discovering who they are and where they belong, (even if that isn’t in the small town 🙄). Everything happened very fast but that was sort of the point, especially for Beau. Just being impulsive and following his gut when it came to his emotions and his feelings.

The minor third act breakup was dealt with in the way I always feel these things should be. They took time and then came back together. They treated his mistake and his misjudgment as just that BECAUSE THEY ARE IN LOVE AND PEOPLE MAKE MISTAKES. 

Overall, this was the perfect story for Beau and Bailey. But as a finale for the series? I didn’t like it. There was so little interaction with the rest of the family. I know that fit with the situation for each of the characters but it’s just seems a shame for the last book in the series. A shame for the found family not to be a key factor of the book. Especially the ending. 

But, on the contrary, I think it was the only way it worked. It would’ve been unfair and a complete falsification to create a situation in which Bailey, and even Beau, stayed in Chestnut Springs. So they had to leave. It was part of their stories. It’s just sad. 

And everything happens for a reason. If Beau had never left the military, as he said himself, he would never have settled down or allowed himself to fall for someone. So in order for that to happen, he had to leave the military, and maybe if what happened to him hadn’t happened he would never have left. And then he would never have been inclined to be impulsive and help Bailey out and she may never have had the push she needed to leave Chestnut Springs and he may have been stuck putting on a happy face in a job and a place he felt uncomfortable in for the foreseeable future.  

It makes sense he was the last hero because he’s the one who’s been THE tease from book one. But it’s a shame that the ending of a small town romance series doesn’t end in said small town. And even though the city is only an hour away, and they will all visit regularly, it just breaks the found family up a bit. They’re all together in the end, at a family dinner, but not in Chestnut Springs. 

I haven’t read the Gold Rush Ranch series so I don’t know about Violet and the fact that she’s an Eaton who doesn’t live in Chestnut Springs with her family so I guess I’m just a little bummed. It couldn’t have worked out another way and I know that. But it’s just so bittersweet. 

The other thing is the age difference. It’s not an issue at all, but what I find hard to understand is the fact they’ll stay together. Bailey has no experience with anyone else and she’s going to university in the city. She’ll meet new people, she’ll change, Beau said that himself. And while they may be able to work through those changes and develop together, in their relationship, as a couple, they may end up two completely different people. Obviously, Willa moved away from the city to be with Cade, and there’s an age difference there. But she just seems like the knew what she wanted, and more importantly, what she didn’t. I think they will stay together but I can see them not. And I hate saying that 😭
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