Bookshelf Friday - Dancing With Fireflies by Denise Hunter

I was so excited to get my hands on this book! After reading Barefoot Summer, I could not wait to see Daniel and Jade's story, so when I finally had it in my hands, I finished it that day. Let me give you the blurb so we can chat about it.

Creative and complicated, Jade McKinley felt like a weed in a rose garden growing up in Chapel Springs. When she left, she thought she’d never look back. But now, pregnant, alone, and broke, she has no other choice but to return.

The mayor of Chapel Springs, Daniel Dawson, has been an honorary member of the McKinley family for years. While his own home life was almost non-existent, Daniel fit right into the boisterous McKinley family. He’s loved Jade for years, but she always saw him as a big brother. Now that she’s back, his feelings are stronger than ever.

As Jade attempts to settle in, nothing feels right. God seems far away, she’s hiding secrets from her family, and she’s strangely attracted to the man who’s always called her “squirt." Finding her way home may prove more difficult than she imagined.

Let me start by saying, for me, no one writes contemporary romance better than Denise. Her on-page chemistry between her characters is always amazing. Her characters are fully fleshed out and alive, and her dialogue is always real, never forced. Dancing with Fireflies was no exception.

I loved Daniel and Jade and the complications of their relationship. From the beginning of this book, my heart broke for Jade. Knowing how deeply Denise can write her characters, there were moments I wanted more from Jade and the struggle she was going through. However, those moments were few and far between. The sweet romance that she wove between David and Jade, the way David cared for her...well, it only strengthened my belief that Denise always delivers a hero to swoon over. And I'm not typically the swooning type:)

While I did, late in the book, want to sit these two down for an honest conversation with each other, I still understood why they held back in moments. Their troubles propelled me forward, knowing that they'd be resolved, and yet enjoying the journey along the way. Having secondary characters I'd already seen in Barefoot Summer (and continue to fall in love with) only made this book all the more fun to dive into.

I happily give Dancing with Fireflies 4 out of 5 stars, and you can purchase it here. And...if you haven't already, I highly recommend you scoop up the other two books in the series,  Barefoot Summer and December Bride (a novella) while waiting for the next story to come out.

Denise Hunter is the internationally published bestselling author of more than 20 books, including "Barefoot Summer" and "The Convenient Groom". She has won The Holt Medallion Award, The Reader's Choice Award, The Foreword Book of the Year Award, and is a RITA finalist.

 In 1996, inspired by the death of her grandfather, Denise began her first book, writing while her children napped. Two years later it was published, and she's been writing ever since. Her husband says he inspires all her romantic stories, but Denise insists a good imagination helps too! When Denise isn't writing she's busy raising three heroes-in-the making with her husband.

If you'd like to learn more about Denise, visit her website, here.

If you'd like to see a break-down of what my stars equal, check out my page My Ratings System to the right there. And a big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free ecopy of this book in exchange for my honest review.