The Clover Chapel by Devney Perry Also in this series: The Coppersmith Farmhouse , The Lucky Heart, The Outpost
Series: Jamison Valley #2
Published by Devney Perry on May 30, 2017
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Small Town
Narrator: Joe Arden, Ava Erickson
Length: 10 Hours and 43 Mins
Pages: 408
Format: Audiobook
Source: Audible Plus Package
She took a dare and fell in love. Truth would have been the smarter choice.
After years of living under her father’s thumb, Emmeline is ready to break free. She’s abandoned her life as a New York socialite to follow her dream of becoming a kindergarten teacher in a small, wholesome town. Seeing the man that nearly broke her was absolutely not what she had hoped to find in Prescott, Montana.
Nick hasn’t seen his Emmy in nine years, but that doesn’t mean he’s forgotten a thing about the woman he loves. After just one blissful night as man and wife, he gave her up, sacrificing his own happiness to keep her safe—far away from him. But the moment she walks back into his lonely life is the moment he decides never to let her go again. He won’t waste his second chance. All he has to do is win back Emmeline’s heart, keep her safe from the shadows in his past and prove to her that taking a wager on him is a sure bet.
The Clover Chapel is book two of the Jamison Valley series and after getting a kick out of book one, I just had to grab the second book and I have to say that even though I didn’t quite enjoy it as much as I did The Coppersmith Farmhouse it was still a fun read it just had some elements that weren’t my favorite tropes to read in romance so this is what keeps this book from being a five star read.
Emmeline is the daughter of a well respected and highly connected man in New York City. She has had not much choice in her life living with the type of father she has. The life she has in New York is stifling and practically suffocating her. She wants something different than what her father has planned for her. She doesn’t like what she has had to do for her father, So she does what she has always wanted to do, go back to school to get her training to be a elementary school teacher and moves to a small town in Montana. What she doesn’t plan on is seeing the man that broke her heart nine years previous and who is also her husband….
Nick has never forgotten the love he had for Emmy or what they had that one fateful day when some dares came into play and they ended up getting married in Las Vegas but his family was part of the MC and after coming home when he was younger from school to see his mother shot from a rival MC as revenge, he knew his life wasn’t safe enough for Emmy. And even though he has never forgotten her all of these years, he is now wanting to show her how sincere he is in wanting her in his life permanently. But Emmy is still hurt from the past and is in another relationship with a man in New York so Nick will need to be creative to win her heart.
You asked me back then if I believed in fate. I didn’t until I met you. And I’ve spent nine years thinking I’d never see your face again. But fate brought you back into my life and I’m not going to mess it up again
The Clover Chapel has a mix of the Second Chance Trope and Love Triangle. Now I will admit that I HATE love triangles, and even though you do know who the main couple is, I wasn’t exactly fond of having a love triangle come into play especially since I did think the guy she had been with is a good guy just not the right one. And even though the heroine is married and I understand they are estranged, it was a bit odd that she would just move thousands of miles away from him if she really wanted to marry him right? So I didn’t really understand the heroine’s motives at times but she eventually worked for me it just took some time. Then we go to the heroe’s perspective and you understand his reasons. It doesn’t excuse the hurt and damage that he causes, and sometimes when you are young you make loads of mistakes, but you understand his reasoning especially if you know how brutal of a life a MC can be at times (depending on the club of course)
There is quite a bit that happens in this book though, we do get a flashback of the past (which seems to be the norm for this author) so you get to understand what they had at the beginning when they first fell in love and then we come to them in the present. We see Emmeline getting settled in a new place and what a good teacher she is especially since we have a sub plot of a student she has who has evidence of home neglect and her mission of making sure he is safe and boy I loved this sub plot. I really liked how Emmeline does the right thing to make shre the child is safe and in a good home no matter the cost to herself and that she is smart enough to recognize the signs and boy there were so many moments between these two that just break your heart.
You’ve always had my heart, Emmy. I know I fucked up by leaving but I thought it was my only choice. It took me a long time to realize I had other options. And by then, I was afraid it was too late. That you’d moved on with your life. But the moment I saw you, I knew I had a chance to make it right. No man can ever make you happy because no other woman will ever make me whole. We’re it for each other.
Then we have the romance which is a fun one. Their romance starts in Las Vegas over a bunch of dares. And now in the present we have some more dares of Nick taking Emmy on dates and trying to plead his case on why they should stay married. I got a kick out of how crafty both Nick and Emmy are on their reasons for either the marriage to keep or for a divorce to happen. Even when they do get most of their issues are resolved, well surrounding events happen and the life that Nick feared is about to rear back into their lives and we see how much he loves his father and brother despite the lives they lead and how much he wants to protect Emmy. But we also get some SHOCKS….okay I thought I had everything figured out but seriously the ENDING, oh boy, who the real villain of the story is will add a new twist to the story and a progression of the plot that you WONT see coming I can guarantee it.
I found the way that Nick and Emmy come together so endearing and poignant at times. They have many issues to work out and some healing to do together. They both have lost many years that they could have had together, and we see them reconnect again and find out that the love they had all those years ago, still there. The dynamics of their relationship was so interesting and their fun playful interactions were hilarious and balances out the serious tones of the story.
Who we had become was who we were meant to be, two people who would hold onto one another until the end. Who would savor every moment together. Nick had my heart completely and I had his.
Overall I found The Clover Chapel to be a endearing romance that brings together some tough challenges and seeing a relationship become empowered and defined by painful experience to something more vital and powerful…..MAGNETICALLY WRITTEN!!
About Devney Perry
Devney is the USA Today bestselling author of the Jamison Valley series. Born and raised in Montana, she loves writing books set in her treasured home state. After working in the technology industry for nearly a decade, she abandoned conference calls and project schedules to enjoy a slower pace at home with her husband and two sons. Writing one book, let alone many, was not something she ever expected to do. But now that she’s discovered her true passion for writing romance, she has no plans to ever stop.
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