Melissa Tagg's "Keep Holding On" - a sweet story of friendship

Beckett Walker returns home for the first time in six years to make things right--and gets thrown in jail the moment he steps into town, sentencing him to hundreds of hours of community service and, thanks to his absence, getting him fired from his job in Boston, putting his dream of becoming a military lawyer further out of reach. What he doesn't expect is his childhood best friend Kit to be home trying to run her family's apple orchard. It should be simple: Kit needs the free labor, and Beckett needs the community service hours. A month or two's work together, then they go their separate ways. But neither expects their hearts to get involved.

I enjoyed both impulsive Beckett and straight-laced Kit, but they're even better together--all their history of friendship makes for a wonderful base for their relationship, even if they don't know how to make their opposing goals work. I love how the author brought out the quirky traditions to their friendship, like climbing in and out of windows to see each other. Aren't old friendships like that? You've known each other so long and well that even when you haven't seen each other in years, you can fall right back into the old patterns. It's like coming home. That's how Kit and Beckett's relationship seemed to me: coming home.

What a tear-jerker! Not sad tears, but tears from all the healing in the story. The title perfectly fits the theme of the book--keep holding on. To your dreams, to hope, to God. I also sense a theme of restoration in Tagg's books: saving an old orchard, rescuing the small-town paper, restoring a restaurant, fixing up the historic depot, not to mention all the restoration in her characters' lives, both main characters and secondary.

It's been a lot of fun getting to know the Walker family, and I'm definitely looking forward to Rae's story!

Walker Family
0.5: "Three Little Words"
1. From the Start
2. Like Never Before
3. Keep Holding On
4. All This Time

Related Series:
Enchanted Christmas Collection
1. One Enchanted Christmas
2. One Enchanted Eve
3. One Enchanted Noel

Maple Valley Romance
1. Now and Then and Always

2. Some Bright Someday