Ever Lasting Hope by Maggie Ryan

Ever Lasting Hope by Maggie Ryan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Oh yes, Season Three is shaping up to be a very good one for the residents of Corbin’s Bend, both new and old. Having met Everleigh in A Brush of Violet, reading Ever Lasting Hope felt a lot like meeting up with and hanging out with an old friend. In fact, I felt so comfortable with Ever’s character that I did something I don’t normally do when reading a book – I read Ever Lasting Hope while reading other books. I would read a couple of chapters, put it down for a day or two to read a book that was due on my review schedule, come back and read another chapter or two, read another book, rinse and repeat. This is not something I can normally do. Unless I am reading two entirely different genres, I generally finish a book before starting the next one. But because of how well I remembered Ever, I was able to stretch out my time with her and I enjoyed that immensely.

I really liked this addition to Corbin’s Bend. As Ever and Rob’s wedding grows near, Ever finds herself missing Rob and becoming more anxious about his return and their upcoming nuptials. While six weeks may not seem like a very long separation for most people, being the Taken in Hand to an HoH who is out of town on business for six weeks has limited Ever’s access to the firm hand she needs to feel centered. It’s not surprising that Rob has to provide consequences for broken rules upon his return home and while the spanking was unpleasant for Ever as she received it, it was obvious how much she needed it afterwards. Unfortunately for Ever (but fortunately for the reader), the spanking was not quite enough to remind her of the rules or to help her keep her temper in check and Rob and Ever agree upon introducing maintenance spankings. Yikes! That was my initial reaction to the first maintenance spanking. While it wasn’t anything I would have agreed to, its positive effects on Ever were not missed by me, especially as her stress levels increased as the wedding date neared. I loved the chemistry between Rob and Ever. It was obvious how much he loved her (and not just because of the spankings) and their connection was palpable – which definitely translated to some hot bedroom scenes!

My only actual complaint about the book is due to my real-world professional training trying to rear its ugly head in Corbin’s Bend. One of the biggest issues between Ever and Ben is her failure to eat regularly when she gets caught up in a project. I understood how easy it was for Ever to get engrossed in her activities and forget to eat – as someone who spends hours online every day, I am very aware of how easy it is the lose track of time. I completely understood Ben’s concerns and that he felt it important to implement rules regarding the behavior. The implementation of punishment for Ever’s failure to take care of her health and for not telling Rob about it was consistent with the Domestic Discipline lifestyle. But because of my training, I kept wanting to yell at them, “Would someone set a freaking alarm or timer to remind the woman to eat? Please.” Did this issue ruin the reading experience for me? Absolutely not. This was a personal sticking point for me because of my profession and something that I doubt the majority of readers will notice. In fact, I am already looking forward to reading Ever Lasting Hope again as well as more of Ms. Ryan’s writing. I’m also looking forward to the next book in Corbin’s Bend Season Three as well.

I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed by Angela at Crystal's Many Reviewers!

Check out the Ever Lasting Hope (Corbin’s Bend Season Three #3) by Maggie Ryan blog post on Crystal's Many Reviewers.


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