LDS Books: To Have or to Hold

Emma has a knack for doing things badly. At eighteen she married her high-school sweetheart just days after graduation. Three years later she’s a twenty-one-year old divorcee with a 15 month old daughter looking at life in a different way. She moves to Utah with a broken heart and a head full of shattered dreams hoping to start over. She also tries to find her place in the LDS church again, but it’s easier said than done. As always she doesn’t fit the Mormon mold and wonders if she ever will or if she even wants to.

Andrew Davidson’s life is going exactly according to plan. He has the lifestyle he’s always wanted and spends his days working hard at his development company and his weekends enjoy the perks of a rich bachelor. When he learns of a substantial inheritance through the father he never knew, he can’t say no. Even if it means he has to marry—something he never planned on.

When Andrew makes Emma an offer she can’t refuse, a marriage of convenience in exchange for a portion of the inheritance, she feels life is taking a turn for the better. She knows everything will be fine so long as she doesn’t fall in love with her temporary husband. But as with everything else in Emma’s life, things don’t go as expected. Before she knows it she’s fallen in love with Andrew, but holds no illusions that his expectations of their merger have changed. However, Andrew is caught up in conflicting feelings of his own and when he finds himself faced with everything he never wanted, he desperately seeks answers.

Reviews -

This book is, I think, a step above the ordinary Mormon romance novel. I treats a very serious medical condition (if I name it, it will ruin the story), although not often discussed, with dignity and sobriety. It peers into the human condition and argues, in its prose, for a more generous attitude toward the unique problems women face. I really enjoyed this book, and hope many will seek it out and read it.