Review: Hope Over Fear by J.A. Derouen

Title: Hope Over Fear
Author: J.A. Derouen
Released: July 28, 2014
Source: ARC from Author
Buy Links:
Goodreads ~ Amazon


Synopsis:
Today is the day – the day that the man I love marries someone else. I don’t deserve pity or sympathy. I’ve made my bed. I left Mason and ripped his heart to pieces as I ran away. The guilt and sorrow consume me, threatening to choke me everyday.

But today is a new beginning. Today is the day I will wake up with a renewed resolve and determination to do better … to be better … to be worthy. My name is Sara Preston, and this is my story about what happens after.

Hope Over Fear can be read as a stand alone novel.

My Review: 

In the past, Sara made a decision, a decision that was the best for her and then boyfriend Mason, but only she understood that at the time.  Feeling judged for her decision and left alone and wondering,  Sara has regrets. Not regrets over the choice she made exactly, but how she handled it and how she hurt others.  She wants forgiveness.  She also wants to move on with her life. 

In moving on and starting over, Sara takes up working at a clinic to help with adoptions and anywhere else she's needed.  There she meets Adam, and the real story begins. 

Adam has his own issues with the past, though different, he also has regrets, but not over decisions he has made, rather over things he overlooked.  Adam comes with a suprise though, and that adds a new dimension to things between Adam and Sara.  

Hope Over Fear is a story of growing up, discovering who you are, and a little bit about finding the one.  It's a story about letting go of the past and reaching towards the future, how the choices we make can affect every step of our life, even years later.   Sara felt extreme guilt, though she didn't have to, and Adam took on blame he didn't deserve.   I liked that it wasn't a simple, fall in love and find our happy, story.  There were complications and special reasons for a different path towards that final happy.  Sara and Adam both struggle with so many things, but in the end, they find their perfect partner in each other.