Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for providing this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review of the book; all opinions expressed in the review are my own.

The story of the three Robinson siblings living in the fictional Riverbend Gap comes to full circle in “Harvest Moon” by Denise Hunter. In the previous books of the series, we had already been introduced to Gavin (eldest brother of the family) and Laurel, who are divorced. We know that they had lost their child and that they have not been on speaking terms for quite some time; in fact, there is so much hard feeling still left over from their past that they do not want to do anything with each other.

It has been five years since Gavin and Laurel have been divorced; Gavin has finally come out of the emotional slump he had been in since their separation and Laurel is up for a promotion at her work, which is something that she has been working towards all her life. Fate, however, delivers a terrible blow when their best friends Mike and Mallory lose their lives in an accident, leaving their two-year-old daughter Emma is placed in Gavin and Laurel’s care.

Since neither Gavin nor Laurel don’t want Emma to feel abandoned, they try to make the best of their situation by moving into their friend’s house to help the child cope with her terrible loss. This leads them on to a journey of second-chances, with them learning lessons from their old mistakes. Will they be able to get over their past pain and hurts? Will they ever become the family their best friends wanted them to be?

As in the previous books, Hunter pulls us into these people’s lives and makes us empathize with them. She has drawn such a wonderful tale of second chances that seems more believable because of the very common reason behind their divorce — their own insecurities and personal baggage. Gavin and Laurel could be any of the many couples we meet in our lives; the author has managed to make them very real and that is what makes their journey back towards each other a fulfilling read. The emotional hurdles they have to jump over to reach a place of contentment has been depicted accurately; it was wonderful to see a couple trying to get past their scars in a sensible and mature manner. This book ranks high on my list of romances because of that.

This book gets 5 out of 5 stars.