Hilarious. Heart-tugging.

Betting on Hope is part of the Four of Hearts series of novels.

Betting on Hope, written by author Debra Clopton, is a keeper. Contemporary Christian is a favorite genre of mine. I thoroughly enjoy a well-written novel with a swirl of romance poured in. Debra weaved a little comedy in as well, which is always appreciated by me. 🙂

Main character Maggie Hope is an advice columnist turned-suddenly-reporter who ends up getting “roped” into interviewing cowboy/horse-trainer, champion Tru Monahan. Known to be a lady-killer, Maggie is already skeptical and on her guard until she catches sight of him and can’t stand on her feet. When she finds herself intrigued and drawn to him, she is determined not to give him her heart, because she’s got some secrets that she doesn’t want to reveal.

Tru Monahan has his own little secrets that rein him in when he feels his heart go pitter-patter for Maggie. His job is to train her how to ride–it’s part of the interview, part of the bet; but he finds it hard to keep his mind on the task.

I like Debra’s writing. She has just the right amount of secondary characters to support the plot, and her main characters are developed enough that I could understand their plights and feel for them. The plot doesn’t drag. My only complaint was that there was no epilogue at the end–I really wanted to see if a wedding resulted from those two! However, I’ll be resigned to hopefully reading more about Maggie and Tru in the future!