If You’ll Have Me by Esther Hatch - OPTIONAL

If You’ll Have Me by Esther Hatch, 320 pages. Shadow Mountain Publishing, 2026. $19.

Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13

BUYING ADVISORY: ADULT - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: SEVERAL

Eight years ago, Anna and her family spent the summer of her seventeenth year in Breckenridge. Anna loved it there and didn’t know they would be the last happy memories she made. Now Anna (25yo) and her mother return in desperation of their circumstances and find help from the unlikely place of the boy that followed Anna around that summer—a boy who is now a man.

Anna and David dither about, changing their minds frequently about their unusual situation—one that they brought upon themselves. They make an adorable couple when they allow themselves to be and are eyeroll inducing when the pitfall of unclear communication further tangles things. Tragic backstories make the happily ever after feel that much sweeter, and it’s an overall cute story.

The majority of characters are English. The mature content rating is for kissing, partial nudity, mentions of alcohol and brothels, and innuendo. The violence rating is for assault; mentions of child abuse, animal cruelty, and self harm; and gun use.

Reviewer: Carolina Johnson