Becca is counting down the days until her brother graduates so she will finally be free to travel the world rather than staying in the small town of Kortville, Ilinois. Connor, the town sheriff never wants to leave Kortville. The two were high school sweethearts until Connor broke Becca’s heart. Now he is battling his own demons from Afghanistan to try and win Becca’s love once again, despite the fact that they both are looking for very different things. Love Him or Leave Him is the second in the ‘Small Town, Big Dreams’ series.

At first I didn’t find Love Him or Leave Him to be that enjoyable. The opening jumped straight into heated emotions and lustful thoughts which seemed to come out of nowhere (even after reading more into the story the beginning still didn’t make much sense and was far too contrived in my opinion). The characters felt half-formed with a few situational issues carefully placed in their way. However, about halfway through the novel suddenly became much more readable with the story becoming character-led – it’s just unfortunate that it didn’t start that way.

The story does deal with a few serious issues, in particular PTSD and vandalism, with the usual trust issues that always appear in romance novels. These issues were explained enough to show how they affect the characters within the town, but definitely didn’t eclipse the light-hearted romance.

Love Him or Leave Him would be a wonderful summer read, leaving you with appreciation of wherever you are. Despite the faltering start, I look forward to reading more books by Sara Daniel, with the hope that they will offer more endings that leave me wishing for more.

[I received an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]