Sometimes You Stay + Giveaway

For digital content creator Cretia Martin, home is wherever her carry-on suitcase lands. And it’s constantly landing in new places as she travels the world. She’s never been interested in settling in one spot–after all, houses are just places that collect junk and tie you down. But when she literally bumps into local dog breeder Finn Chaffey on Prince Edward Island and all of the tools of her trade end up in the harbor, she can’t exactly leave until she gets things sorted out.

Finn is horrified by the part he played in the accident and offers to help, arranging for Cretia to stay with a friend at the beautiful Red Door Inn. The longer Cretia is forced to remain in one place, the more she discovers what she’s been missing with life on the road–and the more she wants to see Finn and his business succeed. But helping him means staying put, the one thing she always swore she wouldn’t do, and risking the only thing she’s never put on the line–her heart.

New York Times bestselling author Liz Johnson invites you back to the Red Door Inn on Prince Edward Island for an inspiring story full of adorable puppies, sweet friendship, and unexpected romance.

My Review:

Mercy! I think my toes are permanently crimped from all the toe-curling romantical moments in this story. Swoonable from start to finish — even though the meet-cute was anything but cute! Totally funny and kinda embarrassing though. And I love the way Joe Jr. saved the day! Bwahahaha!

Poor Finn. He’s way out of his element from the moment he meets Cretia and his discombobulated state doesn’t ease up any time soon. Conflicted is the word of the day for these two because of personal histories and the whole location issue. Cretia travels the world for her job, after all and Finn is rooted in the deep red soil of his PEI farm where he breeds and trains search and rescue Newfoundland dogs (eeeeppp, one of my favourite breeds!) And collects an assorted menagerie of rescue animals. Happy sigh, Farmer Finn is my kind of hero.

This opposites attract romance is so achingly tender and full of emotion. It’s sweet and funny but when the sizzle starts to spark, watch out, sensitive readers might feel a little singed around the edges! Love the balance between lighthearted moments and the deep soul-searching ones. Finn and Cretia both have to come to terms with their pasts in order to be free to create a future together. This is a bit of a redemption story for both of them.

Love that we get glimpses of what life is like at the Red Door Inn since Marie (Red Door Inn heroine) takes Cretia in when she finds herself stranded after an unfortunate occurrence (the aforementioned meet-cute.) And the familiar small town community vibe adds warmth and grace to the story. Reading ‘Sometimes You Stay’ felt very much like a homecoming. Cozy and comforting and so, so satisfying!

I enjoyed listening to the audible edition narrated by Kelli Tager. She did a wonderful job bringing these characters to life. Would definitely recommend the audio edition to discerning listeners.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

This giveaway is for a print or ebook copy. Winner’s choice.

US – available in print or ebook — winner’s choice

Canada – available in print or ebook or audible (if available) — winner’s choice

International – ebook copy if you have a US Kindle account.

If you would like a chance to win a copy of Sometimes You Stay,  leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoread AT yahoo DOT ca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it’s easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday May 31 2025

32 thoughts on “Sometimes You Stay + Giveaway”

  1. WOW! Sometimes You Stay sounds like the perfect feel good type book to me. Do love reading those opposite attracts romances. And the phrase “come to terms with their pasts in order to be free to create a future together” could have been written about hubby and me. Finn definitely sounds like my kind of hero. After having read a couple intense books, I’m ready for some “cozy and comforting and so, so satisfying” books. Can’t wait for the opportunity to read Finn and Cretia’s story.

    Thank you so much for the chance to win a copy!

    2clowns at arkansas dot net

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  3. “I think my toes are permanently crimped from all the toe-curling romantical moments”

    Count me ALL IN! Thanks Kav! tracey14567 atgmaildotcom

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  5. I loved the romance, the Red Door Inn connection, and everything else about this book! Liz Johnson never disappoints when I’m looking for a wonderful romantical story. My library copy had to be returned but I’d love to have a copy on my keeper shelf. Sandyavery at comcast dot net

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  7. Love your entertaining review!! This one has been on my wishlist for awhile now. I’m crazy about Liz Johnson & her PEI books! Only don’t enter me as I just won a prize last week. Am waiting for the price to come down on the ebook, but so far that just ain’t happenin’!

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    1. 🙂 You’re going to love it whenever you get the chance to read it, Diane! Ebook prices have gone kinda wonky, haven’t they? Wonder what the marketing strategy is. Happy Reading!

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      1. I’m not sure what their strategy is, but you can believe they have one. It just doesn’t seem right to charge the same price for an e-book as you would a paperback that you physically own, can hold in your hands, loan out, & keep on your shelf. So not fair!

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      2. Plus there are way more costs associated with the printing of a book so it makes sense that they should be pricier. Wonder if they are trying to even out rising production costs so they don’t have to charge more for the print editions? So confusing.

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      3. Very confusing bc actually Amazon is losing business. In the online book clubs peeps are talking about switching to Nook from Kindle, which would give their business to CBD & Barnes & Noble, KOBO, I believe. And we know about Baker book sales, of course. However, there are still plenty of less expensive indie books on Amazon. Some of those are going up in price, too, but nothing like the major publishing companies. Really frustrating. It’s not like we can’t afford to buy some of these $19 ebooks occasionally, but like Tracey said one time, it’s the principle of the thing. Ok, I’ll hush now. lol

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      4. I just saw a notification from an indie author on instagram saying that Amazon was increasing costs so she has to raise the prices of her print books (sounds like they have a minimum price demand) so she was telling readers her books would go up from $9 to $13 in a week or so. But for traditionally published books — isn’t it the publisher who sets the price? So wouldn’t ebooks be the same no matter where you bought them from? Wait, I just checked a title on Canadian Amazon and Indigo (our version of Barnes and Noble) and there’s a $4 difference in ebook price – cheaper at Indigo. So I guess Amazon is setting hirer prices. So strange.

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      5. I checked the ebook price for ‘Sometimes You Stay’ & the price is $9.99 on Christian Book Distributors (CBD) & it’s $18 and some change on Amazon. Almost double, but not quite. They still have some good ebooks for $3.99-$4.99 by Christy Barritt & other popular authors who’ve gone Indie. Wonder if they’ll go up in price, too. Crazy!!! 🤑

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  11. There’s just something about Liz Johnson that I just like.  Sort of like a comfortable friendship, maybe?  I also enjoy the Red Door Inn series and the cast of characters.  Of course you can’t go wrong with the beautiful setting.  I’d love to go to Prince Edward Island someday!

    perrianne (DOT) askew (AT) me (DOT) com

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    1. She writes such relatable characters and I love that sometimes there aren’t storybook endings for all the loose threads (always for the hero and heroine, of course) but life is like that — not everything gets wrapped up in a neat little bow and that’s okay. Good luck, Perrianne!

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  13. I love Liz’s books and haven’t had a chance to read this one yet. I was really hoping to go to Prince Edward Island last year when we went to New England and Nova Scotia, but we ran out of time. We did get to see it in the distance, though. It would have been fun to visit there.

    whthomas13 at yahoo dot com

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      1. Unfortunately, I really don’t think I’ll ever make it back that way again. I’m getting a little old to do a lot of traveling, sadly. I do have a sister in Boston, though, and that’s why we went out that way last year. I might have to do most of my traveling by book now.

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