Award Winning Author Hope Flansburg
I grew up reading just about anything, as long as it was fiction. Some of my favorites included Judy Blume, V.C. Andrews, Francine Pascal, Roald Dahl, and even Stephen King. I’d often sneak a romance novel from my mother’s nightstand, easily getting lost in the world of happily ever after.
After a divorce in my mid-twenties and blending my family in my thirties, I still believed in happily ever after. I continued reading many of these books to escape the drama in my own life. But often, I was left disappointed—real life, mine and others', didn’t match the standards I had been reading about. It felt like a disservice was being done to both men and women when it came to lasting love, because of those unrealistic expectations.
I realized I wanted something different. I wanted real. I wanted relatable. I wanted authentic characters who faced struggles, trials, and tribulations just like the rest of us.
I wanted hope that love could last.
Like many areas of my life, the rebel in me loves to debunk myths, break stereotypes, and free anything that’s been pigeonholed. I have a need to make things unique, different, and one of a kind.
That’s exactly what I do with my stories. I write women’s fiction so I can blend romance and suspense with challenging topics, creating stories that center on connection, hope, and healing.
A whole industry of rom-coms and romance novels revolve around the intensity, passion, and inspiration of new love.
But what makes love last when real life and conflict inevitably get in the way?
Divorce rates are skyrocketing.
Second and even third marriages are struggling to endure.
Many people stay in loveless, unhappy marriages for years, while others settle, having lost faith in love and the union of partnerships.
Trauma, toxic stress, grief, and loss have left many individuals depleted, grappling with anxiety and fear.
So many struggle in silence, afraid of ridicule and judgment, while others have mastered wearing a mask, using the "disease of being busy" as an easy escape.
Statistics and data show that at our core, we all seek human connection and love.
The idea of sharing deep emotional pain, even with those closest to us, can be paralyzing, making it difficult to move forward and terrifying to seek help.
Is “happily ever after” even possible when so many of us have a past that seems to define our lives in negative ways?
In my books, I give voice to the very scenarios that break us. Trauma, suffering, grief, and loss shape the relationship we have with ourselves and how we show up in relationships with others—whether with intimate partners, children, or friendships.
My goal is to reach the heart of the reader, taking them alongside my characters as they stumble through raw emotions and darkness. By planting seeds of hope and weaving in suspense, I ensure readers won’t be able to put the book down as they wonder if the characters will let the shame of their past sabotage any chance for a future—or find the courage to heal.
Happily Ever After is not for the Faint of Heart
Somewhere in the shadows of regret and despair, magic stirs up hope allowing for a second chance at life and love. Suffering and mistakes do not have to be our weakness. Instead, they can be our teachers.
As a child, Desiree Severs was fascinated by God, Angels, and the power of faith. Years later when tragedy strikes, she quickly learns there is no angelic hero coming to rescue her from despair. Drowning with a bitter heart, a broken soul, and consumed with fear, Desiree isolates from everyone and everything except her children. After an emotional breakdown leaves her embarrassed by her behavior, healing begins. An encounter with a helpful stranger establishes new friendships, and through the eyes of a child, mysterious messages begin to appear. But Desiree finds that these messages intensify her guilt, making it difficult to move forward.
After a nasty divorce, police officer and single father, Kurt Bixby moves to Red Oak, Minnesota. He is ready to pick up the pieces of his broken family and start over. Although he remains overly cautious about his future with women, he is content with the simple life he and his son, Mike are creating. Yet, when his instinct to help a damsel in distress kicks in, he finds himself caught up in a friendship with someone whose past is still very much the present.
Will Desiree and Kurt continue to hang onto their history, or could divine miracles play a role in restoring their belief in love after heartache?
Deeply emotional and inspirational, Angel Kisses is a romantic, spiritual novel about the ability to walk through the darkness of the grieving process.
Is Every Soul Truly Worth Saving?
2021 Young Adult Author Elite Award Winner
In the summer of 1996, eighteen-year-old Jessie Cody thought she had the perfect life until she discovers her sister has a horrifying secret. Then a violent assault silences her from exposing a truth that could tear her family apart. Jessie feels her only choice is to run away.
Thirteen years later, when Jessie learns her father is terminally ill, she returns home. There she finds her sister has a family of her own, the boy who once captured her heart is haunted by demons from long-ago, and her current relationship is not what appears to be. Confronted with memories of the past, Jessie is determined to release the hatred that has darkened her heart to find a place with the loved ones she left behind. Yet, she is afraid if she reveals the truth, the nightmare she never escaped will ruin any chance of happiness.
Growing up, Zane Stecks did not feel safe at home. To avoid the never-ending turmoil, he and his brother found solace with their neighbors, the Cody’s. Under their roof, he found a role model, learned the true the meaning of family, and fell in love with their daughter, Jessie. Zane finally felt like he belonged somewhere. But the hope of a promising future vanished instantly the day Jessie ran away.
For over a decade, Zane blamed himself for not protecting the Cody’s from the actions of a monster. Now, he lives a lonely existence on the ranch he inherited, but never gave up hope that Jessie would return to put the pieces of a lost life back together. When they accidently cross paths, a love he could not let die resurfaces. Yet, as fragments of history begin to unravel and deep, dark family secrets are discovered, Zane wonders if he will lose Jessie all over again once she learns what he has kept hidden.
Piece by Piece is a story of heart-wrenching loss, acknowledging deep wounds, and trusting in the power of God’s grace. It is a novel of redemption, the mystery of eternal love and the forever bond of family.
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Angel Kisses
Piece by Piece
Bibliotherapy
These books can serve as powerful Bibliotherapy tools, helping readers not only understand perspectives other than their own but also find meaning in their own past struggles. Through these stories, they may experience renewed hope and a deeper sense of peace.
Research has shown that literary fiction enhances our ability to empathize with others; to put ourselves into another’s shoes; to become more intuitive about other people’s feelings (as well as our own); and to self-reflect on our problems as we read about and Empathizing with a fictional character who faces similar challenges can be a powerful healing tool.
By reading and discussing literature with a therapist or in a group therapy setting, patients can gain insight into perspectives beyond their own. This process helps them make sense of a difficult past, cope with upsetting symptoms, and cultivate feelings of hope, contentment, and empathy. Moreover, reading is known to boost self-esteem, self-awareness, and a sense of personal empowerment.
Trauma, suffering, grief, and loss deeply affect the way we relate to ourselves and how we engage with others—whether in our intimate relationships, with our children, or in friendships.
My goal is to touch the heart of the reader, guiding them through the raw emotions of my characters as they navigate the darkness. I aim to plant seeds of hope, showing how resilience and healing can emerge from adversity.
Book Hope to Speak at Your Next Meeting or Event!
Reader Reviews
I listened to ‘Piece by Piece’ audio book on a recent trip and it made the trip fly by! As a matter of fact, I had to drive around the block twice on the way home to finish it! Hope's story telling draws you in and keeps you interested in her deep dive into the characters from start to finish. I love the different perspectives included in the story. I was so invested in all the characters. Definitely worth your time!
‘Angel Kisses’ is a second-chance romance with a widow/single mom female heroine and police officers/single dad hero. I had the privilege of reading the ARC copy of this book and was drawn in by the realistic emotions and dynamics grief has on a spouse, parent, children and friends who have lost a loved one. The author weaves the characters' choices, messiness, fears and emotions artfully, and I found them both relatable and endearing. The paranormal overtones added a delightful twist at the end that I enjoyed."
"I picked up ‘Piece by Piece’ because the author described the story as getting real with life's messiness and I was curious to see how she would tell such a story. It took me a few months to read the first third of the book because it was hard to feel the protagonists' pain. The reward of climbing a steep hill is the delight of rolling to the bottom, and that's how it felt as the characters, mystery and longing propelled me through the rest of the story. While the pain the characters experienced was a sobering reminder of many people's reality, it was a reminder I needed, told through a delightful love story."
Great read! I’m not really much of a fiction reader. I’m too obsessed with personal development. That’s probably why I loved ‘Angel Kisses’- it had a mix of fabulous advice and real characters that were developed very well and super relatable. The author weaves personal experience and wisdom into the plot that makes it a quick and easy book hard to put down. As a mother who’s experienced loss, I relate very much to both the grieving and supernatural explained in Angels Kisses.
Hope Flansburg's characters jump off the page and capture your heart. "Piece by Piece" captivated me, and I could not stop reading. I found myself caring and really needing to know what happened and what is going to happen. The author is a master of foreshadowing and keeping you in suspense. Loved this book, which has you on an emotional roller coaster, sheds light on the terrible world of abuse, and offers hope and redemption. A must read!
The messages of faith and divine miracles that are laced through the story of ‘Angel Kisss’ and the surprise ending is worth every moment. The family conflict was incredibly relatable, but the healing, unity and unconditional love that came out through their experiences was encouraging.