Check out my spoiler-free review of The Challenge by Penelope Ward! This standalone, small-town romance is packed with some of my favorite tropes—second chance, forced proximity, and a swoony single dad. Read it on August 30th with Kindle Unlimited.
Kindle https://a.co/d/0fHCrUkV
Amazon UK: https://amzn.eu/d/0ifzve22
Amazon CA: https://a.co/d/0ebTpmgl
Amazon AU: https://amzn.asia/d/0dTpVF1N
Special edition paperback https://a.co/d/0gyOQgHR
Audio Narrated by Connor Crais & Desireé Ketchum https://fave.co/46ua6Rk
The current paperback preorder is for the alternate cover only. A model-cover paperback will be live on release day.
Cover Design: Letitia Hasser, RBA Designs
Photographer: Robert Dahey Photography
Model: Beau Carrillo
Synopsis:
From New York Times bestselling author Penelope Ward comes a new, STANDALONE contemporary romance…
Nothing says welcome home like accidentally moving in with your first heartbreak…and his little girl.
Coming back to my small Wyoming hometown was supposed to be temporary. I only planned to stay long enough to help my ailing mother and sort through the mess of my family’s old belongings.
Instead, I somehow ended up living in Evan Ricci’s house. The single dad now owned a bunch of properties and one of them was the place I’d rented. He’d taken it off the market and moved in before I got there. I just never got the memo. Unfortunately, there was no other place in town available, so Evan let me stay.
Evan—the guy my parents took in years ago after his mother died.
The same Evan who used to dare me into ridiculous challenges that somehow always made me stronger—a game we’d dubbed The Challenge.
The same guy who ultimately rejected me before I left for college after I’d finally garnered the courage to shoot my shot.
Now Evan was a rugged single dad with an eight-year-old daughter, a cocky attitude, and a dangerous ability to make me forget every reason I should still hate him.
Sharing a house with him should’ve been unbearable. Instead, it felt dangerously familiar, nearly making me forget that I had a life and a job to get back to in Chicago. I realized the biggest challenge wasn’t surviving living with Evan Ricci.
It was not falling in love with him all over again.
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT:
● SINGLE DAD
● SMALL TOWN
● FRIENDS TO LOVERS
● SECOND CHANCE
● FORCED PROXIMITY
● FOUND FAMILY
Spoiler-free Review of The Challenge
The Challenge by Penelope WardMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I challenge you to put this book down once you start reading it. The Challenge by Penelope Ward was a total binge read. This second-chance, forced-proximity, single-dad romance was hot, sweet, and such a treat.
Chloe returns to her small hometown in Wyoming to help her sick mom and unexpectedly finds herself living under the same roof as Evan, the guy who broke her heart years ago. Their chemistry was explosive, and their banter and the tension between them kept me glued to my Kindle. I loved watching their relationship develop. Evan’s adorable eight-year-old daughter, Effie, stole my heart. She added so much sweetness to the story.
Once again, Penelope delivered a memorable story that gave me everything I love in a binge-worthy romance- heat, heart, and characters I couldn’t help but root for. That epilogue was the chef’s kiss. Best of 2026.
Challenge accepted. Challenge devoured.
AUTHOR BIO
Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of contemporary romance.
She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a television news anchor. Penelope resides in Rhode Island with her husband, son, and beautiful daughter with autism.
With millions of books sold, she is a 21-time New York Times bestseller and the author of over forty books. Her novels have been translated into over a dozen languages and can be found in bookstores around the world.
AUTHOR LINKS
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/penelopewardauthor
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/PenelopesPeeps
Instagram: http://instagram.com/PenelopeWardAuthor
