Ava could never believe that a guy like Joel Wentworth would be interested in her, at least not for anything more than studying together in the library. He's popular, and gorgeous. All the girls wanted him. When he finally let's Ava know how he feels, she wants him, but also wants to keep their relationship secret. She has her reasons, some of them good ones, but in the end, when circumstances have her and Joel parting ways, she realizes that she left the love of her life go. 
 Eight years later and after much professional success between them, Joel returns to London and the their group of friends that still get together. Ava knows that she's going to see him again. Of course none of her friends know that she's a mess about this because they don't know Joel and Ava's past. 
 Hopeful is told in first person, Ava's point of view. The chapters flip between past and present so we get to see how they fell in love, and what broke them apart. The back and forth between the present and the past sorta got on my nerves at the end when I just wanted to know if they were going to make it in the present. 
 This true love tale kept me interested and kept me reading to the end. I wanted to know how it was all going to turn out. If you don't believe in one true love, then you might have some problems with this story. I really liked their courtship and I could believe they had that sort of all-consuming forever-type of love for each other. 
 I liked Hopeful. This was the first title I've read by this author and I would seriously consider reading more from Louise Bay. 
 This review also appears on my blog at: http://redhotbluereads.blogspot.com/2014/08/review-giveaway-hopeful-by-louise-bay.html