Home for Wounded Hearts: a place for hope and renewal

Home for Wounded Hearts by Ashley Farley is a story of hope and renewal. Faith Neilson is a survivor of an abusive marriage. Her new passion in life is to help other women in dangerous and hopeless situations. She opens a women’s shelter, Lovie’s Home. A home not just for abused women but women dealing with addiction, grief, homelessness, any woman who wants to mend their broken hearts and find a new meaning in life. There’s Tilda who is convinced she has Alzheimer’s. Molly, a street-smart homeless woman with a childlike quality and a deeply wounded heart. Caroline who has hidden her grief in her gardening hobby. As they find the will to live life day-to-day, the future of the shelter and their bonds of friendship are threatened. Can they find the strength to protect their new home and themselves? 

Spinning off of her bestselling Sweeney Sisters series, Ms Farley attempts to write a story with a strong message and very deep situations. While I was intrigued by the opening chapter, I was quickly bored as it was slow with none of the depth I expected from the situations each woman experiences. I found myself dozing off as I tried to read. Everyone seemed to fall in line with the shelter’s routine with very little conflict. Faith was a bit unbelievable as a character. She is an abuse survivor but what about experiencing an abusive relationship gives her the insight that certain residents as roommates would help “heal” each other. Maybe I’m missing something from not reading the original series. Overall, I did not enjoy it. However, if you are a fan of Ms Farley’s Sweeney Sisters series, you may enjoy Home for Wounded Hearts. 

Home for Wounded Hearts is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook

The Wedding War: what happens when the children of two former friends get married?

The Wedding War by Liz Talley. Once upon a time, Melanie “Melly” Layton and Tennyson “Teeny” O’Rourke were inseparable, but their friendship was shattered when a deep secret, one they pinkie promised never to reveal, was exposed. They haven’t spoken for more than two decades and they were happy never to cross paths again. But fate would intervene. Melanie’s daughter, Emma, and Tennyson’s son, Andrew, would meet in college, fall in love and after graduation, announce their engagement. Now the two women must find a way to tolerate each other and play nice long enough to plan the wedding. But hurts still run deep and they clash from the start. From keeping it simple and traditional to extravagant and flashy, they find a way to argue about every detail. Adding to the drama of the wedding planning, life’s own complications add to the drama and forces Melanie and Tennyson to confront their past. With the wedding day fast approaching, can their friendship be renewed? 

The Wedding War is a story of family, friends, letting go and moving on. After a strong start, setting up childhood friendship, the story takes a strange turn. I wasn’t sure where the story was going or if I would like it. I couldn’t relate to Tennyson or Melanie. I found Melanie’s characterization as a stereotypical uptight, frumpy housewife insulting. And I didn’t care for all the designer name dropping when describing Tennyson. Okay we get it, Tennyson has money and she’s stylish. The beginning of the end and the ultimate end of their friendship was totally the fault of one rather than both having a hand in it. And one transgression would be very hard to forgive. Overall, I ended up enjoying the story, although I couldn’t relate to the woman and I didn’t get the laugh-out-loud moments that I was expecting. There was one moment I thought was hilarious. The second half of the book helps redeem the cringey first half. I’m glad I stuck with it and recommend The Wedding War. 

The Wedding War is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook. 

What's Worth Keeping: a story of healing, renewal and falling in love again

What’s Worth Keeping by Kaya McLaren is an emotional journey following Amy, a breast cancer survivor, her husband, Paul, an Oklahoma City police officer who is still haunted by the Oklahoma City Bombing and their teenage daughter, Carly, a recent high school graduate who has lost her way. On the day she hears the word no one wants to hear, Amy discovers a secret that Paul has been keeping from her. As summer begins and the months of chemo treatments are over and her recovery from surgeries is complete, she escapes her claustrophobic life. She seeks to find healing, peace and clarity in the one place which she felt whole: the ancient forests in Washington State. After dropping Carly off at Amy’s Aunt Rae’s horse ranch in the mountains of New Mexico, Paul visits the house he bought many years ago with the hopes to fix it up and retire. What he finds mirrors his life and marriage, everything looks fine on the outside, but inside is a disaster. When he finds himself with more time off than he expected, he begins the painstaking but loving repairs to the house and maybe even his future. After witnessing her mother’s treatments and recoveries, Carly is terrified when she learns that the cause was genetic, leaving her with a sense of impending doom and all her hopes and dreams seem like a waste of time. With the help of Aunt Rae and a Clydesdale horse named T Rex, can Carly discover she can have hope for the future again? Will Amy find the healing and peace she seeks? Can Paul repair his marriage and find the love they used to share? 

Right off the bat, the story of Amy, Paul and Carly hits you in the face. It pulls you in and tells you to put yourself in the shoes of these characters. Like life, What’s Worth Keeping has its ups and downs. At times it was sweet and these people obviously loved each other at one time and others, the heartbreaking moments when their world has been rocked to its core. At times I wanted to shake some sense into the characters and tell them not to be such an idiot! At other times, I wanted to hug each one and cry with them. I have not had the experiences that Amy has but her reactions and fight to gain her life back felt very real and very raw. I don’t know how I would react if I were in Amy’s shoes but her fears are very real. Paul is definitely a first responder who was just going through the motions as he is constantly reminded of the horrible events after the bombing and how it shaped his life since. He must battle the demons of survivor’s guilt if he wants to regain the life he once again and to love and be loved as he did before. Carly’s reaction to her mother’s illness was the most heartbreaking as she became angry in general as she saw her future in her mother’s pain and suffering. What’s Worth Keeping is a book that will break your heart, shed tears as Amy, Paul and Carly come to terms with the events of their lives and decide whether to fight or give up their futures. I highly recommend What’s Worth Keeping. 

What’s Worth Keeping is available in paperback and eBook

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Bread of Angels: the story of Lydia, the seller of purple

Bread of Angels by Tessa Afshar is the story of Lydia, the seller of purple who is briefly mentioned in Acts 16:14. The story begins with Lydia as a young girl learning her father’s secret formula for the richest purple dye. After tragedy strikes, Lydia is forced to leave her ancestral home and head to Philippi. In Philippi, she establishes herself as a seller of purple and gained a reputation as an honest and generous businesswoman despite the attempts of sabotage by those who wish to see her fail. One such act of sabotage seems to be her ruin. Until one day, a chance meeting with Paul and his companions, she turns her life over to God. As she learns more about God and opening her heart to him, individuals from her past come to Philippi and threaten to destroy everything she has worked so hard to build. Her newly found faith will be tested and she must decide to stand up and fight for herself or turn and hide.

One of the things I love about Tessa Afshar’s writing is that she can take a simple and relatively minor person from the Bible and make her come alive. She did it here in Bread of Angels. Lydia is mentioned briefly during Paul’s mission trips in Acts, but her story is very significant. From the opening page to the closing chapter, I was captivated by Lydia’s story and how seemingly insignificant encounters brought her to a place of prestige and influence. I also love how Tessa Afshar works the meaning of the title very subtly in the story and seems to come from nowhere. While some details about these characters and the times in which they lived are fictionalized and altered for a modern reader, Ms. Afshar keeps the integrity of the main character, Lydia, and opened my eyes to her story in a new way. I highly recommend Bread of Angels.

Bread of Angels

is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook

The Art of Hiding: when life comes crashing down

The Art of Hiding by Amanda Prowse is the story of woman who must rebuild her life when her husband dies and the life she had disappears. Nina McCarrick is 34 years old with a wonderful husband, Finn, and two sons, Connor and Declan. One day she gets the dreaded call that no one wants to get. Finn has been in a car accident. After the daze and shock of his death and funeral starts to clear, she learns that Finn had been hiding terrible secrets which leaves her and the boys destitute. Having to leave their post home, they move back to her childhood home to Portswood, Southampton to be near her sister, Tiggy. It is a world away from the life they are used to; but Nina tries to their new home comfortable. As they adjust and move on with life, Nina begins to question herself, her abilities, even her own strength. She rediscovers who she was before Finn came into her life and dictated everything for her. Can she finally follow her dreams she long pushed aside? Will she be able to forgive Finn for his mistakes? Can she and the boys truly be happy in their new life and home?

This is the third book I’ve read by Ms. Prowse and while I enjoyed it, I must say it wasn’t as good as the other two. The Art of Hiding was so fast paced, I felt it was over too quickly. Even though it takes place in England, I feel this story could have taken place anywhere in the world. The pain, the anger, the tears, the recovery is universal. Questions can be running through the readers’ heads: “How could Nina not know?” While Finn never really speaks a word in the story, only through memories, he is a strong influence and you understand how Nina did not know about the details of their life. It wasn’t her job to know, which angers me but it fit the story. It fit Nina as she focused being a wife and mother. I think my favorite character is Tiggy. She was blunt and helped Nina realize what she gave up without really wanting too. If you’ve enjoyed Ms. Prowse’s other books, you will enjoy The Art of Hiding.

The Art of Hiding

is available on Amazon

in paperback and on the Kindle

While You were Mine: life changes with the end of WWII

While You were Mine by Ann Howard Creel is a story of one woman’s world coming to an end with the end of World War II.

The story opens in August 1945, Gwen Mullen is a nurse in New York City when she hears the news of the Japanese surrender. At her door is the one man who will tear her world apart. A man who has come for his daughter. Gwen had become the adoptive mother of Mary whose mother, Alice, left when she was a few months old and her father, John, is presumed dead in Europe. With the help of her German neighbors, Lisen and Geoff, and her new roommate, Dot, Gwen takes care of the baby. John learns that Alice has left the baby with Gwen and he is determined to find her. When he can’t, he returns to New York determined to raise his daughter. Gwen agrees to help John learn how to take care of Mary and ease himself into Mary’s life. Soon, the two become close and plan a future together until Alice returns. Will Gwen have to say goodbye to Mary and John for good? Will she be able to walk away?

While You were Mine is a great story filled with drama and twists and turns. I loved the realistic depiction of life for the returning soldiers. The memories, the nightmares, the difficulties returning to civilian life are portrayed honestly and realistically. The characters are real and relatable. You feel the heartache for some, feel anger for others and you begin to understand the hard transition of life after war. I recommend While You were Mine. It’s a great story of life, love and starting over.

While You were Mine

is available on Amazon

in paperback $14.95

Kindle Unlimited

and

on Barnes and Noble.com

in hardcover $24.95

in paperback $14.95

and Audiobook $14.99

Winter Garden: a story of a mother, her daughters and a painful secret

Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah is a story about two sisters who try to reconnect with a mother who shut them out many years ago. When a fairy tale from their childhood is retold, they discover that their mother was hiding a deep and painful secret.

Meredith and Nina Witson are daughter of Evan and Anya. The story begins in December 1972 as Meredith writes a play based on a fairy tale her mother tells her. After her mother abruptly stops the play and vows to never tell the fairy tale again, a wedge is placed between Anya and her daughters. Fast forward to 2000, Meredith is now married to her childhood sweetheart with two grown daughters and Nina is a world traveling photographer. When Evan suddenly dies, Nina is determined to hear the fairy tale again. At first Anya is resistant but soon she begins to tell the story again, Meredith and Nina realize that more and more elements of the story are different. They begin to realize that this story is no fairy tale but a story of their mother’s deepest secret. A secret she wanted to die with her. Will Meredith and Nina get the real story? Or will their mother keep her wall of secrecy?

I’ve been a fan of Kristin Hannah for many years and have read nearly all of her books. None of her books have affected me more than Winter Garden. The reader discovers the facts of the story along with Meredith and Nina and there are a great many heart gasping moments. I can’t give too many details about the fairy tale as it will ruin the course of discovery. I can say that this book is among the few in which I cried. My heart broke for Anya as she finally reveals the painful secret of many years ago. Events are described in vivid detail. My favorite line in the book is from Anya who tells her daughters, “You would be amazed at what the human heart can endure.” I highly recommend Winter Garden as it is a story of a mother and her daughters and the painful events in which human often must endure.

Winter Garden and other titles by Kristin Hannah

are available on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles and a bookstore near you.