Sunday, March 13, 2016

The Hearts We Mend by Kathryn Springer


About the book: Planning and Post-It notes are the epitome of Evie’s life. But when she meets Jack, her life gets more than a little complicated.

Thirteen years ago, Evie’s firefighter husband was killed in the line of duty, leaving her to raise their young son, Cody, alone. Now, Cody is marrying the love of his life, and as he packs up his belongings, the house feels as empty as Evie’s heart. But for all her planning and mad organizational skills, Evie could never have anticipated the dramatic shift her life is about to make.
Tattooed, rough-around-the-edges Jack raises quite a few eyebrows in the tight-knit community of Banister Falls. Where Evie’s life is stream-lined, Jack’s approach to living is moment-by-moment. But as Evie gets drawn into Jack’s world—a world that isn’t as safe or predictable as the one she’s worked so hard to create—he challenges her to open her eyes to the problems outside the walls of the church.

Jack doesn’t make Evie feel comfortable, but he definitely makes her feel something. Something she hasn’t felt since Max passed away—or, maybe ever. Because even though Jack isn’t anything like her late husband, he just might be everything she needs.

My thoughts: A cast of delightful, believable, and vibrant characters hammer their way through this story of lives in distress, lives healing, lives discovering. Main protagonists, Evie and Jack, virtually run headlong into each other on a dark night as she adventures forth to help another and he, stealthily with baseball bat in hand, protects his neighbor from intruders.

Evie is a young widow whose son is marrying very young just as she, herself, did. So I'm guessing her age to be around 37. Young enough to be attracted to the brash and handsome Jack who has now entered her daily life at the church where she works. Evie is old enough to be an in-charge and take-charge person.

Jack has a family chock full of difficulties and problems. He has moved to Banister Falls to be on hand to catch the fall out from these problems and hopefully help solve them.

Most lovable of all the characters, though, is lovable Lily the wee little daughter of Travis who is younger brother to Jack. You will want Lily to paint your toenails Caribbean Orange, too.

A delightful and quick read that is well suited for anyone past teen years. The content isn't "adult" but the interest level more appealing for those a  bit older. Loved it.



About Kathryn Springer: Kathryn Springer is a USA Today bestselling author. She grew up in northern Wisconsin, where her parents published a weekly newspaper. As a child she spent many hours sitting at her mother’s typewriter, plunking out stories, and credits her parents for instilling in her a love of books – which eventually turned into a desire to tell stories of her own. Kathryn has written nineteen books with close to two million copies sold. She lives with her husband and three children in Marinette, Wisconsin. Find out more about Kathryn at http://www.kathrynspringer.com. 

DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy from Litfuse Publicity Group to facilitate this review. Opinions are my own. I was not compensated for the review.

2 comments:

  1. Looks like a great book! Visiting from Monday's Musings.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think I would enjoy this book! Thanks so much for linking up at Booknificent Thursday this week on Mommynificent.com!
    Tina

    ReplyDelete

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