Hearts We Mend - A Review

Published - March 2016, Zondervan
Series - Barrister Falls Book 2
Author - Kathryn Springer
Title - Hearts We Mend
Format - ebook, paper
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Evie Bennett lost her husband in a fire when their son was six years old. For the past thirteen years, she has been raising Cody alone. Now Cody's getting married and will soon be a father as well. Evie begins to feel an entirely different form of loneliness. Always organized and sticking to a schedule, Evie has no idea how much her life is about to change dramatically. Jack Vale has been hired to fill in as the church's handyman. He's a man who lives his life moment to moment. His appearance raises more than a few eyebrows around the community. But as Evie gets drawn into Jack's life and world, she learns that sometimes spur of the moment is better than a safe, secure plan. But can Evie learn to let go of herself enough to fall in love again?

Last year when I read the first book in this series, Dandelion Field, I loved the book, but didn't like Evie too much. At first. But when I saw that there was going to be a second book about Barrister Falls, I was excited. Because I wanted to know more about the characters, and I wanted to see if Evie continued to grow on me as she did towards the end of the first book.

While I didn't love love love this book like I did the first, I still enjoyed it very much so. I loved seeing Evie be drawn out more and more. I ADORED Jack. I thought he was wonderful in the way that he related to Evie, tried to take care of his brother, and was there for all of the tenants in his building. But he was pretty deep too. He knew that he wasn't perfect, but he tried to show how Christ had changed him.

I loved how Jack actually saw Evie. And what I mean by that is that he actually saw through her facade and deep into her soul. He recognized (and encouraged) her to be herself. To have fun. To let go. I also loved catching up with Cody, Raine, Dan, and Gin.

This book does stand alone, but the story is much richer if you read Dandelion Field first. If this is the last one about this town, that's fine. But I could easily see stories for Nicki, Maggie, and some of the others.

I received this book for free from Booklook Bloggers for the purpose of reviewing. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Recommended to fans of Karen Kingsbury, Becky Wade, Katie Ganshert, Liz Johnson, Denise Hunter, Irene Hannon, contemporary fiction, Johnnie Alexander, Susan May Warren, Love Inspired

Rating - 4 stars