Hearts Made Whole

"Sometimes even the strongest need someone to take care of them."

Caroline is a feisty little thing. She is determined to keep her family safe after her mother, and now her father pass away. Life isn't fair, yet Caroline keeps sailing full steam ahead tending the lighthouse. It's a job she loves. Too bad the inspector of lighthouses doesn't care.

In enters Ryan Chambers. He has a past in which he cannot let go - or maybe the past won't let go of him yet. He.is.a.hot.mess. Caroline just wants to shake him senseless. Yet, she sees something in his haunted eyes. She doesn't want to like him as her lighthouse job was snatched out from beneath her. Yet...

When someone keeps trying to hurt them or send a dangerous message to them, it only makes Ryan and Caroline work harder together. Even if it means giving up a dream.

Hope. Compassion. Love. Guilt. Forgiveness. Unworthiness. Overcoming. And a giggle or three. Those are emotions I would use to describe the theme of Hearts Made Whole. Who among us has not felt one or all of those emotions?

Hearts Made Whole written by Jody Hedlund is book two in her Beacons of Hope series. However, don't let that stop you if you haven't read book one. Jody is a master at series books. She expertly weaves the story and seamlessly welcomes character of one book into another without the reading being confused.

The mysterious happenings had me guessing which character was out to get Caroline. Or was it Ryan they were out to get? After two wrong guesses I finally discovered the culprit.

Toward the end of the book Caroline's sister says, "Sometimes even the strongest need someone to take care of them." I will admit I cried. Yes, I'm a natural-born crier. But, something about that statement just hit me. Maybe it has been several things I've been working through the last few months. Maybe I just needed a cry. Maybe, just maybe, when you're reading a well-written book and you're fully immersed in that world you become so emotionally attached to a character you feel what she feels. Maybe. Or I could have been having an emotional day. Shrugs shoulders.

RUN out to or CLICK on over to your favorite bookstore and purchase a wonderful book by a magnificent writer. You won't be sorry...although your household chores may be neglected for a few days because you can't put it down. Dust and cleaning will always be there so have some fun in the sun (or beach) and read this little beauty.

Author, Jody Hedlund, and her publisher have a great giveaway going on right now. Be sure to enter here.