Hello there, everyone!

I’m sorry for the lack in posting. I was going to post much earlier, because I had some great news, but something happened and my life got kind of crazy for a bit. I will share more about that after this. So, anyways, I read another book for review today, this one is called Hearts Made Whole. Hope you’ve been enjoying the fiction lately. 😉 Friend me on GoodReads, if you haven’t already because I’m reading a crazy amount right now – finishing books all the time.

Hearts Made Whole by Jody Hedlund

♥ ♥ ♥ – –

(three out of five hearts)

GoodReads’ summary:

After her father’s death, Caroline Taylor has grown confident running the Windmill Point Lighthouse. But in 1865 Michigan, women aren’t supposed to have such roles, so it’s only a matter of time before the lighthouse inspector appoints a new keeper–even though Caroline has nowhere else to go and no other job available to her.

Ryan Chambers is a Civil War veteran still haunted by the horrors of battle. He’s been given the post as lighthouse keeper, and the isolation where he can drown in drink and hide from his past is appealing. He’s not expecting the current keeper to be a feisty and beautiful woman who’s none-too-pleased to be giving up her position. They both quickly realize he’s in no shape to run the lighthouse, but Ryan’s unwilling to let anyone close, ravaged by memories and guilt. Caroline’s drawn to this wounded soul, but with both of them relying on that single position, can they look past their loss to a future filled with hope…and possibly love?

Characters:

I really liked Caroline’s personality. She seemed really down to earth and realistic. I love how she argued for her job and tried to keep the lighthouse together even when it technically wasn’t her job anymore. I would say the only thing about her that I didn’t care for was her easy fall into love with Ryan. They acted too close too soon. They barely knew each other, but they acted as if they had known each other for forever. I would also say that their first kiss was wayy out of personality for both Ryan and Caroline.

For Ryan, I found him to be a pleasing character, but not all that interesting. He didn’t capture my attention the way he captured Caroline’s heart. His friendliness with the twins was cute though. I was unhappy with the lack of thought put into marriage by Caroline and Ryan though! Their relationship went really far and at that point they were surprised and seemingly put off by the thought of marriage. About Ryan in general though, he was sweet, but I wish his drinking/drug problem had been wrapped up a little better.

Plot:

I have to mention Tessa, even though technically she should fall under the characters topic. She was horrible! Supposedly she got along with Caroline sometimes, but every scene with her in it inside the book was just her fighting with Caroline. I wish she had had a few scenes with her in a good and agreeable mood towards Caroline.

The plot all in all was really good! I loved all the intense scenes because they were gripping, but never too scary. The writing style in this book is great, it lends itself towards a quick-read but keeps you interested the whole time.

Overall:

I liked it, I found a few reactions/scenes a bit cliché, but so many others were unique as well. A few things made the characters seem inconsistent, but I liked all of them except the bad guys (and perhaps Tessa). I would suggest this book to anyone who likes clean, Christian romances or mild intense action. The funny thing is though, even though this book is classified as Historical Fiction, I wouldn’t recommend it for that just because not a large amount of history was mentioned. All the same, as long as the reader wasn’t set on getting a lot of history, I would suggest it anyways.

I received a copy of this book from Bethany House in exchange for an honest review.

xx