Pages: 505
Source: Publisher
A Heart Revealed shifts gears as Katie and Luke are happily married, and the couple are dealing with Katie’s independence and Luke’s role as a husband. Katie is headstrong and doesn’t reveal to Luke that she still plans to attend law school until after the rings are placed on their fingers. When Katie’s secret is revealed, Luke is hurt and angry, Katie has everything already planned out and he was the last to know- the honeymoon period is short lived and Luke begins to sleep on the couch. Tensions are high, and Katie wonders what her future will hold. At the heart of the story is Emma Malloy, an innocent woman who has been left by her abusive husband. Her husband Rory has done the unthinkable scaring her face for life when he threw a pan of grease at her. Since the incident he’s ran off with another woman and Emma had fled Ireland for the States and the O’Connor family are among the first people she meets. It has been ten years, and her wounds emotional and physical wounds are healing. Emma manages the department store and proves to be a reliable, responsible and caring person. While she has started her life over, Emma remains married and intends to uphold her marriage vows. Katie’s brother Sean has declared that he will never marry, and when he loses his job- Sean and Emma begin working together. Emma is encouraged to leave Rory by many, but her own personal convictions leave her confused, and guilty.
Julie Lessman is without a doubt a fantastic storyteller. This book is the second book in the Wind of Change series, the first being “A Hope Undaunted.” The setting takes place during the depression and times are tough. I fell in love with the first book and it will remain one of my favorite books. I had very high expectations for this book because I loved the first one so much. I was a little disappointed but I greatly enjoyed this one as well. My issue is that my favorite characters were no longer front-row center anymore. While Katie and Luke do remain with the book, Emma and Sean take precedence. I kept holding out for more details of Katie and Luke. There were many subplots and characters in this book, and it was a little hard to keep them all organized. I think this one could be read as a standalone, but it would be best to read the first book. The overall theme of the book is forgiveness, and faith. I’m really looking forward to the next book in the series. When a series focus’ on different characters but the same characters reappear, I tend to like book 1 and 3. I think I have more time to adjust to the change of characters and move on from those I left behind. I think Julie Lessman is a great writer, and I look forward to her upcoming reads.
This sounds like a wonderful series, thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteI've found with series that it's common to see brief mentions of previous books' main characters. I really liked the first book in this series and look forward to reading this after reading your review.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that this series continues to impress, although there is a focus on different characters this time around. It sounds like a series that I could really become enveloped in and get excited about. Thanks for sharing your impressions with me today. It made for interesting reading!
ReplyDeleteI asn't aware of this series but I love that cover. I don't think I've read much that was set during the depression so this would be a new and different kind of read for me. Sounds like the first book in the series is more riveting though. Although you were a bit disappointed in the focus of the characters, it seems to still be a pretty good story. I'll have to look this author up. Nice review.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like the book is well worth reading, even if your favorites aren't featured as much.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Q, I honestly LOVE how you always alert me to books I've never heard of before and makes me want to read them! This series sounds really cool! I'm a total sucker for good-storytelling, so you can bet I want to read this one! :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome review, Mrs. Q!
JENNIFER, THANK YOU!!! I SO appreciate the great review, and I'll be honest with you -- Katie and Luke's story (A Hope Undaunted) is my favorite of all the books I've written, too, so I'm glad you liked it as well.
ReplyDeleteI think Emma and Sean's story carries more weight when a reader has been involved in the entire saga all along, beginning with book 1 in The Daughters of Boston series, A Passion Most Pure. This is Faith's story and won American Christian Fiction Writerss Debut Book of the Year for 2009, laying the groundwork and background for this VERY passionate family.
Thank you SO much, not only for taking the time to read my books, but for posting such a great review. I don't know if you interested, but I am running a contest where readers get points for posting their review and can win a signed copy of Steven's story next year (A Love Surrendered), a $50 gift card and have a character named after them in that story. So if this sounds like something you may be interested in, you can find the details on the "contest" tab of my website here: http://www.julielessman.com/contest/.
Thanks again, Jen, and have a GREAT day!!
Hugs,
Julie
I think this series sounds like one I would enjoy. I think I have one of Lessman's book on my nook. I'll have to be sure to read all of them in order. That era really captures my attention!
ReplyDeleteI have the first book in this series on my Nook and I'm looking forward to it!
ReplyDeleteI'll start by saying if you've never read any of Julie Lessman's other books - YOU NEED TO!!! She is HANDS DOWN my favorite author, and she once again has written a book chock full of love, humor, passion, and story, story, story!!
ReplyDeleteThis is the 5th book sharing the lives of the very Irish O'Connor family (The Daughters of Boston series is the 1st three, and the Winds of Change series continues where the Daughters of Boston left off), and I just absolutely LOVE how Julie incorporates SO MUCH the lives of the characters we have grown to love from her previous books! So by the time you get to this book - A Heart Revealed - you already know and LOVE Sean and Emma before even starting the book!
This one is a bit different than all of Julie's other books - because Emma is married, there isn't the heated romantic passion right off the bat and then all throughout the book (which is kinda Julie's "thing" in all of her other books.) Sean and Emma's story shows their love blooming through friendship, but don't worry - she still gives us plenty of her trademark passion and drama through Luke and Katie and Mitch and Charity!! And don't worry - things will definitely heat up for Sean and Emma too, so don't lose heart!! :-)
The book is also full of the regular "Julie Lessman" roller coaster-like ups and downs and then of course back up again...with of course a surprise or two thrown in!! I promise - this one will be one for the KEEPER shelf - along with ALL of her other ones!! A definite must read!