Book Review: "My Stubborn Heart"

This review may contain some spoilers. Read with caution!


"My Stubborn Heart" by: Becky Wade

As most of you will have guessed by now I love a good light-hearted romantic-comedy in my films and I love it when a book is able to pull off that same depth of warm fuzzies that a (good) rom-com can! When "My Stubborn Heart" popped up in my review selection I knew that from the cheerful cover to the warm description that this book promised a good light-hearted romantic read!

The story is about Kate Donovan, a thirty-one year old single young woman who is completely burned out on every aspect of her life. Feeling the need to break the ruts he has lived too long in she has agreed to take a sabbatical from her job as a social worker and pack up and move from Dallas to rural Pennsylvania to help her Gran refurbish and restore the house she grew up in.  Kate and Gran dig into the project with gusto purging the home of its 1955 redecorated interior and uncovering long forgotten treasures while breathing life back into the grand old house. With a project so large it's hard to get by without a little help from your friends and Kate and Gran are no different- Gran's hometown buddies, a quirky mix of ageing retirees lend a hand and humor to this book.
Also lending a hand is handy man Matt Jarreau a local young man that Gran has known since he was 'this big' who is now living with a tragic past that he can't outrun. Matt, once a professional hockey player and mega celebrity has quite simply quit hockey and quit life after the death of his wife to cancer several years before. Matt is a hard, closed case for social worker Kate who likes to be open and bring people out of their shells- and Kate begins to wonder if this is what she was really brought to Chapel Bluff for even as she fights her growing attraction to Matt. Matt in the meantime has no doubt as to the attraction he is feeling for Kate- and the guilt that it brings with it...the only problem for Matt is that his heart is still in tatters from his wife's death- what happens if he lets Kate get a hold of it- and worse, what happens if he lets God get a hold of his heart too?

I really loved about the first six chapters of this book, from there the plot went a bit sideways. The prologue is sweet and charming pulling the reader in with a 'once upon a time' style set up that quickly jumps into the heart of the story. From there- and throughout the book- the dialog is quick, natural and snappy breathing a lifelike, 3-D quality to each character and situation and moves the plot along rapidly. And that is where things get sticky. By the time the reader hits chapter seven Matt is insatiably 'in love' with Kate going into a complete 'abort-mission-eject-now' tailspin that sees him crashing and burning simply because Kate has gone away for the weekend! From there Matt's passion and desire for Kate is not logically and thoughtfully cultivated but brought to and left in top gear for the duration of the story up to its stormy, passionate resolution at the end of the book. While Matt does get his life together as a result of Kate's help and Kate does reach a point of 'surrender to a higher purpose' in helping him, the thing that drove the book- and drove me crazy in the process- was that the characters stop- or in some cases, never start- talking to each other in an honest and direct way about the way they feel or the way they feel God moving in their lives! It's a fault that leads them both to further heartbreak and disillusionment  before it ever leads them together. It's a fault that leaves, this reader at least, disillusioned with the direction of the plot.

No good romantic-comedy revvs its viewers up full throttle only to hold them there for the remainder of the film. Instead, every great romance involves a secret well hidden and gently cultivated until the time of revelation and redemption comes. While I really love this new author's writing style and way with words (her observations on church singles groups and on taking out the trash chores had me rolling with laughter) I can't help but wish and think that a more steady pace with more open conversations would have produced a story that would have had more power and less theatrics.

Having said that, I will look forward to giving this author a second chance with her next publication and hope that with time her writing matures and gives readers that depth of warm fuzzes that every rom-com reader is looking for.

For this book I say 3.5 stars!


 I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and opinion of the product.