For those of you who follow me on twitter, you know that I have been reading My Stubborn Heart by Becky Wade the past couple weeks. And as I do with most the books I read, here is my review of this one.
I was not warned.
I was just an innocent bystander looking for a good Christian Romance novel online before I went to the library one afternoon. I was in no way, shape, or form ready to be taken on the journey My Stubborn Heart takes you on.
Do NOT read this book if you're not willing to be vacuum suctioned into this book and the lives of Kate and Matt. Meaning that over the course of this book, you will laugh, you will cry, you will become obsessed with the characters and not be able to put this book down whatsoever. It will tear your heart to pieces, and then pages later tape it all back together, making it irresistible and unpredictable from start to finish. I found myself thinking about the story and characters even when I was not reading the book! Ah. I was not warned.
The story tells of Kate Donovan and Matt Jarreau as the main characters, along with a fantastic group of spunky seniors that come along for the ride. Kate is single and has been praying for a husband since the fourth grade, but Mr. Right hasn't showed up yet. Burned out from her job, she takes a leave and goes with her grandma to help renovate the house Gran used to grow up in. The house is in Redbud, Pennsylvania.
There she meets their contractor. You guessed it—Matt Jarreau. But he isn't just your average contractor. No, he is a former NHL hockey player—one of the best in the world. But he quit once his wife—whom he was—and still is—madly in love with—died due to brain cancer. The death of her sends him in a devastating downward spiral.
Kate can sense there is something about Matt, but she isn't sure what quite at first—except that we are told he is incredibly attractive. She is bound and determined to be his friend—but he doesn't want anything to do with her. He tries to be nice when she comes around, but eventually gets fed up and tells her he likes to be alone.
However, things start to unexpectantly change. Matt finds himself ... starting to like Kate? The more they are around each other, the more guilt, pain, and agony Matt starts to develop. All the while Kate is relentless in trying to hear his heart, to try and help him with what he's dealing with.
Spiritually, the book is incredibly moving. It shows how good God really is, and how every prayer we utter—from forgiveness to praying about a future spouse, it heard by Him.
The writing is incredible as well. As a Christian Romance author myself, I was looking for a book that had a great story line, along with conveying Christian elements. This book surpassed my expectations, and the writing—everything from the character traits to the underlying sense you got throughout the whole book—it was excellently written.
From a writers perspective, I also enjoyed the way the book was written. Usually I'm not into 3rd person books, but this was done excellently. We saw both Kate and Matt's internal perspectives, along with everything going on around them, and we sometimes even saw what they were both thinking when they were with each other, which was a great element to this story in my opinion.
The only thing that I didn't like about the book was its mention and celebration of Halloween. Though the scene was only about four pages, as a Christian I don't approve or agree with the holiday. The only other thing I didn't agree with was the mention of Santa mugs at Christmas after mentioning a Nativity Scene with which Kate decorates her house. However, it wasn't enough to completely ruin the book or make me say that this wasn't the best book that I've ever read. Because, especially in this catergory, it was.
My Stubborn Heart is captivating from the first chapter. From the humor, the uniqueness of every character, to the transformations—and of course the love—I give this book a 10/10. My words don't do it justice, so go get it for yourself! The only thing that would make this complete is if they were to make this into a movie. You don’t know how happy that would make me. It’s a great story with a great storyline that would appeal to modern audiences while exposing them to God and His great plan for all of us, individually and together.
As with any good book, I'm having withdraws and never wanted it to end (yet I really wanted to know how it ended), so if any of you have read it and would like to talk or share your thoughts/comments, feel free to contact me via twitter: @stephaniejtay, the comment section below, or via the "Contact Me" page on this website.
Well, that's it for now! Until the next book ... which may be a while considering I'm very much not over this book yet. And if you're a visitor, please feel free to browse through my site and other devotions, including my newest one here. Thanks for reading!
Until next time,
Stephanie
For more on Becky Wade, visit beckywade.com
I was not warned.
I was just an innocent bystander looking for a good Christian Romance novel online before I went to the library one afternoon. I was in no way, shape, or form ready to be taken on the journey My Stubborn Heart takes you on.
Do NOT read this book if you're not willing to be vacuum suctioned into this book and the lives of Kate and Matt. Meaning that over the course of this book, you will laugh, you will cry, you will become obsessed with the characters and not be able to put this book down whatsoever. It will tear your heart to pieces, and then pages later tape it all back together, making it irresistible and unpredictable from start to finish. I found myself thinking about the story and characters even when I was not reading the book! Ah. I was not warned.
The story tells of Kate Donovan and Matt Jarreau as the main characters, along with a fantastic group of spunky seniors that come along for the ride. Kate is single and has been praying for a husband since the fourth grade, but Mr. Right hasn't showed up yet. Burned out from her job, she takes a leave and goes with her grandma to help renovate the house Gran used to grow up in. The house is in Redbud, Pennsylvania.
There she meets their contractor. You guessed it—Matt Jarreau. But he isn't just your average contractor. No, he is a former NHL hockey player—one of the best in the world. But he quit once his wife—whom he was—and still is—madly in love with—died due to brain cancer. The death of her sends him in a devastating downward spiral.
Kate can sense there is something about Matt, but she isn't sure what quite at first—except that we are told he is incredibly attractive. She is bound and determined to be his friend—but he doesn't want anything to do with her. He tries to be nice when she comes around, but eventually gets fed up and tells her he likes to be alone.
However, things start to unexpectantly change. Matt finds himself ... starting to like Kate? The more they are around each other, the more guilt, pain, and agony Matt starts to develop. All the while Kate is relentless in trying to hear his heart, to try and help him with what he's dealing with.
Spiritually, the book is incredibly moving. It shows how good God really is, and how every prayer we utter—from forgiveness to praying about a future spouse, it heard by Him.
The writing is incredible as well. As a Christian Romance author myself, I was looking for a book that had a great story line, along with conveying Christian elements. This book surpassed my expectations, and the writing—everything from the character traits to the underlying sense you got throughout the whole book—it was excellently written.
From a writers perspective, I also enjoyed the way the book was written. Usually I'm not into 3rd person books, but this was done excellently. We saw both Kate and Matt's internal perspectives, along with everything going on around them, and we sometimes even saw what they were both thinking when they were with each other, which was a great element to this story in my opinion.
The only thing that I didn't like about the book was its mention and celebration of Halloween. Though the scene was only about four pages, as a Christian I don't approve or agree with the holiday. The only other thing I didn't agree with was the mention of Santa mugs at Christmas after mentioning a Nativity Scene with which Kate decorates her house. However, it wasn't enough to completely ruin the book or make me say that this wasn't the best book that I've ever read. Because, especially in this catergory, it was.
My Stubborn Heart is captivating from the first chapter. From the humor, the uniqueness of every character, to the transformations—and of course the love—I give this book a 10/10. My words don't do it justice, so go get it for yourself! The only thing that would make this complete is if they were to make this into a movie. You don’t know how happy that would make me. It’s a great story with a great storyline that would appeal to modern audiences while exposing them to God and His great plan for all of us, individually and together.
As with any good book, I'm having withdraws and never wanted it to end (yet I really wanted to know how it ended), so if any of you have read it and would like to talk or share your thoughts/comments, feel free to contact me via twitter: @stephaniejtay, the comment section below, or via the "Contact Me" page on this website.
Well, that's it for now! Until the next book ... which may be a while considering I'm very much not over this book yet. And if you're a visitor, please feel free to browse through my site and other devotions, including my newest one here. Thanks for reading!
Until next time,
Stephanie
For more on Becky Wade, visit beckywade.com