The Bound Heart by Dawn Crandall

About the Book: (From the author’s website)
One accidental kiss. That was all it took to throw Meredyth Summercourt’s world upside-down. Determined to marry the ever-elusive Vance Everstone, she simply doesn’t have the time or the desire to fall for her friend Lawry Hampton. However, with Vance out of the country and Lawry constantly at her side, Meredyth can’t help but wonder if what’s holding her to Vance is nothing more than a desire to redeem herself from their unfortunate past.

When Vance comes home to stake his claim on Meredyth, will she be strong enough to break free from the tangled web she’s convinced she deserves? Or will she find the strength to accept that God’s plan for her life could include redemption… and quite possibly the love of her best-friend?

My Review:

Meredyth Summercourt is someone I met in Ms. Crandall’s first book in the Everstone Chronicles and by the time you reach the end of that first one, you are left with some mystery and intrigue surrounding her personality and behavior. This book will go inside her life, and dig into some things that might be a little from the darker side. I think often we think in history that people were much different than us. I often think we get a sanitized view of the past, thinking that bad things only happen now. This book does not go into details, but gives us enough of a glimpse of how a young woman might have struggled with some of those hard and sinful things in a different time period than our own.

I especially loved the perseverance of Lawry throughout the book, he was the picture of patience, and care for Meredyth, but if anything, he lacked some methods of communication in communicating his feelings well enough. You will want to shake both of them throughout this book, but most of all, you will end this book and have that feeling of satisfaction of a book you enjoyed reading.

I enjoyed the message of faith which was skillfully woven into the pages, without being hit you over the head with it, but was a constant presence throughout.

This amazing and new author on the scene of writing is one that we will want to keep our eyes on. A mother of a young baby, she pours herself into her books, giving a unique style of what many would call “brooding heroes or heroines”, however, I would say that these books are much more than that. I found that there are many books that young people can pick up and read nowadays that are fantasy, mysteries, or brooding romantics without the faith part interwoven into it. These books are not that way. You will read the conflict of the characters and grieve, mourn and decide with them, even if you disagree at times. Check out this new series and watch for the third book in the coming year!