Hearts and Diners – review (AD)
I was kindly given an advanced electronic copy of Hearts and Diners in exchange for an honest review*.
Hearts and Diners book blurb
Heather Sand has always given 100% at doing the right thing; from being the perfect big sister to the girlfriend who wears a loving heart on both sleeves.
After the passing of her father, a measuring stick for perfect, she’s met with the not so unexpected—a cheating boyfriend.
Plucked from a wholesome little world into the abyss of a cold reality, Heather comes face to face with a man who wears confidence like cologne with tattoos to decorate his charisma.
For the first time in her life she discovers in herself a deep shallowness laced with jealousy, lust, neediness and passion.
With the closest one’s pleading that she has embraced a darkness that is her new found love, she learns that she must also be the angel on the shoulder to her mother, who only after six months of losing her husband has found “love” online.
Struggling with that revelation while dealing with her own rocky relationship, Heather decides to do some snooping and just as she feared: her mother’s new romantic interest is bad news.
The dilemma – will Heather fend off her unrelenting inner demons or will she embrace the insecure love that makes her happy?
My overall thoughts on Hearts and Diners
Heather is hurting after the devastating loss of her father and she’s angry with her mother and her world is kind of falling apart at the seams.
Not only has her dad died but her boyfriend has been cheating on her.
Fast forward a few months and her mother is dating someone new who she met online and Heather’s world is changing again.
I didn’t love Heather as a main character. I really wanted to grab Heather and shake her and give her lots of advice because lord knows this girl needs help.
She’s prickly but she’s going through a lot – her sister’s physiotherapy following the accident, the grief of losing her dad, her relationship is not good with her mother, her best friend moving away, her ex cheating on her and all the fall out from that and this new relationship she’s started is not plain sailing.
There’s not a lot of action in this book, it’s a bit of a coming of age story which I’d liken to a teen angst sitcom told through a book.
There’s some elements of drama – her shady boyfriends past, is he going to snap and hurt Heather, is he hiding something?
Then of course the fall out of her mother’s disastrous rebound relationship – the guy is really bad news and he’s gunning for Heather. Is she in serious danger?
About the author Joseph Reilly
Joseph Reilly is the author of the novel Vanishing Love published by Adelaide Books (November 2020). He is the current head writer for ShipByMail Services Inc.
His writing has been published by Ephemeral Elegies, Monologue Blogger, Chegg.com, TheWackyWriter, CIC Reports, among others.
He has also penned two self- published contemporary romance novels Hearts and Diners, and Better at Friendships on Amazon along with holding a Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing from The New School in New York. You can read all of his work and more at joereillywrites.wordpress.com
Purchase Links:
Amazon US:
Amazon UK
Publishing Information:
Published in paperback and digital formats on 29 May 2015.
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*Disclaimer
This review has been written with 100% honesty.
I was not financially compensated for this post. I was given an advance copy of this book for review purposes. The opinions expressed in this post are completely my own based on my own experience.
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