Title: Letting Hearts Heal
Series: N/A
Author: Luna Jensen
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Novel (200 pages)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (January 5th, 2015)
Heat Level: Low
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4Hearts
Blurb: Mason returns to Sweet Valley, Montana, with nothing but a backpack full of rejections. After nearly a decade in the big city experiencing the highest highs and lowest lows, his heart and spirit are shattered. Fire robbed him of cooking—the only thing he’s good at—and now he’s out of options.
Thrust into instant fatherhood, Dean struggles to find a balance between getting to know his young son and building his business. Meeting Mason again after many years apart just adds another element to the juggling act. Dean’s vision for his ranch give them a chance to work together—to find each other and to heal—but it’s no easy feat for a grief-stricken little boy, an overwhelmed loner used to focusing only on his work, and an insecure chef.
Can they find the path to healing and happiness?
ISBN: 978-1-63216-315-8
Product Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5905
Reviewer: Prime
Review: Overall, this is an incredibly cute story, though that is usually the case when there is a little kid involved in the story. This book is specifically all about the romance and healing hearts. This is the first book I’ve read by Luna Jensen, and from looking at Goodreads that would because this is her first published work.
Dean and Mason grew up together and are really high school sweethearts. However, Mason, coming from a not very accepting and unbending family (among other issues), had a rather traumatic time when he was forced to leave his hometown Sweet Valley (some of us may be thinking Sweet Valley High, but no).
The problem is life really hasn’t dealt him a good hand, even for the ten years he was away. There were people who were borderline abusive to him as well as the said fires from the blurb. Dean on the other hand stayed in Sweet Valley, though he was heartbroken when Mason left suddenly. Dean has been busy building up the family farm/business once more and recently has a father overnight to his four-year-old son, Wyatt.
Wyatt, as I said, is incredibly adorable. The poor kid has his own issues – so Dean not only has to smooth the way for Mason once they meet up again, he has already been doing the same for his son. But I have to be honest, the circumstances around Wyatt are clichéd – Dean who normally practiced safe sex forgot just the once, then he didn’t know about his son until Wyatt’s mother was killed in a car accident. However, I think we can let that slide since it’s only back-story and not a big deal is really made about it.
I found it interesting and yet very odd that these character’s don’t have a courtship as such. Instead, they have some slowly simmering tension before they just come together. It’s like their lives effortlessly mesh, including Wyatt. Mason’s psychological problems relating to fire I don’t was fully dealt with but it was nice to see that he had support and family in Dean and Wyatt. I also think that parts of this plot line were glossed over.
Really, though, this is a nice lighthearted romance and if you don’t over think the plot, you’ll enjoy it on some level. The characters are really relatable and for the most part, there aren’t any villains, (any real villains are glossed over and again these relate to Mason). There isn’t much in the way of sex, although there is some tension, but this for the most part is because Wyatt is heavily involved in the story. More or less, this is a story about family.
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *