To Heal a Heart: The Masonville Series, Book 2

Garrett is an amputee resulting from an incident in Afghanistan and uses a prosthetic device from the right knee down. He dwells on all the things he can no longer do and often finds himself at the bottom of a bottle. He is living with his parents, trying to transition into civilian life when he rescues Harry, a horse intended for the slaughterhouse. Unfortunately, he has nowhere to keep Harry until he bumps into Blair, a neighbor who does horse rescue and lives on a farm with her grandfather. She agrees to board Harry as long as Garrett will do work around the farm. As the two work together, Garrett falls in love with Blair, but she refuses to acknowledge his feelings because she feels she is not worthy of anyone’s love. Garrett knows he needs to tread softly in order to get past the walls that Blair has thrown up.

“To Heal a Heart” explores the broken lives of Garrett and Blair, and how they grow and mature to become whole. World building in this story is exquisite and one can imagine the dust motes hanging in the air as Garrett sweeps out the dilapidated barn. Blair’s angst, while well-written, is emotionally draining as she toys with Garrett’s sentiments for her. Pacing was slow throughout the story. Ms. Richards does an excellent job portraying Blair’s parents as the selfish, self-centered people they have always been. The character of Chris is intensely believable as the veteran with PTSD. There are many delightful characters in this story, several of whom readers will get to know better in the other books in this series.

Belinda Wilson