Review
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Title: Mended Hearts
Author: Connie Angeline
Publisher: Covenant Communications
Genre: Fiction
Year Published: 2008
Number of Pages: 214
Binding: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-59811-331-0
Price: $14.95

Reviewed by Jaymie Reynolds

Five years ago, a terrible storm claimed the life of Randy Willett as he and his girlfriend Sydney Chase were returning from a sailing trip. When the storm washed Randy overboard, it also claimed Sydney's ability to trust in the future and in those around her. Because it was her idea to go sailing, Sydney has chosen to punish herself during the time that has passed.

Sydney gave up her passion for competition horse jumping when Randy died. She closed herself off from his family and hers. Sydney chose to move across the country to avoid the memories that were crowding in on her. Now after five years, she has returned to Washington and has started teaching horseback riding lessons to the local children.

As Sydney continues to separate herself from any close relationships by refusing to date, her grandfather seeks out potential suitors more and more aggressively. Several blind dates later, Sydney is armed with several "strangest date ever" stories and a promise from her grandfather that he will no longer set her up on blind dates. In her satisfaction at obtaining this promise, Sydney neglects to make certain that her grandfather will stop trying to find her soul mate. Grandpa is far from defeated. In a stroke of brilliance, he invites a close family friend, Jackson Kincaid, to visit for business purposes only and the rest, as they say, is history.

This book is morally clean and as such, it is one that mothers and their teenage daughters can all enjoy. These pages also contain the usual moral lessons such as you have to take a risk to gain the reward, etc.

Mended Hearts, by Connie Angeline, is the quintessential romance novel. The reader will get butterflies in their stomach at all the right times. This story will tug at your heart strings. It will make you smile and it may even make you cry. This book is a light read and is a great filler for times when the reader is looking for something light to fill the time. Although this book is fairly predictable, it is also easy to recommend as thoroughly enjoyable.