Book Review of A Heart Revealed by Julie Lessman

Title: A Heart Revealed (Winds Of Change bk.2)
Author: Julie Lessman
Genre: historical, romance , Christian
Stars(1-5): ****
Age rating: RE-17
Domestic violence, miscarriages and heated love scenes make this book intense, but perhaps too intense, and mature, than younger teen would enjoy.
Back cover:
 Her heart is tied to a youthful vow . . . but can true love set it free?
Ten years ago, Emma Malloy fled Dublin for Boston, running for her life. Her emotional wounds have finally faded, and her life is now full of purpose and free from the pain of her past. But when she falls for her friend Charity's handsome and charming brother, Sean O'Connor, fear and shame threaten to destroy her. Could Sean and Emma ever have a future together? Or is Emma doomed to live out the rest of her life denying the only true love she's ever known?

My Thoughts: 
Ask anyone, and they will tell you that I'm one of Julie Lessman's most devoted readers ( and that's not an exaggeration) and  loved every one of her books. So why didn't I give A Heart Revealed 5 stars? Probably because I just didn’t get to see Sean And Emma as I'd hoped,and instead we got a look at the other couples a bit more than usual.
The story picks up where A Hope Undaunted left off. Katie and Luke have finally been married, and the next one up on the marital chopping block is sweet-tempered Sean, who is purely focused on work and content to lead the life of a bachelor. But God has other plans, they in involve an equally sweet and shyly beautiful, Emma Malloy. However,  the story wouldn’t be Julie’s if it didn't have the sub-stories of our favorite Irish family, the O'Connors. Julie  writes her characters with a beating heart, and at times, I swear I can hear them breathing, which is why you end up falling in love with the whole O’Connor clan. One reason I couldn’t give AR a full 5 stars was due to  how slow the story seemed to start off. I mean Sean and Emma (the two main characters) didn't even kiss until much later in the book (which is practically a sin in romance books). In fact it almost felt as if Sean and Emma's story, as a whole, didn't really get going till chapter 12 or so. And I was excited to see more of them together, even from before I picked up the book.
When it comes to matters of faith, Mrs. Lessman is never at a lose. She tackles the gritty problems we don’t always see in Christian books, and  shows through her characters, that by putting our problems in God's loving and capable hands, we can find forgiveness, redemption, and our heat’s deepest desires revealed to us in blessings. I can never read her books without crying, because she writes with  a convicting passion, a true gift from God. And really, shouldn't that be what’s makes a wonderful novel? Of course the romance and drama doesn't hurt either.

Once again, Julie Lessman has written a romance novel that has more drama, passion and love for God in it, to keep you turning the page till the end. As always, I can't wait for her next novel.



Available September 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.
 

If you'd like to know more about Julie Lessman and her books, go to: 
WEBSITE 
THE PUBLISHER 
GOODREADS 

*Bonus* 

Read and excerpt of A Heart Revealed by clicking on the link! 

More Reviews to be coming soon!

Love Y'all, 

Ashley

*I have been so blessed by Donna Hausler @Revell Books, for sending me a review copy of  A Heart Revealed in exchange for my honest opinion*