A tiny life hangs on the balance. Is it worthless because it is unwanted?Maryanne Torres is a compassionate nurse who fails at relationships. After a string of losers, she swears off premarital sex, hoping to land a marrying type of man.Lucas Knight, a dedicated triathlete, is smart, sweet, and everything Maryanne wants in a man. Their romance is cut short when she is pregnant after being raped … after being raped at a party.
Lucas and Maryanne struggle with her decision to abort. He asks her to seek alternatives and pledges to support her through the pregnancy. The rapist has other ideas and is determined to destroy the baby and Maryanne.
With Maryanne’s life in danger, Lucas races to save her and her baby. However, Maryanne hides a secret that threatens to tear them apart forever.
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This story deals with some heavy subjects and the real feelings felt from these subjects. The woman in this story has an abortion at a young age and years later is raped and pregnant and ready to do the same thing. But many things happen and she chooses to have the baby and possibly give the baby up for adoption. But God has other plans and as she faces trial after trial she realizes she needs God’s forgiveness before she can forgive herself. The only thing I had a slight problem with was some of the people who professed to be Christians were luke warm at best. Otherwise this is a heartfelt story that I think young woman should read.(less)
A Beautiful Story
This is story of love, commitment, forgiveness, and understanding. Maryanne worked as a nurse when she met Lucas, and the ups & downs of their relationship are written in this story.
Whether you are Pr0 Choice or Pro Life this one will make you think. Maryanne Torres is raped—she refuses a rape kit. She did get pregnant. She feels like there is an alien being–an unwanted alien being growing inside her. She doesn’t know who the father is since she was given a date rape drug and could remember nothing–she decides to get an abortion.
Meanwhile Lucas Knight who she met at the allergy clinic where she worked is vehenently pro life and tells Maryanne he will stay with her and take care of her until she has the baby–He assumes she will give the child up for adoption.
These two have their ins and outs–putting it mildly. Their families were definitely not helping matters.
The thoughts that go through Maryanne’s head are realistic–finally it is too late for an abortion and she finds a nice family who wants to adopt her baby.
There is a guy in Maryanne’s past who is really trying to –well you have to read it to realize just how bad he is!
Then Lucas is told by his mother the facts of her life and his background which throws him for a loop–
There is a very happy ending to this story–and I must say Lucas really surprised Maryanne!!
There are some tense moments in this novel as well as twists and turns. You will need tissues. This is Rachelle Ayala at her writing best-she handles a very sensitive subject amazingly well.
Hidden Under Her Heart is a gut-wrenching journey of life-changing revelations and pure life-altering love. This story makes an art form of keeping you off-balance and always second guessing. Life is the harshest and cruelest adventure that you will ever take part in, but it can also be the most rewarding. Pain without passion equals a suffering worse then death, but love without hope is the most soul shredding fate imaginable. When you live with glimpses and small tastes of love, nothing is more intoxicating or exhilarating then finding the real thing. However, finding and keeping the real thing can be next to impossible when the hurtles and struggles are fiercer and higher then Mt. Olympus itself. When the heart and life are at odds, all we can do is fight for what we can reach and let hope guide our dreams into reality.
Maryanne longs for one thing in her life. She has a good job, a great best friend, and a family that loves her, but her heart is desperate for real and true love. She has gone through relationships like water through a sive, but is determined to find something genuine and long-lasting. Her best friend joins her on this unknown journey and they both find themselves walking into the unknown. Lucas has a single-minded goal of entering and winning a triathlon. His dreams will take him to even higher realms, but he must stay focused at all costs. When he crosses paths with Mayanne, his heart’s reaction to her is something that takes him completely by surprise. Neither is ready for what they find, and before they know it, life begins to peel back the layers of each to reveal secrets and truths that neither are ready to reveal or face. When life gives you everything you want at the exact moment that you can’t accept, you can either walk away with a soul searing emptiness, or you can change your heart and your goals in order to prepare for the next time you come face to face with your dreams.
My heart hurt for everything that Maryanne and Lucas had to endure in order to take hold of the amazing love that they knew they could share. It was pure torture to see them come close enough to touch and yet far enough away to never linger. The heart knows what it wants, and yet life can easily rip that possibility from our fingers. In those times we discover who we really are and just how much we can endure before we reach our breaking point. The most important thing to always remember is that if we are meant to find and keep love, it will be brought back to us in the right time and in the right way.
Rachelle Ayala has shown me that while love can be beautiful and breathtaking, it can also be a dangerous and lethal presence if it is misused and distorted. Even a pure love at the wrong time can turn sour and hateful if our hearts aren’t ready to accept and give it back. No matter what we can’t hold onto it with a death grip, but allow is to flow freely no matter where it goes or if never returns. We can’t direct the heart just as can’t direct the sun in the sky. All we can do is lift our face in the morning and enjoy its warmth and light.
Hidden Under Her Heart
Chance for Love Series, Book 2
By: Rachelle Ayala
Narrated by: Charley Ongel
I can always count on Rachelle Ayala to give me a story I can bite into. Maryanne has a bet with a friend to remain celibate until she gets that ring. But in order to do this, she will have to put herself out there! When Lucas comes into the allergy clinic for shots, he is smitten with her right away, but the prank he pulls is a total turn off to her. With a little prodding, the two get to know each other, but will it turn romantic? Lucas is a great character. I love that at first he seems like a player, but there is real depth to him, and we get to peel away layers to see where his heart really is. Maryanne is a little tougher. She has been through a lot, and is very protective of her heart. Now given the choice to love, will she find it’s time to let him in? Ayala deals with a lot in this story. From trust issues, rape, pregnancy, abortion, adoption, guilt, grief, love, passion, it’s all in this story, and each one is brought to light with realism and frankness. Nothing is sugar coated, yet the story is flows easily and had my full heart invested in the outcome.She lets these two face their pasts and find their way with faith and love. I truly enjoyed this story as I have all of her others, and always look forward to more from her.
Ayala’s choice of Charley Ongel as a narrator was spot on. This is an emotional read, with many characters and Ongel zeroes in on each with a sense of each one. The voices are easy to distinguish but what drew me in the most is pull on my heart. She finds the essence of the story and creates a tug that is impossible to miss, and makes the story come to life. I enjoyed her performance and recommend her narrations.
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Wow! What a story. About 3/4 of the way it suddenly reminded me of Gone With the Wind.
Maryanne and Vera had a pact of celibacy and the first to break I had to foot a fancy spa day. Maryanne has had no problem until the sexy Lucas comes into their clinic. They develop a friendship that leads to more. She doesn’t know that Lucas knows about her pact with Vera. Then a night she is upset with Lucas and goes out with a rich guy Vera hooked her up with turns into a nightmare. Lucas finds her dumped in an alley naked and nearly choked on her own vomit from too much alcohol and they find out she was drugged. He wants her to press charges as does her dad, then bad gets to worse when she finds herself pregnant. She doesn’t want the baby and Lucas doesn’t believe in abortion and Maryanne believes in women’s right to choose. If Lucas is upset now a secret, she holds could end any chance of a life with Lucas.
I loved this story. Her characters are well written and I fell for Lucas right away. The story is poignant and deals with the social issues of both rape and the right to choose (abortion) so if either of these is triggers for you beware.
Charlie Ongel is one of my favorite female narrators. She has good pacing, and enjoyable voice, and brings life to both characters and stories.