“Time of death…” the doctor said.I won’t forget that moment I looked over at Ellie—the paleness of her once rosy cheeks, the blue hue coating her perfect lips—the woman I had been with since we were five years old. My wife. My best friend…and the mother to our newborn baby girl.You promised me we would be together forever, I wanted to tell her. She gave me her forever, I told myself. Her … told myself. Her forever just ended at twenty-five.
“You need to say your goodbyes…” the doctor said.
How do I say goodbye to the one person in my life I could never say goodbye to?
My body is numb, and my heart hurts. Hurts like someone just ripped it out of my chest. Which is ironic…
“We are going to remove her heart now, Hunter. It was her wish to donate,” the doctor said.
She never told me this.
She never told me another woman would carry on with her beating heart. She never told me this woman knew me but wouldn’t let me know her.
She never told me if I should follow her heart, or if I should follow mine.
She knew. She could have told me…
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I’ve officially entered a book hangover, as I didn’t want this story to end. I’ve read other work by the author in the past, but A Heat of Time doesn’t compare to anything else by her. The emotions went up and they went down, they went up and back down. It takes a lot to make my emotions flutter, and this hit them all.
Hopefully this won’t spoil anything but two of my fav quotes from this book are the following…
“Yes, you are,” she responds. “You’re going to go be with the woman you are in love with, and it will make me happy to know I can leave this world to find Ellie up there and tell her that in return for the gift of her heart, I made sure your heart is happy.”
and
“Olive is Ellie’s true heart,” she explains. “Olive is a part of Ellie. She will go on to have kids of her own, who will have kids of their own, and Ellie’s heart will go on for infinity. Olive is Ellie’s heart. She has a heart made of time that will forever live on.”
This story will remind you that you need to live like there’s not tomorrow and in the end you won’t have any regrets. Trust your heart, follow your heart, and always remember your path along the way.
This is a must read!
I waited forever to read this story and I truly regret it. An amazing story of love, secrets, forgiveness, heart and taking the road less traveled. Ellie and Hunter should have had forever, but life had other plans. Sometimes the road less traveled leads to surprising gifts if you only open your heart.
This book made me cry, made me laugh, made me cry again and some. A heartbreaking but sweet, story that I very much enjoyed.
A Heart Of Time by Shari J Ryan is a beautiful contemporary love story about a love that never dies. It is the first book in The Heart Series.
The book is a study in grief. “It’s [grief] like shrapnel in a wound… the pain will forever be embedded.” Grief is a pain that never goes away. It may diminish at times but then returns, twisting like a knife. Grief has no set formula or time. It is what it is. It lasts as long as it lasts.
There is the theme of organ donation. There feels like there is life after death as there feels like a connection beyond the grave as part of the person you loved is in another.
The greatest gift of all is the gift of life. There is a beautiful father-daughter bond within the novel. A father is not the same as a mother but the father goes the extra mile to make sure his daughter does not miss out. The daughter is wise beyond her five years. She senses great sadness, responding with love and wise words.
Some secrets hurt. Others are kept to prevent hurt.
There is survivor’s guilt. We feel guilty because we lived. We feel guilty when we begin to smile and to live again but it does not mean that we have forgotten our loved one.
A Heart Of Time is about learning to live again. It reveals a path through the mists of grief even though the loss still hurts.
Shari J Ryan has created marvellous characters that lodged in my heart. Both the love and the grief were palpable. A very beautiful story.
A word of caution: there is language some readers may not like. There is also a ‘bedroom’ scene with far too much detail for me so I skipped over it. It did not detract from my overall enjoyment of the story.
A Heart of Time – Oh, my goodness! The depth of emotions that run the gamut in this well written story, along with the storylines make this a hard to put down read. I have not come across a book yet by this author that was not worth reading. The characters are wonderful and have realistic ways of dealing with the cards dealt them. This story is full of love, support and determination just to mention a few of the substance in this second chance story. The good storylines combined with a vivid imagination and descriptions weave a tapestry of love, sacrifices and second chances for several characters. There are sex scenes and some vulgar language, which I skipped or ignored. 5*
Last Words #1 – This is my first read by this author and I find this story is amazing. I’ve read many stories by the survivors of the Holocaust and this is one of the best. Well written but full of emotions and experiences that rip the heart out of a decent person. While the book isn’t as graphic about the horrors of Theresenstadt, there is plenty of the reader to grasp what everyone was going through in that terrible period of time. The four main characters are so loving, so decent, that what happened in the past wastes 75 years of a perfect love. Ms. Ryan has a gift for telling a story full of horror and pain, and yet, lets the light of love shining brightly through the decades. I found this book on Booksprout. 5*
The Other Blue Sky #2 – This is the second of two books of the Surviving the Holocaust series. I highly recommend reading Last Words before reading Blue Sky. Blue will be more meaningful to know the previous generation’s story as well as Annie’s past before Blue. This well written, emotion filled sequel can be read without reading Words first but why?
The storylines continue from Words but focus on Annie, although all the previous family characters are still a large part of this story, too. The emotions are still plentiful and range the gamut. Love is a major character, along with fear. While this book is filled with pain, there is so much love and light that shines through.
The author does a wonderful job with her descriptions and the reader can see the locations and feel the emotions. There are smiles but there is plenty of pain and discoveries in Annie’s life. I contacted the author to review her books and I received this copy through Booksprout. 5*
Shattered Stars – Interesting and intriguing, this is a story of overcoming the bad and living for the good. A horrible rape with a good outcome; a horrible illness with a corrected outcome; and a marriage made up of three wonderful people making the best of the worst. It is too easy to turn this review into a book report but there are so many good elements to this story with a large focus on living with a good attitude for life, not the negativity so common in these types of situations.
A young man with a heart the size of Texas filled with love and determination for a young teenaged mother and her daughter and a life with them. The young woman faces many problems from the age of sixteen, but with the support and love from her mother, good friends and her man, she succeeds against all odds.
The well written storylines alternate between her past and her present with plenty of emotions, drama and love so well described by the author as she unfolds a wonderful story full of good characters and a positive view of life. I contacted the author to review her books and received this book through Booksprout. 4*
This book jumps right in and captures your heart, and never lets go! We are introduced to Hunter and Ellie experiencing what is supposed to be one of the most joyous events new parents can have. Unfortunately tragedy strikes and Hunter is left heartbroken and alone to raise his newborn daughter, Olive. Ms. Ryan skillfully channeled the struggle Hunter warred with, being both grief-stricken by the loss of his wife and the joy and love he felt for the piece of her left behind in their daughter, allowing us to experience those emotions in earnest.
The story then picks up 5 years later as Hunter and Olive prepare for her first day of kindergarten. Olive is a sweet and precocious little girl who will steal your heart. Hunter is a wonderful father but is still mourning the loss of the woman he was supposed to spend the rest of his life with. The pain of her death has been kept fresh for the past 5 yrs every time he receives an anonymous letter of thanks from the recipient of her heart through the organ donor program. Hunter has a great support system from his brother and parents but he has lost his will to be happy. Hunter finally meets a woman who catches his attention and gives him a glimmer of hope and joy. But as secrets begin to surface and are slowly revealed he becomes even more angry and confused. This story is a heartbreaking yet hopeful journey of love and healing. All the characters are authentic and organic and their actions are honest and believable. This story is so beautiful, raw and poignant, it will have you laughing, crying, and every emotion in between. This is the first book I have read by Ms. Ryan and I am anxious to read more of her work.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review for Stephanie’s Book Reports.
Hunter and Ellie met on their first day of kindergarten. They grew up best friends, fell in love, and got married. So excited for the birth of their first child, a daughter. Hunter never saw his life changing in the blink of an eye. Ellie was hiding secrets. Huge secrets that she didn’t share with Hunter. She’s gone now and someone else is carrying her heart because that’s what Ellie wanted.
A Heart Of Time is not just a book, it’s an experience. An experience that is equal parts sorrow and joy. I am not going into much detail about the story at all. I hadn’t even read the synopsis when I was asked to read A Heart Of Time. I went in pretty much blind but knew I was in for an emotional rollercoaster after the first chapter. This book is filled with such strong characters all with different experiences and at different points in their lives. Their a great support system to Hunter and Olive. I found Olive to be the sweetest wisest little girl. I fell in love with so many people in this book. It’s a book you just simply know is going to stick win you for years to come. I’m sure it will affect each reader differently. It’s a beautiful journey of self discovery, recovery, life throwing you the worst hand possible, and love.
Shari Ryan has blown me away. I’ve loved everything I have ever read of hers but this book, this is her on a whole new level. You can feel while reading how much she has poured her heart and soul into a book she is sharing with the world. Thank you Shari so very much for the beauty that is A Heart Of Time. I will never ever forget the beauty of it all.