A story of reconnection, lost love, and the power of faith, Heart Land follows a struggling fashion designer back to her small Iowa hometown as she tries to follow her dreams of success and finding true love. Grace Klaren has finally made her dream of living in the Big Apple and working in the fashion industry a reality. But when she’s unexpectedly fired and can’t afford the next month’s rent, … the next month’s rent, Grace does something she never thought she’d do: she moves back home.
Back in Silver Creek, Iowa, Grace is determined to hate it. She rails against the quiet of her small town, where everything closes early, where there’s no nightlife, where everyone knows each other. She’s saving her pennies and plotting her return to New York when she almost runs over a man who’s not paying attention at a crosswalk. It turns out to be Tucker, her high school sweetheart whose heart she broke when she left ten years ago. They reconnect, and Grace remembers why she fell for him in the first place.
And her career begins to turn around when she finds a gorgeous but tattered vintage dress at a flea market. She buys it, rips it apart seam by seam, and re-creates it with new fabric, updating the look with some of her own design ideas. She snaps a picture and lists the dress online, and within a day, it sells for nearly $200. Suddenly, Grace has her ticket out of here.
But Grace can’t fight her growing feelings for Tucker. Sometimes when they’re together, Tucker paints a picture of what their future could be like, and it feels so real. And when she finally gains the funding to move her new business back to New York, Grace must decide where home really is–will she chase her long-held New York dream, or find a new dream here in the heartland?
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Good descriptions of small town vs big city life with characters who came alive on the pages. Very sweet story told with a refreshing point of view.
I have never read anything by this author and I love discovering new authors. This book was absolutely delightful. Everything about it was good. The characters were great, even secondary ones. I loved the grannies especially. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to more by this author. Very well written.
*My thanks to the publisher for a preview copy of this novel. The opinion stated here is entirely my own.
I received a copy of this story from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I read this as a palate cleanser while on vacation so I wasn’t expecting much but I was pulled in from the first chapter! Grace was someone I felt naturally inclined to cheer on. It was lovely to watch her overcome different hurdles and grow. I have a lot of connection with the ideas of picking up and running, what home means, and how to define success so I found myself more personally invested than I thought I’d be.
I adored the grannies, as they came to be called! It was nice to see older women cast in the role of supporting best friend. It lent a bit more charm to this story.
While Tucker seemed handsome and wonderful, I do think the bits between Tucker and Grace rested too much on the surface. Sure, there’s history there but we didn’t get to experience it and we didn’t really get to see Tucker’s side of things too much. I think it would’ve been more of an emotional ride had their storyline delved deeper.
Also, there were themes I could’ve done without. They didn’t put too much of a damper on my enjoyment but they will make me hesitant to recommend this book. I’ll have to have a good read on who I’m talking to.
All in all, it was an enjoyable read!
sometimes a trip home is what your soul needs. . .
There was something sweet and warming about this small-town romance. A romance that takes you back to that first time you fell in love. Learning to see the past with the future and seeing your future in your present. Grace and Tucker was sweet and refreshing at the same time. Heat Land was more than just a girl/woman coming home. It was her chance to fall in love a second time with her hometown and the one true love that would carry her further and any career would ever take her. She had to learn to open her heart, body, and soul to the possibilities. This was hitting bottom and slowly rising back to the top.This was learning that some decisions have ramification well past what one can see. Grace and Tucker had that special something that allowed for them to be apart but not really apart. Life had something more in store for the two of them.
I very much enjoyed the small town atmosphere, the reconnection to roots, the link between two souls, and most of all the characters. This was more than just a romance it was a love story with oneself and life. Grace had her second chance in more than just love. She was allowed to find a way back from a decision that affected more than just her life. Kimberly Stuart gave me a journey and life lesson. My first read from her but will not be my last. Love. Faith. Dreams. Fate. Connection.
/ 5 rounded up
I think that Heart Land by Kimberly Stuart is quite possibly one of the sweetest books I have ever read and I adored it!
Heart Land is about Grace, a twentysomething from Iowa who has been working at a premier fashion house named Milano in NYC for the past 6 years. She has been a design assistant the entire time, but her hope is to earn a promotion to her dream job of designer. When the presentation with the head of design doesn’t quite go according to plan, Grace finds herself back in her small town of Silver Creek, Iowa where she has yet to come to terms with a few things. She reconnects with a boy she dated named Tucker while there, and when things with her career start to turn back around she must decide if she will stay in her hometown or end up back in New York and break Tucker’s heart… a second time.
Even though the author blurb tells me that these stories Stuart writes are only intended to make readers cry once – maybe twice, that is not what happened for me. I teared up SO many times that I highly recommend having a box of tissues close by. Grace lost her parents as a teenager, and having lost my own mother, parts of this book regarding her loss hit me really hard. I also grew up in a farming community in Minnesota so being from the heartland was yet another connection I was able to make.
Christianity and God are also woven into this novel, but not in a way that it will overwhelm you if that isn’t your thing. Although I believe in God and I consider myself a Christian, I don’t really enjoy reading books that discuss god. I like to keep my fiction fiction and stay away from books that discuss religion too much. The bit that is in this book didn’t bother me at all, and really did add to the story since Grace’s faith was tested (and kind of lost) when she lost her parents. There is VERY minimal discussion about God, faith and the Bible; something I think someone could glance over if they aren’t interested or it makes them uncomfortable.
I seriously think that Heart Land would make THE perfect Hallmark movie; that’s what it read like to me and since I love those movies I think it just gave me yet another reason to love this book. It actually also reminded me a little of Sweet Home Alabama in the aspect of big city girl goes back to her small-town roots, and a boy – now man – from her past. It’s not exactly the same, but I got a similar vibe.
The imagery that Stuart creates in this book is breathtaking, and I could picture absolutely everything being described right down to the colors of the sky. She is such a fantastic writer, and the flow was simply wonderful. So wonderful in fact that I finished the book in a day, under 4 hours to be exact! So, this is definitely a fast read as well. The only reason I didn’t give it a full 5 stars was because I found Grace to be a bit dense sometimes even though she is almost 30 years old.
Final Thought: Heart Land is positively endearing, and I think anyone from the heartland is going to be able to appreciate it. I especially recommend if you are a fan of Hallmark movies – if you hate them this might not be the book for you. Beautiful story, fast read, and a gorgeous cover make this a winner for me and I cannot WAIT to read more of Stuart’s novels.
Heart Land is a tender, sweet, loving, heart touching story. One that you will remember for quite a while. It is one of love that was lost and now that may have a second chance. It is a wonderful gift given to us the readers – from the author – it is a story of choices – will she make the right decision? Will they listen to what the LORD has for them? This book basically boils down to is where is home? Is home where the money is or where your heart is? Where is home for Grace? Where is your home? I received a copy of this book from the Publisher and Netgalley; all of the opinions expressed in this review are all my own.
if you would like to read more of my Christian book reviews go to christianlybookreviewers.blogspot.com