Can a hurting boy help two broken people find their way back to love ?Lissa Frye returns home from the Navy hoping to find a different future—one which includes a husband, marriage, and a family, until news from her sister impacts Lissa’s personal life and derails her plans. Kurt McKintrick, having lost his best friend to an IED in Afghanistan, has returned to help the man’s mother run a horse … mother run a horse rescue ranch. Images of war plague him, and thoughts of anyone else he might love falling victim to an untimely end, distance him from the person most likely to help.
Eleven-year-old Jayden Clarke seeks to fill the ache in his heart from his father’s death two years before. But his life is turned upside down when the rancher who befriended him is found dead, the horses neglected, and the dog missing. When authorities arrive to investigate, Lissa and Kurt, estranged after a former relationship, are forced to meet again. Lissa must confront images from her past and Kurt struggles to live with his present truth.
Will Jayden be the catalyst that draws Lissa and Kurt back together for a happily ever after?
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Love Calls Her Home by Patricia Lee is a heartwarming tale of loss, love and healing. This well-crafted story, set in the Steens Mountain region of Oregon, is rich in characterization and captures the emotions from the first page. Patricia Lee is an author I will be reading more of.
Kurt and Lissa are appealing lead characters, easy to connect with and root for. Both have a military background and a strong faith. But we know that faith can be strengthened or weakened by life experiences, and that’s why I appreciated Kurt and Lissa’s struggles and character growth in eventually learning to trust God with their future.
Love Calls Her Home deals with some serious issues – physical abuse, neglect of animals, PTSD – and I loved how occasional lightness and even humor offset these potentially heavy topics. The author shines the light on the effects of war, not only on those serving, but with family members and loved ones who remain behind. We see the difficulties of maintaining contact while on the field and of returning home from war with gripping memories that can never be forgotten.
And then there’s the precious young boy, Jayden, whose experiences as a child of abuse make him seem older than his years. I felt so deeply for him when his friend Bennie dies, a farmer whose friendship had provided a much-needed break from Jayden’s abusive stepfather, and understood why he initially hid from those who could help him. A bright spot is the rescue of animals and the effects rescuing has on the rescuers themselves. Especially beautiful is the relationship between Jayden and Kurt, and the effect this young boy has on adults who have erected walls around their past.
Love Calls Her Home is emotional, heartwarming, and redemptive. I enjoyed this story and the writing style of Patricia Lee very much, and hope for many more stories from her pen.
Recommended.
I received a copy of this book through JustRead Tours. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
Love Calls Her Home by Patricia Lee is the second in the series Mended Hearts. As with the first book in the series, this story deals with difficult social issues with understanding and grace.
Young Jayden Clarke still grieves for the father who died two years before, especially since mom remarried a man who became a mean alcoholic, abusing both Jayden and his mother. To find somewhere safe and away from the turmoil at home at a neighboring ranch owned by a gentle rancher.
Visiting the ranch on day, on a particular tumultuous morning at home, Jayden is unable to find his friend, and worse, it appears that no one has been about for an extended period of time. The horses, a mare and her young filly, are outside in a muddy paddock, and it is quite apparent mama was ill, both are hungry. Hearing a vehicle approaching the ranch, Jayden hides in the old ranchers truck, in the tiny space behind the seat. Things take a turn for the worst when it is discovered that something terrible has happened on the ranch.
With the same gentleness of understanding and grace, the author explores social as substance abuse, foster care for children, and animal rescue. I think Patricia Lee has found a way to deal with social issues with honesty and compassion, without becoming overtly morbid. It is resting to read these stories with topics so many of us have either experienced or have misconceptions of by others of the familial experience of those who find themselves in the midst of the storm.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and Just Read Tours and am not required to write a positive book. All thoughts and opinions therein are solely my own, and freely given.
My Thoughts on Love Calls Her Home:
This is the second book in the Mended Hearts series. The books do not have to be read in order though. It is not a series that follows the same characters but rather a central theme of loss and healing.
In this book, we find tough topics just like in book one. For book one we mainly focused on autism. Book two switches the focus to abuse and PTSD or what soldiers face coming home from war.
I really enjoyed this book as well as the first one in the series. They are well written and the characters dragging you in, begging to be heard and known. This book focuses on three characters.
Rescue animals! I love books that bring out how animals can be used to help heal. Rescue animals and healing is something I definitely believe in and back. Not only do you rescue and heal the animals, but you also help to heal the people who heal the animals. It’s a double win situation and such a good thing to do.
I recommend this book and the entire series. Do note that this book involves a young boy who has had some severe abuse which makes him older than his years. Also could be a trigger to anyone who has suffered abuse both as an adult or as a child. Just wanted that to be known and clear.
I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from JustRead Publicity Tours. All views expressed are only my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC regulations.
While Love Calls Her Home is the second book in the Mended Hearts series, it completely stands on its own. The characters in the previous book make cameos but a new hero and heroine, as well as a new setting in a different part of Oregon, set this story apart from An Anchor for Her Heart.
Patricia Lee delivers another heart-wrenching tale of loss, love, and healing. This time, readers get to meet eleven-year-old Jayden.
Jayden, Lissa, and Kurt have all experienced painful losses in their lives and each of them deals with their grief in different ways. Together, these three hurting hearts find their way to each other.
Add in the rescue horse operation and a rollercoaster ride of emotion with Jayden’s mother and stepfather, and this was another story that was hard to put down.
I didn’t connect with these characters as much as I did with those in the first book, but Love Calls Her Home was still well worth the read.
Disclosure statement:
I receive complimentary books from publishers, publicists, and/or authors, including NetGalley. I am not required to write positive reviews. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
I don’t read many romances, but this one had me hooked from the first chapter.