Abigail Pressman would never have guessed that love notes penned on paper hearts by an anonymous couple could restore her belief in love. As a business owner in a quaint town at the base of the Rockies, she’s poured everything into dreams of expansion . . . and resisting the matchmaking efforts of the Valentine Volunteers, who gather in her store to continue Loves Park’s tradition of stamping … mail with the city’s romantic postmark.When Abigail is unwillingly drafted into the Volunteers, she encounters the paper hearts, a distraction that couldn’t come at a worse time. A hard-to-read doctor has become Abigail’s new landlord, and he’s threatening to end her lease to expand his practice.As she fights a growing attraction to this handsome man crushing her dreams, Abigail is inspired to string the hearts in her store, sparking a citywide infatuation with the artsy trend. But when a new batch of hearts reaches the Volunteers, it appears something tragic has happened to the couple. Will uncovering their story confirm Abigail’s doubts about love, or could it rescue her dreams . . . and her heart?
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Though I read a lot of Christian romances, I will agree that several of them out there are about as cookie-cut format as every other.
Not this book!
Paper hearts is fresh and new, filled with delightful twists grounded in the reality of life. I could relate to or empathize with all of its characters, each individual clear and yet not copied from stereotypes.
Abigail is a small business owner who suddenly finds her store in jeopardy. Working too many hours, Abigail has walled off her heart from romance, something her mother can’t stand.
All Jacob wants is a new place to start over with his daughter, leaving behind the pain of his wife’s death. Jacob is the doctor moving in next door to Abigail’s bookstore, and considers his agent’s plan to expand into Abigail’s space. Uncertain what to do, he is surprised when Abigail draws battle lines, willing to fight with all she’s got to keep her space.
But the town of Loves Park has its own ideas about this battle, and its wacky traditions, and a strand of paper hearts, will not only rejuvenate the town, but bring these two people to see how very well they fit together and realize that change isn’t always a bad thing.
I love the characters. Neither will be in literature history, but the inward and outward challenges they face are very real, not over-inflated for the story.
I loved it, and hope you do too!
I really wanted to love this book. The cover is adorable and the premise sounded good as well. But I just never got to a place where I wasn’t frustrated with the two main characters. Both Jacob and Abigail are people who tend to let people walk all over them and they don’t stand up for themselves or what they want. Multiple times Jacob thinks about how he shouldn’t let Kelly do something (such as treat Abigail horribly), but then he does nothing to stop her. Abigail thinks about not letting Jacob walk all over her and take away her part of the building, but then doesn’t actually do anything about it (not even by simply sitting down and talking to him about it). This is one of my bigger pet peeves to see in a character and to have both main characters exhibit this type of mentality and behavior just made the book difficult to fully enjoy.
I also was a little confused about Abigail’s dad. He gives her advice about God putting desires in her heart so she’ll ask for them. He leaves her the shop and makes sure she’s taken care of there. But he left his wife and family. It seemed so odd to me that someone would say and do those types of things, but then leave his family. I kept thinking we were going to maybe find out more info about her dad that would help it make sense, but we never really did. We’re just kind of left hanging in that area of the story.
While I struggled with both main characters (due to a personal pet peeve) and didn’t feel like I saw the depth of realistic character growth that I would have liked as the book progressed to make me feel fully satisfied by the end, I did enjoy the side characters of the book. I could just picture that group of ladies on the prowl looking for ways to matchmake and for ways to help those in their community.
I loved this book. Characters were driving to overcome their past. It was inspirational and fun and romantic.
The sweetest story ever! Gotta love some romance.
I loved this story of Abigail (not Abby) and the new Doctor in town, Jacob. Both have issues with love but through a lot of ups and downs, well meaning people and just a mean person they will solve those issues and come together. The main lesson here is to remember God is in charge and you just have to have faith! (and a bunch of match making women). I just love the paper hearts idea.
The paper hearts were so incredibly romantic and sweet! I love the way author Courtney Walsh weaves them throughout the story as part of the plot in addition to taking part in telling the story.
I have come to expect this author’s books to be sensitive, insightful and to contain a message that will call the readers into a closer relationship with God, and Paper Hearts did exactly those things. Paper Hearts takes a broken widower through the process of dealing with his grief and guilt and leading a lonely woman on a journey to discover that she had closed her heart to the good things God had in store for her.
The story was full of rich characters. I loved Ursula, the forceful widow who meddles along with the rest of the Valentine Volunteers.
This review was originally posted on AmongTheReads.net
Paper Hearts kept me interested in the outcome through the whole book. There was a lot of soul searching by the two main characters and plenty of secondary characters who were supportive of the lady but were also a bit whacky. I enjoyed it.
Sweet, contemporary romance that is filled with hurt, healing, challenges, possibilities, loneliness and love. Watch out for the Love’s Park Valentine Volunteers! They are full of matchmaking shenanigans that adds humor to the moments of longing and despair. The paper hearts are the ending of a broken love story that inspires many people in the community and brings hope and new beginnings for not only the heroine, but for the writer of the paper hearts too. Courtney Walsh is a ‘new to me’ author who creates interesting characters and a town that will have you wishing you could visit there in person.
This book and the next in the series are both excellent.
Great love story with interesting characters. The paper hearts kept stringing me along.
I expected. Sappy but got a good story, beleivzble characters and a happy ending.
I enjoyed this book
Really great book, worth the read
If you watch Hallmark Movies, this book is predictable! LOL! The Valentines ladies are a hoot!
This was a cute book, a good romance with good characters that get you involved in their lives. I ended up buying the next one in the series after finishing this one!