The Bound Heart - My Review

Dawn Crandall's book The Bound Heart is the second novel in The Everstone Chronicles.  This book continues with characters who were introduced in The Hesitant Heiress, yet follows a different love triangle and setting from the first.  The challenges these individuals encounter will test their faith, strength, and endurance in ways they never thought possible, and it is interesting to see how a person will choose the wrong path based on his or her own inner turmoil. 

Meredyth Summercourt appears to be a happy girl, but deep down the guilt and shame she feels for a past mistake overcomes her daily.  She can never seem to move past what she has done, and she punishes herself for it.  Meredyth believes she is tied to one man she must wait for; however, another man decides to willingly give his heart to her, which leaves Meredyth greatly confused.  She does not want to listen to her heart, since she thinks God would not want her to be happy.  She firmly believes God will chastise her the rest of her days because of this one deed that was committed years ago.  Will she ever feel free?  Could she ever even entertain the idea of happiness on earth?  As Meredyth helps those around her through selfless charity, her heart begins to open to various possibilities that could change her life.  

Lawry Hampton has loved Meredyth for most of his days, but she does not seem to want more from him than friendship.  His best friend, Meredyth Summercourt, cannot seem to understand how much he loves her, because she continues to follow after someone else.  Will she ever stop to look his way?  Oddly, Lawry notices a change in Meredyth one day and wonders what could have occurred to alter her disposition.  If only he could protect her and make her feel safe--he would take care of her the rest of his life--if only she would let him. 

Meredyth cannot move past her love for Vance Everstone.  At one point in her life, he was all she dreamed of, and she even begged him to marry her.  As Meredyth will soon discover--all too late--the one event we desire the most may not be the best for us.  God wants more for Meredyth, but will she ever be able to forgive herself in order to find it?  Will she ever take the time to seek God and ask for His forgiveness and help? 

This is an excellent book and another story I could not put down.  I cannot wait to read the third book, The Captive Imposter, in this series.  This text covers so much about life--joys, struggles, forgiveness, mistakes, death, life, and love.  If you enjoyed the first book in The Everstone Chronicles, you have to read the second. 

I love how Crandall's style of writing has the ability to connect her readers with her characters--you really feel like you know these individuals, because some of their adventures may mirror your own.  And it is lovely to see how she intertwines the beauty of the Gospel within her stories, because it shows how various characters come to the place where they find redemption and hope, which in turn shows how the reader can achieve the same deliverance.  

About The Book 

*One accidental kiss from Lawry Hampton. That was all it took to throw Meredyth Summercourt's world upside-down. Determined to marry the ever-elusive Vance Everstone, she simply doesn't have the time or the desire to fall for her best friend. But with Vance out of the country, and with Lawry at her side nearly every day, teaching her what the world is like through the eyes of a little orphan girl named Wynn--Meredyth can't deny that what's holding her to Vance is nothing more than a desire to redeem herself from her past.

Will she marry Vance once he returns from Europe? Or will she be strong enough to break free from the tangled web she's convinced she deserves, and accept that God's plan for her life includes redemption...and, quite possibly, Lawry Hampton?

*Synopsis is from the back cover of the novel.

About The Author 

 

Dawn Crandall is an ACFW Carol Award-nominated author of the award winning series The Everstone Chronicles from Whitaker House. The series consists of three books: The Hesitant Heiress, The Bound Heart and The Captive Imposter. 

Dawn is represented by Joyce Hart of Hartline Literary. Apart from writing books, Dawn is also a first-time mom to a precious little boy (born March 2014) and also serves with her husband in a pre-marriage mentor program at their local church in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
 

Visit her online at:  www.dawncrandall.blogspot.com