Angela Breidenbach is a speaker/coach in mental and physical health, author of A Healing Heart April 2013 from Abingdon Press in the Quilts of Love series, Gems of Wisdom: For a Treasure-filled Life, Creative Cooking for Simple Elegance, and Creative Cooking for Colitis. Other works by Angela include compilation books and devotionals from Guidepost, Group, and articles in magazines, ezines, and newspapers. She is certified in mentor/peer counseling as a CTA life coach, as a Stephen Minister, and a weight loss/nutrition coach. Angela serves as an assisting minister (worship/prayer leader) for her congregation in Missoula, MT. Not only did she walk the hard line of deciding to donate her mom’s brain for the study of schizophrenia, but she’s also on the brain donation list at the Brain Bank-Harvard McLean Hospital.

Learn more about Angela and her books on her Website.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Mara Keegan is an uber-successful mother and a widow of three years. She’s been chasing success and all the “good things in life” for her family to make up for the cruel whim God played on them by taking her husband. In an effort to be the perfect mom, she decides to make a photo memory quilt, a graduation present for her daughter, Cadence.

She’s not yet finished when she experiences a heart attack. While Mara recuperates, she revisits the choices she’s made that led to this physically and spiritually broken heart. The memory quilt must be finished in time for Cadence’s big day, but Mara struggles with her burgeoning feelings for the man who must keep Mara’s business going during her recovery, Joel Ryan. Can Joel find his way into Mara’s heart and onto Cadence’s quilt?

If you would like to read the first chapter of A Healing Heart, go HERE.

MY REVIEW:

Mara Keegan barely has a chance to register that her new business coach is none other than Joel Ryan, the man who attempted a hostile takeover of her company several years earlier when she is forced to depend on him to keep her company afloat while she recovers from first a broken ankle, then a heart attack. Not only does he manage her company but also becomes nearly indispensable to her and her three children. Joel soon sees the Keegans as the family he has dreamed of being a part of, especially Mara who quickly gains a special place in his heart. If only he could help her to let go of her driven determination to make her late husband’s dream succeed and become the woman God intends her to be. Is it possible for Mara to trust Joel and God with the lives of herself and her children?

I found myself quickly drawn into A Healing Heart and fell in love with its characters. It was easy to identify with Mara and her tight control of her life as she struggled to run a successful business as well as being the perfect mother. Joel was the perfect hero, always ready to help, compassionate, and trying to follow the Lord’s lead in every situation. And I loved their dog – enough to shed some tears near the end. A Healing Heart is filled with true-to-life scenes, wisdom, faith, and love overflows its pages.

I’ll admit I didn’t know what to expect when I opened A Healing Heart but it didn’t take very long to find it difficult to put down. I gladly endorse this novel.