Megan Jacobs has spent most of her life in hospitals
waiting for a heart transplant. She
finally received one in her twenties, but is still afraid to venture out beyond
her hometown in Minnesota. She lives
with her parents and works at the local library as a library aide. She dreams of adventure and traveling the
world, dreams she used to share with fellow heart patient Caleb. Caleb received his heart transplant first and
now travels the world for his work.
Megan longs to reconnect and to travel as well.
Meeting the parents of the girl whose heart she
received jump starts her. They give her
their daughter’s diary and she finds a bucket list inside. Inspired, Megan decides to complete the
bucket list with her savings, a GoFundMe account, and to blog about it on the
way.
Megan’s twin sister Crystal is an architect in New
York City. Crystal never had the health
problems that Megan experienced and she’s working toward her dream of becoming
a senior architect in her firm. She
works long hours and doesn’t get much time with her husband, firefighter
Brian. She also seems to have lost her
inspiration and is having health problems.
When Megan’s trip pops up, Brian suggests that Crystal join her to
reconnect with her twin and to find her way back to their marriage and to what
she wants from life.
The two sisters travel the world fulfilling the bucket
list. Will the two be able to repair
their neglected relationship? Will Megan
be able to make the next step forward and live without the fear of
illness? Will Crystal be able to figure
out how to balance work and her relationship with her husband?
I loved this novel.
It really connected with me. Personally,
I’ve been in Crystal’s shoes the past few years where work was becoming all-consuming
and affecting my health and relationships with my husband and children. I just switched jobs at the end of 2017 and
it’s made a big difference. Sometimes
you get wrapped up in trying to do a good job and work takes advantage of you.
I enjoyed how the story was a travel story to
fantastic locations around the world and I also liked how it was a personal
growth story for both sisters in their own lives and loves, and with each
other. I like how they were able to get
to know each other better on the trip and I liked that the story was equal
between the sisters and didn’t just end with the trip. The story continued and wrapped up their
storylines to see where they are going next after the trip. I wish I could keep reading about Megan and
Crystal.
Favorite Quotes:
“Just because something is in “ruins” doesn’t mean it’s
ruined. It’s just . . . different than
before. It’s weather storms, but it’s
still standing.”
“I know it’s not the destination we had in mind, but
it’s where we’ve landed.”
“Wouldn’t it be a better use of your time to leave the
big stuff like control and worry to God and instead spend it reveling in all
the opportunities for great joy he’s given you.?”
“Then Nana turned, ‘Not everything is as easy to fix
as that, I’ll admit. Life isn’t
perfect. It’s messy. It doesn’t follow a pattern or a plan. Thankfully, we know the Big Guy is in
charge.’ She reached down and squeezed Crystal’s hand. ‘And he is the
super-gluer of souls.”
Overall, The Heart Between Us is a great travel and
character story. I really identified
with the main characters and their struggles and I greatly enjoyed the book.
Book Source:
Review Copy as part of the TLC Book Tour. Thank-you! For more stops on this tour, check out the tour schedule.
This sounds so wonderfully heartwarming, Laura. Very lovely review today! (I truly wish there were an extra hour or two each day to read.)
ReplyDeleteI wish so too - too many good books and not enough time!
ReplyDeleteI love it when characters are so real that I don't want to let them go at the end of the book.
ReplyDeleteThanks for being a part of the tour!