Review: One True Heart by Jodi Thomas
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May Contain Spoilers
Review:
This is the first Harmony novel that I’ve read, and while I was a little worried about jumping on board so late in the series, I had absolutely no difficulty getting up to speed with the small Texas town. For a small place, a lot goes on in Harmony! There’s a mugging, sleuthing, a kidnapping, a rumored murder, and even a threat to national security! One True Heart was pure popcorn, and I enjoyed my visit. It was easy to get caught up in all of the activity, and the characters were a varied and likeable bunch.
The story starts from Millanie McAllen’s POV. She’s a wounded warrior returning to the States. Having been wounded in the line of duty, she’s now laid up with a cast on her leg and the fear that she’ll never walk without a limp. She knows her service days are over, and now she’s listlessly approaching her future. Once she had her career path carefully mapped out, but one heroic act drastically changed the course of her life. Returning to Harmony, Texas, the rural town she lived in until she was nine, and the place where many of her relatives still reside, she’s just looking for a place to heal and the quiet to figure out what to do next.
She meets Drew Cunningham, and the two are inexplicably drawn to each other. Drew is a victim of violence, too, and it’s rebooted his life as well. After surviving a horrific episode five years ago in Chicago, he’s withdrawn into himself. He is no longer comfortable in crowds, and the idea of putting himself out there fills him with anxiety. Teaching part time a local college, he spends most of his time writing and wallowing in his own company. He hasn’t been on a date in five years, but something about Millanie makes him want to come out of his shell.
Drew and Millanie are the main couple. Their relationship is constantly challenged by Drew’s PTSD and Millanie’s suspicions of him. She has one more task to perform for the government before her service days are over. She’s been asked to search Harmony for a suspected terrorist, and Drew fits every point on the profile list. Add in his reluctance to discuss himself or his past and you have one very torn Millanie. Her gut tells her that Drew is exactly what he appears to be; a kind, gentle professor, but his silence when she asks him even the most innocent of questions point to a man with something to hide.
I had my doubts about the longevity of Millanie and Drew’s HEA, mainly because of their inability to communicate during most of the story. My biggest disappointment was that he never did confide in her about his past and the reason he’s living in Harmony. Millanie discovers the circumstances behind his silence by utilizing her Google-fu, and I just wish that they had discussed it with each other instead.
There are three other characters who round out the cast. Johnny Wheeler is a salt of the earth farmer, that is until he’s accused of murdering his wife. Then he’s thrown in jail, and it doesn’t seem that he’ll ever get out. Circumstantial evidence implicating him in another crime makes him look guilty as sin, and he despairs at ever being released.
While he’s in the slammer, there is one bright spot during his incarceration. Fortune-teller Kare Cunningham knows he’s innocent (she saw it in his palm after all!), and she’s made it a one woman campaign to prove his innocence. Kare comes across as a total ditz, but she’s really a genius. I liked her the best, because she’s funny, compassionate, and quirky. She doesn’t see Johnny as a romantic interest, much to his dismay, so he has a lot of work to do to convince her that they should be together. Their courtship is very cute.
Beau Yates is a up and coming country star, back in Harmony after his father has a heart attack. Beau’s father rejected him and was enraged with his music. Beau is hoping for a reconciliation, but not really expecting one. While he’s in town, he runs into Trouble, the girl who made his youth bearable. They would race down the back roads of Harmony in her convertible, wild and free from their worries. The adult Trouble, or Lark, has matured into a somber banker. While their past meant a lot to Beau, he’s starting to doubt that it meant anything to Lark, and now all he wants is to leave town and get back into his life, and far away from his disappointment.
Beau and Lark’s relationship didn’t work as well for me because we never get Lark’s POV. If we had been able to peek inside her head, I might have understood some of her behavior better. She’s like a yo-yo with her feelings for Beau, and I didn’t know why she wasn’t just melting all over this handsome, successful guy. Then, after he practically manhandles her, he did earn himself some wariness from her, but I would have really liked to get her side of things.
One True Heart packs a lot in to one book. There’s something for everyone here. You have a mystery, some suspense, three couples to fall in love with, and a whole bunch of meddling townspeople. I found the ending jarringly abrupt, but otherwise, I enjoyed my visit to Harmony, Texas.
If you are reading the series, which is your favorite book so far?
Release Date: April 7 You can pre-order a copy at www.jodithomas.com
Review copy provided by publisher
From Amazon:
New York Times bestselling author Jodi Thomas takes us back to Harmony, Texas—a small town where love blooms and secrets of the past threaten to alter the future…
Millanie McAllen is always logical. But after returning to her childhood home, she learns that some things are beyond explanation—like her undeniable passion for Drew Cunningham…
After finding success as a singer on the road, Beau Yates returns to Harmony to make peace with his dying father—only to find the woman he’s been dreaming of for years. But the secrets they discover might be too much for him to bear…
When Johnny Wheeler is charged with his wife’s murder, he turns to the only person who believes he’s innocent. Fortune teller Kare Cunningham’s life has always danced around reality—but Johnny is able to ground her like no other…
As their paths cross in new, captivating directions, the townspeople of Harmony need to learn to love and let go in order to live together in their little slice of heaven.
About the Author:
Jodi Thomas is the NY Times and USA Today bestselling author of 41 novels and 13 short story collections. A five-time RITA winner, Jodi currently serves as the Writer in Residence at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas.
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