HEARTBREAK HILL by Heidi McLaughlin

 4* What I've come to expect from this author -emotions galore. 


This is a sad-sweet tale that ends well, a year or so after tragedy. However, I felt like I gelled more with Nadia and her girls rather than Grayson and Reid, because it didn't seem like we got to know the latter well. It's hinted to as to the reasons Grayson didn't declare his love, but that sounded like self preservation rather than selflessness. And he was a bit of an idiot, tbh, knowing about his condition but not raking his meds. Why? We weren't given a reason. Reid herself, possibly because her name sounded so masculine, I couldn't 'see' for most of the book. I think I began to see her, and her backbone, when Grayson dropped his reveal. And sadly, I couldn't see any passion or grand amour between them, though I got a sense of this from the absent Rafe and Nadia. 


The tale ends sweetly, but it's a little imbalanced and not quite enough time feels as if it's passed between Grayson clocking he has Rafe's heart and telling Nadia and family. A few more visits and a bit more time would've felt more believable and reasonable. I was far more invested in Nadia and her future than Grayson and Reid's, likely because the author doesn't go there with the latter. Not sure why editors didn't pick up on this, and why there was such an emphasise on extended family members for pretty much all to disappear, and for dumped-in family conflict to seemingly resolve itself by itself. Maybe it was time that helped? Still, it's worth a read.


ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Montlake for my reading pleasure.


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