Heart of the Country by Rene Gutteridge & John Ward is a wonderful story of love, betrayal, forgiveness, and going home again. The story is told in a first person format through Faith, Luke, Olivia, Catherine, and Calvin the main characters in the story. Faith and Luke are happily married, living in New York City, and by the standards of the world they have it all but things fall apart when Luke becomes involved in a Ponzi scheme. Faith does not give Luke a chance to explain but immediately leaves for her father’s home in North Carolina. Faith’s father, Calvin, is delighted to have her home but her sister Olivia is quite upset with Faith’s return. Luke is hurt by Faith’s leaving and finally has to turn to his family for help in getting through all the problems caused by his desire to be on his own and to make his fortune. The story has the feeling of the Prodigal Son in the Bible and just like him, Faith and Luke have to face their problems head on and admit their mistakes and then ask for forgiveness from their families and God.

Rene did an excellent job in the development of the characters and all the scenes that took place in the story. For me the characters came to life and with the story being told in a first-person conversational style, I felt as if I were sitting and talking with each character. Scenes were so well developed that I could feel what was going on and I was right in the middle of the action. The struggles that Faith and Luke were having with each other and with their families was so well portrayed that I was shedding tears with them and urging them on to get their lives back on track. I liked the addition of Catherine’s thoughts to the story for it helped to show why Faith and Olivia felt as they did about each other.

I highly recommend this book to all who like a love story with a good ending even if the couple have to go through hard times to reach the good times.

Tyndale House Publishers provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. ( )

Heart of the Country is a modern retelling of the prodigal son, Faith and Luke have been living the fairytale life, Faith from a small southern town has gone from country farm girl to being a member of the Carraway family, a well to-do family living the high life in New York. When Luke gets in trouble with the law Faith has no idea how to respond and heads home after ten years of being out of contact.

Luke finds himself alone and struggling and without Faith finds himself turning back to his own family that had also been separated for a time. This book is a story of forgiveness and redemption and a reminder that we have a Father that is always awaiting for us with open arms.

The story was good and I will be interested to see the movie; however, I struggled with being able to connect to some of the characters and to understand their motives behind things. I feel there could have been more character development on a personal level but overall I really enjoyed this story.

I received this book complimentary from Tyndale Publishing in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. ( )