Dear Hearts by Ericka Clay

re-posted from http://jenanita01.wordpress.com

 

From the outside, Mitch and Elena Reynolds are a typical White Smoke, Arkansas family: married, raising a daughter, running a local business, attending church on Sundays. But their happy family image starts to crack when Mitch has an affair with a local man, Aaron Hooper. Mitch and Elena’s tumultuous relationship is further tested with failed attempts to get pregnant again, forced AA meetings to curb their alcoholism and bitter therapy appointments to try and “fix” their daughter, Wren. It’s not until both Mitch and Elena trust in their love for their daughter that they begin to rekindle the connection they first formed as kids. But is it too late? From the author of Unkempt, Dear Hearts is an exquisitely told tale of love, loss, and human connection in the wake of darkness.


  Our ReviewI loved the sound of this book, expecting a strong romantic story.Not having read Ericka’s previous book, ‘Unkempt’ I was unprepared for the raw, unrelenting emotions that leapt at me from the pages.
This is the story of a young married couple and their young daughter. At first glance, an average family, but you don’t have to look far to see the signs of trouble.Watching Mitch trying so hard to be a typical family man and failing miserably is so painful. You are desperate to know what his problem is, but you don’t discover his totally unexpected secret until chapter four.
His wife, Elena, is clearly struggling. First, with the frustration of wanting another child but failing to conceive. Her daughter adds to her worries and on top of everything, she knows something is wrong with her marriage. Nothing she can put her finger on but she suspects Mitch is seeing another woman, and this is slowly eating away at her nerves.
The characters in this book are very real, their emotions raw and bloody. The prose is unlike anything I have ever read before and I found it a refreshing change. Life is just like this but you rarely see it painted quite so eloquently. I especially liked the way the main characters have their own first person oriented chapters, putting you right there in their lives. You feel the pain of their struggling relationship as if it were happening to you.
When Elena finally learns Mitch’s secret, it is far worse than anything she could have imagined and it tears her fragile world apart. This story is raw, brutal and uncompromising, and the shocking surprise ending will take your breath away.
I loved the part where Elena tells her friend she might kill him, and the friend asks ‘which one?’This book is for anyone who has ever been unfaithful, to feel the excruciating pain of betrayal. One of the saddest stories I have read in a while.
About the AuthorEricka Clay is a published novelist and the author of Unkempt and Dear Hearts. She graduated from the University of Arkansas creative writing program, has published a book of short stories and poetry and is in the process of writing her fourth novel, Runners. Ericka has been awarded a number of times by Writers Digest for various short fiction pieces, she has written four novels (one of which placed as a quarter-finalist in the 2010 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest) and has had the privilege of sharing her craft, teaching writing classes and holding writers workshops in the South Texas area. She currently lives in Louisville, Kentucky with her husband, daughter, two dogs and an insatiable need to push buttons, both figuratively and literally. 
You can find Ericka here...