THE HEART'S JOURNEY HOME by Jen Stephens

This is my first time reading anything by this author and I must say I really like her style of writing.  This story just grabbed my attention and held it all the way through.  I liked the many illustrations different characters in the story would give to explain a hard or tough lesson someone was going through.  Having faith was a strong part of the message of this story and I appreciated the author's strong emphasis and how vital our relationship with the Lord is in our daily walk.

Kate Sterling finds herself moving back to her hometown of Harvest Bay, Ohio, after she struggled through the unexpected death of her husband 3 years ago.  She has a young daughter and together they set out to start a new life for themselves around family and friends.  Kate leaves behind her late husband's brother, Nathan, who has helped her out alot these past 3 years.  What Kate doesn't know is that Nathan has fallen in love with Kate.  When Kate gets settled in Harvest Bay you start to see her and Adam, a guy she knew from high school days, start to get close.  Then you find Nathan moving to Harvest Bay to be close to Kate and you are never quite sure how this is going to all play out in the end.

This was just an all around good story.  It had many different stories going in inside these pages and I loved how all the folks interrelated to each other.  I like how the author summed up Kate, "She'd arrived in Harvest Bay with a broken heart and a wounded spirit.  .....She survived a one day at a time, sometimes minute to minute. . . .  She'd foolishly made Him (God) her adversary. . . . A second chance at love was . . .   something she had no interest in."  But, the Lord will show Kate (and others in this story) that His thoughts are not her thoughts, and her ways and not His ways.  God just wants us to have a little faith in Him, because He will work all things out for good.  I highly recommend this story.