Heart of Grace

 Hearts of the West Series #13

                                                                                                    Heart of Grace (Buy Now)                                                     

Linda Hoover

Linda Hoover Books 

April 8, 2025

Kindle and Paperback

313 pages

                  

St. Louis

1890
Lydia Bailey grew up with parents who provided housing for missionaries on leave. One summer a young boy named Adam Johnson and his parents stayed with them. Every bug and worm she showed him outside scared him to tears. Lydia had wondered what was wrong with him.

Years later, when Lydia’s father passed away and her mother fell ill for a year, it seemed God had abandoned them, so she signed up to get a teaching certificate to help cover household expenses. When she came home, her mother had cleaned the guest room. The boy who had come ten years ago needed a place to recover from malaria. Would Lydia have to put off getting her certificate to care for him?

Adam finds himself delivered to the home his parents had arranged for him to recover. To his horror, all he can see is the skinny girl with red braids who tormented him when the family stayed here years ago.

Will Lydia open her heart to God’s healing? Can Adam find it in his heart to forgive Lydia? Will both seek God’s plan for their lives?

Reviewer's Comment:

    Lydia Bailey’s dream is to become a teacher and to return to school in the fall, but she worries about her mother, who seems to tire easily these days. And at times, mom seems short of breath, but mom said it was nothing. After father’s death, her mother often opens their home to missionaries, revival ministers or tent meeting preachers, which wear mom out. Now, mom wants to help friends and missionaries, the Johnsons in Botswana, Africa, by letting their son, Adam Johnson, come to her home in the United States to recover from malaria.  

    But mom was also on a mission to find Lydia a husband. If not the pharmacist, then someone else.

    Adam remembers Lydia from childhood as a skinny annoying young girl and is dreading meeting her once again.

    Lydia, remembers Adam as a thin boy with dark hair and huge eyes in his small face. What could he possibly look like now?

    Mom assured Lydia that Adam didn’t require much attention. He only needed rest and relaxation. Lydia fears he might need too much help and would drain her mother of strength and Lydia of time, but Lydia has little to say about the situation already set in motion. And as long as it didn’t hinder Lydia of taking teacher’s classes in the fall or draining mom of strength, then Adam could come and stay as long as he wanted.

     Hearts of Grace by Linda Hoover is an adorable and well-written novel that will appeal to those from 18 to 80 years old. It will draw you into the lives of Lydia and Adam and their individual goals and how love and God can alter the best-laid plan. This story is about a warm, welcoming family that gives you a slice into the 1890’s life in St. Louis, Missouri, and brings you into their home. The story is sure to capture your interest on the first page and hold it until the last. A for sure, must read.

Linda's Bio:                                                                                

                                                                                       

Linda lives in west central Ohio with her husband and grandson. She earned a degree in psychology from Anderson University where she learned the voices in her head were actually characters from stories waiting to be told.

Linda has been writing since childhood, but her publishing career started with writing columns and a middle grade serial for the South Charleston Spectator. A retired librarian, she now enjoys being a fulltime author in her home office.

You are invited to visit her website, Linda Hoover Books, to find out more about her and her books. You can stay in touch when you subscribe to her newsletter, and as a thank you, you’ll receive a novella.

https://www.lindahooverbooks.com

This link will take you to all the places you can find Linda. http://linktree/lindahooverbooks