ABOUT THE BOOK
In the first entry in the Madison River Romance series, Keira Knudsen gets the traveling opportunity of a lifetime, but when she reunites with her first love, Robbie, she learns that even a wandering heart needs a home….
No one in the quaint town of West Yellowstone, Montana, knows that unassuming geography teacher Keira Knudsen moonlights as sensational travel blogger Kat Wanderfull. No one, that is, except for her first love, Robbie Matthews, who has just discovered the woman he is falling for online is the same one that broke his heart five years ago.
But Robbie has another problem: the mother of his daughter, Anabelle, has resurfaced after a three-year absence determined to rip Anabelle away from him. Robbie needs a steady paycheck for a chance at custody, and now, on the eve of a grand adventure that could give Keira a chance to flee her old, troubled life once and for all, she is in need of assistance.
With so much broken trust between them, Keira and Robbie must keep an arms-length away to make this partnership work. But the more time they spend together, exploring majestic places and sharing new experiences, the closer they get–until their secrets and dreams threaten to cost them everything.
Publisher: Berkley Books
Release Date: May 5, 2020
OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES
MY REVIEW
Keira Knudsen needs to prove to her past that she is strong, capable, independent, and for years, she has done so through travel. Now, when offered an incredible opportunity to travel the world, she thinks her dreams have come true—except a newly ignited spark with her first love, Robbie Matthews (plus his adorable daughter, Anabelle), presents her with what seems like an impossible choice.
Janine Rosche’s This Wandering Heart is a sweet story of love, adventure, and dreams. Both Keira and Robbie have obstacles in their pasts that make moving forward complicated (and because of these obstacles, Keira can be quite unlikable for a lot of the book), but as they make the tough choices to grow, I could not help cheering for them. I definitely enjoyed their romance and look forward to more Madison River romances in the future.
★★★★
I received a complimentary copy of this book and the opportunity to provide an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review, and all the opinions I have expressed are my own.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
GUEST POST FROM THE AUTHOR
Do you remember that weird kid who would sit at their desk in elementary school and stare into space for minutes at a time? If you don’t, then chances are, you were that weird kid. Welcome to the club—you know, the club for people who believe that what could be is worth imagining.
“If you imagine it, then it will never happen,” my junior high friends said.
“You’re setting yourself up for disappointment,” my high school mentor advised.
“Close your mouth, or you’ll catch a fly,” my second grade teacher warned.
While that last one scared me into buttoning my lips while staring blankly at the chalkboard, those early naysayers didn’t keep me from daydreaming. I couldn’t help it. I loved imagining a world far more exciting, awe-inspiring, and romantic than my own. Even when I’d finish books or movies, I would happily dream myself into the story where courage abounds and heroes are truly larger-than-life.
Of course, through the years, disappointment did come, and so did reality. In love, my heart was broken. In my career aspirations, my confidence was shattered. My daydreams almost stopped entirely.
People often ask me if it was a lifelong dream of mine to publish a book. The answer to that is yes…and no. It had been once, but holding on too tightly to that while also believing it was too far out of reach for someone like me created such an overwhelming ache in my heart. And so, I buried it. However, that dream, along with the storylines and characters in my mind weren’t content to stay buried. For eight years they awakened me at night and distracted me by day, until finally, I chose to spit out the words in a blank spiral notebook. I’d hoped that by writing down the story that had festered, I’d finally have peace, but then the next story came, and the next.
“I’ve learned that courage isn’t something we’re born with. It’s a choice.” That line of dialogue comes from a key moment in my debut novel, This Wandering Heart. In the story, my heroine, Keira, rises above an awful childhood to live a life of adventure. The line was quite autobiographical. I could have chosen to keep believing the naysayers. That would have been easy. It took no courage–no risk at all—to believe the lies, the criticism, and the discouragingly low probability statistics of publication.
Pursuing your dream, though, requires a lot of courage. Courage to be laughed at, to fail, to be rejected. Courage to be terrible at this new thing you’re trying. Certainly more courage than I carried in my spirit. So I prayed. I climbed onto that metaphorical rope dangling from the hand of God, and swung.
It was a choice. To be completely honest, it still is a choice to believe these daydreams of mine. Each day, it takes faith to chase this dream of writing novels and to imagine what could be. I guess you could say that I’ve found my way into the story after all. And it truly is exciting, awe-inspiring, and—dare I say?—romantic.
I’m honored to have you all join me on this incredible journey! But it’s not all about me. What daydream are you tempted to believe in your life?
Everyone is eligible to receive a free subscription to the Love Wander Read Journal, a quarterly digital magazine from Janine Rosche that aims to provide inspiration for a life well-lived.
Sounds like a great book.
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds like a really great read. Very pretty cover!
ReplyDeleteThe cover looks so pretty
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great read, thanks for sharing and for the giveaway.
ReplyDeleteWonderful review, Hallie! Sounds like one not to miss. Thank you for hosting.
ReplyDelete