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Review

3.5 stars!

Once upon a time there were two cousins:
one golden like the sun,
one dark like midnight,
one a protector,
one a predator,
one a Woodsman
and
one a Wolf…
both owning equal,
but different,
parts of a little girl’s heart.

Ginger’s Heart, written by Katy Regnery, is an enjoyable story based on the fairytale of Little Red Riding Hood, and I loved the way it was written. Katy’s writing is beautiful and captivating, and though I don’t usually love books told in third person POV, I thought this one was very well done.

The story starts out with three friends who grew up together – two cousins, Woodman and Cain, and one beautiful little girl. Ginger is “the princess,” she’s a sweet, naive girl who looks up to her two best friends and has loving parents who run a successful horse ranch. Woodman is the golden boy, honest and caring, he comes from a strong family and has a plan for his future. Cain is the bad boy and known troublemaker around town, he comes from a broken family but is loyal to his friends. This is the setup for the love triangle, and though I am not usually a fan of them, I knew I needed to give this one a shot.

This story is full of love but also full of angst. You feel the angst start building from the beginning of the story and you know it will only get worse before it gets better. You see the love Ginger, Woodman, and Cain have for each other as friends but also the desire for more as the story goes on. Of course, when there are three hearts in the mix , one is always bound to be broken.

In Ginger’s mind, she envisioned them like two halves of the same coin that she held carefully in the palm of her hand.
She loved them both desperately. Choose?
No, her heart protested. Impossible.
“What if I can’t?” she whispered, leaning back and resting her head on her grandmother’s comforting shoulder.
“Then you’ll lose them both,” said her grandmother softly.

I am not going to dive into the plot as its best to just experience it while reading, but it’s an angsty rollercoaster of emotion. I could understand choices that the characters made and I knew there were going to be dire consequences that ended with broken hearts.

And the great dilemma of her life—loving two different parts of two different men—came into stark focus as she realized, yet again, that while one man could offer her the sweetness and stability she craved, it was the other who challenged her and set her heart on fire. She could have security with Woodman or electricity with Cain, but she couldn’t have both with one.

I enjoyed this story but I didn’t love it. I am not sure why. I loved seeing the characters when they were young and then seeing as they grow up and mature. Though I liked the characters as a whole, some of the actions and decisions they made left me frustrated and annoyed. I felt like I didn’t fully connect with the characters. I also think a lot of the angst could have been avoided by better communication. I understand that it is all a sticky situation, but it hurt to see the choices they made.

Our hearts make decisions that our heads don’t even approve. We can barely control ourselves. And nothin’—nothin’ on earth—ever works out the exact way you want it to.”

As I said before, this story is really well written. It is a love story that not only focuses on the relationship between lovers but also between friends and family. There is a lot of character growth throughout the story and though it was a rough ride to get to the ending, I do like the way things turned out to get them to where they are now.

3.5 stars!

*ARC generously provided by RockStarLit PR in exchange for an honest review*