The Wrong Heart

From the first chapter that had me broken-hearted and sobbing to the epilogue that had me shedding tears of happiness and heartache, this is a beautifully woven tale of the greatest of losses, consisting of well-developed, beautifully broken characters and a heartbreakingly hopeful story that not only turned my emotions inside out and upside down, but forever changed me because it was so impactful!Parker is such a flawed hero, who at times made me want to smack him for being a "douche-waffle" (best word ever) but despite his flaws, has a magnetism that draws you to his grumpy, leave-me-alone personality until you peel back all his layers and find out what he hides at his core. But like an onion, he takes a whole lot of peeling to find out who he is and why he acts the way he does. Parker resists having people anywhere near him and opening up in the slightest, but when he does, he is the most amazing hero I've read to date!Melody is a burst of the brightest sunlight wrapped tightly up in grief like a mummy. Despite the wrappings of her grief, you are hit with the explosion of someone with the warmest, purest hearts that I've read, despite the trauma she's experienced. Grief and loss have woven themselves around her, but she still smiles often, radiating the warmth of the sun.When she and Parker crash into each other's worlds, you can imagine the pull and resistance of darkness and light, night and day. It's a beautifully complicated explosion of two people needing so much, yet never believing they'd find what they need in the other.This book has everything - light vs. dark, love vs. loss, grief vs. living, broken vs. whole, sadness vs. happiness, a grumpy, sirly hero, and a beautiful sunshiny heroine. Jennifer does an incredible job of making the reader feel like we are living inside the book, watching Parker and Melody's story and their interactions with others, and we feel what the characters are feeling. An adorable hamster and a sad old dog round out this story perfectly. Both these animals show what happens when you shower love and affection on them - and the same is true for humans. You may be broken or damaged, but when someone shows you love and affection, you can bloom into someone truly magnificent. And Parker and Melody's story certainly demonstrates this.I can't recommend this book enough! It is absolutely incredible - the best book I've read in 2021!!!

When Melody March's life comes crumbling down, she has to reach for any thread remaining to tie her back to reality so she doesn't give up entirely. The first chapter is heartbreaking, but also sets the tone for how devastating her loss is. For a woman who was so full of sunshine and radiance, all that's left behind is shadows and ashes. When Parker Denison crosses paths with Melody, these two seem to be the furthest thing from being each other's lifeline. Parker has a complicated and traumatic past, which only glimpses of are shown at first. Yet it's enough to know that despite his outer disdain and blatant callous words, there's more to the man underneath without needing to dislike him. He seems to do plenty of that for himself all on his own. And as upsetting as Melody's current situation is, Parker has lived nearly a lifetime of desolation and self-loathing and it has stunted his growth emotionally. While Melody wears her heart on her sleeve, Parker shields himself in armor meant to keep everyone at a distance. Their relationship dynamic is a bit tumultuous and unpredictable initially even though they continue to gravitate towards each other other because Melody can't help but be curious about this person who appears to be drowning with no desire for a life raft. Parker himself is discovering new feelings that haven't existed before and as much as they scare him, he wants to explore them, too, if it will allow him to feel something different than what he already does day in and day out. There's plenty of opportunities to be mad or frustrated with him, but ultimately Parker deserved a really long and tight hug. The writing flowed so well and weaves a story of two broken souls whose fractured pieces fit each other perfectly. There are some really gut wrenching scenes and conversations that Jennifer Hartmann handled with the utmost care and love for the characters and their flaws with lessons learned. I also wasn't expecting the twist on the eventual revelation, but was pleasantly surprised because it made this story uniquely different and took a path where the characters carved out their own future based on their own special connection independent of anything else. Such a gripping and intense read in the best way. Definitely recommend for anyone looking to feel anything and everything.

This book although sometimes a little too wordy was a really good story. I totally enjoyed it and would recommend reading. My only two peeves were One, that Parker was old enough to know something’s that he didn’t regardless of his upbringing and Two, I’m still on the fence about the epilogue. Not sure it was necessary. But all in all I’d read this author again. Good story telling

UGHHHH I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH. The emotions, the complex characters, the messages. I don’t think I’ve ever ever not liked a Jennifer Hartmann book. She does it every time for me!!

I am not surprised to say that this book was an amazing read. All of Jennifer Hartmann’s books are incredible. Her character development and story lines always grab my attention and grip my heart. This book was a very emotional read, but I could not stop reading it once I started. Make sure to be close to Kleenex once you start this book.

“We hold the key to our own happiness, and what we put on the other side of that door is entirely up to us.”Well, I know if I will love a book at the beginning. This book took my breath away! This story was a poetry and had so much power, caring and love. The characters were built with so much personality.Thank you author for sharing this amazing story!

I feel like nothing I could say would express how I feel about The Wrong Heart. So I'll go with two words : Heartbreakingly beautiful.Melody and Parker are the best representation of the Grumpy/Sunshine dynamic. Literally. I fell for these two. I loved Parker's evolution the most, but I adored Melody's character, the broken yet strong heroine.Every chapter left me with something to think about. About loss, about grief, about depression. And also about healing, about hope, about love.The epilogues are so beautiful. I really didn't expect those 978 words to emotionally wreck me the way they did.A very beautiful and emotional journey. One I'll remember for a long time.

I cant discribe to you the emotion this book engraved on me, I have a tbr a bag about the size of an a4 piece of paper, because I couldn't decide what book to read I pulled my tbr bag out, I was fiddling around in there an I pulled a little piece of paper out, The wrong heart came out.. I downloaded it started it straight away an my heart, my heart beat so much reading this I read it in one go I couldn't put it down only when I had to, I read it under 24hours I had to sleep after all, but as soon as my eyes opened I was right back in, it took me on a journey of love, unbearable grief, memory's of past life, the characters blew me away, I fell in love with Parker I needed to get to know him, an melody what can I say, how strong an courageous she was, I swear it was like the book came to life an played out in front of my eyes, it wasn't just a story of beginning an end, it was a whole life story spanning decades, the end broke me into a million pieces, love like this is beyond, Im choking up again as I write this, my reviews are normally short an vague but I just had to get these emotions of what I feel out, thank you Jennifer I will remember this book for years to come, I don't know how I'm going to find the emotion to go into another book straight way, but thank you. I learned alot from you in this book, love is fleeting just like beauty, grab an hold on for dear life.

This book chewed me up and spit me out for the second time. The amount of tears I shed... Ten pages in and I was bawling.Warning: This is not a light read. It's dark, and sad and raw. It deals with grief, loss, suicide, abuse and depression.There are twists and turns you don't see coming, angst and heartbreak, guilt and hope, and then there's THE TITLE. Oh how it makes sense.And the epilogue, that's just another sucker-punch.I could list all the things I loved about this book, but I LOVED THE STARTING POINTS so much it deserves to be highlighted. It is such an amazing and important part of the book. "My hamster, Nutmeg."