Review: A Mended Heart by Jenn Leigh (Live & Love #2)


Note: This ebook was provided by Rock Star Lit PR in exchange for an honest review.

A Mended Heart is the second book in the Jenn Leigh's Live & Love series. Book two employs the second chance romance trope with a hint of mystery to it as Mark Bradley and Nilka Abdani try to deal with the ghosts of their failed relationship. They were high school sweethearts who were very much in love, but when Nilka returns after a year-long stay from her family's home country of Egypt, nothing was the same. They remained friends, albeit friends with some distance, and when Mark finds a runaway named Cassie Jane on the streets of Edgewood, Nilka and the rest of their circle do what they can to make her feel comfortable and help the twelve-year-old on her quest to find her parents.

The blurb states that Nilka has a secret and it's pretty easy to figure out what that secret is based on how long she's kept it. What didn't make sense to me was why she decided to keep it for as long as she did. I understand the fear that an eighteen-year-old faces and feels as if she has no choice but to agree to what's demanded of her. But she kept her mouth shut for over a decade, robbing Mark the right to mourn and offer support if he chose to. Also, there was a part in the first book that had Natalie saying that Nilka and Mark had a flirty relationship, but in the first chapter of this second book, Mark says that they were friends but there was tension, and I doubt he was talking about the sexual kind.

I had my qualms about the story, but it was a much better read than its predecessor, with a far more enticing tale to tell. The pacing was a bit better and even Mark and Nilka's relationship--even though I do feel the rekindled romance happened really quickly--was one that I found interesting. However, it was Cassie Jane's story that really caught and held my attention, and even though her parentage wasn't really a mystery, I did enjoy how she found a family and a home in the community of Edgewood as she was trying to discover who her parents were. While A Mended Heart is a second in a series book, it reads pretty well as a standalone, so you can go into without having to read book one. Four stars. ♥

Date Read: 06 April 2016

Learn more about Jenn Leigh.

Purchase A Mended Heart on Amazon.

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