Following His Heart (Ocean City Boardwalk Series, Book 1)

Great book. ENJOY!!

Is this possible ?

Really enjoyed the characters. Fun and engaging. Look forward to the next book.

Good read

This is a sweet romantic story that should give you hope

You’ve heard the cliché that says “every story has already been told,” right? At a certain level of abstraction, that’s true. The specifics of character and plot may differ, but there are a limited number of basic stories. It amazes me how authors are able to put their own unique twists on a basic story and end up with something that still feels fresh and new. This goes double (or maybe quadruple) for the romance genre where every book is the same basic story. Following His Heart made me go “wow” in this regard. At its core, it is the basic romance. Girl meets boy, they take a romantic roller coaster ride fluctuating between, if not love and hate, at least dislike and like a whole bunch, then the happily-ever-after ending. There are minor characters that act as confidants and comedic foils for the heroine and hero, while giving the story more depth. (Primarily the heroine’s disabled mother, plus her best friends, Heather and Cathy.) But the twists, what set this story apart from a typical romance, is a strange turn the story takes that I’ve described as a combination of a little supernatural and horror-lite, although I’d be quick to say that romance readers who don’t normally gravitate to these genres shouldn’t find this too much of a departure from the norm to be objectionable. I found it thought-provoking in ways I’d have never anticipated. **Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. ** 

I enjoy Donna Fasano's writing. Her books draw you in with raw human emotion. The story can have you laughing one minute and crying the next. That human element that allows you to feel for her characters is what makes for a good story. Following His Heart is a good story but it felt like it was missing something for me.

Beautiful Love Story Do you believe in a love so great that it cannot even be dimmed by death? A love that will last forever? Sara Carson thought she had that type of love until it was taken away unexpectedly. Now she cares for her mother and and runs Sara's Sweet Shop – a bakery that supplies the local restaurants with cakes, cookies, pies and other goodies. She is not ready to find love again. The pain was just too much. What do you do when you start having dreams so real that you have to visit the ocean to hear the waves? Landon Richards, after his family farm in Kansas is sold, packs his bags and ends up in Ocean City where he meets Sara. Their relationship is fast and intense, until they hit a speed bump. Then things go from bad to worse. Little did either know how much the heart would be involved. Join Sara, Landon and the other characters in the book for a sweet romantic ride with some twists and turns in finding love. It is a story that will make your heart hurt, make you happy and sad. Ms. Fasano has written a story that will have you wondering and hoping for a love so strong, that it cannot even be dimmed with death. I look forward to reading more books in this series. Received a copy of the book from the author for an honest review.

Following His Heart, (Ocean City Boardwalk 1), Donna Fasano. Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews Genre: Romance I’ve read a couple of Donna’s books now, and they’re perfect stand alone romances, which after all the serialized ones that are so prevalent now is a real treat. This is labelled Ocean City One and I’m making an assumption that Sara's friends Cathy and Heather will be getting their own books. I love those kind of connected romances, where we already know some of the characters and their story, but each book focuses especially on one person. Anyway, this book is Sara's story. She’s living with her mum, though in separate flats, and has a bakery in the same building as her good friends have their businesses, a cafe for Cathy and a B&B for Heather. Landon comes to the rescue in a somewhat dramatic fashion one morning when the ancient pipes break suddenly, which could spell disaster and great expense for the trio. ( and I love the “lose my cookies” part! ) I love Sara, she’s clearly had some past problems with her mum being disabled and needing her help and her husband dying in an accident, and yet she’s always cheerful, always ready to help people. She’s in need of some good news, and when Landon arrives in town there’s an undeniable attraction between them, and her friends try to push them closer. Landon, he’s a lovely guy, with a strange story of how he arrived in Ocean City, and some secrets he’s keeping but he happily jumps in and does the essential repairs saving the girls from disaster, then offers to see to all the plumbing while he’s there, and Sara lets him stay in her flat while she moves downstairs with her mum. Sara and Landon soon become very close and he’s always in her company it seems, joining her on deliveries, cooking her meals, and even joining their famous monthly girls night out. All looks good but he feels he has to level with Sara when he decides to stay around the area, and she’s shocked, gobsmacked at what he tells her, and it brings back some bad times along with a whole fear for the future. She’s not sure at one point if Landon has just played her, and she avoids him after the big reveal....her mum and friends are so sad – it looked as if finally Sara had found something good in her life and they think she’s over reacting. I really felt for both of them, for Landon, though he’d lived with the feelings and dreams for so long it was more a confirmation of an idea for him than a shock, but poor Sara was totally floored, a real bolt from the blue. When the premise first came up she was kind of “its possible but not really” and never really believed it, thought it was all wishful thinking, dreaming and imagination, so when she gets concrete proof she’s scared, doesn’t know how to react or what to do and to be honest I really understood that. It must have brought up a reminder of the bad times and the grief she went through. Its going to take a lot of acceptance on her part to bring them back together, but its the kind of happy ending so many people would love in real life. I’ve read about the phenomenon in this story before, and it’s something that’s well documented empirically, though there’s still not scientific proof. I often think things that appear scientifically impossible are often just problems that we’ve not yet got that far in science to prove. Think of how electricity, telephones, cameras, televisions etc would have been viewed years ago. Vaccinations stopping sickness, people able to travel by plane, train or car etc all would seem impossible before we knew how to do them, and maybe this is just one of those things where it happens but we can’t yet work out why. Stars: Five, its a great solid read, a lovely story, though one I’m unlikely to re read. ARC supplied by author.

Following His Heart is the first novel released in Donna Fasano's Ocean City Boardwalk Series. The series will tell the stories of three best friends Sara, Heather and Cathy. They've known each other since school days. This is Sara's and Landon's story. Sara is a young widow having lost her husband 2 years earlier and Landon he's come to Ocean City after the family farm has been sold, his dreams have been of the east coast and the Ocean and no idea why it has drawn him there. A disaster waiting to happen the water pipes burst in Sara's bakery shop, Landon is eating breakfast in Cathy's restaurant. The 3 ladies share a building all their businesses also share water lines. Landon can't help but hear the phone conversation between Sara and Cathy offers to get the water valve turned off before Sara loses all her baked goodies. The girls wrangle Landon into helping them with repairs. Landon and Sara have this immediate attraction, the chemistry is sizzling! The author has written a novel with a great premise and as a reader first I won't share. I want you to have that same feeling I had when it clicked for me! You'll enjoy this read and feel every emotion the author has written. You will be glued to the page as Sara and Landon discover feelings and a past that they may not be able to overcome.

A very cute story with a different twist

There’s something to be said when you open a book and just get lost in the words, and once again Donna Fasano has captivated me with her story and characters. There is just something about her writing that feels comfortable and familiar, and she never fails to make me smile, bring a tear to my eye, and reaffirm my belief in the happy ever after. I just loved the friendship between Sara, Heather, and Cathy – their banter had me laughing and you could really tell these three ladies cared deeply for one another. It was clear from their actions and from some of the stories told that they always had each other’s backs and would continue to be each other’s strength in times of need. Landon was such an interesting character. As his story unfolds and we learn more about his past, it was hard not to fall for him even more. And Landon and Sara together has some major chemistry going on – and it extended far past the physical. I loved being able to feel the fun and friendship between the two, and then see those feeling begin to grow. Sara was a bit frustrating at times for me, and even though I could certainly understand her reaction to some things, I totally agreed with her mother - "Sara, you're going to have to get over yourself sooner or later."  Which brings me to one one of my favorite character from the book - Sara’s mother Geneva. She certainly had been dealt a bad hand, but boy did I love her outlook on life. I loved the relationship between Sara and Geneva, it was so honest and caring, and even though they may have been through some bad times together, you could tell that their mother/daughter relationship was rock solid. She was always full of spot-on advice - and I loved how she always knew when to interject a bit of humor to break the tension… “Oh, you can do all manner of preaching to yourself,” Geneva said. “You can make all sorts of promises. But your heart isn't like a puppy. It can’t be trained. You can’t teach it to sit, roll over, stay. If your heart wants to wee on the carpet, honey, that’s just what it’s going to do.” This was another great read from Donna Fasano – one that should find its way to everyone’s TBR! I received this book from the author for an honest review.