Paper Hearts by Courtney Walsh

Could the loss of her dream lead to her happily ever after?

        Abigail Pressman would never have guessed that love notes penned on paper hearts by an anonymous couple could challenge her doubts about romance. A business owner in a quaint tourist town, she dreams of expanding. But lately, she’s more focused on resisting the matchmaking efforts of the Valentine Volunteers, who gather in her store to continue Loves Park’s tradition of stamping mail with the city’s romantic postmark.

        When Abigail is unwillingly drafted into the Volunteers, she encounters the paper hearts, a distraction that couldn’t come at a worse time. A hard-to-read doctor has become Abigail’s new landlord, and he’s threatening to end her lease.

        As she fights a growing attraction to this man intent on crushing her dreams, Abigail is inspired to string the hearts in her store, sparking a citywide infatuation with the artsy trend. But when a new batch of hearts arrives, it appears something tragic has happened to the couple. Will uncovering their story confirm Abigail’s doubts, or could it rescue her dreams…and her heart?

Paper Hearts is the first book in Courtney Walsh’s Paper Hearts series, and is also the first novel I have ever read by her. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect when I first picked up this book, but somehow I just know it would be a novel I would enjoy. Fortunately, I was right. I completely devoured this story, and I already cannot wait to read the next book in the series. Courtney did a fabulous job weaving together all of the pieces and parts of this tale, and I know that she is going to be one of my favorite authors from here on out.

Abigail Pressman is by far one of the most relatable characters I have ever encountered. She has faced pain in her life, and that caused her to stop believing in love, which is something so many people do. Honestly, everyone copes with their pain a little differently, but I feel as if Abigail’s way is the most relatable, though it could be that it’s just the most relatable to me. She has practically given up living, building walls around herself and sticking to the same routines each and every day, trying to convince herself that she’s happy and doesn’t need anything else in her life. Especially not a man. Then, her new landlord appears and threatens to turn her life upside down, and she is shaken more than she would like. The only thing is, he is just as full of pain as she is. They’ve both faced horrible situations in their lives; is it possible that they are exactly what each other needs?

I really, really, really enjoyed this book, and I have to admit that I was a bit on the landlord’s side from day one. There were some things about him, or who he allowed to help him, that I hated from the start, but I knew in the end that he had a huge capacity to love and I wanted him to heal Abigail just as much as I wanted her to heal him. Anyway, I absolutely swooned my way through this novel, and I immediately put it on my all-time favorites list, so I have to give Paper Hearts all five bookshelves. I know I will be reading this novel again someday, and I cannot wait until Change of Heart comes out next month. I highly recommend this story; I promise you’ll love it just as much as I did!

Happy reading!

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All credit for the italicized synopsis goes to Courtney Walsh and Tyndale House Publishers.