I was not prepared for this book in the best possible way. Every Tracey Garvis Graves book I have read so far I’ve been obsessed with and this is the same.

Wren is trying to have her Wild moment and reconnect with herself and her interests by geocaching on a solo adventure across the country. Everything starts out fine until she runs into trouble on the first trail and needs some help escaping. Enter in Marshall. He’s out doing some soul searching geocaching of his own and immediately comes to Wren’s rescue when he happens to cross paths with her. After Marshall suggests adventuring together and Wren reluctantly agrees it would be safer to go together but after the trauma her ex left her with she’d rather not fall for someone right now. Little does she know Marshall is dealing with his own trauma and together they manage to work through some issues, until another curveball is thrown at them.

The book had the perfect amount of angst, slow burn, strangers to friends to lovers to strangers again feels. Wren managed to heal herself while also proving that she can trust herself and her instincts. Marshall goes through his own journey of finding peace and learning to deal with the trauma he’s been through. Thank you Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and Tracey Garvis Graves for the ARC

Any book by Tracey Garvis Graves is a must read for me. I love the storytelling and the character development and the personality Tracey puts into her books. The storyline is unique and I really liked that part but the romance that ensues was my favorite. That “we didn’t mean to fall in love” kind of love. I started the book on a lazy Sunday and found myself in the dark with my kindle that night trying to finish up to see what happens! This book will warm your heart, make you shed a few tears, and might even make you long for the outdoors!
Wren is at a stand still in her life after loosing her Fiancé to a terrible car crash. Her heart is shattered in a million pieces and she’s not sure how to live without Rob, or how to trust in love again. She decides to take a solo adventure hiking to find geotags and get lost in her grief. Being amongst with the trees and fresh air is the best kind of medicine, plus there is something powerful about feeling like you can do something big on your own. Wren is really feeling strong and independent until a run in on the trail has her doubting herself. No matter how strong or independent she feels she’s still a young women out in the wilderness by herself. Luckily Wren meets another hiker who is on a mission of shelf discovery and the two decide to team up. Wren is very guarded but as the days go by she discovers she’s not the only one who is need of healing. Marshall has lost someone important in his life as well and is out hiking in his brothers memory. The two set off on a mission to visit different locations and along the way they will become each other’s shoulder to lean on.
I really enjoyed this book and the storyline and found myself teary eyed several times…in a good way.

I absolutely adore Tracey Garvis Graves. I think her characters are so well thought-out, where they have a full history and really thoughtful inner monologues. That’s not to say this isn’t a juicy story though… there are a couple twists that made my jaw drop. Then we get to find out how the MCs deal w them. Anyway, I won’t give too much away but read this on a lazy Sunday and it’ll keep you engaged all day.

What a beautiful change of pace! My heart is so full that I can not even put into words how I feel exactly.

Tracey, has been a forever favorite of mine since I read “On the Island”… (that is my go to heart - love story book and I’m certain it will always be!)

She has this magical ability to pull her readers in from the first chapter but she also has this God given ability to surface emotions in you that you never knew existed.

This novel of love, heartache, loss, finding yourself, growth, strength and healing … heck all the things, is a superlative skill that some authors can not even dream of.

Please do yourself a favor and add this story of Wren and Marshall’s beautiful journey to your TBR list NOW!!

The Trail of Lost Hearts is set to publish on March 26, 2024.

Thank you Tracey, for using your magnificent skills to give us a story that will stick with us for life.

Also, a special thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc of The Trail or Lost Tears!

I loved the journey from beginning to end of this beautiful book!! Geocaching is one of our favorite date activities and a book that’s starts with it at its core is perfect! Watching Wren navigate her broken heart and develop her friendship with Marshall was perfect! I devoured this book and sighed when I read the last page!!! Well done Ms. Tracey!!

It makes me cringe when I read about single women that hike the PNW trails alone. Maybe a decade or so ago it was relatively safe. But now?

The story starts when 34-year-old Wren Waters has a lot of emotional baggage and is ready for an exciting adventure to get her into a more positive path. She takes a flight from her hometown of Dayton, Ohio to Portland, Oregon and then finds the first location on her list: a beautiful trail that has wild blackberries, tall trees and a creek nearby. It’s a 3.5-mile hike in the mountains near Eugene, Oregon.

She grabs her gear and feels grateful for the REI employee who helped her prepare for cool weather and possibly rain in September. She is excited to go geocaching in search of containers that have been left by strangers with hidden objects and names.

She is alone and having fun but then hears footsteps approaching. A man a little older than her is full of energy and ready to pass before he says, “Do you want to team up on the search?” Her answer is no. Then the next two guys on the same trail aren’t as friendly. She is nervous as it looks like it could be a dangerous situation for her. What was she thinking?

It's a story about grief and trying to get past the sadness she is feeling. What she went through wasn’t easy yet, there was something about her I didn’t like. It’s not easy to fall in love with a book when you can’t relate to the characters. The pace was slow for me and it felt like it was dragging. I kept wanting to read just one more chapter in hopes that something more interesting would happen.

However, I can see how others may gravitate towards it as it relates to unexpected bumps in life. I believe that books come to you when you need them the most and hopefully this will help some readers.

My thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy with an expected release date of March 26, 2024.

I believe this was the first book I have ever read by Tracey Graves and it will not be my last. I had no idea going in what this book was about, but it grabbed my attention from the get go. I was really drawn to both Wren and Marshall and enjoyed reading of their time spent together and the rollercoaster ride of emotions that ensued. I really liked that despite what their emotions said they wanted, they were mature enough to know that it also had to be right and all boxes needed to be checked. They both had hardships they had endured and they knew they wanted to grow after these hardships despite how difficult that would be. The geocaching was so much fun to learn about (I had no idea prior) and now I want to pursue this myself! This was a really good feel-good story and I am so glad I was given the opportunity to read it.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book early (releases in March 2024) in exchange for an honest review. Can't wait to read more Graves!

I wanted to love this one, but it missed the mark for me. The first half spent geocaching in the PNW had me intrigued. But I felt like the second half took a sharp shift with a twist that left me irritated. .

I had a hard time suspending reality. Some of the elements were so implausible that it was tough to accept, much less root for, these characters. While I appreciated the deep dialogue, I couldn't buy into conversations like this actually happening. The more I think about it- the more hodge podge it feels.

FWIW- I really enjoyed The Girl He Used to Know and Heard It in a Love Song by the same author. This one just didn't land.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I've never geocached before and I didn't know anything about it but reading this book felt a little like my own little geocache mission.

Wren didn't know her relationship wasn't ideal, not really, until the unthinkable happens. When she realizes the depths of the pain from the accident she can't fully process it all.

Marshall lost his brother in an unimaginable accident. He couldn't prevent it and he can't get over it. He may be a therapist but he can't heal himself.

After Wren finds herself in trouble on her first search Marshall comes to her rescue. When Wren & Marshall team up to geocache together it's a whole different adventure they couldn't have planned for.

This book was a slow burn and had such a great ending, I can't help but smile. I appreciate the time and care the author took for both main characters to heal, on their own and in their own time.

I would recommend this book.

This is the second book I've read this summer that sets in PNW where the MCs fall in love while doing outdoorsy stuff (The other book was Something Wild and Wonderful). I've never been to the West coast yet and the description of the scenery made me want to change that.

I'd classify this as one more of a relationship fiction than romance. The Trail of Lost Hearts is about grief and healing from loss and taking a chance on love again. Wren and Marshall meet while there were geocaching-the outdoor activity of using GPS to look for hidden objects. They both have their own baggage. They spend a week together and inevitably they get close. While Wren is so quick to share her trauma with Marshall, he needs more time but this is a deal breaker for Wren. Wren kept comparing Marshall to her ex, which was understandable after what she had been through but I didn't agree with all her choices. I didn't find Wren very likeable but I cannot put my finger on why.

It was a quick read at 304 pages, I finished it in a few sittings. There is a twist in the middle of the story that made the second half read like a different book. Overall I enjoyed this second chance at love story but it didn't leave me with hearteyes as I expected to.
3.5 stars

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Tracey Garvis Graves does it again with this poignant novel of heartaches of a variety. Wren and Marshall take you through their journey to find happiness after tragedy. This novel grabbed me from the beginning and I wanted to know how the characters navigated through the difficulties presented to them by others’ choices and the ugliness of violence. It was an excellent read and much different from the norm in this genre. Get your hands on this book and of Graves books you can. You won’t be disappointed!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press.

Tracey Garvis Graves “The Trail of Lost Hearts” was the book my heart needed this weekend.

Graves writing pulls at my heart strings every single time.

After her finance dies Wren Waters finds out that he was living a double life- complete with a secret wife and children. Devasted and left to grieve a love she isn’t even sure was real, Wren is lost. She has no choice but to continue to work but since she works from home, she has little reason to leave the house. While her friends and family understand her pain, they encourage her to take steps towards healing, and towards leaving the house. She eventually finds adventure in geocaching- a search through nature for items left behind by strangers with the coveted FTF- if you are first to find the item. Her geocaching hobby has brought her to the Pacific Northwest for a of scenery and some new quests. She’s prepared- studying the weather, learning the topography, mapping out coordinates- but what she can’t plan for is the two guys she stumbles upon clearly not dressed for hiking towards the peak of her first trail. Alone in the woods Wren doesn’t have a lot of options. Lucky for her, fellow geo-cacher Marshall Hendricks shows up and ruins the men’s plans for Wren. Marshall has nothing to lose and isn’t afraid to step in, to Wren’s rescue. They decide to continue traveling together geo-caching through the PNW.

The story that unfolds is heartfelt, heartbreaking and heartwarming. We all have a past, things we have overcome, things we are grieving and loves lost. They say life is what happens when you’re busy making plans, but what about when you have no plans and you’re just trying to get by. Well, life happens then too.

This is an excellent read and I can’t wait for you to all get your hands on it when it is released in March 2024!

I could not put this book down! It was such a great read. I just kept wanting to read to find out what happened. It was a great romance, but also a great book for learning to discover yourself. I had never read a book by Tracey Garvis Graves, but will definitely be reading past books written by her. Thanks for a great read! Keeping in theme, I read this book in 2 days on a camping trip.

Thank you NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for allowing me to review this book prior to publication.

Tracey Garvis Graves writes another wonderful, heart-filled love story about people who survive loss and come out stronger. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced reader copy of “The Trail of Lost Hearts.”

The story begins with Wren (from Ohio) and Marshall (from Oregon) meeting on a trail in Oregon while geocaching. Each character has sustained a recent trauma and is connecting with nature as a way of trying to heal. Through their shared activity wren starts revealing her heartache and trauma to Marshall, while he remains less forthcoming. She returns to Ohio feeling like his reticence is something she can’t live with.

There is a plot twist in the middle of the book that changes the trajectory of Wren’s life. I am not sure if it added to the story in a substantive way but the writing feels weaker from this point on. The first half of of the book was very compelling.

Overall, I liked this story-it was a fast read. My favorite book by this author is “On the Island” but this one is also good.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Wren decides to go on vacation after suffering sine setbacks in her life. While traveling she meets Marshall who makes her rethink her life. The more time she spends with him, the more she likes him. This book was a good read.

Two people trying to heal after traumatic experiences turn to nature, only to find an unexpected friendship that turns to love. ❣️

Overall, I thought this book was fine. I enjoyed the first half which was focused on hiking/geocaching and getting to know our main characters, Wren and Marshall. Aside from the “big twist”, which I didn’t care for, I think the main reason I didn’t like the book more was Wren herself. Given she opened up to Marshall, she expected him to tell her about a traumatic experience he was trying work through, even though they’d known each other a week. I just don’t think that’s something you can hold against someone, especially to the point of lecturing them under the ruse of standing up for yourself. (And also when you hypocritically do the same thing to him later. 🙄) I would have liked this one better had we seen more of their healing and coming together on the page versus focusing on the twist in the last half. With all of that said, I read this one quickly and thought it was fine, even if a bit sappy.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a complimentary advance copy of this eBook, out 3/26/2024.

Well, wasn’t this a little rollercoaster of emotions! If you like drama, a slow burn and one of those head tilting— “say what” — kind of books, this is for you. The Trail of Lost Hearts has two enjoyable characters dealing with heartbreak and loss.

It gets a little slow halfway through and it takes a turn that doesn’t quit fit. It almost feels like two story ideas in one? I found myself skimming along and bored for a few chapters in the middle.

Overall, I still really enjoyed the story, the simple, but complex dialog and creative twists.

Love, love, love the cover!
Thanks Netgalley!

I've read a couple of Graves' works before, her 9/11 book gutted me & I still remember it well a few years later. While this latest effort, "The Trail of Lost Hearts" will likely not be that memorable, it still was a very affecting & emotional read. And I learned all about geocaching too! I did like the two MC's, Wren & Marshall, particularly Wren, recovering from trauma. Very well written & character driven. My sincere thanks to Net Galley & the publisher for the complimentary DRC, my pleasure to review it

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy of this book. I was drawn into the story right away because our family got hooked on geocaching during the pandemic and that is a key story line in this book. It was a fun read; a little spicy but not uncomfortably so. It took an unexpected left turn about halfway through that made it more complex than I had expected but still maintained its happily ever after.

Overall I liked this book but as other reviewers have also noted, the pacing felt choppy, a lot of the dialogue and email content felt too formal, and I couldn’t connect with the characters. I appreciated how they grew personally and how their relationship changed throughout the book, but it didn’t do much for me.