✨ARC Book Review✨
Title: The Wrong Heart
Author: Jennifer Hartmann
Publication Date: Dec 31, 2024
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Two broken souls.
One used to be a ray of sunshine.
The other doesn't believe that life is worth living for.

Painfully Beautiful. The book captivated me from page one and had me ugly crying. Melody and Parker’s story is incredibly compelling, with these two flawed individuals who navigate life following trauma. Melody, a widow reaching out to the recipient of her late husband's heart in a last-ditch effort for connection. Parker, a tortured soul with a tragic past. His character is so complex, yet you can't help rooting for his redemption.

This story had everything. The lowest of the lows—the loss, the grief, the tragedy. The deception, the suffering, the rebuilding, the acceptance, the forgiveness, and lastly, the dancing. I was left speechless by the unexpected twists and turns.

Hartmann writes with such exquisite beauty that each moment feels intensely intimate. If you're looking for a heartwarming and heart wrenching story, this book is for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books | Bloom Books for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Such an emotional and captivating story with these two imperfect people moving through the motions of life after trauma and for Melody, more specifically tragedy. The writing is brilliant and had me in a chokehold. The characters will live in my head as they were so completely developed. I loved the role they had on each other's healing and the flow of their growth throughout the story. There were also friends and family that all took a significant role in the pages and I feel like I was right there with them, rooting for the two main characters' happiness even with a lot of tragedy within their lives as well.

Recommend to anyone looking for an emotional read with a lot of moments to pull on your heart strings.

It was an emotional roller coaster, a beautifully written story about love, hope, and happiness,I love the connection between Parker and Melody, I love how Parker grows and how he changes, how he finds meaning in his life. I love how Melody finds the strength to keep fighting and find her happiness. It is a great book, I am satisfied and it has all the best recommendations from me.

I will admit that I had my doubts about this book for the first 25%. From there, the story really picked up.

I’m this novel we follow Melody who loses her husband in a tragic incident. Not able to live with herself without him, she tries to kill herself. However, she survives and starts attending a suicide prevention support group. There she meets Parker. Parker is a huge negative Nancy and wants to stay away from Melody but she has other plans to break down his walls. In the meantime, Melody discovers the recipient of her husband’s heart and has been writing to him. Will Melody find the strength to keep moving and live for herself?

I really enjoyed this novel. It wasn’t rushed but it wasn’t slow either. The plot was engaging and kept me wanting to read more.

The characters were great. I really enjoyed the siblings and how they all were so dynamic and unique. I especially loved Amelia. She was such a pure, innocent character. I wanted to reach through the book and hug her and Nutmeg.

I am happy justice was served in the end. I wonder though if Parker and Melody put the clues together.

I loved everything but I wish the author had left out the Epilogue. It made me really sad when I felt like the characters had already been through so much. I wanted to live in the HEA a little bit longer.

*An ARC was received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley & Bloom books for the arc in exchange for an honest review. This book will be published 31 December 2024

When Melody’s husband dies, her world falls apart, she needs to hold onto him with every chance she can get. So she emails the recipient of her husband’s donated heart. What can go wrong with one email?
Insert Parker, an emotionally unavailable, trauma filled woman hater who was abused as a child.
When Parker and Melody meet at Lifelines, the suicide prevention centre, something draws them together like a magnet..
I knew once reading the sypnosis of this book it was going to be emotional. I read this one in 3 days, very hard to put down!
It’s about two people who are tremendously damaged, Melody has lost love and Parker has never felt love. It’s a beautiful, raw story of the two finding each other.
This book will have you ugly crying, laughing and giggling, gasping at the plot twists and will brake your heart and put it back together. It’s a whole 360 of emotions in one book. Definitely recommend reading if you’re after an impactful read.

This book was a fantastic quick book that will have you in tears by the end. I loved the two main characters and the story they each had and by the end they come together and overcome so much in such a short amount of time.

The abrupt knife to the chest this book gives you. 💔 I read it when it was indie published and read it again, now as an arc for its traditional release.
Jennifer knows how to twist your heart with these complex ethical issues that give true pause.

You really hurt for Melody …. “But I suppose grief doesn’t take age into consideration—it just takes what it wants when it wants it. Grief is the most selfish thing in this world.”

I went through all the emotions with Parker. Kind of hated him. Loved him. Felt so bad for him…. Hated him again. 😂

Jennifer, you are an artist!

First and foremost, my thanks to NetGalley and Bloom Books (Source Books) for this ARC ebook before the rerelease.

Jennifer Hartmann! You really like to put your readers through the wringer, don’t you? Cause my god, I was feeling all the feels reading this book!

Chapter 1 already had me ugly crying. Chapter 1 people.. chapter 1 and I was hooked. I was quite literally, sobbing at one point, laughing out loud at others, to feeling poignant and worried, to angry and appalled back to laughing out loud. It was such a rollercoaster!

Melody & Parker’s complexity and emotional heart wrenching stories, really pulls you in and making you engulfed in all their angst, all of their pain these two have gone through individually and together. But they were what each of other needed in their lives.

Parker’s inner monologue was definitely the highlight for me and made him an instant favorite among fictional men I adore.

Melody’s strength and ability to keep trying to shine, especially in the service of others while being overcast by the dark winter night of her own lost was really inspiring and just made you root for her to find herself again.

This book was so beautifully written and represented awareness of attempting and wanting to self harm. This story shows how everyone can have a darkness within them and can be broken but it doesn’t mean you are beyond repair. I feel like it just means more light can shine through the cracks of your broken pieces. With time and some help you can find a starting point.

If you’re not new to this author then you’ll know your heart is going to break, heal and break all over again. Another must read from her and a true masterpiece

Jennifer Hartmann's The Wrong Heart is an emotional rollercoaster that shattered me and lovingly pieced me back together. This deeply moving story explores the rawness of loss, the complexity of healing, and the unexpected ways love finds us even in the darkest places.

The premise is both haunting and beautiful—a widow reaching out to the recipient of her late husband's heart. What begins as a desperate act of connection blossoms into an unforgettable journey of grief, forgiveness, and second chances. The twists and turns were as unexpected as they were poignant, leaving me breathless and teary-eyed, yet always clinging to hope.

Hartmann’s prose is achingly beautiful, making every moment feel deeply personal. The characters are flawed, real, and utterly unforgettable, each carrying scars that resonate deeply. Despite the heavy themes, the story shines with moments of tenderness, reminding us of the resilience of the human heart.

This book isn't just a story; it's an experience—one that left me emotionally spent but deeply satisfied. If you're ready for a read that will break you and then rebuild you, The Wrong Heart is a journey you’ll never forget.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloom Books for the opportunity to receive the ARC.

When I tell you I smiled, cried, and laughed all in one book. I loved this so much!! Story follows Melody and Parker and you will be captivated start to finish. Can’t give much away, other than these are two people that just been going through the motions of every day life but not truly living.

The Wrong Heart - Jennifer Hartmann

This book has been on my TBR for a while and when I saw it listed as a potential ARC and re-release I jumped all over it. I finished this book in 24 hours, even with 3 kids, 6 dogs and a husband that all required to be fed and cared for. 😆 I simply could not put it down. It is spectacular in the most heartbreaking way. Have tissues on stand by, you will need them. The grief and sorrow and pain that these characters go through will absolutely destroy you. Then it will build you back up, destroy a little more and build you up again. This book deals with loss, childhood abuse, suicide and depression so check your triggers because it is deep and heartwrenching but so f-ing beautiful.

What a beautiful story. I cried, I smiled, I laughed, and I kicked my feet. Everything about this story was magical and heart warming. The way these characters all found themselves by being open and letting their hearts lead them was beautiful. I absolutely felt so much while reading this.

Melody and Parker were characters I didn't know I needed in my life. There was so much heartache interlaced in their stories but their journeys were beautiful and wholesome.

This story was beatiful. I loved the characters, storyline and grumpy/Sunshine dynamic. A very beautiful and emotional journey.

This was 4.5 stars for me!

What a beautiful story. I cried, I smiled, I laughed, and I kicked my feet. Everything about this story was magical and heart warming. The way these characters all found themselves by being open and letting their hearts lead them was beautiful. I absolutely felt so much while reading this.

Melody and Parker were characters I didn't know I needed in my life. There was so much heartache interlaced in their stories but their journeys were beautiful and wholesome.

I'll probably come back to update this review because right now, I'm still crying.

Wow, wow, wow. This book absolutely wrecked me not once, not twice, but at least three times. If you have ever read a book by Jennifer Hartmann before then you know exactly what you are getting yourself into and that is heartbreak and this book is no exception. This book will break you and rebuild you time and again and I can't say enough about how much I loved this one. I cried, I laughed, I worried, I cheered, I mourned, I celebrated and every other emotion in between. If you are looking for a tear-jerking, heartwarming, hope inspired romance novel, look no further. This book was a disastrous delight to read.

Thank you NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books | Bloom Books for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

5 ⭐ 3 🌶️ 5 🎧

Well, Jennifer did it again. A story about love after loss, or in Parker's case, love for the very first time, that absolutely shattered my heart, put it back together and then shattered it again for good measure. I don't know how she does it, but the tragedies she puts on the page are written so well that I feel as if I'm there and dealing with their grief with them. I felt this story in my soul.

I really loved Parker and Melody, they are both broken but in very different ways. Melody had known love to it's depths before it was ripped from her and Parker didn't really believe in it, at least not for himself. Their chemistry was off the charts, I loved their first meeting so much. The grumpy/sunshine trope was absolutely perfect for this pair. I loved the side characters too; Bree, West, Leah and Amelia were all so great.

I was caught off guard no less than 5 times during this book. I should have seen a few of the twists coming looking back, but the heartbreak and surprise hit me like a brick. I loved everything about this story and how they ended up. Their child's name had me in tears, it was so beautiful. I just... yeah... read it, you won't be disappointed.

The audio was fantastic. Stephanie Kay and Neill Thorne were absolutely wonderful as Parker and Melody and I adored this listen.

This book destroyed me in the best way. I fell, hook , line and sinker, and couldn't put it down. Literally. An incredible read that stays with the reader for a long time, stubbornly refusing to leave my brain and I love it.
Parker and Melody are through a lot and have the scars to prove it. A meddling foster sister, Beth, changes karma and their lives.

There’s something addictive about Jennifer Hartmann’s writing. No matter what she’s saying or how taboo the subject might be, I can’t seem to stop reading once I start—and this book was no different.

The story begins with Melody, who has been left utterly broken after the death of her husband. Not only did he leave her shattered heart behind, but he left his own heart behind too—as a transplant for another person. In her grief, Melody does the one thing she knows she shouldn’t: she contacts the recipient of her husband’s heart. She doesn’t expect a reply, but there’s a desperate, twisted part of her that hopes he’ll answer. What starts as an anonymous conversation soon turns into something much deeper.

I went into this book blind, and I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. This story is so deep and emotionally raw, and I loved every second of it. It pulled me into a whirlwind of pain, healing, and the slow, delicate rebuilding of two broken people.

I’m a sucker for characters who are lost and find their missing pieces through love and healing. Watching Melody reclaim her life and bring light back into Parker’s world was absolutely beautiful. Their connection was messy, complicated, and utterly human.

That said, this book isn’t for everyone—please check the trigger warnings. While the romance is stunning, it deals with heavy themes like grief, loss of a loved one, and self-harm/suicide.

Thank you to SOURCEBOOKS / Bloom Books, Jennifer Hartmann, and NetGalley for sending this gem my way.

If you want your heart ripped out and stomped on, then tenderly shoved back into your chest by the end, this is the book for you.