Heart of Belonging

Riverbend Friends #6

by C.J. Darlington

Heart of Belonging is the sixth book in a series that travels alongside four friends as they deal with teen life in Riverbend, Indiana. The novel inspires young women to deepen their relationships with God as they face real-life issues and solve their problems in God-honoring ways.

Shay desperately wants to feel loved and wanted―to be part of a real family. She thought that finally meeting her real father, a famous horse trainer, might change her life for the better. And it did. Sort of. She’s more inspired to work with horses now, for sure, but a “normal” family―like her friends talk about―doesn’t seem like it’s in her future. Living with her aunt and working with horses every day doesn’t seem to give her the love and acceptance that she longs for.

So Shay finds looks herself looking for acceptance elsewhere―on the internet, looking at stuff she doesn’t think she can ever tell anyone about. She’s ashamed of where this takes her, and she suspects her friends, especially Izzy, would reject her if they found out.

Can Shay begin to recognize the blessings she already has―that God’s true love, the acceptance of her friends, and the kindness of her aunt might just be enough?

Genres: Christian, Christian Fiction, Young Adult, Contemporary

256 pages, Paperback

Published December 19, 2023

About the author

C. J.'s love of reading began when she was a kid dragging home bags of books from the library. When she was twelve she started dreaming about becoming a published author. That dream came true when her first novel Thicker than Blood won a national writing contest. It became the first book in the Thicker than Blood series, which also includes Bound by Guilt, Ties that Bind, and Running on Empty. She has also written Jupiter Winds and Jupiter Storm the first and second books in the Jupiter Winds series. Her children's fantasy Alison Henry and the Creatures of Torone has also been well received. She lives in Pennsylvania and is the horse care manager at a stables in Lancaster County.

Reviews

[Haley Durfee · Rating 4 out of 5]

《Maybe that was enough》

♡shay: horse girl, looking for family

Another excellent Riverbend novel, Heart of Belonging follows Shay as she struggles with finding a family...and learns the family you find is always there for you.

Content:
References to animal abuse, affairs, out of wedlock pregnancy.
Very mild violence (a car accident and a horse accident).
A character finds out that her bio mom left her as a baby.
A main character reads an erotic novel and looks at porn - nothing is described, and it is portrayed as wrong.
Mentions of sex, periods, "girl stuff" (never expanded upon beyond a very brief mention).
Mention of telling a male and female horse apart.

Ages 15+

[Neils Barringer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Talk about pressure....the first reviewer? Okay, here we go!

Disclosure I am in my 30's reading a book clearly targeted for teen girls so I have to read it with a different lens than I usually would. That being said I have recently come across many YA books, and this by far was the most wholesome book I have read, AND it had a wonderful real message that I believe teen girls need to be reminded of. CJ Darlington did this without inserting "Check the Box" controversial characters or situations. It was refreshing to see teen girls being normal teenager girls (swim practice, taking care of siblings, actually praying and participating in Church). Before you say that is not "normal" I would like to argue this is what it should be. Teen girls need to see that being "good" is a "good" thing. When life brings hardships we can turn to God, He is always there waiting for us, no matter how dirty and low we may feel. We have sisters in Christ we can lean on and older wise woman we can seek counsel from.

Okay on to the book. This book is clearly part of a series, and I do wish I had read books #1-5 prior to picking this book up because I think it would have allowed me to greive/sympathisze with Shay more than I was able to having not known her or her friends full story. But that aside, I was able to gather enough to know that Shay has had a rough life. I was frustrated by her insecurities, but again I am 30 this is for a teen, but I would imagine many teen girls could relate to how she was feeling and responding to being parentless, at risk of losing her horses she loves and her friends because she is doing something in secret that is bad.

Now the bad here is not like other YA books I have read, this is a bad you could see the pattern we do in Scripture

Genesis 3:6-8 God told Adam not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but Eve saw that the tree was good for food. She desired to be wise, took the tree’s fruit, ate, and gave some to her husband to eat as well. Then, they both hid from the presence of the LORD.

Joshua 7:20-21 God had told Israel that everything in Jericho was devoted to destruction, but when Achan saw the spoil, he desired (coveted) the spoil for its value. He took the spoil for himself, even though it belonged to the LORD, and then he hid the spoil inside his tent.

2 Samuel 11:1-5 During the time of year when kings went out to battle, David stayed home and saw Bathsheba bathing. He desired her beauty (this is implied in his actions), had his servants take her to him, and then spent the rest of the chapter trying to hide his adultery.

See, Covet, Take, Hide.
Shay did this. Her secret is not something I can really relate to as I have never been tempted by that, but I certainly can see it in other areas of my life, just fill in the blank with what you struggle with.

The ending provided so much hope and forgiveness. The author pointed out like I just did, that even if you are not doing the same thing Shay is doing, you can apply the message to your own sin/healing journey as well.

There are some cringey moments for sure and some major "teen moments", and "teen drama" but over all I can see how this series would be great for teen girls to read.

Thank you Netgalley, CJ Darlington for this advanced copy read of "Heart of Belonging". I was not influenced or paid for my honest review. I look forward to this book being published and reaching the hands of many teen girls!

[Tana Stierwalt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Riverbend Friends is a Christian book series that often deals with hard issues. This book is definitely not one I'd recommend for 13-year-olds (included in the recommended age range), just because of the issues the book dealt with.

[Sue Garland · Rating 5 out of 5]

HEART OF BELONGING by CJ DARLINGTON is the sixth novel in the Riverbend teens’ series where we folow four teenage girls as they try to make sense of their lives. Izzy, Tessa, Amelia and Shay are quite different but are doing life together. Shay, who has recently lost her adoptive father and lives with her aunt Laura above Laura’s book shop, is the one who longs to belong and suffers badly from rejection - her mother having left when she was a baby. Working for Janie and then Denise at the horse barn is something that really helps her. Will the knowledge that she is loved by God, her friends and aunt Laura, be enough to keep her on the straight and narrow?…….
Although,Heart of Belonging is aimed at teenage girls, I enjoyed the lovely story and strong Christian message.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Tyndale House Publishers. The opinions in this review are completely my own.

[Audra Christianson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy young adult novels, but this story fell flat for me. I was never invested in the main character or felt a true sense of friendship with this group of girls. I think the main character was trying to tell the readers how they were all friends, but I never actually felt like they were. There was a lot of tell and not as much show. I wanted to feel what was going on and not just hear the main character’s thoughts on everything. I do like how the book left things off with her birth father, but otherwise there wasn’t much that interested me about this story. From the faith perspective, there were good questions brought up, but I never felt like there was much real mentorship or scripture coming into play in order to help the main character grow in her struggles or lead to any sort of firm landing in God’s Word.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

[Meagan | The Chapter House · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another solid installment in the Riverbend Friends series!

I've read all the other books in the series (shocker, haha, knowing me!) and definitely recommend reading in order as they build on each other and reference past events, both recent and further back.

It was definitely hard at times watching Shay go down her path of choice (and frankly, it illustrated why I am and have been/tried to be super careful in what I read/put into my head, because even the written word--without pictures!--can stick with me and create powerful mental images that are hard to erase). Darlington did a good job at presenting the struggle and also the grace and forgiveness offered by Christ, and demonstrated in Shay's friends.

I received an eARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

[Lucy Marijane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been liking the Riverbend Friends series so far, but I do have to say that Heart of Belonging was not my favorite. I prefer some of the other books in the series compared to this one. It was a bit slow, and the drama seemed to be clumped together. I would recommend the series to ages twelve and up(there are some triggers for different books though). I am excited to read the rest of the series.

[JoAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heat of Belonging is a well written young adult book. A good plot and well developed characters. My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance book. This is my unbiased review.

[Jurnee Clouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meet Shay: A girl who adores horses and has a longing for a better life.

Content/Triggers:
Mentions sex and pornography (nothing is described)
Mentions pregnancy and animal abuse.

Another amazing novel in all! I love this series with my whole heart and have already pre ordered the next book!

Ages 14+

[Leah Brianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Evan C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

All I'm gonna say is that it hit real close to home. Well without all the horse.

[Rhys-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Shay's story was my favorite out of the first four Riverbend books, so you can imagine how high my expectations were for this sequel. Unfortunately, it fell short for me because the ending didn’t offer the resolution I was expecting from a Christian book.

There were parts of the book that I liked, though. It was a very quick read–I read 80% of it in a single day. I also generally liked the characters, mainly because I was acquainted with them from the previous books in the Riverbend series. Shay’s choices were sometimes infuriating, however.

My main issue with this book was that it didn’t feel much like a Christian book to me. There was an excellent opportunity to show redemption from Shay’s sin issues, but the author didn’t seem to take advantage of it. This book seemed more about Shay drifting into a wrong lifestyle and less about God working in her life. Still, I did like the glimmer of hope at the end shown through Shay’s aunt and friends’ forgiveness.

I would recommend Heart of Belonging if you enjoyed the prior books in the series, but don’t expect a powerful Christian story or a likable main character. I’m hoping the next books in the series improve from this one.

[Corina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just like a lot of other books in the series, this book shattered my mind. But this one also managed to make me cry, and for good reason.

Some quotes I found, NO SPOILERS(make sure you read the last one, it describes me perfectly):

“I don’t think ‘easy’ is a part of real life. It’s nearly always complicated.”

“‘I feel like I mess up all the time.’
‘Join the club.’
‘And sometimes it feels like nothing goes right.’
‘Yep,’ my aunt said. ‘Not to get all cynical on you, but I think that’s called life, kiddo.’”

“If we just let stuff happen to us without any goals or dreams, then we're going to float along and be moved by everything that hits us, rather than specifically working toward things."

“Quit trying to be perfect. Figure out who you are and be that. You’ll have a much better chance of succeeding.”

“Mistakes are allowed. That’s called life. Hopefully we learn from those mistakes. It almost makes them worth it.”

“Sometimes all a girl needs is having someone who cares sit next to her.”

“I wandered into the fiction room, my favorite area. Even the smell seemed different.”

“I came because I needed a distraction. Something get my mind off everything that spun around in it. I had always enjoyed reading. After all, my dad had designed book covers for a living. So we always had books lying around, and I was reading chapter books by myself by the time I was four. Before I met Tessa, Amelia, and Izzy, books had been my closest friends. In them, I could be anything I wanted, go anywhere, see anything. In my imagination, I was strong and beautiful and confident. I could run alongside Alec and the black stallion and not grow tired. I could wield a bow next to Susan, queen of Narnia, and not be shy. I could shine a flashlight up a dark staircase with Nancy Drew and figure out who the bad guy was with ease. I could stand shoulder to shoulder with Harry, Hermione, and Ron and not be afraid.
As I grew older, I read more complicated stories, a lot of thrillers and mysteries because those were my dad's specialty as a designer.
I didn't always understand the author's point, but I did enjoy the process of discovery. My dad wouldn't let me read some of the books because apparently I wasn't old enough.”