Heart in Hiding

by Francine Rivers

By all appearances, Matt Hagen is a disheveled vagrant. But the rugged outdoorsman, who also happens to be a successful businessman, turns Annie Seaton's well-ordered world on its head when he rents a room in her house. Annie relies on proud practicality -- not on any man -- to survive financial uncertainty and lonely nights. But with unerring instinct, Matt senses her unspoken needs and sets out to fill them. Perversely arrogant one moment, and persuasively charming the next, Matt seems determined to win Annie's trust. But how can she open herself to a man who demands so much -- yet promises so little?

Genres: Romance, Fiction

239 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

New York Times bestselling author Francine Rivers continues to win both industry acclaim and reader loyalty around the globe. Her numerous bestsellers include Redeeming Love, A Voice in the Wind, and Bridge to Haven, and her work has been translated into more than thirty different languages. She is a member of Romance Writers of America's coveted Hall of Fame as well as a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW).

www.francinerivers.com
www.facebook.com/FrancineRivers
Twitter: @FrancineRivers

Reviews

[Kat · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a bit silly. Ms. Rivers' novels in the eighties are night and day from her newer works. You can see the spiritual shift in her works. The love and compassion she infuses into her characters has remained the same, but the morals and the ending message has changed. I'm started another one of her earlier works...so we'll see how that one goes. I still like her as an author, but now I appreciate her own personal growth!

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Annie knows exactly what she wants. “Fresh air, space; people who want more from life than grubbing for another buck or stabbing a competitor in the back to make a bigger deal. I wanted to go back to simple things, like having time with my baby, and smelling wild flowers, and wading barefoot in a river…If being a hippie meant living true to one’s beliefs rather than selling out, then she was one.” But not everyone is like Annie, “knowing from the beginning what’s important in this world…caring about people. Some of us have to go through an ordeal of discovery first.”

Matt wants to get away from it all. “Tension headaches, no time for anything but business, doing business with jerks, getting audited by the IRS, dealing with fine print, and realizing that at the rate I was going I’d have a heart attack before I was fifty and maybe never even enjoy life. And never having time for important things, like keeping in touch with friends.” But he is caught between two worlds; he’s got to clear himself of one before he can live fully in the other.

Annie is wary; “what did she really know about Matt Hagen? He drove a blue van, his time was his own, he was in real estate, and two men were looking for him, one of whom she distrusted on sight, the other she knew nothing about. It wasn’t much on which to build trust. Yet she was in love with him.” And he wants to nurture it the way she does her garden: “weeding out the bad stuff, thinning out the multitudes.” Or is he just “spreading on the manure?”

“A man like him doesn’t marry, he merges.” Annie is convinced Matt is “just the sort of man [she] never wanted to love again.” But even when Annie puts up her walls and withdraws her bridge, Matt insists that “if you ever get lonely in your tower, remember I’m only a phone call away.” As for Francine Rivers’ Heart in Hiding, “The whole book is a ‘good part.’”

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

A library find.
Written ok.
Characters (at first) came off pushy and aggressive! Not very likeable. Then the the relationship began to move to fast! I didn't really like it!

[Sheila · Rating 2 out of 5]

I generally don't read Regency romance or the regular Harlequin books, and there was nothing on this book to suggest it had originally been written for those - but it must have been, though it's probably somewhat tame compared to those. So, if that's what you are looking for - then it's perfect. If you aren't, then avoid it.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

OOps, I thought this was a Christian book. Guess this was before she became a Christian writer. I was a little suprised.

[Katy Moffitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick read. I read it in a couple of hours. A little more explicit in the sexual aspect than some of her other novels. I am guessing this is before she wrote Christian novels.

[Tammy Adams · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 1/2 stars. Change the names and the geography and this is pretty much a repeat of Heart's Divided.