It’s been almost fifteen years since Jennifer Williams has heard anything from her ex, Brian Collins. Her husband Todd adopted Chloe, the child she and Brian shared together, and Jennifer and Todd have had a normal, happy life together ever since. Knowing one day Chloe would deserve to know the truth about her real father, Jennifer and Todd decided not to worry about it now and would wait until they felt Chloe was old enough to handle such important information about herself.
Brian Collins, being immature and irresponsible, made stupid choices early on in his life that cost him a marriage and a child. Years later, he’s a changed man and he’s made something of himself—he’s got a great teaching job and has a loving wife and son. Although Brian and his father didn’t see eye to eye when he was growing up, he’s mended that relationship now but is having to deal with a new issue. Brian’s father was recently diagnosed with cancer and hasn’t been given long to live. Now, he’s struggling with himself knowing he’s got a 15 year old daughter from his previous marriage that neither of his parents are aware of. Is it fair that the grandparents never learned about Chloe? Can Brian live with himself if something happens to his father before he’s had a chance to tell them about her?
Late one evening, Jennifer receives a phone call from an unknown woman telling her she needs to read her email. When Jennifer questions who the woman is and what this email is about, the woman hangs up. Figuring it’s probably nothing more than a prank call, after all, she had her fair share of calls from Brian long ago, curiosity gets the best of her and she decides to check her messages. What she finds in this email is about to change not only her life, but her family’s life as well. Is Jennifer ready to deal with the requests asked of her in this email? Can she handle knowing that Brian wants to have Chloe meet his father before he passes?
Jennifer must put her personal feelings aside and take into consideration how this will affect not only her, but her family and Brian’s family too. Can she put the past behind her knowing a dying, innocent man is about to pass away and never have the chance to meet his granddaughter. Or can she deny Brian’s request and live the rest of her life knowing she kept this from happening?
Amy Stephens is a USA Today and International Bestselling contemporary romance author. Born and raised in Alabama, she lives just minutes from the beautiful gulf coast beaches.
When she’s not busy writing, you’ll find her reading, going on cruises with her husband, or taking a road trip for a girl’s weekend getaway. She’s a huge sports fan, but she prefers watching the games at home where she can curl up on the couch with her feline fur babies.
Amy released her first book in 2014 and now has over twenty published works, from sweet and clean, rom-com, sports and firefighters, there's bound to be a hero for all of her readers.
Jennifer and Todd have a beautiful family, and life. That is until Brian, Jennifer's ex, and Chloe's real dad sends an email wanting Chloe to meet him and his family. It's been 15 years since he has contacted Jennifer but he hasn't forgot about her, or his daughter. Brian is remarried, has a son, and is finally on the right path with his life. One day Brian gets the tragic news that his father doesn't have much longer to live, and it starts to get to him the fact that his family never even knew Chloe. Jennifer can't come to terms with Brian wanting to see her. He destroyed her, she won't let him destroy Chloe, and she still can't get that hateful Brian out of her head. She has to make a decision, one of the hardest ones she will ever make. Keep her perfect family the way it is, or tell Chloe the truth about who her real father is.
I loved this series! Amy did an amazing job with brining the characters to life.
This book takes place 15 years laters. You get to see how much each of the characters have grown. The one to do the most growth was Brain. Before reading this book I hated him however, after reading Heart of the Matter my views have changed. I loved how much he grew into a responsible adult and owned his mistakes.
Brain is going through a tough patch in his life and really wants to connect/get to know his daughter (Chloe). However, when he contacts Jennifer about thus it turns her world upside down.
What will Jennifer do? Read Heart of the Matter to find out.
I highly recommend reading Don't Turn Back and Never Look Back to get the full affect of these characters but it is not needed.
I was anxious to read this one, to see what was going to happen. I love seeing what happened to the characters in the future. This one takes place about 15yrs later. I still loved these characters and I even soften about Brian, I hated him in the last book because of the things he did. Ms. Stephens books really grab you. I really could feel for all of these characters and I hated to put the book down until I finished it. Can't wait to see what stories she comes up with next.
This series was great! Brian redeemed himself and I even found myself cheering for him. Amy Stephens has quickly become a favorite and I will definitely be reading more of her work in the future. This series is a must read!
Ummm.. yeah.. where to start! This book was awesome. It really pulled at the heart strings and in no way ended as I though it would.
Heart of the Matter is book #3 (or 2.5) in the series by Amy Stephens. It is not a stand alone and will need to be read in order with the other 2 books in the series. If you have not previously read the other 2 books, then please do not read further. Spoiler Alert.
In this book you get to see into Jennifer's life many many years after her and Brian part ways. He has not contacted her at all for all these years and her new life has truly become one of dreams. Everything is perfect and she is happy. Well, that is until she starts having anxiety attacks and PTSD flash backs. Trying to hide it from her family she tried to just over come and move on as she has for so many years. That is until she gets an Email.. One email. That's all it takes to turn her world upside down.
I love the characters. I adore Todd and think he is just the bee's knees. I love that his and Jennifer's characters have stayed so true to their original selves while still maturing enough to make you believe it has really been all those years. Brain was the real shocker. I honestly even to the last page had/ have mixed feelings for him. I think everyone has had that relationship with someone you really liked (or loved) although you had not real reason too and no matter how toxic their personality you just could not help but get sucked in.
I really enjoyed this book and think that it did a beautiful job of giving some much needed closure to a very good, heart filled series.
I highly recommend this book as well as the entire series and anything my Amy Stephens.
I was excited to see what happen next in Jennifer, Todd and Brian's lives... We all fell in love with Jennifer from the first book and felt the pain she went through when she was with Brian " A loser who lied about everything, couldnt keep a job to save his soul and treated Jennifer like pure crap. She finally got away from him and fell in love with the amazing Todd! This book picks up many years down the road with Jennifer and Todd happily married with 2 beautiful children, Chloe and Lilly. They are the perfect family and they have the perfect life! But after all these years Brian throws that all out of control by sending an email to Jennifer begging her to let Chloe, his daughter, who he has never met, Meet HIS father who is dying from brain cancer... Now don't get me wrong, Brian was a worthless piece of crap and deserved everything he got coming to him, but in this book I felt bad for him. He definitely changed his entire life around, He met a great girl "Grace" who he married and had a son with named Brady. He finally learned his lesson and became a better man and was only trying to do the right thing in the long run. This story tugs at your heart because you can see both sides of the story and you can understand both of their points of view!
An excellent end to this trilogy. The book puts to bed all the unknowns from the other two books. I like Amy's style of writing . It's plain and to the point and very descriptive. This is a definite read for the lovers of uncomplicated romance novels