The Hollow Heart (The Heartfelt Series #1) by Adrienne Vaughan @adrienneauthor #Drama #Romance

  • 16301205Author: Adrienne Vaughan
  • Published: October 2012 by Adrienne Vaughn
  • Category: Romance, Drama, Contemporary
  • four-half-stars

Marianne Coltrane is a feisty, award-winning journalist who is far from lucky in love. Taking herself off to the wilds of the west of Ireland to recuperate, she literally runs into Ryan O’Gorman, the most conceited, infuriating man in the world. 

We first meet Marianne Coltrane, investigative journalist for the Chesterfield Chronicle, as she confronts Sister Mary May about the illegal sale and adoption of children from the women’s refuge she runs. Marianne’s work and resulting article earns her a nomination for Journalist of the Year.

At the National Media Awards Marianne eventually meets George Brownlow, the new Chesterfield MP, after an unsuccessful attempt at an interview. She and George hit it off and a relationship develops. But fate has other plans for Marianne. After she suffers a tragedy, a near disaster and to escape the pressures of work she takes a sabbatical from the newspaper. The beautiful island of Innishmahon, off the west coast of Ireland, begins to work it’s magic and puts Marianne on the road to emotional recovery.

For once in her life Marianne Coltrane was not on a deadline and this precious gift of time would be spent in Innishmahon, the little fishing village sitting on the edge of the island bearing the same name. Perhaps the smallest dot on the map, nevertheless Innishmahon rose up out of the sea boldly, staring defiantly across the Atlantic with its sweeping cliffs turned upwards, seeming to snub the vast continent of America that lay across the swathe of ocean.

Marianne crosses paths with actor Ryan O’Gorman, who she met briefly in England when he also saved her life. Journalists are not his favourite people, and he also needs recovery time, away from the spotlight of the media. Life on the island isn’t as quiet as Marianne hoped it would be after a major storm and the resulting damage, and when Ryan lands a huge movie contract almost out of the blue, circumstances conspire to disrupt her life once again.

I’m late to The Heartfelt series, but what a great start and a wonderful debut! I enjoyed the first part of the story but loved it when Marianne went to Innishmahon. Beautifully described and giving a real sense of place, it’s filled with a wonderful array of individual characters. The warmth of the well defined and realistic inhabitants, and the rugged beauty of the place shines through.

This isn’t a straightforward romance – there are several dramatic and significant threads running through the narrative. I found Oonagh’s storyline particularly touching and poignant. The characterisation and dialogue are very well done and Marianne is strong enough to carry the storyline. She’s been through so much but her resilience and spirit keep her going. A well-written and engaging story. 

I chose to read and review The Hollow Heart based on a copy of the book supplied by the author/publisher.

Book links ~ Amazon UK | US

About Adrienne Vaughan

6654189Adrienne Vaughan has been making up stories since she could speak; primarily to entertain her sister Reta, who from a very early age never allowed a plot or character to be repeated – tough audience. As soon as she could pick up a pen, she started writing them down. It was no surprise she wanted to be a journalist; ideally the editor of a glossy music and fashion magazine, so she could meet and marry a pop star – some of that came true – and in common with so many, still holds the burning ambition to be a ‘Bond Girl’! She now runs a busy PR practice and writes poems, short stories and ideas for books, in her spare time. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and a founder member of the indie publishing group The New Romantics4. Adrienne lives in Leicestershire with her husband, two cocker spaniels and a retired dressage horse called Marco.

Adrienne’s social media links ~ Website | Twitter | Facebook

34 thoughts on “The Hollow Heart (The Heartfelt Series #1) by Adrienne Vaughan @adrienneauthor #Drama #Romance”

  8. i’VE ENJOYED ALL THE BOOKS IN THIS SERIES AND AM LOOKING FORWARD TO aDRIENNE’S STAND ALONE NOVEL WHEN IT IS PUBLISHED IN THE NEAR FUTURE. (oops, caps lock stuck on!). Smashing review Cathy, you always see right to the heart of the charcaters and what the author thinks about them.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    2. Hello Isabella and thank you for your kind words … I really loved the fact that when you first read The Hollow Heart you contacted me to say how connected you felt to Ireland just by reading it. Reading is amazing isn’t it? X

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

Thanks for visiting...feel free to share your thoughts...

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.