Book Review: The Legacy of Lucy Harte by Emma Heatherington

"‘Sometimes time is all we have with the people we love the most. I ask you to slow down in life. To take your time, but don’t waste it….’

Maggie O'Hara knows better than most that life can change in a heartbeat. Eighteen years ago she was given the most precious gift- a second-hand heart, and a second chance at life.

Always thankful, Maggie has never forgotten Lucy Harte – the little girl that saved her life. But as Maggie's own life begins to fall apart, and her heart is broken in love, she loses sight of everything she has to live for…

Until an unexpected letter changes everything and brings Maggie back into the life of Lucy Harte – and a chance for Maggie to get her life back on track once more.

Lucy's final gift to Maggie is much more than the heart that beats inside her. It's a legacy that Maggie must learn to live by. A chance to make her heart skip a beat with every new discovery she makes; a promise to live, laugh, fall in love and heal her broken heart for good.

Because as the keeper of a borrowed heart, Maggie's time is more precious than most and she must make every cherished second count…"

Rating: 5/5

I was really excited when I managed to get a review copy of this book on my Kindle from Netgalley. I had heard so many good things about it, and wanted to find out for myself if it would be able to live up to the hype. I actually commend Emma Heatherington for choosing to write about such an emotive topic, one we don't see covered nearly enough in fiction of any kind - organ donation. I am on the Organ Donation Register myself, but too often you see in the news people dying because they couldn't get a much needed transplant. In my opinion, once I'm dead, I'm dead, and if my organs can help to make someone else's life better, then they are welcome to them. This book tackles the issue of how someone receiving a donated organ affects them, and it makes for wonderful reading.

When she was a teenager, Maggie received the gift of life from a young donor called Lucy Harte, who donated her own heart after her untimely death. Since then, Maggie has felt beholden to the young woman whose organ she received, thanking her every day for the gift that she has given. After a run of bad luck, and feeling like she won't ever feel happy again, Maggie decides to do the unthinkable, and find out more about the young woman who donated her heart to her. Maggie ends up finding out more than she ever believed, and decides its time to turn her life around, and help live out Lucy Harte's legacy. Maggie is very aware that her borrowed heart won't last forever, and is determined to make the most out of every minute.

As you can probably tell from the idea of the story, this is a very emotive book, and by the end, I was sobbing my heart out. It was so powerful in so many ways - sad, uplifting, inspiring - all of these emotions flooded through me as I read, and I honestly did not want to put it down because I was desperate to reach the end and find out what was going to happen. I loved the character of Maggie. Yes, she was flawed, she probably drank too much, didn't see the good things in life nearly as much as she could have, but once the story progresses and we find out more about her and her past, it becomes a bit clearer why she always looks on the bleaker side of life. Her relationship with her family is a bit strained, especially with her older brother, and it makes for a quite unhappy Maggie.

Not a huge amount of detail is gone into about why Maggie needed a heart transplant, but it wasn't actually needed. After all, this is about living life to the full, and what happens post-transplant, so the lack of detail wasn't a problem for me. Maggie finding out more about her donor was a wonderful story arc, although I can't imagine how I would have felt if I were in these characters's shoes. Emma Heatherington has clearly done her research here though, because she puts across the emotions of these characters so very well, you can really imagine how they are feeling, and the conflicting emotions that must be coursing through their veins.

The idea of Maggie fulfilling Lucy's legacy was wonderful, and I really enjoyed all the adventures that Maggie went on thanks to this pursuit. In fact, it opens Maggie's eyes to how wonderful the world, family and friendship can really be. I especially enjoyed the last third of the book set in France, it was lovely to read, and helped the book meander to its inevitable conclusion. Everything about this book was a joy - be prepared to read it with a box of tissues though, because you are going to need them! This is most certainly a thought-provoking read, especially if you aren't on the organ donation register. We would all take an organ if we needed one, but would we all donate one? It's definitely food for thought. A wonderful, heart-wrenching, uplifting story that you simply MUST read.

Book Review: A Miracle at Macy's by Lynn Marie Hulsman

" This is the story of shy homebody Charlotte who loses her beloved pet dog Hudson the week before Christmas. With the help of uptight Englishman Henry, Charlotte goes on a magical treasure hunt around Manhattan to find her furry, four-legged bestie, who she rescued from the trash years before and gave him a place in her home – and her heart.

Spotted in Central Park as one of Santa's Little Helpers, or last seen in the arms of a supermodel in Times Square, Hudson leads Charlotte and Henry on a very merry dance around the Big Apple, where love, (or should that be Christmas?!) actually is all around."

Rating: 5/5

You can buy the book now.

I know it isn't Christmas anymore, but since I've had a blogging break for the start of this year, I have many Christmas book reviews I want to post so I'll try to trickle them out in between the non-festive reads that I have been enjoying too! One of my favourite Christmas books this year was the latest novel from Lynn Marie Hulsman, called A Miracle at Macy's. Now, I'm not really a doggy person, and since this story is based entirely around a missing dog, I was a bit concerned about whether or not it would be my thing. Luckily for me, the story was wonderful and the setting on New York was just perfect, and I loved the book very much!

Charlotte lives alone - her parents are dead, her aunt who raised her has a high-powered job and doesn't have much time for her, especially at Christmas when she has so many events to organise. Instead, Charlotte spends her time with her beloved dog Hudson. So, when he goes missing just before Christmas, Charlotte is franctic, and her aunt sends her assistant, Englishman Henry to help locate the missing pooch. The two are led on a wild goose chase around New York, trying to bring Hudson home in time for Christmas, but Charlotte is sure it is all in vain. Will Hudson make it home in time for Christmas to put a smile back on Charlotte's face?

As I said, I'm not much of a doggy person, but even I have to confess I fell a little bit in love with Hudson at the beginning of this book. He really was the best companion for Charlotte, and sounded so adorable! You could well imagine him living it up while he's being swept around New York while Charlotte and Henry desperately search for him, and you can definitely see why others took a shine to the little dog! The way Hulsman writes him as if he were a best friend for Charlotte is touching, and goes to show how important a dog can be to people - they really become your family as well as your pet, and this came across really well in the book, I felt so sorry for Charlotte!

Charlotte was a great character for the book, a bit of a lost soul really, but one that I really warmed to. She hasn't had an easy life, and is quite solitary. The way she interacts with Henry was interesting and certainly made for good reading. I couldn't decide if I wanted to see the pair end up together or not, because they seemed to rub each other up the wrong way all the time, but you could see Henry had a kind soul underneath his somewhat brash exterior. I enjoyed the scenes with him in, trying to juggle his job and the search for the dog, and I liked the budding friendship between the pair and how hard he worked to try and bring Hudson home for Charlotte!

I've been lucky enough to visit New York in the festive season, and this book brought back lots of great memories for me, so in that respect, it was the perfect read for me! It has been 10 years since I went to New York last, but it felt like yesterday as I read some of Hulsman wonderfully vivid descriptions in the book, from Central Park to the shops dressed for Christmas, and the bitter chill of winter in New York. Even if you haven't visited, you'll easily be able to imagine it in your mind thanks to Hulsman's writings, and you can see why so many authors set their festive novels in New York, it really is the city of dreams!

This was a really heart-warming, touching and enjoyable read, and although it is a festive book, I can certainly imagine enjoying it any time of year, especially if you're a bit of a dog lover! Hulsman has created a small but interesting cast of characters, and you'll find yourself taken in by Charlotte and Henry's friendship, as well as the desperate search for poor Hudson, all alone in the big city! The setting of New York just adds to the magic, and it was a read that I was sad to come to the end of. This most certainly won't be the last book by Lynn Marie Hulsman I'll be reading, and if you haven't yet discovered her writing, you wouldn't go far wrong by starting with this.