Heartshaped Shards by Ria MacAlister

By: Anonymous on Thursday, February 07, 2013

Title:  Heartshaped Shards

Author:  Ria MacAlister

Series:  Marry go Round #1

Published:  March 13th 2012

Page Count:  293

Genre:  Romance

Shelf:  Review Copy

Rating:  ★★★★★

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Fragile, bitter and scarred inside and out thanks to a horrible childhood and an even worse marriage, Kate Kincaid would just as soon never talk to a man again. But thanks to the dedicated work of a therapist-turned-friend, Kate's faith in the male species is eventually restored.

Through an assortment of emotionally unashamed, loving and caring men she meets in Ireland and Scotland, she finds the power within herself to love again. But will her newly found confidence be enough to convince her to take another ride on the Marry Go Round?

Adult-content rating: This book contains content considered unsuitable for young readers 17 and under, and which may be offensive to some readers of all ages.

My Review:

One of the best things about novels like this is that they take a very sensitive subject and bring it to the forefront allowing for discussion on the topic. Even though a great deal of individuals would like to ignore or even deny its existence, spousal abuse does exist. MacAlister takes the subject and creates an amazingly realistic and very gripping story from it.

I loved the fact that this was not your stereotypical romance novel. Yes, it had the elements. Girl falls for boy. Boy falls for girl. They live life happily ever after. But this novel was so much more. The characters had real issues to overcome and they were not 20 year olds from the highest strata of society.

MacAlister’s writing is clear, concise and to the point while still full of detail that breathes life into the story. Her writing is not overly flowery, powder puff writing. She creates such realistic scenes that you feel like you are there, feeling pain and/or joy with the characters. She is also able to make that unmistakable feeling of the unreality of a situation come to life on the pages.

The characters in this novel are also phenomenal. MacAlister has nailed the actual aggressor, victim, and alpha male (swoon) behaviours and responses, rather than relying on cultural stereotypes. I am very impressed that she took the extra time for this. In my opinion, this increases not only the reliability of the novel, but also the enjoyment level for the reader.

As much as the plight of the protagonist is heart wrenching, I definitely laughed my butt off more than once while reading this novel. MacAlister manages to evoke the entire emotional spectra in her readers throughout the novel. By the end of the novel I was simultaneously in love (with Shay), in lust (with Patrick), and in hate (with Tony). It was absolutely brilliant.

Buy your copy online here today!