Review and Giveaway: Bleeding Heart

Bleeding Heart by Liza Gyllenhaal

Publication Date: 11/04/2014
Publisher: Penguin Group
Imprint: NAL Accent
Genre: Women's Fiction
Pages: 352
ISBN-10: 0451466705
ISBN-13: 978-0451466709

(Received for an honest review from NAL Accent)

Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Indiebound

Liza Gyllenhaal on the WEB: website, blog, twitter, facebook, goodreads

Excerpt from, Bleeding Heart, courtesy of Amazon's Look Inside feature. 

Synopsis:

Liza Gyllenhaal has charmed readers with her “gripping and deeply perceptive” (Ben Sherwood, Author of Charlie St. Cloud) novels. Now the author of A Place for Us brings us a captivating new story about a woman’s struggle to rebuild her life after scandal destroys her marriage....

After her accountant husband disappears with millions of dollars stolen from his company’s clients, Alice Hyatt flees New York City and moves to her family’s longtime summer home in a small town in western Massachusetts. There she begins to make a new start, reconnecting with old friends and finding peace—and a growing sense of pride—as a landscape architect.

When extremely wealthy newcomer Graham Mackenzie asks her to design an elaborate garden for him, she can’t turn down the opportunity despite misgivings about Mackenzie’s energy company, which specializes in the controversial practice of fracking.

But just as the project nears completion, she learns Mackenzie’s offer is not all that it seems. Once again, Alice finds herself embroiled in someone else’s crimes, this time putting her newfound success—and possibly her life—in jeopardy....

Thoughts:

Liza Gyllenhaal brings readers another great novel set in the Berkshires. Bleeding Heart is one part chick lit, one part mystery and one part gardening tale and that adds up to one very special book. Readers who are looking for a strong female lead character, who is observant, smart and a wonderful gardener will love Alice Hyatt. Gyllenhaal not only engages the reader by providing a solid mystery, but her attention to detail and description is simply exquisite. 

What I liked:

I wasn't really sure what to expect with this book since I had never read any of the author's other work. But I will have to say, I was really impressed with Bleeding Heart for several reasons. It is obvious that the author knows her subject matter. Her descriptions and way of writing about gardens felt very authentic and believable. Gyllenhaal has to be a gardener in her own right to be able to write this way. I not only wanted to dive into this book for a good read, but I afterwards I really wanted to plan out my own garden right down to the flowers and accents that I wanted in it. That's definitely going beyond the book.

Alice Hyatt was a woman who was used to scandal. She was implicated in her husbands scheme to steal millions of dollars but she lived through it and not only survived but thrived. She moves to her grandparents home in Berkshires where she spent many a pleasant summer. She has moved on from her trauma and has her own thriving landscaping business, appropriately named, Green Acres. I liked Alice right away. She was resourceful and resilient. She took a bad situation and turned it around. When she becomes embroiled in yet another situation that ends her up as murder suspect she doesn't go down without a fight. She starts poking around and looking into things and she really struck me as woman who was determined not to let life get in her way. I loved her!

Graham was such an interesting character. He is rich man who has made his wealth from a less than environmentally sound business practice, called fracking. If you don't know what that means, you will after you read this book. I love it when a book not only entertains me, but also educates me. And I felt like that was one of the things I took away from this novel. Not only did a learn what fracking meant, but why is was bad. I learned a ton of things about gardens that I had no idea about before and I learned the ins and outs of gardening as a business. It was a very good read, interesting and thought provoking.

Bottom Line:

There are so many good reasons to read this book. It was insightful, very descriptive and had a strong main character that readers will want to root for. I felt the authenticity of the authors gardening abilities on every page. It was just a joy to read. Who ever thought of a garden thriller? Great concept. Exceptional book!

Bleeding Heart is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.

I'm giving this one 5 out of 5 apples from my book bag!

About the Author:

Liza Gyllenhaal is the author of A Place for Us, Local Knowledge, and So Near. She and her husband divide their time between New York City and the Berkshire Hills in Massachusetts.

Giveaway Details:

The publisher is sponsoring a giveaway for one copy of Bleeding Heart by Liza Gyllenhaal.

~ You must be an email subscriber to participate.
~ US addresses only.
~ The deadline to enter this giveaway is Midnight EST, December 1st.

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