The Trail of Lost Hearts: A Novel

by Tracey Garvis Graves

Wren Waters' life has just fallen apart - not only has her fiance died, but while at his deathbed, she discovered a secret that shattered her: he wasn't just married, but married with children.

Afraid her entire life is a lie, she escapes to the Pacific Northwest for a week getaway and throws herself into the world of geocaching, a hobby for modern-day treasure hunters. A chance encounter with another geocacher, Marshall Hendricks, Psy. D., has them uniting on their quest to explore the backwoods of Oregon - and new paths away from grief.

As a psychologist, Marshall wants to have it all together. After his brother's death and a hard breakup, he finds himself a changed man. Looking for an escape, Wren might be just what he needs to chart a new course for the future.

Together, Wren and Marshall are facing the open wilderness and deciding if their brief trip together can be the basis for something new. After Wren returns home, what remains of their relationship leaves them asking: what does the future look like after loss?

If they can let each other in, they might find what they've both been looking for - a future that holds something spectacular.

• ISBN13: 9781250280282
• Publish Date: 26 March 2024
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: St Martin's Press
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 304
• Language: English
• URL: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250280282/thetrailoflosthearts

Reviews

[chymerra]

After the last couple of books I read (which tired my brain), I due to read an easy book. That means a book where I don’t have to take notes every 5 minutes and googling words/phrases I need help understanding. And I was expecting The Trail of Lost Hearts to be a book similar to what I just finished. So, imagine my surprise when it was the complete opposite. Now, I am not saying that this book is an easy read (it deals with loss and grief), but it didn’t give me a headache reading it. Plus, I like the author, having read her previous books.

The Trail of Lost Hearts’ storyline follows Wren’s recovery after her fiancee’s death. I found the storyline to be well-written. It was also fascinating that Wren and Marshall’s hobby, geocaching, was featured. Geocaching is something that I need to become more familiar with, and the author opened a whole new world for me.

Wren’s story was heartbreaking. She was dealt two considerable blows in one night, and I didn’t blame her for crawling into bed and staying there. I liked seeing Wren’s healing as she got deeper into her geocaching journey. What she experienced on the trail helped her accept what happened, and her experiences toughened her for the next twist in her storyline.

I liked Marshall, but I wish the author had revealed his backstory to Wren sooner. What he went through significantly damaged him. Marshall’s healing was as well documented as Wren’s, but you could see it in his emails, texts, and phone calls with Wren. By the end of the book, Marshall seemed to be at peace.

I know this book was billed as a romance, but it was more about healing than romance. I enjoyed seeing both Wren and Marshall heal from their individual trauma. Wren’s journey to healing was incredible. She went from being angry, bitter, and grief-stricken to one who was at peace with what happened. While Marshall’s experience wasn’t as in-depth as Wren’s, I got the same sense of peace from him.

The romance angle of The Trail of Lost Hearts was sweet. I liked that both Wren and Marshall had to fight to keep their relationship going. Their relationship was one of the more true-to-life ones that I have read. They are also some of my favorite fictional couples.

The end of The Trail of Lost Hearts was bittersweet. I liked that Wren got closure (I can’t say with who or why because it is a huge spoiler). I also liked that Marshall made the right choice. And the epilogue was fantastic!!!

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and Travey Garvis Graves for allowing me to read and review this ARC of The Trail of Lost Hearts. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

[Jeff Sexton]

Surprise Pregnancy Mars Otherwise Excellent Romance Tale. This is one of those types of romance tales that is going to be divisive in a couple of different ways, but the biggest is that there is a surprise pregnancy around the 50% mark at all. Which comes completely out of the blue - there is not one iota of a hint that this character may be interested in having kids some day *at all*, then *BAM*, pregnant. Which from reading other reviews, even those who *do* have kids don't always enjoy this particular type of surprise. Much less the childfree or childless.

 

Outside of the surprise pregnancy though - which *does* dominate the back half of the book, though there *is* some solid character development despite/ through the pregnancy - this was actually a strong book featuring some atypical angles (such as geocaching) and some solid characterization of grief and loss in various forms and through various backgrounds.

 

Overall a strong tale that perhaps could have been stronger with a different back half, but which many will find perfectly solid as is. Very much recommended.