The Trail of Lost Hearts by Tracey Garvis Graves

The Trail of Lost Hearts

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.

Reviewed by Jeff Sexton on

5 of 5 stars

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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.

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Reading updates

  • 12 March, 2024: Started reading
  • 13 March, 2024: Finished reading
  • 15 March, 2024: Reviewed