Bleeding Heart

By Liza Gyllenhaal

ISBN# 9780451466709

Author’s Website: http://www.lizagyllenhaal.com/

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Kayt

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….

Review:

Bleeding Heart is a wonderfully written book which catches the main character Alice Hyatt as her landscaping business is established and doing pretty well. She is rebuilding her life and finding her way after her husband left her with nothing, but facing his crimes. The characters are well written, the storyline is interesting and the mystery is intriguing. The detail of landscaping ideas, the plants and the whole setting are so wonderful. As a gardener, I can say it was all spot on and I definitely had plant envy.

Alice thinks she has found the golden goose for her business when wealthy, yet controversial, newcomer Graham MacKenzie decides she is the one to do his extensive landscaping. Although she is hesitant at first, the ideas and income are too tempting to pass up. With little mysteries popping up throughout the book, the reader’s interest is held and never released. After the way her husband left, Alice is devastated when things start to get sketchy with this new opportunity.

The interplay with the characters, Alice, Mara (her assistant), Graham, Tom and many others, is well written and interesting. Alice is likeable to the reader, even as she is standoffish. The mysteries are well developed and keep you guessing. Liza Gyllenhaal’s writing style is descriptive and pulls the reader in. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in relationships, intrigue, mystery and gardens. I am hoping there may be a second or third book with these characters. I did not want the book to end.

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review as part of their ongoing blog tour*