Title: Diverted Heart
Author: Beth Ann Stifflemire
Genre: New Adult Romance
Age Group: New Adult
Rating: 4 stars
Purchase: Amazon
Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.
Texas summers are no doubt some of the hottest you’ll find. The heat encountered during this summer is not at all what Taylor bargained for. She’s at a crossroads between childhood and womanhood, rummaging through the emotions of first love versus passion. Two young men tangle a web of needs and desires in her heart. The summer before college begins, Taylor is thrust from her childhood home in Houston to an inherited family farm on the outskirts of Schulenburg, Texas. Eric, her first love, has gone states away to play college football. Low-spirited and merely trying to get through an expectantly boring summer, she is nearly run off the road by her new country neighbor, Maxwell. Ruggedly handsome, devilishly charming and everything Taylor seeks to avoid, Maxwell does something to her emotions she’s struggling desperately to interpret, as they spend the summer filled with each other. Boundaries are tested and the scales of lust tip despite hesitations. A final decision must be made. Did she ever truly love Eric? Is Maxwell simply a lustful thought, or is there more to uncover beneath the surface? One thing is for certain, this summer will change Taylor in every possible way: mind, body and soul.
Love triangles are tricky. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. I find that most often they work when the book centers on it, not when it gets added almost as an after thought to an already action-packed story. In Diverted Heart, the main focus is on the love triangle (along with issues of growing up and such) and it works. The love triangle is believable, and it’s almost as difficult for the reader to pick a favorite than it is for Taylor.
Taylor has to move to a family farm the summer before college begins. Her first love, Eric, moved stayes away to play football. Taylor believes the summer is going to define a new level of boredom, until she is almost run off the road by Maxwell, her nextdoor neighbor. He’s handsome, charming, and everything she wants to avoid. When he’s around, her emotions are all over the place… Does she really love Eric and is her attraction to Maxwell nothing beside some lust-driven fantasy, or is there more to it?
I love reading about summers before going to college as those final months at home are so important and can change so much. Taylor goes through a lot of changes throughout the summer, and it’s great the reader can experience those with her. More than about the love triangle, it’s ultimately a book about growing up and finding yourself, and as such, it’s really well done.
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