Garden of Her Heart

by Shanna Hatfield

Overview

Can forbidden love blossom amid the constraints of war?

The moment the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, life shifted for Miko Nishimura. Desperate to reach the Portland Assembly Center for Japanese Americans, she's kicked off the bus miles from town. Every tick of the clock pushes her closer to becoming a fugitive in the land of her birth. Exhausted, she stumbles to her grandparents' abandoned farm only to find a dying soldier sprawled across the step. Unable to leave him, she forsakes all else to keep him alive.

After crashing his plane in the Battle of the Atlantic, the doctors condemn Captain Rock Laroux to die. Determined to meet his maker beneath a blue sky at his family home, he sneaks out of the hospital. Weary and half out of his mind, he makes it as far as a produce stand he remembers from his youth. Rather than surrender to death, Rock fights a battle of the heart as he falls in love with the beautiful Japanese woman who saves his life.

A poignant, sweet romance, Garden of Her Heart proves love can bloom in unlikely places even under the most challenging circumstances.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780998098807
Publisher:	Shanna Hatfield
Publication date:	12/07/2016
Series:	Hearts of the War , #1
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.68(d)

Editorial Reviews

"Shanna Hatfield's Garden of Her Heart is a warm and moving WWII story of a love hoping to bridge two cultures in a time of turmoil. Strong characters, historical authenticity, and unique twists of fate blend with details of American Japanese life near Portland Oregon and a wounded soldier's love. It both informs and inspires. Readers will remember this unique romance that blooms in the garden of the spirit and the heart." -- Jane Kirkpatrick, NYT Bestselling Author and Award-winning author of This Road We Traveled

From the Publisher

2017-05-09
In Hatfield's (Dally, 2017, etc.) World War II-set romance, an injured soldier and a Japanese-American woman headed for an internment camp conspire to save her family farm—and each other. It's May 1942, and U.S. Army Capt. Rock Laroux, 28, has been languishing at a Portland, Oregon, veteran's hospital with a mystery illness after surviving a plane crash. After his doctor tells him that he doesn't have long to live, Rock wants nothing more than to go back to the nearby farm that his late parents left him. He almost makes it there before he collapses, unconscious, at the back door of a neighboring farmhouse belonging to the Nishimuras; there, he's discovered by their 20-something daughter, Kamiko Jane (nicknamed "Miko"). However, she's due to report to at an assembly center for evacuation to an internment camp, and her family members have already left. But instead, she decides to nurse Rock back to health, which makes her a fugitive; she also worries about leaving the unoccupied farm behind. Rock is grateful for her help in his recovery and, due in part to his growing romantic feelings, he arranges to buy the Nishimura farm temporarily; a family friend also recommends that Miko and Rock marry, in order to keep her from having to go to the camp. Miko, who adores Rock, convinces herself that despite anything he says, he's just doing her a favor and will want an annulment when her family comes home. As a result, the marriage goes unconsummated. Rock gets another chance to prove himself when a villainous traveling salesman arrives at the farm. Hatfield is a prolific writer of romances, among other works, and she effectively keeps things moving while also rooting her story in engaging historical and cultural details. Her addition of a slang-dishing neighbor kid as a character also provides some occasional comic relief. However, by making Miko's neighbors unfailingly supportive, the book sugarcoats the reality of how many Japanese-Americans were actually treated in this era. Also, Miko's conflict—her belief that Rock won't want to stay married, despite him saying such things as, "I'm not pretending" and "I couldn't be more pleased or happy to marry you"—is one-note and contrived; Rock rightly calls it a "ridiculous farce." A historical tale that will most appeal to romance fans for who enjoy a slow-burn approach.

Kirkus Reviews