Anxious Hearts by Tucker Shaw

Anxious Hearts by Tucker Shaw
"'Evangeline,' he repeated, calling at a whisper. “Evangeline.” He was not calling that she may hear, he was calling that somehow her soul might know that he was devoted entirely to her, only to her. “Evangeline, I will find you.”

Eva and Gabe explore the golden forest of their seaside Maine town, unknowingly tracing the footsteps of two teens, Evangeline and Gabriel, who once lived in the idyllic wooded village of Acadia more than one hundred years ago. On the day that Evangeline and Gabriel were be wed, their village was attacked and the two were separated. And now in the present, Gabe has mysteriously disappeared from Eva.

A dreamlike, loose retelling of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s famous love poem “Evangeline,” Anxious Hearts tells an epic tale of unrequited love and the hope that true love can be reunited."- summary from Amazon

This was just an ok book- a case of amazing, beautiful cover tries to make up for an average story. There were some good things and some bad things about this book. What I did like about it was the atmospheric feel of the story. The writing was really good and did pull me in, causing me to go through the book quickly.

What I didn't like was the dual narrators. Normally, I do like multiple narrators but it got confusing due to the different times- Eva in the present and Gabriel in the 1800s. The chapters are short, which I do usually like, but unfortunately, it made it hard to really connect with the characters and get too involved in the story. It jarred me a bit too often.

The romance in the book was very interesting and sweet, though at least with the 1800s events, it was difficult to really understand the love Evangeline and Gabriel had for each other since we hardly saw them together and they didn't have much back story. It was hard to sympathize with their plight. I definitely preferred the modern romance between Eva and Gabe because there was much more to go on.

Overall, my grade (which I don't usually do) would probably be a C+, maybe more of a library book. If you liked this book, I'd also suggest Reincarnation by Suzanne Weyn because I was reminded so much of it while reading this book.

FTC: Received book as part of Around the World tours. Amazon link is an Associate one; all profits go toward funding contests.