The Artisan Heart by Dean Mayes

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Title The Artisian Heart
Author: Dean Mayes
First published: Sep 01, 2018
Number of pages: 320
Genres: Romance · Romantic Suspense

 Hayden Luschcombe is a brilliant pediatrician living in Adelaide with his wife Bernadette, an ambitious event planner. His life consists of soul-wrenching days at the hospital and tedious evenings attending the lavish parties organized by Bernadette. When an act of betrayal coincides with a traumatic confrontation,

 Hayden flees Adelaide, his life in ruins. His destination is Walhalla, nestled in Australia's southern mountains, where he finds his childhood home falling apart. With nothing to return to, he stays and begins to pick up the pieces of his life by fixing up the house his parents left behind. A chance encounter with a precocious and deaf young girl introduces Hayden to Isabelle Sampi, a struggling artisan baker.

 While single-handedly raising her daughter, and trying to resurrect a bakery, Isabelle has no time for matters of the heart. Yet the presence of the handsome doctor challenges her resolve. Likewise,
Hayden, protective of his own fractured heart, finds something in Isabelle that awakens dormant feelings of his own. As their attraction grows, and the past threatens their chance at happiness, both Hayden and Isabelle will have to confront long-buried truths if they are ever to embrace a future.

My Review

  As the story starts off we see a talented pediatrician, Hayden Luschombe, is married to Bernadette, a successful and overbearing event planner.

 Dean Mayes does a superb job of giving us an insight into the stress of someone who spends a large part of their day working in a critical care unit. What I gathered early on in this love story is there was a great need for a sense of calm.

 It seems Hayden couldn't catch a break. He struggles to accomplish many tasks and participate in more events in less time. He soon recognizes his out-of-control pace has caused him unrest and discontentment. After a traumatic event at work, and at home, Hayden flees, and Mayes brilliantly paints a picture of the transition of new beginnings.

 Hayden settles into a dilapidated cottage he's inherited, in Walhalla and begins restoring it and here we see reconstruction not only of property but of life.

 Walhalla is a place where there is a greater sense of connection, and where one can listen to hillside music and hear rain pelleting on the tin roof, all the while being comforted knowing nearby is a babbling brook and the alluring aroma of pumpkin bread.

 But this is not a place of seclusion. Into Hayden's new life comes Isabelle Sampi and she is not alone, she has a daughter Genevive. 

 The paint-spattered bib-and-brace overalled Isabella appears to be the opposite of Bernadette and just as Hayden's life is beginning to gear down Isabella's is ramping up and that is where this love story of the Artisan's heart begins.

 In conclusion, this is a beautifully told story of new beginnings. One where we find unresolved feelings are identified and priorities defined to embrace life.

 I received this lovely story through the generosity of the author for an honest review.

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