Customer Reviews

Whispers from the Heart: A Novel (Journals from the Heart)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What would you do if you found yourself in an emotionally abusive relationship? Would you stick it out, or would you leave the relationship and start over? What if your spirit was so broken that you vowed never to fall in love again? Could you listen to the whispers from your heart and learn to heal and start living your life again? These are the questions that Madison Ragnar faced ... come along on her journey of healing and self-discovery ... let Whispers From The Heart show you the way ...

Madison Ragnar is in an emotionally abusive relationship with her boyfriend Rick. She makes the decision to leave him and the relationship behind. She leaves the home that they've shared in Carbondale, Colorado, and drives cross-country to Charlottesville, Virginia, where a new life and job as a ninth grade English teacher awaits her. Fast forward three years, Madison still has nightmares about her ex-boyfriend, and questions if he would ever find her. She has vowed to never fall in love again, and has stuck to that plan. Madison fills her days with teaching her high school students how to write a journal and to embrace reading To Kill A Mockingbird. Outside of the school environment, she works out at a gym and runs with her best friend, Olivia. She leads a solitary life ... that is until two men, Michael and Phil, come into her life in unexpected ways. The interactions with Michael and Phil, along with the tragic death of one of her students, has Madison questioning her life, and whether she should listen to the whispers from her heart ... and learn to trust herself and love again.

I absolutely loved Whispers From The Heart! The storyline is captivating, it had me enthralled from the start. I went along with Madison on her emotional journey of healing and self-discovery, and I held on while the roller coaster ride of emotions swept over me. This is a very thoughtful and beautifully written book that will tug at your heart strings. The characters are so engaging, you can't help but feel like you could step into the story and be friends with them. Madison's journey is one that is filled with all the emotions: sadness, fear, uncertainty, hope, healing and finally love. Author Heather Hummel has given the reader so much in this heartfelt book ... but the most important message she gives to her readers are truly lessons to be learned: find the light in your eyes and soul, believe in your convictions and most of all ... follow your heart!

Whispers From The Heart is the first novel in the Journal from the Heart series. The second novel, Write From The Heart is currently available, and the third novel in the series, Wisdom From The Heart will be released in early 2012.

RATING: 5 STARS *****

Disclaimer: At the request of the author, a Kindle edition of this book was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest review.

Virtual Book Tour Event: On Monday, October 31, 2011, in association with Chick Lit Plus, Heather Hummel participated in a virtual book tour event with an Author Interview on Jersey Girl Book Reviews.
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I have to admit that this is a hard review for me to write up. I have started and re-started it numerous times over the last couple of days. There is so much I want to say and yet have to be very careful what I am saying so as not to spoil the book."Go read this book" doesn't do it the justice it deserves. Heather Hummel has wrote such a heartfelt and touching book. Madison Ragnar was such an intriguing character. One of those that made you want to hug her and tell her it is going to be okay.

I really loved that Madison's past was not delved too deeply into, just enough to let you know that there was a bad relationship and that Madison wasn't willing to put her heart into another situation where she could get hurt. I admit that I was very leery of Michael's presence and each time he showed up I kept waiting for a big bombshell. When it was finally revealed I have to honestly say I never expected it. And Phil...where in real life is a man like him? Because I am calling dibs on him! The swerve of the love story was handled so rationally. I don't know if I could have handled it that way, but I liked it.

The death of the student was handled delicately and it was heartbreaking. It showed so much strength in Madison to keep herself in control and not fall apart in front of the children in the classroom.

If you want a book that is going to pull at your heart in numerous directions, this is the book for you. I cried, I cheered for Madison to find herself, and I smiled as she learned to trust herself to love again. This is the first of a trilogy and I'm anxious to read the next book and find what Heather has in store for her readers.

Enjoyed reading a lovely story set in my hometown. The story realistically painted a picture of life for a single woman here. Was a relaxing pleasant read.

Heather Hummel is on tour with CLP Blog Tours and Whispers From the Heart. I really enjoyed this book. It was fun, fast, and heart-warming. The main character is Madison Ragnar, a high school English teacher who is trying to forget her past. She left a bad boyfriend for a fresh start, but continually worries he is going to find her. When a man around town seems to be stalking her, her friends grow concerned. When he turns out to have a tie from Madison's past, she doesn't know how to react, or what to think of the twist of news he brings. Meanwhile, a tragic event rocks her high school class, and Madison tries her best to connect with her students while giving them an education. Along with best friend Olivia, Madison realizes the importance of living everyday to its fullest, and for letting fate works its magic.

Like I said, Whispers From the Heart is a shorter book, about 250 pages. Sometimes with shorter stories it can be easy to feel cheated out of character development or the plot, but I didn't find this to be the case. I immediately bonded with Madison, and was pulled into her world. The plot twist shocked me- definitely not what I expected, and Hummel really knows how to keep readers on their toes. It was really touching to see how Madison connected with her students as well. Overall, a solid read that I have to recommend! I can't wait for book number two from this author!

I have to admit that I was a little thrown when I started reading Heather Hummel's Whispers from the Heart. Maybe it was because on my Nook I didn't have the beautiful cover that you now see. (I don't know what happened with that, but something didn't come through right.) Or maybe it was the shades of Sleeping with the Enemy that seemed to confuse me.

Madison Ragnar, a ninth grade English teacher, runs from Colorado to Virginia to escape her boyfriend Rick and the abusive relationship. Though I didn't consider Rick to be much more than neglectful, I think maybe there are some things that Heather knows about her characters that she just hinted at to us. The main thing in fiction and truth is that Madison *felt* that she was in a self-destructive relationship and needed to get out. And she does, fleeing with what she can fit into her car and never looking back again. But always looking over her shoulder.

See, Rick said he would always find her, and Madison was continually afraid, though not always able to admit it, that Rick would follow her.

Now, that's all I'm going to say about the story line because I don't want to spoil it. I will tell you this--there's a time in the book where pre-conceived notions fall away and the unexpected steps up, making this book unusual and charming. There are poignant lessons to be learned from Whispers from the Heart. Something to be said for the ties that connect us to each other regardless of distance or the fact that we may not know each other or even know that these ties exist. And that's what makes this book so special and definitely earns it the title of "gotta read".

Loved, loved, loved this book!! Heather Hummel has an amazing way of keeping the reader completely engulfed in the story from page 1.

Madison is a well-liked and totally relateable character from the first page. She's in a rocky marriage to start, which she immediately runs away from to start a better life for herself. Along the way, she encounters many challenges, including love, loss, and heartache.

How can you not love this book?? I found myself rarely able to put the book down, reading it in a matter of a few days. I recommend this book to anyone wanting to read a beautifully-written chick lit novel that will keep you turning pages eagerly. I can't wait to start Heather Hummel's next novel! :)

Author Heather Hummel is a true talent with words! This novel is a lovely journey of fate, faith, and transformation. Madison, is an inspiring and truly relatable character that any woman can learn from. It's a wonderful read for a rainy day or relaxing on the beach!

Cari Kamm, Author
Fake Perfect Me

"Whispers from the Heart" by Heather Hummel is part one of the Journals from the Heart Series, and explores the aftermath of an emotionally disheartening relationship. Ms. Hummel writes a heartwarming and emotional novel. I felt as though I was right there with Madison as she went through several emotional roller coasters, including love, loss and heartache. She vividly portrays each character, and hooks you into the story right from the start. Her talent with words makes the story come alive. Through Madison's self discovery journey, we learn that trust is vital in any relationship, especially a romantic one. In addition to trusting your partner, you have to trust yourself.

I 100% relate to never wanting to fall in love again after a bad relationship. You know the expression "blinded by love?" This describes my two relationships before I found my husband, one where my boyfriend was an alcoholic, and the other where my boyfriend, when we were talking about getting married, put his family first instead of me.

I feel the story lacked flow in a couple of areas. I didn't see the correlation between the death of a student and the rest of the story line. It doesn't seem as if it belongs. That being said however, I admire how Madison dealt with the tragedy, learned more about herself, and how she helped her students cope by writing in their journals. I felt one of the big characters was taken out of the story too abruptly, especially since Madison lets her guard down and learns to love again in this relationship. However this being a short book (the first part of a three book series), I understand why it can't be that long.

I recommend this story to anyone, not just Chick Lit lovers. It's a perfect blend of romance, mystery, sadness, hope, and last, but definitely not least, love.

If your looking for a fun, light-hearted, romance with some heartfelt issues, then this novel is right up your alley.

Madison was a fun, relatable character, she has trust issues with men esp. because of her ex, Rick, who was borderline abusive and neglectiful of her, and who left her a bit scorned and bitter. This book deals with many important issues such as suicide and abusive relationships and for those issues that were discussed in the book, I really enjoyed the novel.

Now lets talk about the romantic aspect of this book, this for me was what lead to the three star rating. The whole story builds up budding relationship between Madison, and Phil. They both seem to have fallen hard for each other and three-quaters of the book builds up this relationship, yet there's this "weird, stalkerish" man who pops up everywhere throughout the story, wherever Madison is, so is he and within the last thirtyish pages of the book she drops "Good Guy" Phil and falls for the stalker? with little to no closure with Phil, it was just over and I didn't get it, it threw the whole story off for me.

There was a lot of things I really enjoyed about this book, in fact if Michael (the stalker) didn't exsist at all in the story I honestly think the book would have had a higher rating from me. I've read other reviews and nobody else mentioned this, so maybe the relationship dynamic was just a personal problem that didn't sit well with me, I would definitely give this book a try, esp. if your a fan of the Chick-Lit genre.