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Dana Wayne fulfilled a lifelong dream to become a published author at the age of sixty-six with her first book, Secrets of The Heart. Since then, she has self-published six highly regarded and award-winning novels as well as two cookbooks. Among the many awards her work has garnered is the prestigious international Best Indie Book Award for her fourth work, a contemporary romance entitled Chasing Hope.
A strong advocate for new writers, she stared a podcast in 2020 called A Writers Life where she shares her experiences and provides tips on writing as well as inspiration and education.
A sixth-generation Texan, she still resides in the Piney Woods. She is a sought-after speaker and a frequent guest on various writing blogs. A die-hard romantic, her heart-warming stories are filled with strong women, second chances, and happily ever after.
When she isn’t writing or spending time with family, she is an avid crafter, especially Christmas-related items, her favorite being tabletop Christmas trees, a craft she learned from her mother.
She is a long-time member of Writers League of Texas, East Texas Writers Association, Northeast Texas Writers Association, East Texas Writers Guild and Authors Marketing Guild, LLC.
Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite
Secrets of the Heart is a romantic suspense novel written by Dana Wayne. Tori's best friend, Sasha, and her family agreed that her precipitous move to Montana was crazy, but Tori needed something to break her out of the two-year mourning phase she had been through. It was just two years now since her husband and son had been killed, and she figured that was it for her with romance and love. The position in Montana was intriguing, and it got her away from her mother who had been relentlessly trying to set her up with dates she really didn’t want. Tori had been recommended for the job by someone in the hospital where she worked. His friend in Montana knew of a rancher nearby who needed a live-in nurse to take care of his dying mother. Tori would be getting a salary plus full room and board while she was there. Best of all, it would be getting her away from the constant reminders of what she had had and what she had lost. Sasha, of course, was filled with curiosity about Wade McBride, Tori's new employer. Tori had to admit that the man had a voice that gave her goosebumps and his black hair and sky-blue eyes were undeniably appealing, but Tori was not the kind of woman a man would be interested in for long. At least, that's what Eddie, her deceased husband, had felt, and his continuing affairs had reinforced that belief in his widow.
Dana Wayne's romantic suspense novel, Secrets of the Heart, is a finely plotted and beautifully written novel about true love and second chances. Wade's historic family home in the wilds of Montana is the perfect setting for this inspiring story. Wayne's characters are complex and believable, especially Tori. The author adds a continuing tension to the plot in the person of Wade's obsessive sister-in-law, Lucy, who seems determined to marry him. Wayne adds a somewhat Shakespearean element to the story in the well-meaning deception that would be played on Miss Willie, Wade's mom. It seems that Sheila, his sister, had told their mother that the woman coming to stay with them was actually Wade's fiancee. When Tori heard about the scheme, she knew she really should get on a plane and go back home to Texas, but there was really nothing there for her to go back to. And Wade was, after all, a very intriguing man. Secrets of the Heart is one of those compelling and suspenseful stories where the reader can't help but watch and wait to see if the two main characters can finally succeed in overcoming the obstacles in their way. It’s highly recommended.
