The Nature of Entangled Hearts by Emma Hartley is described as a romantic thriller … with a touch of the supernatural. That is a good description, as it would be a shame to have this skillfully written, entertaining book relegated to just one section of the bookstore. The elements that make The Nature of Entangled Hearts a romance, a thriller, and supernatural, are all so nuanced in the telling that one experiences a much more balanced reading satisfaction than if one genre only had been stressed. Ms. Hartley provides substance and literary talent in her writing, elevating her romantic thriller to the more generalized category of Good Fiction. The writing is superb and made to look effortless. Still, the book is fast-paced, highly entertaining, and is - in truth - a thriller.

Derrin, an intelligent and creative young woman who prefers this moniker to her fairy-based formal one, is the first-person narrator of The Nature of Entangled Hearts. She is an art instructor at the local university, a sculptor of clay and ceramic pieces. This is mentionable because so much of Emma Hartley’s skill in beguiling the reader comes from this focus of the book, until it becomes a kind of symbolic revelation of the plot. The plot is misleadingly straightforward (allowing for the supernatural) – our young woman meets a man while fighting off the unwanted attentions of another man. However, in Ms. Hartley’s skillful writing hands, as deft as any sculptor’s, this simple plot becomes complex, intriguing, romantic, thrilling, and … a little supernatural. There is great substance here, undergoing firing in the kiln and coming out … remarkable.

The Nature of Entangled Hearts by Emma Hartley is a wonderful contemporary romance, filled with a strong sense of humanity, a story of two unusual characters seeking themselves in their journey of love, navigating the consciousness of who they can become as they struggle to tear themselves from their troubled pasts. But are they really made for each other?

Ceramic artist and professor, Elwyn Derringer is a woman who suffers from intense insecurity. In fact, she says of herself: “Insecurity was the excuse that allowed me to embrace inferiority.” She is devoted to her art and she pours her soul into it in the quest to fill up the void that she feels inside. But a chance encounter at the market with a stranger will change the course of her life, propelling her forward in the quest to give and receive love genuinely, to be authentic, and to find her unique expression. Can James beat the grip of his own past and navigate a serious danger that could tear them apart?

With words that are poignantly revealing of human reality, Emma Hartley weaves powerful insights into her narrative, allowing readers to contemplate the beauty and peril of human nature. I enjoyed the psychological depths and the emotional insights that fill the pages of the narrative. The characters are well-developed and the reader will find it delightful exploring them, from one layer to another, finding resonances in them. The writing in The Nature of Entangled Hearts is great and the reader will love the vivid descriptions as well as the compelling narrative voice.