Reviewed by Brenda Casto for Readers' Favorite

Their Tangled Hearts by Mary DeWeber is more than just another inspirational romance; instead it's a heart wrenching story of a woman and man overcoming the many tragedies that life often throws our way in order to find the happiness that God intends for us all. Emma Winter has spent the last five years carrying around hurts that she blames herself for. She has built such a wall around her heart that it seems no one or nothing can penetrate it. When her friend Doc asks her for a favor, which is going to cook at a Colorado ranch, she hesitantly agrees, but when she realizes that she will be working with disabled children she isn't sure that she can stay. Jake Peterson's sister owns the ranch and he has been staying there for a while to overcome the tragedy that occurred in his life. Emma and Jake are drawn together in friendship, but when Jake realises he wants more he isn't sure he can penetrate the wall Emma has built around her heart.

Jake and Emma are well written characters who are going through real life issues which makes it very easy to relate to them. My heart broke for Emma as I learned her story, the blame she placed on herself was so easy to understand. While there was a sense of sadness around her, the author also gave her strength, allowing for a multi-faceted, real life character that was very easy to connect with. Jake's character was just as riveting, his tragedy was just as heart wrenching, and I couldn't help but want the best for both of the characters. I became totally absorbed in their lives, which were far from predictable. Instead of a smoothly flowing plot, Ms. DeWeber throws in plenty of surprising curves which made for a page turning read. Descriptive writing made it easy to feel the atmosphere of the ranch along with the camaraderie that was present between the various people on the ranch. While Their Tangled Hearts provides several life lessons, Ms. DeWeber gets her point across without sounding preachy - instead the characters and their faith just enhance each other, making the story realistic and easy to relate to. Mary DeWeber certainly knows how to tell an emotionally compelling story that makes you laugh and cry, but mostly it shows how God can take hurt, blame, anger and loss and turn it into healing if only we allow it.