Title: Paper Hearts
Author: Claire Contreras
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publication Date: September 9, 2015
Add to: Goodreads
Synopsis
I lost her.
No, I didn't lose her. I threw her away.
She was my best friend.
I was never supposed to fall in love with her.
I was careless.
She was heartbroken.
I was doing fine until she came back into my life and reminded me what love was supposed to feel like.
When it's all said and done, she may not want to stay, but this time I'm going to do everything in my power to not let her go.
My Review
There is a reason that Claire Contreras is one of my auto-click authors. I devoured this story. Claire has the ability to envelop you into her story and not let you go even after the final word has been penned. I'm still thinking about Jensen and Mia and I finished their story several days ago. With flowing and engaging prose, this a beautiful second chance love story has worked its way into my heart and there it will stay.
After reading Torn Hearts on WattPad while it was being written (and having my poor heart torn to shreds in the process), I was waiting (not so patiently) for Mia and Jensen to find their way back to each other. I felt my own heart crack right down the middle after Jensen confessed that he was going to have to marry another woman because he felt like it was his responsibility after getting her pregnant. Even though they were best friends before they became more, Mia was devastated and just couldn't watch Jensen move on without her. For five years Mia tried to move past Jensen but when she gets a temporary job in New York at the same place that Jensen works, they are thrust into each other's lives again.
A lot has changed in the five years that Mia has ignored Jensen. His marriage didn't last and after being rebuffed in his attempts to get in touch with Mia again, he tried to move on but was never able to let Mia go. He held out hope that someday his once in a lifetime love would come back to him. He finds the perfect opportunity when Mia moves to New York. He sets out to prove his love and devotion and to make up for all his past mistakes.
I adored just how devoted Jensen was to Mia. He understood how much he hurt her even if he can't say that he regrets it because he now has a beautiful five year old daughter. This, of course, is the hard part for Mia (and me too if I'm being honest). Of course Mia realizes that this precious five year old has done nothing wrong, but it still hurts her to see the evidence of her broken dreams. Even with all the hurt at the surface, watching Mia, Jensen and little Olivia together was so endearingly sweet. The way the angst was kept to a minimum in this story also helped heal the cracks in poor battered heart. This was truly a story of growing up and moving on and admitting that life isn't alway roses and sunshine, but learning to deal with the good and the not so good and coming out better for it.
Hearing Jensen's point of view through his column was a brilliant way for Claire to let his thoughts and feelings shine through without overtaking Mia's journey. Jensen was hurt too. He needed support from his best friend during the most difficult time in his life but Mia left him alone. After enduring a childhood that left him broken, he felt abandoned by Mia. (Though in Mia's defense, I'm not sure I could see her doing anything different. Watching Jensen move on would have been torture. So even though I can see where he's coming from, I didn't really feel like Mia needed to apologize.) That said the way he kept open communication with Mia, even if she didn't know it all these years, through his letters, children's books, and column was so devastatingly swoon-worthy. Jensen is the ultimate example of book boyfriends making up for lost time. It was perfecting brilliant cementing Jensen as the book boyfriend other book boyfriends should look up to.
By the end of this story, I was left with the biggest smile on my face. I should have known that Claire was going to give Mia and Jensen the ending they deserved and that would surpass my expectations. Getting to see Mia and Jensen happy and finally whole was the most beautiful thing. With cameos from all my favorite characters from Kaleidoscope Hearts, I felt like I was catching up with old friends and didn't want the story to end. I'm hoping this isn't the last of the Hearts series because there are just some characters you don't want to let go and these complex characters are some of my favorite.
Review by Paige
★★☆4.5 "Once in A Lifetime" Stars ☆★★
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About the Author
Claire is a New York Times & USA Today Best Selling author, mother of two, wife of one, owner of three dogs, and breast cancer survivor.
She enjoys writing anything from children’s stories to erotic suspense, but her most notable work is a contemporary romance. When she’s not writing, she’s reading and dreaming about places she wants to visit.
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