HEART OF THE COUNTRY by Rene Gutteridge (with John Ward) review

HEART OF THE COUNTRY (with John Ward) Tyndale House Publishers September 1, 2013 Also a major motion picture! Faith and Luke Carraway have it all. Faith is a beautiful singer turned socialite while Luke is an up-and-coming successful businessman. After taking his inheritance from his father's stable, lucrative business to invest in a successful hedge fund with the Michov Brothers, he's on the fast track as a rising young executive, and Faith is settling comfortably into her role as his wife. When rumors of the Michovs' involvement in a Ponzi scheme reach Faith, she turns to Luke for confirmation, and he assures her that all is well. But when Luke is arrested, Faith can't understand why he would lie to her, and she runs home to the farm and the family she turned her back on years ago. Meanwhile, Luke is forced to turn to his own family for help as he desperately tries to untangle himself from his mistakes. Can two prodigals return to families they abandoned, and will those families find the grace to forgive and forget? Will a marriage survive betrayal when there is nowhere else to run but home? Rene is the author of seventeen novels, including her latest releases, HEART OF THE COUNTRY, ESCAPEMENT, POSSESSION and LISTEN, from Tyndale House Publishers. Her other suspense titles include, THE SPLITTING STORM, STORM GATHERING and STORM SURGE, plus her very first novel, GHOST WRITER (Bethany House Publishers). She is also known as a comedy writer. Her latest comedic novel is NEVER THE BRIDE (winner of the 2010 Carol Award for best women's fiction), co-written with screenwriter Cheryl McKay (of The Ultimate Gift).Her other comedy titles from WaterBrook/Multnomah Publishers include The BOO SERIES: Boo, Boo Who, Boo Hiss, Boo Humbug and THE OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS SERIES; (Scoop, Snitch, Skid). Another very popular comedy title is MY LIFE AS A DOORMAT, a Women of Faith selection for 2006, from Thomas Nelson. She has written one novelization, THE ULTIMATE GIFT, for Thomas Nelson. She also has extensive experience writing comedy sketches, and worked for five years as the director of drama for a church. She has a degree specializing in Screenwriting, for which she earned the Excellence in Mass Communication Award, and graduated magna cum laude. She is married to Sean, a musician and worship leader, and has two children. They reside in Oklahoma, where Rene writes full time and enjoys instructing in college classrooms and writers conferences.

My Review:

I have not seen this movie, but I will be buying it asap. This was a really good book. The beginning started off with Faith and Luke falling in love and getting married. They have a very short dating period. Luke is rich, but is only rich because of who he family is and he wants to break free from the family business to make a name for himself. His family thinks that Faith is the reason for Luke leaving, and that causes a rift between their relationships. Faith is really a loner. She ony counts on herself, until she meets Luke. However Luke was so hasty to start his career over that he made a mistake that causes her to run. Luke is a mess without Faith and vica versa. They each go home to their families, and it is there that they finally get some clarity. I didn't like that Luke never met Faith's dad until the break up. I did like that this book proves that money is not everything and it can not buy happiness. Things are just things. The real important stuff is love and family. As I got towards the end of the book I really hoped that Luke and Faith would realize they had the important stuff and lost it. I really wanted them to get it back. The end was sad, but it was bittersweet as well. I am giving this book a 4/5. I was given a copy to review from Tyndale, however all opinions are my own.