About the Book

Book: Heart Pressed

Author: Melissa Wardwell

Genre: Christian Contemporary Romance

Release date: February 23, 2021

Hearts pressed Crushes are great for grapes, wine, and romance—not so great for hearts.

The Sweetheart Festival, an Elnora Island institution, has sparked more than a few romances over the years, but who would have thought it would light a fire in two hearts from two of the island’s oldest families. When Amara Martin and Dante Greco meet, sparks fly that may ignite more than romance.

Two wineries, old feuds, generations of traditions.

Seeing the attraction at Amara and Dante’s chance meeting, Beth Stevens and Scott Anderson join forces to do a little matchmaking, not realizing the pressure it would bring to both households and their own hearts. The new couple must decide if they will adhere to tradition or break free from expectations and choose love. Pressure on every side threatens a love that hasn’t yet had a chance to ripen—for both Amara and Dante as well as for Beth and Scott.

In this “forbidden love” novel, Heart Pressed continues the Elnora Island romances of the Independence Islands Series featuring five islands, six authors, and a boatload of happily-ever-afters.
The Independence Islands Series: beach reads aren’t just for summer anymore.

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About the Author

Chautona Melissa Wardwell resides in Owosso, Michigan with her husband Jonathan, three children, a cat, and two pitbulls. Besides writing, she enjoys reading, having coffee with friends, and spending quality time with her husband kayaking and fishing. Melissa likes to joke about the voices in her head, but it is those voices have inspired her to write several romance novels such as “I Know the Plans” (a story based in her hometown of Owosso) and “Finding Hope in Savannah”. When she is not penning works of fiction, she is busy reviewing books on her blog, Back Porch Reads. To see more from Melissa Wardwell, visit www.melissawardwell.com

More from Melissa

“Life never goes as planned.”
That is the understatement of the century. 2020 has been the perfect example of it. Around the world, plans were made on January 1st to do this or that. Plans to use the year as a spring board for something new, better, or just a change.

Then that virus dashed all those plans. We were shut out from the world with only our books, our televisions, and our families. Some battled the shut down alone, while others had a house full (one friend of mine had eleven people in her house and only one was not her child). I know a couple of single friends who decided to stay at one house for the few weeks that Michigan was closed. Others, like myself, may not have done as well as everyone thought they were. Brave face and all. But we survived. We persevered. We adapted.

“Heart Pressed” is my covid story. It is about the unexpected way life change while you are in the middle of making plans for the future. How some changes are wonderful and rewarding, while others will bring you to the ground, begging for mercy.

Take Amara, for instance. She had a plan and put things into motion to make that plan come to fruition, but God (don’t you love those two words?) had a different plan and took hold of her heart. He softened it, molded it, made it a place where He could reside. Then life came knocking. The one person she thought would be there, couldn’t be, but God (there it is again) gave her someone to count on, hold her hand, and help her through the storms. He showed her that she wasn’t alone in this world by surrounding her with new people who loved her and cared for her.

(Disclaimer – I know God didn’t do anything, but we all have those stories in our own lives where God intervened on our behalf.)

Did you find a way to survive the storm? Did God bring people into your life, even at a distance, that made things better? Did your faith strengthen to new levels? I hope so because life never goes as we plan, but it sure is nice to have someone to hold your hand.

MY REVIEW

This is one of the best series I have read. Multi authors have come together to write a series where characters cross over in different books. I love how they all mesh together and give readers a glimpse into their lives. This particular story finds us getting together with Scott and Beth from the author’s previous book, Scrumptious Independence. I loved seeing their relationship taking a more serious turn and getting to know them on a deeper level.

The author introduces two new characters that I absolutely adore. Amara has come to the island to take care of her mother. I thought the author did a great job of showing how special mother and daughters relationships are. As Amara’s mother takes a turn for the worse, Amara is right there to give her comfort. Those moments shared together were emotional and well written.

Dante is a very caring character who seems to have an immediate attraction to Amara. As the story progresses we find out that there has been a feud going on between Amara’s and Dante’s family for awhile. They both own wineries that are in competition with each other. This will definitely cause conflict for our two characters. I enjoyed reading about the work involved in running a winery and how hard the families have worked to keep it prosperous.

Amara make a life changing decision that I was not expecting. The author takes this storyline to an emotional level that had me wanting to be there to help Amara. Her decision will have some people talking and others giving her support. Dante becomes a great shoulder to lean on and this is the part of the story where faith and trust plays a big part.

The book is filled with changes, hard decisions and allowing God to direct your path. Both couples face secrets, forgiveness and looking for guidance. I liked the ending, and I am looking forward to the author continuing both couples journey.

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.