Kay Springsteen - Heartsight

Publisher: Astraea Press

ISBN: 978-1-936852-10-9

My rating: 4/5



On a secluded beach in North Carolina, three lonely people find hope in each other.

Trish Evers is an artist and single mother, who has inherited her grandmother's Bed and Breakfast in a North Carolina coastal town. Though she must sell the house, she decides to bring her daughter to the beach for one last summer vacation in her childhood town.
Bella is a six-year-old girl who has Down syndrome. Rejected by her father, Trish, is the only parent she's ever known. Bella likes to explore the beach and has a tendency to wander off. One day, Bella goes exploring on her own, and Trish finds her in the company of an intriguing stranger.
Dan Conway is a U.S. Marine, who had been born into a family of Marines. Now blind as a result of combat injuries and unable to "suit up," he feels he no longer has a purpose in life. He's come home to the beach, where he spends his days in solitude. Dan must learn to believe in himself and to love life again, which he begins to do through his interactions with Bella and Trish. When a hurricane strikes, and Bella wanders off again, her only hope for rescue is Dan.
Working within the confines of his blindness, he must overcome his fear of failure and recall his training in order to search for the little girl and bring her to safety.  (amazon.com)


My thoughts
 
This is a kind of story readers can only dream of.  I loved the book and yes, it's another one of those where I fell in love with the cover, BUT this time I read the blurb before purchasing it.
 
I do have to admit though that it took me a while until I got into the story. The constant breaks made me put it aside very often, personally I thought they interrupted the flow and it got irritating. It didn't do much harm to the story though. Springsteen did a great job creating a plot with a single mother of a down syndrome daughter falling in love with a blind marine who was injured while in Afganistan. The characters are believable and the issues of down syndrome and blindness highlighted but not "put on too thick". It was a book that leaves you wanting more and for the book not to finish.
 
Give it a go, it's well worth it