Review: Heartstrings, what a fitting name!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 2, 2013
Heartstrings is the second book in Heather Gunter's Love Notes series.  It follows secondary characters from the first book, Love Notes.  This books can be read as a stand alone, but I would suggest reading Love Notes first as there are a few things referenced from that book.  For those of us who have read Love Notes we do get to see more Charlie and Maverick, which is awesome!!Heartstrings starts a few months after Love Notes, and follows Tori and Will, Charlie and Maverick's best friends, respectively.  In Love Notes we knew that Tori had a pretty big secret we just weren't sure what it was.  We also knew that this secret somehow involved her relationship (or lack thereof) with Will.  We learn right away that their friendship is on the road to recovery but it is also pretty clear that Tori doesn't think it can ever be more than that because of her secret, which is a doozy and is revealed pretty early on.  Just when it looks like Tori is going to take a chance and let Will be more than her friend everything comes crashing down on her."You should know, if we do this, it will change everything."Heartstrings, while very much the story of Will and Tori, is really about Tori's road to recovery from the thing that has been buried and weighing her down for so long.  Will was very supportive of her throughout the entire process even as he is harboring a secret of his own that may crush their fragile relationship.  It was heartbreaking to see the way that things played out over the course of the last quarter, or so, of the book.  But the ending was wonderful.'I need her to know that I'd always be there for her.  But the words wouldn't come out, and truth be told, I knew there wasn't anything I could say to make her feel better.'I already really like Tori and Will before I had ever even started this book.  Something about the sadness that seemed to surround them in Love Notes just pulled at my, for lack of a better word, Heartstrings.  I wanted for them to have their happily ever after and I'm glad that Heather gave us their story.  They were definitely characters I needed to know more about.  Though I already had a pretty good idea of why Tori didn't want to talk to anybody about why she didn't want to date Will, it was still awful to hear all the details of what exactly happened.  Then when we read Will's side it was that much more heartbreaking.'My crying begins to ease off and I realize, in this exact moment, I can't so this anymore; I'm sick of crying and feeling scared.  I'm tired of feeling broken, and accept there are things that have to happen if I'm going to get better and put this behind me.  I have to move on.  Not for anyone else; for me.'I commended Tori for being able to have the strength to take the necessary steps to deal with everything that was haunting her.  I know that it is not easy.  Watching her become more and more confident was wonderful and made my heart happy for her.  There were more than a few times when all of her forward progress could have been ripped apart and she would have had to start over at square one.  But, she did not let that happen.  She was strong, she was a fighter."...this may scare you and I'm sorry if it does, but I'm taking my chances.  I fell in love with you over a year ago and I never stopped.  My feeling never faltered, and I told you, 'I never stopped caring, not even from a distance.  This doesn't change how I feel about you.  I love you Tori, and this isn't going to make me stop or change my mind."This was a really great story.  There were a few spots where the speech seemed a little stilted, but it definitely did not take away from the story, or it's message.  I really enjoyed this book and will be looking forward to the release of the next novel in the series, Changing Tunes, due out in 2014.'I thought I was going to die when she reached over wanting to kiss me and I certainly wasn't joking when I said, it would change everything.  Because it did, and in more ways than one.  Kissing Tori was unlike anything I'd ever experienced.  Her lips are so warm and soft and fit perfectly with mine.  When she deepened the kiss I thought I was in heaven.'