Review: A good read
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 8, 2012
A Struggle of the Heart is a Romance novel which delivers exactly what the title promises. A young woman, Annette, learns to live with the complications love brings as she tries to find her place in the world.The beginning is quite slow, but the main character is so likeable, you feel you should keep going to see where life takes her. I worried a little when Aaron was introduced because it seemed he'd been formed using the same pattern as Annette's, but he soon developed into his own person, complete with the flaws and narrow-mindedness so characteristic to his age and gender.There is a lot of description about Annette's study and trivial things such as daily routine that made me wonder when the action was going to happen, but when it did, boy did it explode out of the pages. I didn't see the twist in the middle. That was a very ingenious way to re-introduce Annette's conundrum after her life had finally settled. I loved the men she had to choose between, but I did feel at some point that neither of them deserved her. She ended up comforting them both and putting up with their moods and tantrums like a mother would with her spoilt children. For such an intelligent woman, she spent too much time crying over men.I felt (and this is just my opinion) that the dialogue was a bit awkward and people repeated themselves a lot throughout, and I was not particularly interested in the details of Annette's job. I also felt a little uncomfortable about the rendition of the Oklahoma bombing, it being re-re-re-revisited and the same about the Afghanistan action. Marie Fostino is obviously a patriot and these subjects are close to her heart, as is her profession. I admire that.Despite my personal irritations, I think it would be wrong to let them spoil what is otherwise a good read, a well thought-out plot and good characterization. I also think the cover is beautiful and really fits the story.