Heartland

I get giddy every time I read a new book in the True North series.  Heading back to Vermont to spend time with these characters is like getting a warm hug and a piece of pie from Mrs. Shipley herself.  

I swear, I fall in deeper love with this series with each new book.

Heartland Summary

Dylan Shipley is the most misunderstood of all of the siblings.  He’s so hardworking and easygoing, it’s easy to miss the pain he carries after his father’s death.  

While Dylan is at college during the week, he gets to be the fun-loving, carefree partier he was meant to be.  However, on the weekends, he has to go back home to being the youngest brother in a farming family that doesn’t necessarily see him as an adult on equal footing.

Chastity is a family friend and neighbor who escaped from a polygamist cult a few years prior to starting college.  She’s been sheltered and missed out on so many normal life experiences.  

One thing is for sure, though, and that is Chastity is unequivocally and unconditionally in love with Dylan Shipley.  Unfortunately, he’s never thought of her as being anything more than his best friend, so she has to suffer in silence.

Emotional Friends to Lovers Romance

Seeing Dylan and Chastity come into their own, both individually and as a couple, was my favorite part of the story.  The character development is so realistic and believable.  

Chastity has survived so much in her short lifetime, so seeing her experience college and her first boyfriend makes for emotional reading.  Dylan is a bit dense when it comes to the emotional inner workings of the women around him, especially at the beginning of the story, but once he starts to clue in to Chastity’s feelings for him, it’s all swoony sweetness from there.

Not only did I enjoy Dylan and Chastity’s story, I really loved the side characters introduced in this book.  They were some of my favorites yet and I can’t wait for the next book to see what happens with them.  

I’ll gladly head back to Vermont for more of the Shipleys and I’m looking forward to Daphne’s book!