REPAIRING HEARTS

REPAIRING HEARTS
Friday, May 17, 2024 by Julie Arduini

Categories: Friday's Fiction / GUEST AUTHORS

PLEASE WELCOME

JULIE ARDUINI

FICTION FRIDAY

THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY

Repairing Hearts is the second book of six in my Surrendering Hearts series. They are small-town romances with Christian surrender themes and chocolate mentions revolving around the Hart sextuplets. Each sibling has their own book where they discover their identity and try to find a love like their parents shared.

Recently I received a message from a reader asking if the first book, Anchored Hearts, was inspired by anyone. It was a co-worker romance about surrendering control. The reader explained that the story mirrored how her and her husband got together. What made the story even more interesting was she shared my last name and our husbands are not related!

Truth is, Anchored Hearts was God’s direction and fiction. I truly didn’t know anyone like Jordyn or Spencer. However, Repairing Hearts is a little different.

With a reality show backdrop, Ryan Hart bought a dump of a home and doesn’t have the money to fix it. He wanted whatever would take him away from his large family and give him freedom. When he can’t afford to restore his property, brother Evan pitches an idea: participate in a reality show as part of their 25th birthday celebration.

Of course, when it comes to reality shows, chaos and drama follow. Repairing Hearts was a joy to write, and I loved incorporating real life inspiration. This was a book I wanted to use to honor my husband. Tom is a Navy veteran and an IT professional. He also comes from a bigger family of six, although not sextuplets.

There were times we were visiting his parents and the whole family was there. Laughter and conversation filled the home, but I can’t tell you the times I couldn’t find Tom. Finally, he’d be in a room alone watching a game. He’s always liked his privacy and time apart. For that, I placed those traits within Ryan Hart.

The heroine, BJ Wallace, calls home in Sauk, Wisconsin. My step-children grew up and reside in that region. My last visit I pictured the hardware store BJ worked at. Having her live there was my homage to Mandy and Matt, and our visits to see them and their families.

Finally, the series is set in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate NY. This is where I spent my first thirty plus years, and oh how I miss those hills. The Hart home is located in a fictional cul-de-sac in a fictional city called East Corning. Although East Corning exists, it still is considered Corning, the World Headquarters of Corning Inc. My hometown.

Also mentioned in the series are places like Elmira, Waverly, and Big Flats. These are real places and I love highlighting small towns that most people haven’t heard of. My hope is readers see themselves in the Hart vehicles as they travel on Route 86!

There you have it. The real-life inspiration behind Repairing Hearts. If you love small-town Christian romances, I hope you look for the Hart sextuplets in my Surrendering Hearts series. Anchored Hearts and Repairing Hearts are available, and free for Kindle Unlimited. Building Hearts is Evan’s story, and that should release later this year.

How about you? Do you enjoy learning about real life situations and people finding their way into fiction?

MORE ABOUT REPAIRING HEARTS

What if a reality show creates a blight on sextuplet Ryan Hart’s life harsher than his dump of a home?

Ryan, the independent, brooding second oldest of the Hart sextuplets, can’t enjoy the solitude he craves when he agrees to star on a reality show. The plan is to discover a project manager to renovate his hole of a property. The show reveals that it's more about Ryan’s dating life. Can he keep his guard up when everything around him is falling apart faster than the shingles on his roof?

BJ Wallace loves her quiet life in Wisconsin that she’s created far from her traumatic childhood. Everything changes when she learns she's competing on Repairing Ryan's Heart. As the show focuses more on Ryan than the house, BJ falls for him. Will she win the show and destroy Ryan with her secret, or sacrifice her heart to protect Ryan?

A small-town, reality show romance with family drama and a Christian thread of surrendering pride and anger.

Repairing Hearts for Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Repairing-Hearts-Christian-Surrender-Surrendering-ebook/dp/B0CLCTD289/

Repairing Hearts Softcover: https://www.amazon.com/Repairing-Hearts-Surrendering-Julie-Arduini/dp/1733687653

ABOUT JULIE ARDUINI

Julie Arduini invites you to surrender with her the good, the bad, and ---maybe one day---the chocolate. She’s the author of the new small-town romance series with Christian surrender themes SURRENDERING HEARTS (Anchored Hearts, Repairing Hearts, +four more). Her other romance series is SURRENDERING TIME (Entrusted, Entangled, Engaged). She also co-wrote a YA/Women’s Fiction series with her daughter, SURRENDERING STINKIN’ THINKIN’ (You’re Beautiful, You’re Amazing, You’re Brilliant). Her stand-alone romances include MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN and RESTORING CHRISTMAS. Julie maintains a blog at j uliearduini.com, Substack, and participates in the team blog Christians Read. She resides in Ohio with her husband and daughter. Learn more by visiting her at http://linktr.ee/JulieArduini.

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