Heart with Joy - Giveaway and Review

In his latest novel Heart with Joy, Steve Cushman takes us into the life of fifteen year old Julian Hale's life in Greensboro North Carolina. We catch a brief glimpse into a troubled time for him when his mom announces she is moving to Florida to run her parent's motel and finish her novel. When Julian probes her for a reason, she simply says that there is no one else plus it will give her time to write.

Julian and his distant father are staying to finish his school year out in North Carolina. When he pushes his dad for the reason of his mom leaving all his dad can reply is, "What did your mom tell you?" This doesn't provide the answer that Julian is looking for. However never seeing his parents actually fight doesn't mean things have been going well for either of them. His father spends all of his time at the hospital where he is a nurse and his mom spends hers writing leaving Julian to wonder if this is truly what a happy family is all about.

When Julian is forced to take on some of the responsibilities of his mom from cleaning the home, to learning to cook something besides mac and cheese hotdogs, he turns to the Food Network, where he becomes a natural chef in the making, cooking for him and his dad.

On his weekly trips to the market, Julian meets Tia, the cashier and she invites him to join their cooking club. He is reluctant at first trying to figure out why a boy his age would want to show girls he can cook.

He ultimately finds comfort in the strained relationship with a ninety year old lady whose been his neighbor. When she asks for help retrieving something under her home, this begins the basis of a unique relationship with Julian that ultimately will help him sort through his feelings of resentment with both of his parents.

I received this book complements of Steve Cushman himself for my honest review and absolutely loved this book. It takes the reader into a short time in these peoples lives to see how broken relationships can be mended through finding out what really fills our hearts with joy! I would rate this book a perfect 5 out of 5 stars.

I am going to offer a giveaway copy of this amazing book, to one lucky reader of my blog who leaves a comment telling me what fills your heart with joy, what is your one true passion in life?

1. You must be a follower of this blog, Reviews From The Heart.

2. You must reside in the US and NO P.O. Boxes please.

3. I must have a way to contact you via email if you are the lucky winner, so please include your email address in the comment box. You may use the words (at) and (dot) instead of the actual symbols.

4. The giveaway will end on September 27th and I will notify the winner by email. Don't forget to include what fills your heart with joy in the comment.

For more information on this book, the author and where to purchase a copy of this book, simply click on the link below:

Heart With Joy