Mangled Hearts

Francesca and Cade, Scarred Hearts Book 1

By: Felicia Tatum

Narrated by: Maria Hostage

Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

Francesca and Cade

Can two loves find their way back to each other despite an addiction and a hardened heart? Will their love overcome it all?

Francesca Taymon is young, successful, and broken. A tragic accident years ago haunts her to this day, and she blames only one person - the one that holds her heart. When she finally gets her first case, will she be able to handle seeing him again? Can she do her job and keep her heart intact?

Cade Kelling doesn't take life seriously. He's reckless and irresponsible, drinking all his problems away. When his parents bail him out for the last time, will he be able to handle seeing Francesca after all of these years? Will he be able to tell her what really happened that night 5 years ago or will he lose her forever?

And the most important question....

Can these mangled hearts be mended?

©Forever Felicia Tatum (P)2014 Felicia Tatum

Great Book

Loved it, wanted to keep listening, had a hard time putting my phone down! Always kept my interest. Great read!

Mangled Hearts

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I loved Francesca's revenge on "the Slut" in the Grocery store! You could feel her relief, long over due vengeance and then she was over it!

Any additional comments?

This is not the typical type of book I choose. I like more fairy tales instead of real life issues. But I really enjoyed how you knew Cade had an addiction but that was not all the story focused. I focused on their life and past together. And they have a lot of history! I love Francesca's attitude towards life. She seems so happy and upbeat, not letting life pull her down.

Decent book

This book was decent, it had a nice storyline. I admit I got a little bored at the end when Cade went to rehab and they were writing letters back and forth. I felt like they could have just fast forwarded three months and had him get out of rehab and propose to her.

Healing Mangled Hearts

The story was definitely one that I loved to read/listen to. I fell in love with the characters and the new beginnings that Cade and Francesca were given. It was a matter of opening up their minds and heart again, but the journey was also something they needed to heal their hearts.

Loved this story.

Received this in exchanged for my honest opinion from Audiobook Boom.

Good story

I enjoy this story. It was easy to listen to and will buy more from this author

Explores Lots of Issues

Cade and Francesca were the best of friends in high school. However, Cade did not think himself worthy of Francesca so he began to push away from her after a devastating car accident.

Francesca's sister was killed in a car accident and rumors/talk about town that Cade played a part in it. Their relationship was never the same.

Francesca went to college and got her law degree. She is working in a large firm but she has yet to try a case in court, she was glorified paralegal.

One day one of the partners tracks her down and tells her that he was giving her a case. It is a favor for a friend of his from colleges, standard drunk and disorderly. Francesca thought that it would be easy to keep take care of the problem because because she has collected information on this type of case hundred times. To her utter surprise and dismay Cade walked through the door, he was her first "client."

They have both loved one another forever, but since each were unattainable - Francesca worked for her law degree and Cade spent the years womanizing and drinking – though he denies he is an alcoholic.

This case has them rediscovering things about one another. It bordered on YA, but for the heavy subjects and mature themes. However, much of it was reflections back to 10 years ago, which was when Cade was a senior in high school and Francesca was a freshman – so it would have a tendency to read as a young adult.

Overall, this is a solid and well planned out book. The timelines all match up, even as there is a lot of jumping back-and-forth between current and past events, it was easy to keep up.

This looks like the first in a series, but this one is the only one available on Audible at this time. Most of the ends were tied up neatly, so I can recommend it as a standalone. *I received this book in exchange for my thoughts, feelings and this review. I have no hesitation recommending it to those two like a sweet romance – however if you are sensitive about alcoholism and/or scenes with some heat, be advised that this book contains both.

Maria Hostage did a wonderful job narrating, she is solid and yet had no difficulty in performing male or female characters.

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Sweet Romance

STORY: 3
PERFORMANCE: 3
OVERALL: 3

STORY: I received to this audiobook free from the author in exchange for my honest review. The story of Francesca and Cade is a very sweet one.... sometimes too sweet in my opinion.

I enjoyed all of the characters, especially the male and female MCs. In my opinion, Ms. Tatum did an excellent job of creating realistic, likable characters. Although I liked each of the characters, I struggled to believe that the MCs felt the feelings they supposedly felt towards each other. I suppose I felt this way because they had such a brief history together while in high school. Sure, they could have formed a new, more mature, adult relationship in the present yet that too seemed unlikely since the main characters spent very little time together as adults too. I unfortunately didn't feel the emotion or passion between these two.

PERFORMANCE:
This audiobook was narrated by a female narrator. Although she did not have any extraordinary qualities, she was not bad either. I felt that some of the voices she used were a bit over-exaggerated yet nothing atrocious enough to distract me from the story.

OVERALL:
Mangled Hearts is a safe, sweet contemporary love story. If you want a book that will knock you off your feet, filled with angst, drama and passion, this is not the book for you. However, I would recommend this book to people who enjoy sweet, wholesome romances about overcoming obstacles.

Ummm, I don't know what to think.

Would you try another book from Felicia Tatum and/or Maria Hostage?

I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Sadly I couldn't listen all the way through:(

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

I just didn't get any emotion from her - plus she sounded very much middle aged which took away from the story.

Do you think Mangled Hearts needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Nope, it was pretty blasé and lacking in actual story development.

2.5 stars for the Story

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I wouldn't say it was a waste of time but I feel the narration could have been executed better. Even though I didn't love the story, I think a different narrator would have made the book better.

Would you recommend Mangled Hearts to your friends? Why or why not?

Probably not. While I am interested in reading the next book, I am not sure if this book would be a hit among my other reader friends.

Would you be willing to try another one of Maria Hostage’s performances?

I wasn't really a fan of this narrators style. I likes some parts but other parts were not done very well. This narrator was very over the top with other characters which made the story awkward to me. This would have been better with a male narrator doing the other pov.

Any additional comments?

I liked this book but it was just missing something. It really had the potential to be a 5 star read but it just fell short in some places. I would have liked more background for these characters because the flashbacks didn't really give me good insight into their relationship. I love the topics that were discussed and how they were handled but the execution of the story left something to be desired.

Great book!

the story was excellent. the characters were relatable and lovable! I don't have anything bad to say about this book! the performance was great! I would recommend to friends!