Review: Ginger's Heart by Katy Regnery

Ginger's Heart by Katy Regnery

Date of Publication: March 22, 2016

Blurb

"I finished Ginger's Heart last night, and I am completely and utterly in love." --Mia Sheridan, NY Times bestselling author

Once upon a time there were two cousins:
one golden like the sun,
one dark like midnight,
one a protector,
one a predator,
one a Woodsman
and
one a Wolf…
both owning equal,
but different,
parts of a little girl's heart.

In this modern retelling of "Little Red Riding Hood," the woodsman and the wolf are cousins, and Little Red is the girl with whom they both fall in love.

Beautiful Ginger McHuid, daughter of Kentucky's premiere horse breeder, grows up on her family farm, best friends with Cain Wolfram, the son of her father's Stallion Manager, and Cain's cousin, Josiah Woodman, son of a local banker. Throughout their happy childhood, the three are inseparable friends, but as they mature into adults, complicated feelings threaten to destroy their long history of friendship and love.

Ginger's Heart

*****

This is a standalone novel inspired by Little Red Riding Hood. New Adult Contemporary Romance: Due to profanity and very strong sexual content, this book is not intended for readers under the age of 18.

(The next standalone a modern fairytale novel, Don't Speak, inspired by The Little Mermaid, will be released in 2017.)

Available From

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Review

Ginger's Heart was an amazing read.  I'm not generally a big fan of triangles, but this book was written perfectly and really portrayed the depth of the triangle.  But Love isn't built to design, the heart wants what the heart wants and love always finds a way. 

Cain and Woodman are more than just cousins, they are practically brothers.  They've grown up in opposite circumstances all of their lives, but one thing remained, their love and loyalty to each other.  When Woodman placed his claim on the lovely Ginger, Cain walked away, because he thought Woodman was the better man.  But as these two men quickly realize, some choices can be made and not change anything. 

Ginger has been friends with Cain and Woodman forever, she loves them both, but she's always been in love with Cain.  There's just something about him that calls to her even if no one else can see it.  But Ginger has pride, and she's only willing to be rejected so many times. Ginger chooses one brother over the other and thinks she can leave her feelings in the past, but its harder than she thinks, and she's not the only one suffering for it. 

When tragedy strikes, Ginger is left reeling, not just because of the way her life has changed but because she realizes what she had done, not only to herself, but to Cain and Woodman.  Though they still have a lot to work through, misunderstandings, and pain and grief, Cain and Ginger grow closer once again as Cain makes good on his last promise to Woodman.  

Ginger's Heart will suck you in from page one and keep you on the edge of your seat waiting to see how it all works out.  This story is an emotional journey, its a testament to True Love and finding your way even if (and when) it means going against what everyone else says is good for you.  It's a story about being genuinely torn between two people, two people you love in different ways and its a story of loss while also being a story of gains.  The characters were all unique in their own ways, their relationship between the three as friends and individually built a background that made it hard to say one is better than the other.  

The heartache each of these characters, Ginger, Cain, and Woodman felt during the story really hit you like a punch to the gut, their feelings written so well they bleed of the page. The emotional highs and lows really add to the story and help you understand the characters and the choices they make or have made.  I Loved each part of the journey we were taken on as we watched who won Ginger's Heart. 

About Katy Regnery

Katy Regnery, award-winning and Amazon bestselling author, started her writing career by enrolling in a short story class in January 2012. One year later, she signed her first contract for a winter romance entitled By Proxy.
Now a hybrid author who publishes both independently and traditionally, Katy claims authorship of the six-book Heart of Montana series, the six-book English Brothers series, and a Kindle Worlds novella entitled "Four Weddings and a Fiasco: The Wedding Date," in addition to the standalone novels, Playing for Love at Deep Haven and Amazon bestseller, The Vixen and the Vet.
The Vixen and the Vet is included in the charity anthology Hometown Heroes: Hotter Ever After, and Katy's novella "Frosted" appeared in the Jan '15 anthology, Snowy Days Steamy Nights. Additionally, Katy's short story, "The Long Way Home" appeared in the first RWA anthology (Feb '15), Premiere.
Katy lives in the relative wilds of northern Fairfield County, Connecticut, where her writing room looks out at the woods, and her husband, two young children, and two dogs create just enough cheerful chaos to remind her that the very best love stories begin at home.

Find Katy Regnery Online

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Teaser

Excerpt from Chapter 12 of Ginger's Heart, a modern fairytale, by Katy Regnery. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
An hour later they stopped by the Glenn River, eight miles downriver from Ginger's house and two from the distillery where Cain had partied last night.
"We should water them," he said, reining in Thunder and dismounting with the ease of a lifelong horseman.
She reined in Heath, who nickered in protest, and grinned down at Cain who reached up for her. His hands lingered for an extra moment on her hips as she slid down the front of his body. Leaning her head back, she stared up at him, daring him to pull her closer, to kiss her, to admit that this whole "friends" thing was bullshit on fire. But, he clenched his jaw, cleared his throat and dropped his hands.
"Thanks," she murmured, her voice husky in her ears as he stared down at her, his eyes flinty and dark.
Taking Heath's reins with a grunt, he turned away from her, leading the horses to the river's edge and leaving her to follow behind. She leaned down to pick up a flat stone and skipped it across the slow moving water.
"Not bad," said Cain.
"You were always the best."
"Nah," he said. "Woodman was better."
"Nope," she countered, picking up another stone. "Woodman was good, but you were better. Remember that Fourth of July that you skipped eleven times? Eleven times. It was a record."
Satisfied that the horses were calm and drinking their fill, Cain leaned down and grabbed a rock of his own, skipping it over the dark water.
One-two-three-four-five-six-seven…
"Wow!" she said, clapping lightly. "You've still got the touch!"
He turned to her, grinning. "You always get excited about the littlest things. What's it like gettin' a kick out of everythin', Gin?"
"What's it like gettin' a kick out of nothin', Cain?" she asked, her voice full of sass.
"I'm gettin' a kick out of you right now, princess."
A charge zapped between them as the words left his mouth, and her breath hitched and held for just a moment, but she looked down and picked up another rock. She was enjoying today too much to go back to Awkwardland.
She skipped her rock, which sunk after three measly hops.
"Remember when you saved my Cabbage Patch doll from certain doom in this river?" she asked him.
He screwed up his face as her. "Wasn't me. Must have been Woodman."
"It was you!" she insisted. "Not Woodman!"
"Savin' a dolly? Please. That has Woodman written all over it. I couldn't have cared less if it drowned."
"But I cared," she said softly. "Which is why you saved it."
"Fine. Have it your way," he said, sitting down on a large rock near the water's edge.
She sighed, squatting down to wash her hands in the clear water before looking back at him. "Why do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Let Woodman take credit for all the good things?"
He shrugged, looking away from her, out at the water. "I don't."
"You just did. Twice."
He sighed, giving her a long-suffering look. "If somethin' good happened, chances were, it was Woodman's doin'."
"How do you figure?"
"He's the better man, Gin," said Cain, his eyes severe, his words deliberate.
She stood up slowly, turning her body completely to face him. "Do you really believe that?"
He looked away. "It's the truth."
"Cain. Cain, look at me." Her words didn't feel like enough so she beseeched him with her eyes too. "You're just as good a man as he is."
"Ha!" scoffed Cain, standing up and moving away from her. "Not in this life, princess."

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