Heartland

Another terrific book in my favorite Sarina Bowen series. This crew in Vermont I’d always a treat to return to. I wasn’t sure that Dylan could compete with my favorite guys from this series Zach and Griff, but I was wrong, wrong, wrong. He’s definitely a new favorite! This was a great friends to lovers, slower building romance. As is common from this author, we got some terrific new side characters to fall in love with too. Everything about this read just left me feeling happy. This is a great book I highly recommend it.

I loved this addition to the True North series. If you like friends to lovers then you will like this book. Dylan and Chastity are friends who spent time as neighbors. Both grew up differently with Chastity growing up differently than most. They attend the same college with Dylan dating Chastity’s roommate. Dylan friend zones Chastity and tutors her in algebra. Things change however when they begin having feelings for each other and Dylan calls things off with his girlfriend. He wants to see where things could go with Chastity. There are secondary characters who really help bring this story together. I hope it’s not the last we see of them. Friends to lovers is one of my favorite troupes so if you like them too then read this book. If not for that just look at the hunk on the cover. 😉

I work at a theme park and one of our units serves an apple snack. It’s delicious and smells wonderful and every single time I look at one of those bushels of apples I think of two things: the lyrics of A Bushel and A Peck and... Shipley Farms. When I say this series has worked it’s way into my heart and will never leave, I’m not kidding. It’s so firmly in there I look at real apples and think of a fictional apple orchard. But I am absolutely okay with that because book after book, Sarina Bowen continues to remind me why this series is my favorite romance series. The Shipleys are all amazing characters and Dylan is no exception. I’ll admit, I was a little skeptical at first when I found out this was Dylan’s book. From other characters’ points of view, he wasn’t the most interesting of characters to me, probably because when we first met him in the early books, he was so young and oftentimes a little annoying for my taste. But in Heartland, we got a look inside his head and everything changed. I am a convert, I am in love with Dylan too. And funny enough, I didn’t love Chastity either when we first met her in Zach’s book. But in true Sarina fashion, it didn’t take long before I was feeling compassion and sympathy, but most of all, true affection for her. She’s such a fascinating character and despite already knowing some of her backstory, discovering all the details didn’t make me feel sad for her, but instead made me believe in her and root for her even harder. Because on the surface, Chastity might be the innocent, awkward girl, but underneath that she’s one of the strongest fighters in the whole True North series and I love her for it. But I also completely loved them as a couple. The whole “innocent virgin falls for hunky dude who sleeps around” isn’t a new story. It’s been told time and time again, but Heartland breathes new life into a well used trope. Chastity may have been a virgin that only recently escaped a crazy religious cult, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have her own set of needs and desires. She was naive, but she wasn’t dumb and she fought for who and what she wanted and this dynamic made their relationship burn red hot in my eyes. As with all of the True North series, the setting is a character all on its own and I love that just as much as I love Dylan and Chastity. The story of Dylan and Chastity making goat milk caramels is peak Vermont and I was absolutely here for it. Whether it’s cider or apples or anything Audrey’s made, I want to taste it and experience it, and these caramels were no exception. I loved the thought and knowledge that went in to describing the process and how much of that was relatable to the growth and development of the characters themselves. And the inclusion of this excellent reason for Dylan and Chastity to regularly go back to Tuxbury also led to one of my favorite parts of this book: seeing the arguments between Dylan and Griffin from Dylan’s point of view. Their battle of wills has always been interesting to me, but has also made me not fond of Dylan. Getting to see where Dylan’s coming from and his emotional baggage surrounding the death of their father was eye opening to his character and their family dynamics. It was just one more way Sarina worked her magic in making each book expand on the world of Tuxbury in a way that leaves you desperate for more. I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thought and opinions are my own.

Over the past year, I have become a super fan of Sarina Bowen. It's been three years since I read Him/Us (one of my favorites of all time!!) but this time last year I started True North and fell in love!! I'm OBSESSED with the Shipley family but I also love the Paradise Ranch escapees' journeys. There's something so special about all these people who have escaped a cult and help each other acclimate to the outside world. I can't believe Dylan is all grown up and Chastity figuring out college and moving on from cult life. I'm not a fan of the cold but this series seriously has me wanting to move to Vermont (or at least go for a long visit)! Dylan and Chastity's book had me crying more than once but their love and friendship was so beautiful that it cancelled out all the ugliness of the past. I will never get enough of the True North series and I can't wait to see what's in store for Daphne!!

I just adore all the books in Sarina Bowen's True North series and Heartland is no different. There's a swoony hero, a leading lady you'll want to be best friends with, descriptions of amazing food that will have your stomach growling, and a love story for the ages. Dylan, the youngest of the 4 Shipley siblings, is away at college. He is loving his new fond independence, but is still under the stress of responsibility from his family's farm. And feeling the weight of guilt that might not even be his to carry. So what if Dylan likes to make himself feel better by partying it up with beautiful women? Chastity hasn't had the easiest- or most normal- life. She grew up in a religious cult. After finally escaping a few years earlier, Chastity was taken in by Isaac and Leah, and is just starting to live her life. She's struggling in school, but is fortunate enough to have the support of her best friend, Dylan. Unfortunately, Chastity has been in love with Dylan since she first laid eyes on him. So while she's loving being closer to him while they are away at college, she also has to watch Dylan drink and smoke and be intimate with girls that are not her. Because there is no way that Dylan feels the same way. Right? First and foremost, I LOVE the friendship the two of them have. Dylan is very overprotective about Chastity, and puts her in front of everyone else. They just have this effortless connection. They simply get each other like no one else does. And when they finally cross that line from friends to more- get ready for fireworks. Serious fireworks. It's a delicious slow burn that is steamy, romantic, angsty and may cause your kindle to melt just a little bit. And of course, it was great to see everyone else from previous books. Going back to the Shipley farm kind of feels like going home. I particularly love the evolving relationship that Dylan has with his brother, Griffin. All in all Dylan and Chastity's book was everything that I hoped it would be, and more!

I am a devout lover of book series and Sarina Bowen's True North series is my type of kryptonite. I just love book series that involve a whole bunch of different interconnected characters. And the Shipley family is one such story that grabs you and keeps you entertained throughout the different stories. Readers of the True North series have been introduced to younger brother Dylan Shipley several times throughout the series. Heartland is Dylan's story. Mix in characters who's origins stem from Sarina's Goodbye Paradise story, and you have a thrilling new story. Dylan is now an adult and off at college, away from the Shipley farm. Well, not entirely away seeing that he's within driving distance and able to come running when his help is needed. He's also the (unknowingly) crush of his friend and neighbor Chastity. Chastity is the "cousin" of the family living on the farm next door to the Shipleys - a recent transplant who escaped from the polygamist cult she had been raised in back in Wyoming. Chastity is quickly learning the ways of the world - broadening her horizons now that she's living amongst real people and experiencing life out from under the tight constraints of the cult she was brought up in. This story has several interconnecting stories laced within it. You have the Shipley family dynamic - how Dylan and his older brother Griff work and communicate with one another. There is Dylan's guilt and resentment he is still dealing with since the death of his father years before. And then there is Chastity and her adapting to a new lifestyle while still struggling with the guilt she is feeling due to facing her desires and how they conflict with the message of the cult and the brainwashing she was subjected to while growing up. There is also a romance story line. It wouldn't be a Sarina novel if there wasn't a love story intermingled within. And this one is hot and steamy. This can be read as a standalone...but there is just so much extra if you happen to read the other books in the series.

I loved this. So much!! Dylan was soooo sweet. Hot. Kind. And Chasity. Love her heart so!! If you're looking for a Friends to lovers that's hot, sweet, interesting and with a fabulous plot this is get book for you. Highly recommend

I really enjoyed this friends to lovers storyline. I adore Dylan, so sweet, sexy and misunderstood. I love Dylan and Chasity’s friendship and how it develops into more. I was drawn in from the beginning and hooked until the end. A definite must read in this series!

Oh Dylan Shipley, you sure grew up so fine! I love Dylan and Chastity's story so much. Chastity is so sweet, naive and inexperienced on the outside but on the inside there is a tigress waiting to be set free. She wants Dylan to be the one to free her but much to her dismay they seem to be firmly planted in the friend zone while he sows his wild oats. She divulges a plan to get him to spend even more time with her. I love that we get to see her grow and blossom away from that horrible cult. Dylan turns out to be romantic and sweet but at first he ticked me off a bit because of his ways, but luckily he finally has a very necessary realization, he has more than friendship on his mind with Chastity. This was a sweet, fun and sexy NA romance, that I think because it was Sarina Bowen's writing and the Shipley family who I've come to love, held a lot more meaning than some of the other NA romance does for me. I just adore Chastity & Dylan as a couple and their journey towards that status, and of course I love getting more of the other Shipley's in the process. I certainly hope there is more to come in this series!!! I absolutely love it!!

If you're into the True North Series, then you know what to expect from a Sarina Bowen book ... but buckle yourself in because this book takes the series to a whole new level!  This book is a HEA standalone written in the best way possible ... familiar aspects from the series where it's not needed to read the others .... so start with this one but plan on binge reading next weekend  It's got characters that will have you looking up colleges in VT, a solid storyline with emotional twists, and .... VT!  apples, goats, farm life, caramels. I totally fell in love with Chastity.  She's been through the worst of life, has escaped and made it on her own.  She's now part of a loving group of friends and is continuing to claw her way out of the physical and emotional horrors that she survived. Dylan is part of that loving group of friends.  Chastity knows him as the strong guy who is there for his farming family... she's secretly had a crush on him, but his mind is on all that college has to offer in the way of cute, SAF co-eds .... including Chastity's petty back-stabbing roomie.  He's always been impressed with Chastity, but when they are alone, the storyline nearly caused my kindle to spontaneously combust! There were no disappointments with this book.  The characters around Dylan and Chastity were well developed to a point that I'm expecting to see a few of them have their own books in the future (hint, hint, wink, wink) and want to see the others as well. Sarina pulled me into this book immediately and kept me engaged throughout ... this book goes well beyond scratching the surface of emotional moments ... the passing of a parent, family pressures and obligations, the desire for something more than the terrible hand you've been played, betrayal, standing up for yourself, realizing who you can count on ... for starters! Download this book, settle in for a read ... perhaps you call in sick ... because it wouldn't be a lie as leaving this book unfinished would make you sick and distracted!  I received an ARC.  This is my honest review.