All A Heart Needs

I absolutely loved All a Heart Needs by Barbara Freethy. It is the fifth book in the Callaways series. I love that each book in the series keeps getting better. I could not put it down and I loved every page. Who doesn't love big families, hot men, strong women, and love stories? Barbara Freethy continues to show that she is an incredible storyteller. I really enjoy how the book is told from the perspective of the main characters. I love getting the insight and feelings from the different characters. All a Heart Needs is a love at first sight love story and is filled with heartbreaking and heartwarming moments. I love the lighter moments where I find myself smiling and laughing out loud and the bittersweet moments. All a Heart Needs is filled with such moments, and with so much emotion. It is filled with all those things that we have come to love and expect in a Barbara Freethy love story, especially the poignant and bittersweet moments that filled this page turner. All a Heart Needs is the story of Jessica Schilling and Sean Callaway, the black sheep of Callaway family. Jessica and Sean meet when he shows up in Angel’s Bay to support his sister Nicole, when his nephew Brandon and Jessica’s son, Kyle are kidnapped. Jessica is a single mother; she decides to move to San Francisco so that Kyle can be closer to Brandon. Kyle’s presence has had a positive impact on Brandon who has autism. Jessica had no family in Angel’s Bay, and loves the atmosphere surrounding the Callaway family. Jessica and Kyle move into the Emery house, around the corner from the Callaways. Helen Emery has moved into an assisted living facility, and Jessica has agreed to clean out the attic in the house. There was a fire in the house over twenty years ago that changed the course of Sean Callaway’s life. Sean’s best friend, Stacy and her father, Robert were killed in what was suspected as an accidental fire. Jessica and Sean, investigate how the fire was really set and they put their lives at risk. While investigating, Jessica and Sean become closer, but Jessica does not want to get involved with a musician, after seeing it first hand with her mother. Barbara Freethy kept me guessing as to what really happened and who was behind the house fire that killed Stacy and Robert. My favorite part of the story is how Sean finally tells his father, Jack that he was outside the Emery house the night of the fire and saw Stacy running out of her house on fire. His father has always been so angry with Sean over the events of that day, and Sean has always felt guilt. I love how their relationship changes, when the Callaways attend the open house of Sean’s new music studio. I love how Sean shows Jessica his music studio before the open house and encourages her to live out her dreams of dancing. I love that Barbara Freethy writes about strong women with their own careers and the hot men who are attracted to them for more than just their looks. I love all the descriptions of San Francisco and the surrounding areas in the setting that Barbara Freethy details so beautifully. I love the Callaways and am looking forward to reading the other books in the series. All a Heart Needs felt like a family reunion of sorts, because you get to catch up with all the Callaways. I love that neither Jessica and Sean were looking for love, but were able to find out. I love that Sean’s memory of the night of the fire helps him solve the mystery of the fire and saves Jessica’s life. Once again, I really enjoyed the poignant and bittersweet moments in the story as well as the plot twists that I have come to love and expect in a Barbara Freethy book. I love how Jessica and Sean reunited with one another and all the emotionally charged conversations they had. I thoroughly enjoyed All a Heart Needs, who does not love big loving families and dynamics of those families. I really loved the ending and the happily ever afters.

5 stars for the 5th Callaway book. I loved the characters which we were introduced to in the last book. This book was intriguing, passionate, and enough angst to keep it rolling. Onto the next Callaway book.

Good books but very expensive