Review: Mend Your Heart

Mend Your Heart by Tracey Alvarez
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Five years ago Isaac Ngata had the world at his feet, a player for the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team, he and his best friend Jackson Fisher together with the team had just beaten England and were celebrating in London when a terrible accident resulted in Jackson's death and ended Isaac's career. Isaac returned to Bounty Bay and set up a business with his brother Sam.

Natalie Fisher has never forgiven Isaac for his part in Jackson's death. To this day she avoids him whenever possible, something which has become increasingly difficult as their two sets of friends have started to intersect. But when Natalie's daughter Olivia finds out that the girl's rugby team might not play this year because they don't have a coach, who could be a better choice than a former All Black?

Isaac never wanted to set foot on a rugby pitch ever again, but when the girl he thought of as a member of his family tells him he owes her for getting her dad killed he knows he can't refuse. And maybe making Olivia happy might go some way to thawing Natalie's heart. Isaac has loved his best friend's wife for as long as he can remember, but with his guilt about the events of the night that Jackson died can he ever move on?

I loved Isaac, I love a grumpy tortured hero (especially with tattoos) and Isaac was all of that. Oh, and he makes a mean cup of coffee - but only the good stuff. His favourite refrain in the morning is "I don't want to adult today" and I know how he feels. Watching him trying to teach a group of teenage girls the finer points of rugby as they (and their mums) lust over his ripped body is hysterical and his solution is nothing short of genius.

To assuage the headmistress' concerns about a man of Isaac's reputation and notoriety teaching a group of impressionable young girls, Natalie is forced to act as a chaperone, but Isaac insists anyone who attends the training has to participate. Much to her dismay, as a woman allergic to exercise, Natalie finds herself dragged out of bed at a ridiculously early hour, before she is fully caffeinated, to run and play tag rugby with a group of teenagers. But as Isaac and Natalie are thrust together for the first time in five years Natalie discovers that there's a fine line between hate and love.

I can never decide whether I love the Stewart Island or the Bounty Bay series more - maybe its whichever I'm reading right now. All I can say is that these books are pure catnip to me. I love the characters and their down-to-earth lives, the Maori traditions and the weekly family Sunday dinners. The sulky teens and the hero-worshipping of rugby players. I also love that rugby players who are worshipped in their own country would NEVER pay another man to paint their houses - its a reason to revoke their man cards!

If you love American sports romances and want to try something a bit different I thoroughly recommend this book.

I requested a free ARC copy of this book and I’m writing an honest review of it. I was not compensated for my review, and I was not required to write a positive review. The opinion expressed here is my own.

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