Embers of the Heart is a beautifully epic and emotional read from the first page to the last! Be prepared for a roller-coaster ride of feelings when you dive into this story.
Besides delivering an enduring love story, it also teaches the power of love, acceptance, and forgiveness; how evil and hate can burn and destroy a person; and how the consequences and waves of war can continue to ripple and destroy long after the last bullet is fired.
Anna is a young woman who's struggling with facing how the rumblings of war affect her family, and ultimately the loss of her first husband. She shows incredible fortitude and inner strength holding herself together while living through the unknowns and questions of how to survive this time. Her faithfulness and love shine through. You can't help but cheer when doors are finally opened so she can claim her happily ever after with a perfect man for her - even knowing there's still some dark valleys they'll have to travel through.
Nate is exactly the honorable, devoted, strong hero Anna needs in her life. His respect of every facet of Anna showed clearly - even if he may have kinda grumbled about things, they were still the same things that drew him to her. His pursuit of her from beginning throughout their marriage was a thing of beauty. No, he wasn't the perfect man, and could be quite the stubborn fool at moments (neither was perfect - Anna also had her stubborn faults and fears), but he always found his way back to Anna's side, right where he belonged.
Even the secondary characters pull at you in ways - not always good, and not always bad... but they're not exempt from giving you moments to pause, think, and feel.
The amount of love the poured off the pages in the last several chapters stole my breath and made tears streak my face. There's a particular scene (don't worry, no spoilers) that just wrecked me in the rawness and painfulness. And the way Anna and Nate clung and hung onto each other during that time? Breath-stealing in its devotion and overwhelming beauty.
This is probably one of my favorite Rosanne Bittner stories -- where it holds you captive from beginning to end, and gifts you with so much more than a romantic tale, but nuggets of empathy and true love. This is not a book to skip over!
