I wanted to love this book so badly but I found all of the characters to be so unlikeable for such a large portion of the book that I really had to convince myself that it was worth it to keep reading. The story was written pretty well but I found that the first half of the book really dragged. The whole time we knew all of the characters were being untruthful about something bu there’s really no explanation for anyone’s actions until the very end which made it extremely difficult to stay interested. Overall I liked the story and the concept behind it, but I thought it could have been done a bit better.

*would give a 3.5 if I could!*
The second half of Owner of a Lonely Heart helped redeem itself. The first half felt disjointed at times and didn’t really pull you into the characters. After a while you feel connected to the characters and invested in their relationships. The twist at the end and puzzle were adorable!

What a moving story! I wasn't sure where this was going to head, but the heart knew the way. This story was one that was interwoven with so many emotions. I appreciate the opportunity to read this one. Thank you!

I became a fan of Eva Carter's writing when I read "How To Save A Life" last year and it became one of my favorite books of the year. I was so excited to get the email invite to read and review this book (thank you netgalley). It absolutely DID NOT disappoint. From the very beginning you are on this emotion ride full of grief, happiness, excitement, wonder, with just a little bit of mystery thrown into the mix. You follow a grieving wife, a hopeful father, a scared daughter, the characters are woven together so beautifully and the ending is wrapped up great. Such a great read. 100% recommend.

Owner of a lonely heart

Life is too short to be lonely. You deserve love.

How can a father be there for his daughter, when no one was there for him? After not being in his daughters life, he’s trying to learn how to be a father when she needs him the most. A woman desperately wanting to be a mom with the recent loss of her husband. This book tugged on my heart a bit and from the very first chapter. Dan wasn’t that loveable of a character to me. I loved Gemma and Casey! While I think this story is adorable, it was also a little predictable and the ending was not very realistic to me.

Read this if you like:
-emotional romance
-things a bit cheesy
-therapy dogs
-unlikely friendships
-multiple POV

Thank you Random House Publishing and Eva Carter for sending me this book to review! Owner of a Lonely Heart comes out January
17, 2023!

Gemma and Dan meet each other on the medical campus where his daughter is receiving cancer treatment. Gemma’s dog plays with kids in the therapy center. They’re drawn to each other, even though both have many past issues to overcome before they’re ready to move on with their lives.

This story was told by multiple narrators, including excerpts from the book Gemma’s husband wrote for their unborn child. This was an emotional read that touched on grief and fear. It was mainly about hope, though. Letting go of the past and being brave enough to change and look forward to the future. I shed tears at the end when Casey finished her treatment.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballentine for this ARC.

Cute love story. I think the father-daughter relationship was the strongest part of this read.

From the author of How to Save a Life comes a heartfelt story of two people finding the courage to choose love, no matter how hard it may be.

Lovely, lovely novel exploring the impact of loss, fear, longing and love. The story of Gemme, Dan, Casey. and Angelica has many faces. Angelica and Casey worry about Casey’s prognosis and whether her treatment will work. Casey longs for a relationship with her absent father, Dan. Dan has many regrets about his past and longs for a better future. Gemma is undergoing IVF with her deceased husband’s embryo and fears it will not take again. In all of this, Gemma and Dan begin to have feelings for each other that cause complications. Emotional and beautiful.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Can't help singing this title in my head every time. Besides that I enjoyed this story of messed up people and families. Lots of life lessons in it. Thanks NetGalley for the advanced copy. #NetGalley #OwnerofaLonelyHeart

Owner of a Lonely Heart is about finding yourself, whether its about grieving a spouse, finding your role as a parent, or getting to know a parent you've never met before. The book is a sweet, emotional read that balances delicate issues (TW: childhood cancer, infertility, grief) with hopefulness. I enjoyed this read and highly recommend it!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for the opportunity to read this book.

Wow, what an emotionally charged story! Owner of a Lonely Heart follows two families whose lives have been turned upside down by medical situations. Gemma, lost her perfect future and beloved husband to cancer, and Dan's long lost daughter, Casey, has turned up on his doorstep to have special proton beam therapy for her brain tumor at the local hospital. The two families collide when Gemma brings her therapy dog, Bear, to the hospital and we get to watch their lives become intrinsically connected.

Gemma's storyline is interesting. We don't particularly get to see her upset/deep in grief from her husband's passing, not sure the time gap but she appears to have since gotten Bear and been through two rounds of egg implantation since. I liked that we got to see her after time has passed. It showed that whilst she is back operating in society and has purpose again, her life and decisions are still caught up in the desire to hold onto her husband as long as possible. She is cautious after being hurt by love and we see her question whether she should explore whatever she is feeling with Dan multiple times.

Casey, Dan's daughter, is a delight. I adore that we got to see things from her perspective! A child's whose carefree childhood has been ripped away by a benign tumour that needs treatment. We get to see her yearn for a relationship with her newly found father. In addition, Casey is not only is trying to get herself through her medical treatment but also her mother, who we first see as an uptight overprotective clean freak (can anybody blame her?) but who starts to show cracks and crumbles under the pressure.

Dan, is a literal wild card. He has a past he is trying to keep secret. Literally lying to Casey and her mother by pretending to live in his best friend Vijay's penthouse. But also a dark past that he is trying to keep from Gemma. He seems to spend every moment questioning what he wants and a fingersnap away from disappearing under the cloak of night. He is a good example though of your past doesn't have to decide the happiness and success your future can hold. I could feel the connection with Gemma and enjoyed watching him get to know Casey though. I think he has the biggest growth arc of the story.

Overall, a quick and heartwarming read. It touches on a lot of hard topics which tug at your heartstrings but is balanced with banter and hope.

This romance is sweet but also heartbreaking. The main characters are all connected through the backdrop of a hospital where they've experienced hardship in one way or another. The protagonist, Gemma, is dealing with the loss of her husband to cancer and the struggles of imagining a new life for herself after the one she had always wished for fell apart so quickly after having achieved it. She meets a single mother, a sick 12 year old, and her absentee father Dan... who Gemma feels drawn to despite misgivings about him. There's also a DOG. Swoon. While it sounds saccharine and formulaic when I try to summarize it, the characters are actually carefully wrought and thoughtfully constructed. It's definitely not a story to read when you're feeling raw, as you'll span emotions from joy to despair when reading... but it's very well done and reminds me a bit of Maddie Dawson's work (not in the writing style, per se, but in how Eva Carter does such a wonderful job of balancing the heavy and the light and ultimately leaves you with an uplifting tale even though it included some very sad plot points).

Thank you to Eva Carter, NetGalley and Ballantine Books an imprint of Random House for the opportunity to review this ARC prior to publication.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for this ARC. Gemma lost her husband to cancer and spends her time taking her beloved dog to the hospital to cheer up the pediatric oncology patients. It is there she meets Casey and her dad Dan. Though Casey is 12, Dan is just now in her life and they are learning to be a family. Is there room in Gemma's life for Dan and is there room in Dan's life for Gemma? Sweet read! #OwnerofALonelyHeart #EvaCarter #Jan2023

Oh sweet Gemma. Love her story. Right on portraying someone with a big loss and trying to live after. Some might think it’s a bit sappy with these new people (father and daughter) who happen to come into her life but I found it realistic and lovely. Well written characters make this an easy book to promote!

I’ve become a huge fan of Eva Carter ever since her novel, How to Save a Life. I was beyond thrilled to receive an ARC of her newest novel, Owner of a Lonely Heart. This delightful cast of characters became near and dear to me as I read along. Gemma, a recent widow, is exploring IVF with the embryos from her deceased husband. When she takes her therapy dog to the hospital for a visit, she meets Casey. Casey is receiving treatment for brain cancer, while staying with her overprotective mom and her newly discovered father, Dan. The story is complicated, filled with layers and should probably have a million disclaimers, but somehow Carter seems to tie it all together. I really enjoyed Gemma and her journey of discovery, figuring out who she was as an adult, after the passing of her husband. Owner of a Lonely Heart is an accurate depiction of how complicated life is for each of us and how when we learn to lean on one another, the burden becomes lighter. Out in January, fans of Eva Carter should not delay in ordering!

A sincere thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Dan lives the single life, he doesn’t think he’s a family man or capable of finding love. Then one day his daughter Casey sends him a message asking for help and she tells him that she has a tumor and has to go for treatment in Bristol . Dan decides to help Casey and her mother but he doesn’t want them to see where he lives because he’s ashamed, so one of dan’s best friends let’s him borrow his penthouse for the month.

Casey and her mother Angelica show up at the penthouse and Angelica is still very angry and at Dan. Casey however is excited to finally meet her father. Dan starts to take Casey to her appointments and he meets Gemma. Instantly he feels a connection with her but he doesn’t know if she feels the same.

Owner of a lonely heart was such a great book. I fell in love with this story. I honestly didn’t want the story to end I wanted to keep reading and find out what happened next. I highly recommend everyone read the book. I loved it so much!!!!

This story is told from three points of view.

First there's Gemma. She was briefly married to her husband when he was diagnosed with cancer. When Andrew went into remission, they planned on IVF treatment even though Andrew has passed away. She works as an illustrator and volunteers with her dog at the local cancer hospital in Bristol to cheer children up who are undergoing cancer treatment.

Second, there is Dan who has a twelve year old daughter Casey whom Dan has never met. Casey, who is Dan's daughter has a tumor and is getting treatment at the hospital in Bristol.

When Gemma, Dan and Casey meet, all of them start to learn and realize how to reach out to each other and combat their own loneliness.

I particularly love how these three met and form a wonderful relation with one another.. The story a little slow and predictable but the characters and their life situations make up for it.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. I highly recommend this book because of the character development, and the story focusses on love, loss and starting over.

This interconnected story centers around a hospital, where widowed Gemma and her big Bear provide therapy for cancer patients in between her freelance art career; where Casey is getting a month’s worth of proton treatment to reduce her brain tumor, Bob; where Gemma meets a handsome kind man named Dan who is parenting his 12-year old for the first time as she goes through a second round of cancer treatment.

Told in multiple points of view, we hear Gemma and Dan’s voices more than Casey. We also hear from Gemma’s husband Alexander who has left behind a book he wrote and illustrated for their as yet unborn child. Alex, a puzzle fan, claims to have a final puzzle for Gemma to unravel, and that still weighs on her mind as she goes through a third round of IVF with their frozen embroyos. Dan angsts about his past and the pains he’s taken to make something respectable of himself, but isn’t willling yet to make himself vulnerable to the women he is coming to care about, or to his ex, Angelica, who has mental health issues and thinks the worst of him after twelve years of single parenting.

More of a novel with romantic elements than a romance novel, themes of family, parenting, and nature/nurture emerge through the three stories. Cancer, mental health and infertility are treated with sensitivity, but I would have liked to see more help for Casey’s mom, whose over the top dramatic responses to the simplest things verge on paranoia and neurotic. I

Spoiler alert: I was also left confused by the concept that hot air balloon would not be a risky choice to consider for a newly and possibly precariously pregnant person.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #OwnerOfALonelyHeart from #NetGalley.

This one was a doozy. I went into it blind and was hit with all of the emotions. Be prepared for the heart wrenching process of cancer, death, IVF treatment, etc.

I loved the premise of this book even with all of the sensitive topics, some of which hit close to home but, it was a SLOW burn. I found myself getting very frustrated as the romance was very push and pull. Almost like they didn't want there to be a romance? I don't know how to describe it. But, it was very well written just too slow for me.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishing team for this free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I requested to read and review for free from Dell an Imprint of Random House Publishing. This book has many different feels happiness, sadness, and anger. It also has drama and mystery to it. Gemma has had some curveballs thrown at her in life. But has she learned from them to move on in her life. Dan has some experiences in life that may have shaped what his adult life should look like. But can they both do what is best for when Casey enters their lives in different ways. Love and life can be tricky things. You can find happiness but also heartaches. It's what you do with those will help make you who you are today.