Friday, January 4, 2019

Book Review: A Heart for Robbie by JP Barnaby



Celebrated Young Adult author Julian Holmes pits the heroic characters in his Black Heart series against all different kinds of monsters. But when a critical heart defect threatens his son’s life, he finds he has no champion. No amount of books, classes, or practice can prepare Julian for the fight to save his beautiful son’s life.

Suddenly there are hospitals, transplant lists, and the nightmare of insurance red tape to navigate. In the midst of his trouble, Julian meets Simon Phelps, the insurance coordinator for Robbie’s case. Simon lives so deep in the closet he might never find his way out, but he dreams of exactly what Julian has. Then one night, drunken need and desperation brings them together, and a new fight begins.






4.5 Stars

I’m not quite sure how I missed this story by JP Barnaby, but I sure am glad I found it! This was a sweet and lovely read. Sad, but also filled with hope and so much love. I absolutely adored Julian and Simon and l loved watching them with little Robbie.

Robbie’s illness brings up a lot of memories, although my daughter didn’t need a heart transplant, she did have open heart surgery at 9 months old and I remember the fear and uncertainty of not knowing if she would make it to, and later through, surgery. Asking the doctors for reassurances and hitting a brick wall and I definitely remember the screeching of that damned apnea monitor, and while it was annoying, it was also a security letting you know your baby was still alive. I thought the author’s handling of Robbie’s illness was authentic and well done.

This was an enjoyable read, well-written and filled with emotion. Simon and Julian were wonderful guys and I loved that they found one another. They had amazing chemistry and I loved that Simon was there to support Julian, as well as Robbie.

Another thing that was unique about this story was the presence of Liam and Clay, two characters from Julian’s books, I loved watching them interact with Julian and the author made me want to read their series and get to know them better.

This was an enjoyable story that I can definitely recommend!

*copy kindly provided by Dreamspinner Press for my reading enjoyment*

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