Review: The Hatmaker's Heart by Carla Stewart (Lituse Blog Tour & Giveaway)

June 12, 2014

Title: The Hatmaker's Heart
Author: Carla Stewart
Publisher: Faith Words
Pages: 320
ISBN: 978-1-4555-4994-8
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2014

Synopsis:
For Nell Marchwold, bliss is seeing the transformation when someone gets a glimpse in the mirror while wearing one of her creations and feels beautiful. Nell has always strived to create hats that bring out a woman's best qualities. She knows she's fortunate to have landed a job as an apprentice designer at the prominent Oscar Fields Millinery in New York City. Yet when Nell's fresh designs begin to catch on, her boss holds her back from the limelight, claiming the stutter she's had since childhood reflects poorly on her and his salon.

But it seems Nell's gift won't be hidden by Oscar's efforts. Soon an up-and-coming fashion designer is seeking her out as a partner of his 1922 collection. The publicity leads to an opportunity for Nell to make hats in London for a royal wedding. There, she sees her childhood friend, Quentin, and an unexpected spark kindles between them. But thanks to her success, Oscar is determined to keep her. As her heart tugs in two directions, Nell must decide what she is willing to sacrifice for her dream, and what her dream truly is.
Review:
I was drawn to this story by the cover. How pretty is it? The colors, the hats, the clothes, it offers such a wonderful idea to what this story is about. After reading through this book, this is the perfect cover. It captures the story beautifully in this photo.

This is the first story I've read by Carla Stewart and I was not disappointed. I was pulled in and I couldn't put this book down. I honestly read this story till I was through and that was at 4am. This was not an action filled story. On the contrary, it was a very thoughtful story. A story of growth and finding who you are meant to be, all set during the roaring 20's, prohibition in America, and the royal wedding in England.

This story had such an amazing background and the characters that were presented just enhanced everything. The Hatmaker's Heart also reminded me just a little bit of The King's Speech, which I loved. Nell Marchwold, our heroine of the story suffers from a stammer and has from a very young age. On her journey through this book, she goes to see a speech therapist who's techniques are similar to that in The King's Speech, and it helped in understanding and getting to know Nell.

I loved watching Nell grow and blossom in this story. She started off meek and as the story went on, a new strength emerged and instead of fighting it and staying in the shell she was in, she let it fall away. Which was a delight, because her boss treated her horribly. Oh, my word! Never has there been such a manipulative, possessive, jerk of a boss then Oscar Fields. His selfishness really had no bounds.

I enjoyed the secondary characters as well. Her coworkers and roommates were interesting and all offered up such different personalities that just blended with the story well.

Also, the synopsis was a little misleading, but it was in a good way. I was thinking the story was going to be one way, but it ended up being something else entirely. I will not say more to spoil it, but I will say that I really enjoyed the ending.

Too Read!
5 out of 5


About the Author:
Carla Stewart is the award-winning author of four novels. With a passion for times gone by, it is her desire to take readers back to that warm, familiar place in their hearts called “home.” She and her husband live in Tulsa and have four adult sons and six grandchildren (with one on the way!). Learn more about at www.carlastewart.com



Giveaway:
Carla Stewart is hosting a fun giveaway to celebrate her new release. You can find out more about the giveaway and The Hatmaker's Heart here...
 http://litfusegroup.com/campaigns/the-hatmakers-heart-carla-stewart


Thank you to Litfuse and Faith Words Publishing, I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review.


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