ARR - From My Heart To Yours by Michelle Zarrin

From My Heart to Yours: Based on a True Story by Michelle Zarrin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time Taken to Read - 6 days

Publisher: Balboa Press

Blurb from Back Cover

Sofia, a young woman from a sheltered upbringing, is in for an unexpected ride when she marries Earl. As their stable union twists unnervingly through health issues, betrayal and shattered hearts, Sofia sheds layers of naivete, deepening her perspective of life. Beautiful life lessons learned from preschool children may heal her scars; but can they help her to endure the greatest tragedy of all? This story offers a powerful and inspiring journey into the soul.


My Review

Sophia is a young woman who is innocent, falls in love and then everything she knows changes. She falls in love with her friend and together their love blossoms and they marry. As with all marriages their relationships have ups and downs but Earl is hiding a secret that will shatter Sophias world.

The book starts off soft and sedate as the author takes you through the relationship in its early stages, from friendship to love. A few people may find this too slow but stick with it, the reason becomes apparent as you need to see the whole relationship and history to understand the impact the secrets later will have. Sophia is very innocent and some things I saw coming however this only emphasizes the innocence of the main character.

The story follows the main character from a naive innocent young girl to a woman who learns to cope with betrayal, starting her life over and learning how to deal with the emotional turmoil, grief and upheaval life sometimes throws at you.

I think there is something in this book that everyone could identify with, the fact that it is based on a true story made the slower parts worth sticking with. The honesty of what must have been a horrific and trying time, exposed in a book for everyone to read and judge and following a young womans path of dealing with it I think may be empowering for others in a similar situation. I enjoyed the brave steps she finally took and how she used meditation to work through and realize her inner strength.

There is a bit of travel within the book and the author describes the cities in which she visits or resides in. I am not a big fan of this, although I know some people love it when an author describes in vivid detail a place, especially when it is somewhere familiar or they wish to visit. This time however I did enjoy one aspect of it, a part of the book takes place in Las Vegas which is where I was on vacation when I was reading it. The chapters are sizable however there are breaks within them so, if like myself you couldn't get a good go at reading chunks of it you could dip in and out as your time dictates.

Whilst this isn't a book I would have sought out myself I am glad I read it, it has sparked an interest in meditation which I plan to look into further. I also would love to revisit Paris after reading about it here, maybe I am appreciating city descriptive passages as I age, who knows. Overall a pleasant read, 3/5 for me this time. Thanks to the author for introducing me to their work and sparking an interest out with my normal genre.

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