Heart Fate

Extremely relatable characters, & a set of wonderful non-human characters...a starving crippled dog, & the others, the house becoming a residence, & a grouchy ancient neglected estate, truly make this story glow! I'd love to visit the healing garden myself.

I love this series and Heart Fate did not dissapoint. Robin D Owens is a fantastic writer. Such imagination and emotion in her stories make the read a wonderful adventure. love love love love.

I love all of Robin Owen's books especially Celta. This is Tinne Holly's story and once again it was a great read.

There are certain things Robin does well in all of her Heart books, and certain things she does better than any other author. Her ability to give animals and objects real personality is wonderful to read. Each fam-pet and resident house have a unique personality, but one that suits them perfectly. Owen's feel for animal identity and speech is dead on. An abused dog would be wary, untrusting, guarded. Slow to trust, but once he does: adoring and loving... The resident identities are some of the best writing of any of the Heart Books, and TQ's birth and growth are amazing. A house with hurt feelings? A house striving to build a personality? Vulnerable and delightful, TQ's very youth embues the story with a certain freshness and delight. It's like watching a baby take his first step, dropping your child off on his first day of school, TQ's growth is magical. The best part is you can relive it all again simply by re-reading... The book is not perfect. Tinne and Lahsin seemed for most of the story to be victim's. Introspective, afraid, wounded. We've gotten used to strong Heart Females. These ladies fight. Lahsin reminds us too much what real life is like. That sometimes you need to steal away to lick your wounds and heal. And Tinne, once he's discovered what T'Yew has done to Lashin, doesn't act like we'd expect either. Where was the rage? Tinne one of the best fighters on the planet doesn't confront T'Yew. Doesn't declare war on the family. Doesn't bring the matter before council. Doesn't act. It doesn't seem to fit Tinne's personality to let T'Yew's actions pass, too leave Lashin feeling afraid and trapped in Healing Grove. It's not what we've come to expect of Heart Mates.

I don't know why this book received low rating that it did. I truly did enjoy this book. Yes it isn't as romantic as the other ones but it still doesn't make it a bad book. I was able to relate fully to both of the main characters in the book. For all the people that said that Tinne's character was weak or off due to him mourning the loss of his wife, I say that you're wrong. He was mourning the loss of the life he had. He finally got to grieve for the child that he loss and for not being able to make his wife happy after that loss. He was grieving for the not being able to protect his heartmate at all. So I fully understand his character and emotions through out this book. As for Lashin all I can say is that I am proud of her. She knew that she couldn't stay in that farce of a marriage and that she had to go some place where she would be able to grow. Lashin and Tinne needed each other for comfort and companship. They each needed to know what their strengths were and what they are capable of withstanding (emotionally, mentally, and physically). And last but not least I am sooo glad that there wasn't that much communication and dialouge with the Fams. I love TQ, the baby lisp was too cute!!!!

To take the heat off of his older brother Holm, Tinne chose to marry Genista. He had no hope of his heartmate, since he'd learned she'd been married to someone else. But, a broken vow of honor by his parents drew a curse over the household, causing the death of Tinne and Genista's child and the demise of their marriage. When Lahsin Burdock was sold as a wife, three years before she was an adult, to T'Yew (who was three times her age), Tinne had hoped the man would cherish her as he would have himself, were he free to claim his heartmate at adulthood. That was not to be. T'Yew raped her repeatedly (told but not shown in detail), beat her, berated her, and allowed others in his household to abuse and berate her...all in hopes that he would have control of Lahsin and her flair when she matured...and in hopes that she would bear a son for him. Much of this is rehash of other books in the series. At the opening of Heart Fate, Lahsin has decided to escape T'Yew's estate before she undergoes her second passage to unlock her flair...and before he can cap her flair with suppressing cuffs. Though the sentient residence isn't willing to let her go, Lahsin shatters all of its defensive spells and runs for her life...to First Grove and Balm Heal, a magical garden that only admits those desperate and in need of healing. Tinne, on the other hand, is informed by Genista that she wants a divorce. Though commoners sometimes divorce, the nobility never has. Though Tinne knows the scandal of the first noble divorce ever on Celta will stain the family for generations, he feels it would be dishonorable to hold Genista to a marriage that is harming them both. Though the testing is intensive and intrusive, he agrees to it and releases her. It isn't until the aftermath of his divorce ritual that he learns his heartmate is missing and sets out to track her down. Tinne is devastated by the loss of his child and the divorce, traumatized by several other events in his life/the series. Lahsin is devastated by the cruelty shown her by T'Yew. Neither of them wants a new relationship, but Tinne determines to teach Lahsin to defend herself and to help her survive her second passage, so she might repudiate her marriage to T'Yew and be free from harm. But, are heartmates ever that simple? We're back to Celta, and it feels like only yesterday that I was reading in this world. As always, Robin Owens' writing is vivid, lush and nearly tactile. Her characters always have a dark edge, and these characters are no exception to the rule. Their pain is stark and heartfelt. The only complaint I have about the characters is how quickly Lahsin made her final decision to accept Tinne. Other than that, right on the money for me. As usual, the Fams were a joy! It's a great time when you get to see Fams interact with each other and play one-upmanship. This book gives a great dose of that, with Tinne's catFam (Ilexa) and Lahsin's dogFam (Strother) trading barbs. Anyone who owns animals w