Know Your Heart (Far North #2) by Tracey Alvarez

We recently reviewed the Love Down Under box set featuring authors based in Australia and New Zealand. One of those authors is Tracey Alvarez. Today, we are talking about her new work, Know Your Heart, that will be published later this month.

He is the one she couldn’t remember. She is the one he couldn’t forget… After being unexpectedly kicked off a movie set, her part given to a younger actress, Savannah Payne flees to her holiday house in Bounty Bay. There, in her little hideaway managed for her by her older cousin, she’ll be able to lick her wounds privately, and prepare for an audition of a lifetime in L.A. Only her cousin has rented the place out to an old friend for the next month. A friend whose knowledge of the law means she has no easy way to evict her stop-the-heart sexy tenant. He tempts her, challenges her, and sees to the heart of who she is with knowing ice-blue eyes. Glen Cooper has woken up and smelled the decaying roses. Working in his father’s law firm is murder on his creative heart. A month in New Zealand’s sub-tropical Far North without the distraction of family and work is what he needs to finally complete writing the book he’s worked on for years. He hadn’t anticipated the woman who’d haunted his university days arriving on his doorstep, demanding her house back. But the distraction of her close by must stop. With a literary agent’s deadline approaching, he has to ignore his growing attraction to Savannah or his dream may never become a reality. Something about Glen stirs Savannah’s blood and the slippery memories of a quiet young man she glimpsed in the background of her tumultuous teenage years begin to return. But how can they make the sacrifice love requires when she has one foot out the door—ready to walk away from him a second time?

Elizabeth's Review

4.5 stars

Review Copy Provided by Author

Know Your Heart is the second book in the Far North Series, but is a fantastic stand-alone work. Ms. Alvarez takes us to New Zealand’s Bounty Bay to meet Savannah, an actress; and Glen, a lawyer turned author.

Glen is a longtime friend of Savannah’s cousin and is renting her vacation home to write his first novel when she turns up unexpectedly to lick her wounds and get ready for a big audition. The journey these two take from flat out antagonism, to friends, to lovers is emotional and sweet.

The antics both pulled to make the other miserable and leave the property were believable and humorous without being mean. The easing of tensions and beginnings of attraction are also realistic and I could so picture the events taking place. One of the things I really enjoyed about this story is that it doesn’t take long for Glen to stop seeing Savannah as a famous actress and start seeing her as a woman.

Throughout the story, Glen seems to be a pretty steady force. Yes, he is antagonistic to Savannah and the situation, but we find out more about why as the story moves along. Savannah’s character starts out fairly shallow and blossoms into a lovely person that I would be glad to call a friend. The secondary cast is small, but they are impactful on both Glen and Savannah – I won’t say much more because I don’t want to give anything away.  

I truly enjoyed spending time with Glen and Savannah. They are characters that were easy to embrace and fun to spend time with. If the rest of the Far North series is written to the same standard as this book, then I am looking forward to coming back to Bounty Bay!

Where to find Know Your Heart:
Amazon
Barnes and Nobel

Where to find Tracey:
Amazon
Facebook
Goodreads

If you are interested in checking out more of Tracey's work, she has a free book available on Amazon. Go pick up In Too Deep to read more!