Gemma lost her husband to cancer two years ago and now works at the local hospital with her dog Bear a therapy dog to help the young patients there.
Here she meets Casey a 12 year old who with her mother Angelica is attending the hospital to have treatment for a brain tumour. Dan is Casey’s father after a one night stand with Angelica but He was kept out of her life as Veronica did not want him involved.
When Dan and Gemma meet their feelings are strong and it’s almost like love at first sight. But both are not in a great place, Gemma is still grieving and Dan has a chequered past that makes him emotionally distant.
With Angelica making life very difficult with her phobia of keeping Casey germ free, it’s all very tense at times.
This is a good story, it developed well and the characters are well rounded and interesting but I just could not take to Angelica at all even as things start working out well. An uplifting story that I enjoyed.
My thanks to net galley and publisher for the opportunity to review this book honestly.

Dan is frightened of commitment, so much so that he is only now meeting his 12 year old daughter, Casey who is staying with him while she has treatment for a brain tumour. He bumps into Gemma one day and feels an instant connection to her. She feels this too but thinks she is betraying her dead husband by feeling attracted to another man. Will Dan be able to overcome his fear of commitment and build lasting relationships with Casey and Gemma? Will Gemma be able to put aside her past with Andrew her dead husband (who incidentally is by far the nicest character in the book).

There's a lot of issues covered in this book, commitment, single parenthood, grief, cancer, using a dead partner's sperm. They're all treated sensitively.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book although I did get irritated with both Gemma and Dan, But it's a good read. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC>

I couldn’t put this book down - I absolutely loved it and was dragged into it right from the first page. Gemma, Dan and Casey are believable and they jump off the page. I felt empathy for all of them, although in many ways this felt like Dan’s story as he had the biggest back story and lots to deal with. Having nsaid that, each character earned their place in the story and I would love to know what happens next. I also feel that Angelique, Casey’s mum, has her own story to tell - she is an intriguing person who seems to have a lot of demons in her past.
Heartwarming, sad, and truthful complete with a gorgeous dog named Bear! Wonderful!p

I really enjoyed this book!! Beautiful, poignant and completely unputdownable!!! I highly recommend it

This took me a while to get into, but about a third of the way in I became gripped.

An interesting storyline surrounding cancer, fertility and complex relationships. All of these characters felt so real and had some hard hitting issues to deal with.

Moving, emotional and incredibly thought provoking. Glorious.

Every time I think of this book, I hear the crunchy guitar that opens Yes’s biggest hit - and the lyrics are quite appropriate too. I suspect this is not an accident. Owner of a Lonely Heart is a charming contemporary story set in Bristol about three lost people finding second chances. I was invited to read it by the publisher, having enjoyed last year’s How To Save a Life, and while this turned out to be much more romance-oriented than that was, I was won over by the characters - especially adorable terrier Bear. (Who doesn’t love a book featuring a cute dog!)

Gemma is a 32 year old illustrator still coming to terms with the death of her husband from cancer. She volunteers at her local paediatric oncology treatment centre, where she meets Casey, only child of neurotic mother Angelica. Casey has only just met her father, good-looking but superficial Dan, who offered her somewhere to stay in Bristol for her month of specialised therapy for her brain tumour. Gemma is initially appalled that Dan chose to stay out of his daughter’s life for 12 years, but as she gets to know him, she finds herself falling for him, and sparky but vulnerable Casey, but will the secrets they are keeping from each other come between them?

As my friends probably know, I actively avoid romance novels - I don’t mind a love-story subplot, but dislike the couple getting together being the main point of the book. This does follow a fairly standard girl-meets-boy story arc, but the situation Gemma and Dan find themselves was unique and interesting enough to keep me reading, even if I rolled my eyes a bit at the insta-love: Dan is a complete emotional duckwit, but she manages to uncover the decent guy underneath. This is told from all three POVs, with Casey’s being my favourite. Her mother was a great “love-to-hate” character but even she gained my sympathy the more we learn about her experiences.

I enjoyed all the minor characters like best friend Vijay and Gemma’s wise mother-in-law, and the Bristol setting (I very nearly ended up at Bristol Uni, so if my life had taken a different turn I could’ve ended up living there; as it is, I barely remember it, but it sounds like a nice city.) The author clearly does her research on the medical aspects - she mentions interviewing young people undergoing cancer treatment to get the details right, and it pays off in believability. While the plot was predictable, you don’t want it to go any other way, and even this old curmudgeon likes a happy ending. 4.5 rounded down for the present tense.

Thanks to NetGalley and Pan MacMillan for the ARC. I am posting this honest review voluntarily.
Owner of a Lonely Heart is published on July 7th.

I enjoyed this book and really enjoyed getting to know Eva Carter's writing style. This book was generally uplifting and often emotional. I really enjoyed getting to know the vastly different characters. I did sometimes struggle with how slow-moving it was and lost concentration a few times, but that didn't take away from the story itself too much. I would definitely like to read more by Eva Carter.

The publisher kindly provided ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

"Owner of a Lonely Heart" is another great read from Eva Carter. This time the action takes place in Bristol with 12 year old Casey taking centre stage as she undergoes treatment for a tumour. As the story unfolds we discover more about the varying backgrounds of the different characters. We also get to fall in love with a therapy dog, along with everyone else he meets, including those who claim to not be dog-lovers.

This book has many "lessons" in it, not least that you should not make assumptions, and not always go on first impressions. Much is said about dealing with different medical treatments, particularly those which go on over a long period; not just their impact on the patient but also their family and friends. A wonderful, thought provoking book.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this book.

Having read Eva Carter's first book, I was really looking forward to reading this as she has such a fantastic way of creating such real characters. This didn't disappoint. Whilst I don't think I enjoyed it as much as the first novel just because the situation the characters were in felt a little forced this doesn't detract from Eva's writing style and ability.
It's a great lose yourself in book where you feel as though you're reading about someone really familiar.
Great, easy read and definitely one to recommend.

A quick, easy and cute read that gave me all the feels. It was uplifting and full of heartwarming moments and I loved the characters, I just wanted to jump into the book with them

Three and a half stars.

Gemma was widowed after just a few short years of marriage when her husband got cancer. They planned for IVF treatment when he was in remission and she has been going through it alone, this could be her last chance to have Andrew's baby. She works as an illustrator and volunteers with her dog Bear at the local cancer hospital in Bristol to cheer children up who are undergoing cancer treatment. On her way to the hospital one day she comes across a man, clearly anxious about going in - she initially assumes that he is cancer patient but learns he is visiting his daughter and is frightened of doing or saying the wrong thing. There's something about this man, Dan, that stirs something deep inside Gemma, something she thought had died with Andrew.

One day Gemma meets Casey a twelve year old with a brain tumour. Casey's mother Angelica's is a germaphobe and initially resists Casey being anywhere near Bear, but Gemma soon gets talking to Casey and learns that she had never met her father until they came to Bristol, now the two of them are sharing his luxury penthouse flat for four weeks while she has revolutionary treatment for her tumour. Gemma can't help but judge Casey's father who sounds like a selfish individual. Quelle surprise when the selfish dad turns out to be none other than Dan.

Dan avoids getting close to anyone. His mother died giving birth to him and his father was a con-man who dragged Dan into his schemes. Deep down he doesn't want anyone to know the real Dan, afraid of what they might see. He's borrowed the penthouse apartment from his friend Vijay and fully intended to tell Angelica and Casey the truth but the time is never right. He's falling for Gemma but can he tell her the truth about himself?

I liked this but OMG it was slooooow. Gemma is keeping secrets from Dan so she keeps pulling away conflicted that she is 'cheating' on Andrew. Dan is keeping secrets from everyone about his past, his family, and his home, so he keeps pulling away. Push, pull, push, pull. One other gripe, one character has a 100% personality change at the end after a five minute conversation - that felt false.

Good story but could have been way shorter, I was pleading for this to end sooner, recommended for those who like slow-burn romances.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Great book, really emotional. I loved this read.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

Much like Eva Carter's previous book, this isn't a breezy read, it deals with real issues and again, they are dealt with well in this book.
Even though this deals with serious issues like grief, loneliness, cancer treatment and commitment issues, this is an uplifting read that I wanted to keep reading more and more of.
I probably warmed most to Dan and what he had been through and was going through but overall, this was a really lovely, heartwarming book.
Eva Carter is definitely now one of those authors for me where I will always seek out her latest releases, as both of her books so far have been enjoyable and just a little bit different to what else is out there romance/drama-wise.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The epitome of a sweet, charming and uplifting read. As with her previous novel, How To Save A Life, Eva Carter isn't afraid to show the messy bits of life but also find the joy within them. As with HTSAL, the story is told from multiple points of view - Gemma (a young widow underdoing IVF), Dan (a carefree man with a past) and Casey (his newly resurfaced 13 year old daughter). Their lives collide at the hospital, as Casey undergoes treatment for a benign tumour. All three have been lonely for so long, maybe fate has bought them together for a reason.
An easy-read, which did admittedly get a tad sickly on the lusting romance front. Otherwise a tender book about the importance of human connection, moving on from the past and appreciating the gits of our present.

Wow this was a truly heartwarming and very uplifting read featuring three very different but fabulous characters. Gemma is still grieving her husband and having fertility treatment to have his baby, Dan had a very difficult childhood which left him guilt ridden and wary of commitment, Casey is the 12 year old daughter Dan has never met but has agreed to let her and her mum stay with him whilst she has specialist hospital treatment nearby, All three have their own separate struggles and reading each of their perspectives made the story really strong and the relationships between each just work. I found Dan’s background surprisingly tragic and it probably made him the best of the characters due to all his complexities. Despite this being about many sad issues this is such a warm book that’s bursting with positivity and in honesty totally exceeded my expectations.