Heart in Hand is the third book in Barbara's Stitches in Time series. Anna and Gideon seem to have much in common, both grieving their spouses' early deaths, but their grief takes very different forms. Anna's joy in her knitting and work at Stitches in Time has been sucked away. Anna is lonely, depressed, and living in memories of the past, while Gideon struggles to help his manipulative daughter Sarah Rose handle her grief and keep his farm running. Gideon is more than ready to marry again, and fights impatience when Anna balks at rushing into marriage with him.

Coping with life while grieving is a central theme of the book, but so is finding joy and love again. This book is timely, given my own recent loss of a close family member. Anna's grandmother and cousins have a big part in helping Anna prepare to move on and live a happy life again. Gideon and Anna both have to grow and learn to make different choices in order to make their new relationship work. Things aren't all rainbows and happy glow for this couple, which mirrors real life. I walked away from this story with a hopeful heart.

I was thrilled to find a sneak peek of a Christmas novella, Annie's Christmas Wish, included at the end of this book. There will be a return to the people of the Quilts of Lancaster County and Stitches in Time series! Annie's Christmas Wish releases in the Fall.

With thanks to the author for my review copy.

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