Book Review: Heartbeat (Heartbeat #1) by Faith Sullivan

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Heartbeat
(Heartbeat #1)
By:  Faith Sullivan
Published:  February 5, 2013
Source:  Author


GR's Summary:

Katie and Adam are afraid of love.

She carries the scars of a first kiss gone terribly wrong.

He uproots his life to flee the stinging betrayal of an ex.

When trust is no longer an option, all romance is suspect.

As a young paramedic, Adam rescues people for a living but cannot save himself. Katie, just out of high school, struggles with a tortured home life she cannot escape. 

Everything changes when Katie hops into the front seat of Adam's ambulance. Overwhelmed by what they are feeling, neither possess the confidence to make the first move. They walk away from each other, full of regret. 

To find her, Adam risks his future. To be with him, Katie sacrifices her security. 

Little do they know, what little time they do have, is being measured by a heartbeat that is slowly dying out.

Have you ever met someone for the first time, and felt a deep and intense connection?  It happens instantly, and as you talk to that person, you can't help but think to yourself, maybe this is the person you've been waiting for your whole life.  You can't explain it, but all you know is what you feel, and the more that you talk to and get to know each other, the stronger that connection grows, and confirms that you two were meant to be together.  This is what occurs between the two main characters, 18 year old Katie, and 19 year old Adam when they meet.  Their story is told in alternating point of views, and will leave you utterly captivated, and entranced.


Katie has lived her whole life with her controlling, domineering, verbally abusive, shrewd, and cold-hearted father.  All her love, and nurturing has come from her grandmother, who tries her best to protect Katie from her father's heartless words, and actions.  Katie shares a special bond with her grandmother.  The two are inseparable, and look out for one another.  Katie is also very close to her cousin Jen, a newlywed, with two small children, that does her best to look out for Katie.  Unfortunately, Katie is an extremely introverted person, and doesn't have any friends, she's never even had a boyfriend.  This is partially due to her controlling father, (he acts more like her prison warden) and her quiet personality.  She lives a very lonely, and secluded life.


Ryan is 19 years old, 6'4, blond haired, blue-eyed, lanky, and a great person.  He grew up in California with his parents and decided to move to Pennsylvania, when his first love, April, broke his heart.  He drives an ambulance, and works with two great guys, Charlie and Tommy, who are his friends, mentors, and they look out for him.  Adam attends school so that he can become a paramedic one day.  He has one brother, Brian, who he is very close to.  Brian often gives Adam advice, even when he doesn't want it.  Brian loves Adam, wants to protect him, but it often comes off as if he is butting in to Adam's business.  


Katie, and Adam meet one day, when Katie and her grandmother get into a car crash.  Adam is the ambulance driver, that escorts Katie's grandmother to the hospital.  Katie get's in the passenger seat, as Adam drives and instantly these two feel a deep connection.  From this point on, they cannot get each other out of their minds, will continue to think about one another, and try to reconnect.


Heartbeat was such a fascinating story.  It was unique, and had a crazy plot twist that I never saw coming.  One of those twists that's not exactly straightforward.  It will leave you with questions, and contemplations.  At first, I was doubtful of Katie and Adam's connection.  I thought that it was going to be a case of insta-love.  However, I think there was a larger theme of fate, destiny, and soul mates in this story.  Katie and Adam were both genuinely warm-hearted, caring, loyal, and struggling.  They were both so lonely, and carried heavy burdens in their lives.  I wanted them to both have a happily ever after, and rooted for them throughout the story to get what they both deserved.  Ms. Sullivan did a great job with her characterizations!  I was so angry and frustrated with the antagonists in the story, Katie's father, and Adam's co-worker, Chuck.  Both were such horrible men.  I really connected with the main characters and my heart hurt for them.  They were so well-developed, that I felt like I knew them on a personal level.


What I appreciated most about Heartbeat was Ms. Sullivan's courage to step outside of the box.  I'm tired of reading romances that have a set formula for how the plot plays out from beginning to end.  I get bored with the predictability of these stories.  Ms. Sullivan gave us a realistic portrayal of life.  She did not take the safe approach.  She took a chance, and I admire her for that.  That is why I believe some readers will love her story, and some will dislike it.  I for one, appreciate the refreshing, authentic, emotional, and realistic portrayal that Heartbeat.  If you are tired of the monotony of a predictable story, with the typical plot "formula," I suggest you venture outside of the box, and take a chance on reading a story that is clever, touching, imaginative, and real!

I give Heartbeat, by Faith Sullivan, 4 Stars filled with fate, fantasies, friendship,  and frenzied feelings!  Read this story for a unique New Adult Contemporary Romance.  You will be engaged in the story, and be desperate to find out what happens between Adam and Katie.  After reading this story, who knows, maybe you'll believe in fate!

"It hurt to be so stupid, so naive, so trusting.  Bearing your soul is never easy, but to have the object of your desire basically turn away after realizing things had gone too far-that's agony."  (eARC, Loc. 902)

~Adam

"Nothing is more enticing than my fantasy life.  Living in my mind always plays out exactly how I imagine.  No surprises, no disappointments.  Reality is a cheap alternative."  (eARC, Loc. 1073)

~Katie

"You're it for me, Katie.  You're my world now.  She doesn't need to say anything.  The kiss she gives me speaks volumes."  (eARC, Loc. 1907)

~Adam

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I really hate talking about myself. My goal is to have the shortest author bio imaginable. I would much rather have a conversation with my readers.

Are you able to escape within my pages?

Does my writing make you feel something?

Are there characters that you can't get out of your head?

Let me know! 

Email me at faithsullivanwrites [at] hotmail [dot] com or on Twitter at@_FaithSullivan_

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Random Things about Me:

- I was so much smarter as a teenager.

- I am a slow reader.

- I tend to like a book more for its characters than its plot.

- I appreciate people who are genuinely kind and come through when you need them.

- It's true, creative people are not always fun to live with, but we keep things interesting.

- I miss the days when all I had was a rotary phone without even an answering machine.

- I'm a child of the 1980s, and a teenager of the 1990s.

- I love my dog.

- I love to travel and see new places - when my limited budget allows.

- I think in another lifetime I lived in the UK somewhere by the coast.

- When I feel an emotion, I feel it deeply. It's a curse.

- I have an overactive imagination. Writing helps alleviate that problem.

- Nine times out of ten, I believe a good book trumps reality hands down.