The Circle of Friends Bk. 5: Heather
by L. Diane Wolfe

    HEATHER by L. Diane Wolfe
    Category:  Contemporary
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 9+
    Release Date:  3/16/10
    Publisher:  Dancing Lemur Press
    Reviewed by:  Jaglvr
    Rating:  5 Stars


    Heather Jennings has a goal.  She’s determined to coach college basketball, and after receiving her Masters at
    Duke, she lands a job as an assistant girl’s coach at Clemson.  This works out perfectly in her plans as it keeps her
    close to home.  Her father has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and she wants to be nearby for her family.

    It isn’t until after she visits her married friends, Matt and Sarah, that she realizes that she is finally and truly over her
    longtime crush on Matt.  After seeing the two happily married with newborn twins, she knows she could never have
    made Matt truly happy.  

    Complaining about her junk heap of a car, Matt tells Heather to stop in at his family’s car dealership and tell his
    brother, Mark, to give her a good deal.  It’s her hesitant trip in search of a new car that changes Heather’s life.

    Neither Mark nor Heather was searching for love, and little did they expect they’d find it in each other.  Both
    headstrong and self-assured in their goals, the two come to realize that they’re perfectly matched for each other.  
    Mark struggles to trust Heather after learning of her previous crush on his brother and having a mom that walked
    out when he was a teenager.  Heather has never had a relationship that has lasted very long.  The two slowly come
    together and admit that they’re meant for each other.

    I can’t quite put my finger on it, but something about HEATHER kept my attention far more than the other books
    that I’ve read in this series.  I don’t know if it was that Heather was a far more likeable character?  Or if the author
    has developed in her writing since the beginning of the series?  Or that the story takes place in a more confined time
    period unlike the others I’ve read? Or maybe it is just that Heather seems like a much more real person.  Heather
    deals with real life and real situations.  Anyone reading the novel can imagine themselves in her shoes.  

    Life isn’t sugar-coated for Heather and she exists in the here and now dealing with grief, friendship, and a real,
    deepening love for someone else.