Altered Hearts

By Roger E. Bruner

Description:

This collection of the four Altered Hearts novels portrays three best friends who must overcome a variety of problems and challenges—both at home and on short-term mission trips to Mexico, California, and Nicaragua.
Kim Hartlinger, the protagonist in three of the books, slowly evolves from being a spoiled, thoughtless, sometimes-unlikeable eighteen-year-old into a twenty-year-old woman who’s so set on following God’s leading that she’s immersed herself in studying Spanish and setting romance aside—at least temporarily—to help a friend who desperately needs her assistance.
Betsy Jo Snelling, Kim’s lifelong best friend and the protagonist of Overshadowed, matures gradually from a jealous and insecure teen without any plans for the future into a confident young adult with godly vocational plans and an increasingly deep commitment to her friends.
The second of Kim’s best friends, Aleesha Jefferson, progresses from being a loving yet sometimes stubborn and overconfident prima donna to a more modest and mature young lady, one who’s thrilled to find an even better God-given use for her talents than the one she’s dreamed of her whole life and then lost.
Despite the age of these three characters, the Altered Hearts series isn’t just for teens. Adults will also enjoy learning to love and care about these three extremely different and amazingly compelling young women.
Don’t be shocked if you find yourself praying for them as if they were real people.
Although Rosa No-Name isn’t included in this collection, the coming-of-age prequel to both Found in Translation and The Flowers of His Field helps to further illuminate the whole Altered Hearts series.

Book Takeaway:

We're not really in control of our own lives. Especially in trying to do things "for God." Maturity comes slowly as we learn to depend more on Him and learn to love, forgive, and encourage others.

Why the author wrote this book:

I wrote the first book in this collection after my daughter went on a mission trip to Mexico. Although my story isn't hers, it reflects a few things that characterized her trip. That trip made a big difference in her life, and I wanted to make a big difference in other teens' lives. I wrote the other books in this collection because I wanted to show my characters maturing over a period of time and, as it were, finishing the story.