A Rescued Heart by Natalie Replogle

About the Book

A Rescued Heart is Book 1 in the Come to My Rescue romance series.

Death comes in many forms…her death was a love squelched by rejection… Kindergarten teacher Ava Williams’ life is forever changed when her groom never shows up for the wedding, leaving her heartbroken. The rejection cuts deep and she dreads the unexpected life ahead, now marred by entanglements of lies and fear. Yes, she would survive- but at what cost? Would she ever let herself love again? SWAT officer Matt Thompson lives for saving and protecting others, but can he rescue Ava from herself? For him it’s love at first sight, and convincing Ava to trust him and prove to her his love is real and unending is a battle worth fighting. While Ava begins to break free from the bondage of her past she discovers that a student’s mom is suffering from her own bondage of domestic abuse. Ava’s determination to help becomes complicated when she is caught up in the tragedy that begins to unfold. Can Ava help her find freedom and God before it’s too late? An irreversible decision is made that causes a backlash of chaotic events. Ava’s life is in danger and Matt is determined to save her…even if it costs him his own life.

Librarian Laura’s Review of A Rescued Heart

Though its been a few years since the traumatic, memorable day of her would-be wedding, Ava still has trouble with trust and believing that there is someone out there for her yet. After the stressful planning of the perfect wedding, Ava’s fiancé had a change of heart, and he didn’t show up. The sting of his rejection still cuts deep for her, especially when her friends are getting married and inviting her to their weddings. Ava pours her heart and energy into her job as a kindergarten teacher, and she’s a great teacher. Everything changes when local policeman and SWAT officer, Matt Thompson, shows up for career day. Matt wins the hearts of all the kids and manages to sweep Ava right off her feet. As fate would have it, Ava and Matt are seated at the same table for a wedding a few weeks after they meet. Matt is certain that Ava is his person, but Ava has to take things slow as she learns to trust that he will stick around and not leave her hanging. In the meantime, a well-meaning Ava offers to help her student Tessa and her mother, but she winds up in a the middle of a high stakes domestic abuse situation. She puts her own life in danger to help someone else. Will Matt be able to save her and save their relationship in the process? I would recommend this story for fans of contemporary romance, Christian fiction, and Inspirational fiction. The story has a little bit of everything: tame romance, family drama, and suspense. Fans of Susan May Warren and Karen Kingsbury will enjoy this series.

About the Author

Natalie Replogle is a busy stay-at-home mom of three young kids and a wife to her heartthrob, Greg. She enjoys escaping the glamorous life of after-school homework, meal preparation, dirty dishes and laundry by losing herself in writing novels drenched in romance and suspense. She is the author of four novels in the Come to My Rescue series, A Rescued Heart, A Rescued Hope, A Rescued Love, and A Rescued Life. She and her family reside in Northern Indiana. You can connect with Natalie online at www.nataliereplogle.blogspot.com

Q & A With Author, Natalie Replogle

Librarian Laura: How did you come up with the idea for this book series?

Natalie: The first book started off as a hobby. I enjoy reading and writing and needed an outlet, so I began piecing together a story. I love reading Christian romance/suspense novels, so I knew that was the genre I wanted to write in. Because I was new to the world of writing a novel, and was just getting my “feet wet” on learning how to write fiction, I wanted characters and a plot that didn’t take too much time to research. My first book, I met with a sergeant to help me understand the police work insight. I wanted suspense, that’s why I chose my male main character to be a police officer. I knew I could bring in easy suspense with that. After that, each book was more time consuming as I took classes on character development and spent many hours on researching settings, professions, and knowledge on scenes. For the fourth book in the series, I met with two homicide detectives and a restaurant owner to help prepare me to write that book. Research has become one of my favorite aspects of writing. I love learning and gaining insight in areas I’m not familiar with to the point where I’m confident in those areas when I begin to write. And then the fun is teaching others through story telling about those areas that I’ve learned. The fiction series is called, “Come To My Rescue.” In each of the books the characters are faced with hard life issues that they need rescued from…and there is only one true rescuer, and that is Jesus Christ.

Librarian Laura: Are any of the characters based off of people you know or have met? If so, which one(s)?

Natalie: There are bits and pieces of the characters and their experiences that I have based off of people in my life. The joke is always, watch what you do or say around me because it might end up in a book. I will say, later on as I was drafting up the first manuscript, I went back and added in the domestic abuse scenes and characters based on an experience. One day I came home and there were cops at our neighbor’s house. Ends up they were arresting the husband because of abuse. We had known this couple for years and talked many times with them, and on that day we found out he had been abusing her for many years. It hurt my heart that we were right next door and had no idea. It made me want to research and open eyes that abuse can happen all around us, how to look for signs, and help raise awareness.

Librarian Laura: What is the best part of being an author?

Natalie: I love telling stories. Even from a young age I have always enjoyed sharing stories or experiences that have happened in my life. So the fact that I can create a story and share it through the written word is exciting and fulfilling to me! Also, through being an author, it gave me a platform to start speaking at women’s events, which is also a passion of mine.

Librarian Laura: What was the most difficult thing about publishing a book?

Natalie: Can I say everything? LOL. By far, writing and publishing a book was the hardest thing I’ve ever done…outside of child birth! If I just have to say one thing, it would be trying to find an agent/publisher. The literary world is so hard to become a part of, especially if you have never published anything and don’t personally know someone in this area. It was a very lonely journey of learning what steps were needed to be taken. Every single agent wanted something different, so it would take many hours to collect all the information that they wanted, and of course, each agent wanted something different written up to go with the guidelines that they required. And then it was tough to keep in good spirits when all the rejection letters came. After a year of seeking an agent, I stumbled upon a smaller publishing house that allowed me to contact them without an agent. Right away, White Feather Press signed me on with their company and together we worked on a deal to turn my first book into a series. Very surreal. From there, they published a book a year in my series. I also was able to publish a devotional book for moms that I co-authored.

Librarian Laura: What is your favorite place to write? Can you tell us about your writing space?

Natalie: This has changed throughout the years. When I first began, I had three very young children, so I wrote wherever and whenever I could…pick-up line at school, outside while my kids played, during their nap time, and late at night in my bed. Once all my kids were in school, I was able to set up writing days. Often, I would write down in our cozy basement. Now, we live at a different house with a sun room and I enjoying writing there.

Librarian Laura: What are your top 3 favorite books?

Natalie: I love reading series, so I’ll give you my three favorite series…but that was really hard to narrow down!
Montana Rescue by Susan May Warren
A Chapel Springs Romance by Denise Hunter
The Montana Marshalls by Susan May Warren

Librarian Laura: Are you working on any forthcoming books now? If so, can you tell us a bit about them?

Natalie: This has been a long time brewing! I have a new series all set in my mind. My husband is a pilot, so the series will follow four pilots around the world, full of adventure and blossoming with romance. After college, I was a missionary in Ecuador, so the first book will be set in Ecuador. I’m so excited to tie in some of my adventures and the beautiful scenery from this wonderful country and it’s authentic culture. I have already worked on the character development for each of my main characters in the first book. Next step is working on research and writing up the outline…and then I start writing the first draft of my manuscript!

Thank you so much to Natalie for taking the time to share with us about her experience as an author. I hope you enjoy her book series, which can be found on Amazon here. The first book, which I have reviewed above, is available free in Kindle Unlimited at this time!