Book Review: "Hardened Hearts" [edited] by Eddie Generous

When we think about love stories we always end up thinking about flowers and chocolates, about kisses and walks during a warm sunset. Happy endings. But the line between love and horror is as thin as the single page of a book. 

Hardened Hearts caught my attention since the very beginning with the foreword by James Newman, which reminds you that, indeed, love isn't easy, that makes you bleed and hurt and rage. I think that Newman wrote the perfect book summary: They are stories about sexual love and love between star-crossed romantics, but also included here are stories of a guilt-ridden father's love for his little girl, obsessions with inanimate objects, and even one woman's unnatural, and shared, love for a spider (!).

Love is strange...

I almost wrote this review in a different way, focusing on each story, but then I thought that I could end up spoiling some of them, because WOW! They were 3 of them especially that I'll totally reread whenever I have the chance! What I can say about it, is that this is one of those books that you can't put down easily. I had to, because of work and school, but it's not like the stories left my mind, really. There was one story that reminded me of my first heartbreak, there was another that made me feel terrible and hoping it would never happen to me, and another one that made my jaw drop because the ending wasn't what I was expecting.

Hardened Hearts tells you about self-love, love after death, sexual love, family love, broken hearts, and maybe some kinky love (WOMAN, A SPIDER, REALLY? Haha, sorry, my fear is speaking here); its characters are varied and inclusive, full of fear and doubt but some kind of hopeful as well, so I think almost everyone can feel identified with at least one of their sentences. 

The writing of all of them was impeccable and dark, and for some stories, I was left wanting more. If there's a chance to make a Volume 2 of this, please, don't hesitate to make another compilation!

The authors you can find in here are:
Gwendolyn Kiste
Somer Canon
Calvin Demmer
Theresa Braun
John Boden
Tom Deady
J.L. Knight
Madhvi Ramani
Scott Hallam
Robert Dean
Leo X. Robertson
Jennifer Williams
Erin Sweet Al-Mehairi
Sarah L. Johnson
Meg Elison
James Newman
Eddie Generous

The only reason I gave this book 4 stars is because there are some stories with explicit sex, drug abuse or rape. I don't mind the topics, I've read them in other stories, but I think is important for other people that might feel threatened by these. Please be careful when reading or recommending this book.

I could read this book thanks to author Theresa Braun and Booktasters ;)

THERESA BRAUN was born in St. Paul, Minnesota and has carried some of that hardiness with her to South Florida where she currently resides with her two fur babies, who are her creative sidekicks. She enjoys delving into creative writing, painting, photography and even bouts of ghost hunting. Traveling is one of her passions--in fact, her latest adventure took her to Romania for a horror writers' workshop where she followed in the steps of Vlad the Impaler. She writes horror fiction and the occasional romance.