Official Review: A Broken Heart Can Mend by Paul Rodriquez

Wyland · Post by **Wyland** » 16 Nov 2019, 13:29

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "A Broken Heart Can Mend" by Paul Rodriquez.]

3 out of 4 stars

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Bobby Lomas is the star of this novel that revolves around a group of close-knit friends. Both individually and collectively, they experience the adversity of life first-hand, and in the process, learn a thing or two about what makes life worth living. What’s more, the fact that the incidents depicted are entirely spontaneous and unplanned infuses an element of realism into the stories and offers the reader a snapshot of the human experience.

Bobby, a recently graduated nutritionist, is a highly-spirited youth who never misses on an opportunity for a good time. He probably loves his baby—a 125cc motorcycle—just as much as his girlfriend, Hae Wan; or maybe even more because it never complains after a ride, unlike his girlfriend who is often left frustrated because of his “problem common in young men.” And now, he thinks he’s come across a novel idea to solve his problem, one which won’t involve embarrassing sessions with a sex therapist.

The book A Broken Heart Can Mend by Paul Rodriquez is about second chances at life, just like the title alludes. On top of that, I liked the diversity therein the most, especially because I saw myself in the novel: as an example, Bobby’s girlfriend is Korean while Bobby’s sister, Lori, is engaged to an African American guy. Furthermore, I appreciated the role played by religion in this novel, which was an overarching theme highlighted by Rodriquez, the other being romance.

Bobby’s problem, among a few others highlighted, makes the earlier portion of this story to have an ambivalent tone to it. Given the power of hormones that make young people impulsive, surely, the reader will appreciate how hard it is for them to “just say no” to any of the so-called solutions offered to them by their peers. Besides, I felt Rodriquez’s narrative threads were a tad too much: for example, he’s talked about mass destruction, cancer, hearing aids, sin, human rights, death, promiscuity, vocation, forgiveness, all these on top of the other two themes mentioned above. With this in mind, my advice is that some of these sub-plots could be a stand-alone story in a different setting. Even so, towards the end, the story has a joyful tone to it, hence emotionally satisfying.

As I close, this book needs another round of editing. Many of the errors that I was able to identify touched on missing words and misplaced words in sentences. Further, these errors were enough for me to reduce the rating of the book by a star to 3 out of 4 stars. I recommend the novel to mature readers who like books whose primary focus is on relationships and romantic love between two people. On the other hand, it will be less suitable for those sensitive to religious texts in their stories.

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A Broken Heart Can Mend
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unamilagra · Post by **unamilagra** » 22 Nov 2019, 23:33

I'm not really into romance novels, but I like that the book includes a diverse cast of characters. Thanks for a thorough review!

Stephanie Elizabeth · Post by **Stephanie Elizabeth** » 23 Nov 2019, 10:08

This sounds really interesting! I think many people live by the "work hard; play hard" mentality, and they feel entitled to overindulge. Hopefully the main character is able to get his life sorted out and get a second chance with love. Thanks for the review!

Post by **Adina Lutinger** » 24 Nov 2019, 04:19

Something about your review made me really curious to read the book. Thanks for the great review!

AvidBibliophile · Post by **AvidBibliophile** » 24 Nov 2019, 15:38

Overcoming adversity through spontaneous incidents that leaves you feeling emotionally-satisfied? Now that's a story worth investigating further. Thank you for the helpful details and insight you provided!

Erin Dydek · Post by **Erin Dydek** » 25 Nov 2019, 10:08

The diversity in this book is wonderfully appealing. The spontaneous nature of the characters also sounds like a fun aspect of this book. I’m not very spontaneous myself, but I enjoy living vicariously through characters and seeing the kind of situations they get themselves into. Thanks for the great review!

Kaitlyn Canedy · Post by **Kaitlyn Canedy** » 27 Nov 2019, 01:03

Not sure if I can relate to this book, as the themes within don't seem to sound like me. But I love the fact that the author used much diversity in his book; it is great to see many different people in one story. Great review!

Aniza Butt · Post by **Aniza Butt** » 27 Nov 2019, 03:45

Not my genre so would pass this one but am glad you liked it.
Thanks for the review Wyland☺

Maríe Wamakima · Post by **Maríe Wamakima** » 28 Nov 2019, 02:33

Everyone needs a second chance in life. No matter the situation. It's sad to know that the errors detracted the rating, however I enjoyed your review.

Wyland · Post by **Wyland** » 28 Nov 2019, 05:21

unamilagra wrote: ↑22 Nov 2019, 23:33 I'm not really into romance novels, but I like that the book includes a diverse cast of characters. Thanks for a thorough review!

Thanks for your kind comments.

Wyland · Post by **Wyland** » 28 Nov 2019, 05:38

Stephanie Elizabeth wrote: ↑23 Nov 2019, 10:08 This sounds really interesting! I think many people live by the "work hard; play hard" mentality, and they feel entitled to overindulge. Hopefully the main character is able to get his life sorted out and get a second chance with love. Thanks for the review!

Thanks for the wonderful comments!

Wyland · Post by **Wyland** » 28 Nov 2019, 06:10

SomeoneInTheWorld wrote: ↑24 Nov 2019, 04:19 Something about your review made me really curious to read the book. Thanks for the great review!

Thanks for the kind comments!

Wyland · Post by **Wyland** » 28 Nov 2019, 06:22

AvidBibliophile wrote: ↑24 Nov 2019, 15:38 Overcoming adversity through spontaneous incidents that leaves you feeling emotionally-satisfied? Now that's a story worth investigating further. Thank you for the helpful details and insight you provided!

Thanks for the wonderful comments!

Wyland · Post by **Wyland** » 28 Nov 2019, 06:23

Everydayadventure15 wrote: ↑25 Nov 2019, 10:08 The diversity in this book is wonderfully appealing. The spontaneous nature of the characters also sounds like a fun aspect of this book. I’m not very spontaneous myself, but I enjoy living vicariously through characters and seeing the kind of situations they get themselves into. Thanks for the great review!

Thanks for the wonderful comments!

Wyland · Post by **Wyland** » 28 Nov 2019, 06:34

Everydayadventure15 wrote: ↑25 Nov 2019, 10:08 The diversity in this book is wonderfully appealing. The spontaneous nature of the characters also sounds like a fun aspect of this book. I’m not very spontaneous myself, but I enjoy living vicariously through characters and seeing the kind of situations they get themselves into. Thanks for the great review!

Thanks for the wonderful comments!