Reviews

Heart Failure by Chris Zett

catbartram89's review against another edition

5.0

Another fabulous book by Chris, the relationship between Jess (Dr Riley) and Lena starts off rocky, but when they stop being enemies and become friends they hit it off! I enjoyed the story and the narrating by Lori was fantastic, she kept me engaged the whole time and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience!

Highly recommended

ghostlycreature's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

theinkdrinker's review against another edition

hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

cidnel's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Medical content

Moderate: Abandonment

rickosborne's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A little uneven in tone, which seems to be common for the "uptight doctor meets starving artist" genre.  Similarly, the miscommunication drama is a little higher than I might prefer.  Beyond that, it's fine.

Sex:

three R-rated scenes

Tags: #AnxiousDismissivePair #BackHomeAgain #DualPOV #ForcedProximity #GrumpySunshine #PersonNextDoor #RehabRecovery #SelfImageIssues #SingleParent #ThirdPersonPOV

thepudding's review against another edition

lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

judeinthestars's review against another edition

3.0

Jess Riley’s career as a cardiologist has always been her first and only priority. At 37, she’s about to become a single mother, having decided not to wait for the perfect woman to have a family. She’s a planner, always following her plans to the letter since they usually work, but she’s misjudged how complicated and exhausting it would be to take care of her newborn daughter and keep her career on its tracks. When heart failure due to the pregnancy forces her to take a break and move in with her mother Maggie, her world collapses. Lena Walker is Maggie’s tenant and friend. She juggles three jobs to pay off debts she can thank her unfit mother for. Despite all she’s been through, Lena is sweet and patient, never letting anger and bitterness take over. And she’ll need patience with Jess…

Authors often say the second book is the hardest. Sure, when you’ve already been published, you know you can do it, but with this knowledge come expectations. And that can be really tough to deal with. So I’m often kinder on with second books.

Heart Failure did need a little kindness at first. Jess was so hard and rude I wasn’t sure I wanted to care about her. However, having read and enjoyed Chris Zett’s first novel, [b:Irregular Heartbeat|41050183|Irregular Heartbeat|Chris Zett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1533481491l/41050183._SY75_.jpg|64096478], a lot, I had to give this one a real chance. It got much better after a while, and I liked seeing the real Jess underneath the self-centred ice queen she let herself be when life got admittedly rough. She didn’t change completely and still had lessons to learn about becoming a nicer and kinder human being, and I couldn’t help thinking Lena deserved better.

Even though Heart Failure can be read as a standalone, it’s set in the same universe as Irregular Heartbeat and one of the main characters from that first novel appears quite often in this one. Not knowing about her background beforehand won’t stop you from understanding anything, but as I love reading books in order, I’d recommend reading the first one before this.

I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

wickedregal's review against another edition

3.0

When it takes me the first third of a book to actually even remotely start liking one of the main characters it isn't going to go over very well for me. Unfortunately this is the case with this book. Jess, one of the main characters, just really put me completely off. I kept trying to find something to redeem her for her b*tchy self but honestly, the author didn't give me enough of any of her background to really even care. Let's just say if Jess was a person in real life (and this may sound mean) I wouldn't have given her the time of day to start with with that attitude and no apologies for it.

Lena, the other main, was definitely a better person than I. She lets things slide off her and doesn't take much personally. Loved her from the start.

A third through the book I finally started seeing an at least tolerable side to Jess and I did enjoy their walks they started to take. That is when I started to see a more positive side to Jess and was able to see the pair as potential.

So overall I'm going to say this book was alright. It wasn't great but it wasn't bad. I just like to attach myself to characters early on in a book and this one left me hanging for quite a bit.

grassy's review against another edition

lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75