Heartbeats Books in Order

The Heartbeats novels are connected Christian romances about people carrying old regrets, difficult family histories, and questions about whether they can still build a hopeful future. The books deal with love, but they do not treat love as a quick fix. Each couple or group of characters has real work to do before trust can take hold.

Where It All Began starts the series with Sandra Baker, whose life falls apart after a painful choice leaves her overwhelmed by guilt. Her growing connection with Henry Dobbs brings her face-to-face with the possibility of forgiveness, but she has to decide whether she can accept it for herself.

These are romances with room for hard conversations.

In The Power of Prayer, Callie Green is left reeling when her fiancé abandons her at the altar. A trip meant to help her reset puts her in the path of JD Peterson, a wealthy man who keeps his money and his kindness quiet. Their relationship develops while Callie faces the return of the life she thought she had lost.

When Hearts Collide follows three women, Amanda, Jess, and Alyssa, whose lives become linked despite their very different struggles. A Father's Love continues the series' interest in family, grief, responsibility, and the ways people can hurt one another without meaning to. In A Past Forgiven, Jess and Chad each bring deep wounds into a relationship that requires them to confront faith, loss, and the habits they used to survive.

The series has an emotional, earnest tone. Hoopes writes about abortion, addiction, bereavement, broken relationships, and other painful subjects, while keeping the emphasis on recovery and grace. Readers who want completely breezy romance may find some of the material serious, but readers who like stories about healing will appreciate the directness.

The core books can be read as related standalones, but Where It All Began is the best entry point. It establishes the series' concern with choices and forgiveness, and it introduces the faith-centered emotional style that carries through the later stories.