Troubled Hearts is a sweet little e-book novella about a husband and wife who have drifted apart and become estranged due to a tragedy in their lives, but whose love for one another prevails to bring them back together. As with most short stories like this I couldn't help wanting to know more. How did Julia and Richard meet and fall in love? What were their lives like up until the event that put distance between them? I also found myself curious about Julia's life-long friendship with Aiden, and why she fell for Richard instead of him. Generally though, questions like this are pretty par for the course when the e-book is only 16 pages long, so I tend to evaluate these novellas a little differently than longer stories.

I'm usually not a big fan of misunderstandings or miscommunication being the primary conflict in a romance like it was here. Although I felt that Julia should have been a bit more proactive in attempting to discuss her feelings and concerns with Richard before taking such drastic actions, I was able on some level to understand how they could have come to this point in their marriage, because both were under a great deal of stress. If nothing else it all led to a very sweet, tender reunion, and I did like that they each trusted the other enough not to question one another's fidelity. Overall, Troubled Hearts was a well-written story that was another good read from Donna Hatch. ( )