A Trusting Heart
Author: Shannon Guymon
Publisher: Bonneville Books
Year: 2002
Is there anything worse than for the head cheerleader, rich and snobby student, and most popular girl to attend her tenth high school reunion…single, poor and filled with bad self-esteem? Can the experience be even worse than just having the wrong clothes and having everyone pity you? Oh, it can indeed, when the fiancée you dumped at the alter is determined to destroy you, and the moral nerd, now wealthy and powerful, that you ignored in high school kisses you in front of everyone!
Megan just isn’t the girl she was in high school. Well, actually, she has just become the girl she was in high school, but that girl had been kept hidden away from the world. Her father made it clear that the head cheerleader and most popular girl look, complete with excessive make-up and the best clothes, were required if she wanted him to be proud of her. The nice girl was hidden away, seen only in occasional glimpses by the seminary class president, and then only because he was watching closely. Even her big romance was with the son of the man her father was closing a business deal and when some misinformation caused her to dump him on her wedding day shortly before the ceremony, neither her father nor her jilted fiancée would forgive her.
Now disowned and struggling to survive as a real estate agent, Megan is tired, lonely and hungry. When the formerly stuffy and poor seminary president sees who she has become, the spirit whispers that he is to marry her…the only trouble is that the spirit hasn’t said a word about it to Megan, and he senses that her self-esteem is so low that she won’t easily accept the now rich and powerful man that Trevor has become. After all, her own parents don’t love her. How can she expect anyone else to? And how can she ever learn to trust anyone again?
Don’t be fooled into believing this is an LDS Cinderella with a real estate license instead of a broom. This is far more than a romance novel. It contains surprising insights into personal value, trust and relationships. As Megan learns to forgive her parents and to move beyond her troubled past, she reaches out to a gently widening circle of people ready to love her: her anorexic sister, Trevor’s charming mother, two motherless teenaged girls in her ward and old high school friends ready to embrace the new Megan.
One of the most entertaining and well-drawn characters in the story is Cora, the widowed mother who raised Trevor all alone. She is reluctantly drawn into Trevor’s crazy plot to get a date with Megan. He instructs her to use Megan to sell her current home and to buy a lot on which to build one big and beautiful for the grandchildren she will finally have. Cora is unsure of the wisdom of her son’s plans, but those lovely grandchildren are waiting for her, so she cooperates. A true friendship springs up between Cora and Megan, which is what Trevor wanted--but also nearly destroys the romance before it even begins.
Guymon has created a book filled with unexpected and fully-drawn characters who add just the right blend of humor and sensitivity to a complex time in Megan’s life. A Trusting Heart surprised me by its depth and its thought-provoking storyline. The struggle to offer forgiveness to parents who didn’t care if she forgave her or not added a powerful backdrop to Megan’s efforts to love and to trust. This is a valuable addition to any LDS woman’s bookshelf.
A special thank you to Brandy Ross for her insights into this book!