Thief of Hearts by L.H. Cosway

I became a huge fan of this series and my excitement grew stronger every day until getting to read this book. I was not over the moon for “Hearts of Blue” and really wanted to have a proper book for one of the Cross brothers. I was not disappointed by Stu’s story! It was brilliant, funny and kept me hanging until the epilogue.

We all know the Cross brothers from book 4 and got a glimpse of their different personalities and story. Lee, Trevor, Liam and Stu are one united family, being capable of the toughest of sacrifices for seeing their love ones safe. Stu was the one to take the hit for his brother’s at the end of “Hearts of Blue” and got sentenced to 2 years of prison for robbing cars.

This book’s story begins when Stu is out of prison and tries to have a normal life. I don’t want to spoil much of the plot and I will try to focus on his relationship with Andrea. Stu enrolls in an adult schooling project, in which he meets Andrea, a young and beautiful girl, but who is also his teacher. Since the moment he walked through the door, Andie was mesmerized by Stu and had a deep connection with him, despite their student teacher relationship didn’t allow them to explore it freely.

The characters were amazing, I felt so drawn to them and caught my attention especially because they were different but bind so good together.
After this experience in prison, Stu wants so change and everything seems like he is making the progress necessary by taking classes and aiming for higher education. He suffers from dyslexia, being difficult to read properly and keep up with the class, but despite that, he is very good with numbers, a quality that Andrea’s sees and will expand later on. Well not all things are like we see them, and we soon discover that Stu has a certain reason why being in Andie’s class, needing her help. I was a little angry at him at the beginning, because I didn’t want him to use her this way, but he soon figures out what an amazing person she is, and came clean with the whole thing. Stu is kind of tormented and doesn’t believe in redemption and second chances. He can’t shake off the feeling that he doesn’t deserved better, that he can’t have a better life and a higher education, like having his past say a final word upon his future. His only goal right now is keeping his family safe, and will do everything for them.

Andie shows him what a bright future he can have, full of love and hope. She has been a widow for 4 years, and love is not on her menu. She wants to help people, seek satisfaction into seeing them evolve and be someone in life. Stu becomes her mission and she was right not to give up on him. After her husband dies, she is afraid to love again, being afraid of feeling lost and vulnerable, and experience pain.
Andie and Stu managed to heal each other in the most amazing way possible and I loved their story top to bottom. Andrea was a great heroine for me, with a heart of gold and a patience of a saint. Strong and determined, she helped him figure out a path in life and not be satisfied with low or medium.

“That might sound weird, but I’m proud of me, too. You should be, you’re defying the odds, Stuart Cross.. Well, you know what they say, about the right teacher.. ”

She thought him not only how to love again, but how to love himself as a person and never give up on aiming big : ” Be my soft place to fall ”
Stu made Andrea fell in love again, bringing down her walls and making her experience a part that was missing for a while.

” Stuart Cross made me feel alive. So much so that it took him coming into my life to make me realize I hadn’t been living.”

He made her be more confident, move on and show her that even if pain touched her in the past, her future could be brilliant and full of hope.
I loved their deep connection and the way they clicked, the way they healed each other and evolved together.

I truly recommend this book, it was an amazing an clever read, a true experience from the first page to the last.
Looking forward to reading the last installment from this series, Trevor’s story.