Beauty in the Binding: Author Interview: Heart's Promise by Linda Hoover

Heart's Promise JustRead Blog Tour

Welcome to the Blog Tour for Heart's Promise by Linda Hoover, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

About the Book

Title: Heart's Promise
Series: Heart's Desire #3
Author: Linda Hoover
Publisher: Independently Published
Release Date: June 23, 2025
Genre: Historical Christian Romance

Welcome back to Jacob and Julia's Iowa farm.

In 1893, their son Justin is eleven. and daughter Annaliese is ten. When Jacob and Julia adopted Annaliese as an infant, they were told God had a special plan for her. As Annaliese grows up, she wonders if her purpose will be world-changing.

Julia's old friend, Edward Harrington, comes to visit from England, along with his wife and son, Robbie. Their time at the farm is the beginning of a like/hate relationship and later something more between Robbie and Annaliese. When the families travel to San Francisco in 1900, a shocking revelation from Edward's wife could change everything, beginning with taking Annaliese to England.

If this is God's plan, Annaliese is disappointed. It's nothing like she imagined, and her heart's desire is to go to veterinary college. This could mean a very different future for her.

PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon

Book Excerpt

“We use this as a ballroom. You may have guessed that.”

Annaliese glanced at him and nodded, then went to a window in the large room. The manicured lawn, formal gardens, and the surrounding countryside were breathtaking. On the other side there were more formal gardens, a greenhouse, a vegetable and herb garden, an orchard and beyond all that, the lake.

From the corner of her eye, Annaliese saw Robbie beside her, soaking in the view as well. She shifted to face him. “You love it here, don’t you? Can you imagine yourself living anywhere else?”

His lips curved up as he turned to her. “Yes, I love it here. No, I don’t want to live anywhere else. This won’t make a lot of sense to an American, but Harringtons have been living here for hundreds of years. It’s where I belong.” He paused, then shrugged. “Unless God tells me to go somewhere else.”

“I think I can understand a sense of belonging where your family has owned land for generations, but I don’t know anyone at home who can say that. Great Britain is much older than the United States.”

Robbie clasped her hands in his and gazed into her eyes. “What about you? Do you feel you need to live in Iowa or Boston all your life? Would you be able to live somewhere else if you felt God leading you?”

Annaliese swallowed past her tightening throat. Was Robbie asking if she’d be willing to live at Ashby Hall? She wasn’t ready to give a real answer to that question yet.

About the Author

Linda Hoover lives in west central Ohio with her husband and grandson. She earned a degree in psychology from Anderson University where she learned the voices in her head were actually characters from stories waiting to be told.

Linda has been writing since childhood, but her publishing career started with writing columns and a middle grade serial for the South Charleston Spectator. A retired librarian, she now enjoys being a fulltime author in her home office.

You are invited to visit her website, Linda Hoover Books, to find out more about her and her books. You can stay in touch when you subscribe to her newsletter, and as a thank you, you’ll receive a novella.

Author Interview

Q: What inspired you to write Heart’s Promise?

Heart’s Promise is book three in the Heart’s Desire series, so I knew from the beginning that this book was coming. Jacob and Julia fell in love in Heart’s Desire. They raised a family in Heart’s Journey and Heart’s Promise moves the spotlight to the younger generation where we see Annaliese and Robbie take center stage with their story. When it first started forming in my mind it was skeletal. I don’t make an outline, but I knew who would end up with who and a general idea of how they’d get there.

Q: How long did it take to write the book?

It took longer than I intended to finish Heart’s Promise. Life events happened along the way that slowed me down. I also wrote a novella that I was on deadline for. I’m not good at working on two books at one time, and to be honest, I’m a slow writer. I’m in awe of authors who put out several books a year.

Q: What surprised you while writing/researching this novel?

Linda: I love research. I learn so much. One of the things that surprised me when I was researching the families’ trip to San Francisco is the fact that the train had to be taken across the bay on a ferry. The Goldengate Bridge was built later than Heart’s Promise is set. I also looked into what tourists did there in 1900 and was surprised to learn there were amusement park style rides. Tourism was already a big industry with lots of things to see and do.

Q: Do you have a favorite quote from Heart’s Promise?

Linda: I don’t have a favorite quote, but it became a little bit of a joke because one of the characters ordered tea for almost any reason.

Q: When did you first know you wanted to be an author?

Linda: I’ve had stories in my head since I was a child. By the time I got to 7th or 8th grade I started writing them down. I was always a voracious reader but it wasn’t until my forties that I got tired of reading books with endings I didn’t like, then I’d spend all kinds of time rewriting it in my head. I decided I might as well write the whole thing. It’s more satisfying to control of the plot. There will be trouble along the way, but my stories have a happy ending.

Q: Would you share something about yourself that most readers wouldn’t know?

Linda: I like to zipline. Readers probably don’t know that, lol.

Q: What are you currently reading?

Linda: As I’m answering this question, I’m reading A Very English Christmas. A book with three novellas by Carrie Turansky, Marguerite Gray, and Carole Lehr Johnson. By November I’m usually reading Christmas books.

Q: What is your favorite genre to read?

Linda: My favorite genre is historical Christian romance, but I also enjoy time travel, fantasy and sci-fi. I’ll almost always say yes to a rom-com. I love it when an author can make me laugh.

Q: What is your favorite hobby?

Linda: My favorite hobby is reading. There are other things I like to do, but reading is what I look forward to at the end of the day. I don’t like to go anywhere without a book.

Q: What is your favorite season and why?

Linda: My favorite season is autumn. The colors are glorious. The reds, yellows and oranges draw me. It’s as if I can’t get enough of them. Somehow, they make me happy. I look forward to walks in the woods, apples, pumpkin treats and fall flowers. If I lived in a place without seasons, I’d miss autumn the most.

Tour Giveaway

(2) winners will each receive an ebook copy of Heart's Promise and a $10 Amazon gift card!

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight November 17, 2025 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on November 24, 2025. Winners will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US/CAN only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.

Enter Giveaway

Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!