Local author Brooke Carter has published her latest teen romance novel just on time for Valentine’s Day.
The Unbroken Hearts Club tells the story of 17-year-old Logan Flanagan who becomes disconnected with life after the death of her mother from Huntington’s disease.
Flanagan tries to cope with the death along with her father. But it is through photography and a support group that meets in her basement that she slowly begins to find herself again.
Carter drew on her own personal life for inspiration for her this latest story.
Her own parents have had significant health problems recently and she had a health scare of her own.
“I was actually misdiagnosed with having a tumor that I didn’t have,” explained Carter.
“It was a really terrifying experience and it affects me to this day. And so part of the book deals with Logan’s uncertainty with whether or not she has inherited this genetic disease that could be fatal and the struggle of whether or not she wants to know,” she noted adding that because of her scare the felt like she could relate to some of the psychological torment of her young protagonist.
“How do you move through life as a young person if you are not sure whether you have a future,” she asked.
The novel, geared towards those aged around 15 to 18-years-old, was about a year in the making, and was only published on Jan. 29.
Carter hopes readers will come to have some understanding that there’s, “the inevitable calamities of life that happen to us but you have to keep moving forward.”
Carter will also be publishing her first full-length young adult fantasy novel in 2020.
“It’s the first in a series and it’s called Rumecasters: The Eye of Odin,” said Carter.
The fantastical novel is about another 17-year-old girl named Ruma who embarks on a journey to save her kidnapped sister and to reclaim a powerful runestone.
“I am an Icelandic Canadian and I’ve always wanted to explore the myths and sagas of ancient Iceland,” said Carter about exploring her own heritage for the book.
“I just find it such a fascinating place, this world of ice and geothermic energy and volcanoes. The fact that anybody was able to survive there is amazing to me,” she said adding that she studied Scandinavian literature when she was at college.
“The stories are these bleak epic sagas. This isn’t really bleak, I hope, but it does really have that epic journey to it,” she continued.
The official book launch for The Unbroken Hearts Club is taking place between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Feb. 9 at Black Bond Books in Haney Place Mall, 11900 Haney Place.
It will be a Valentine’s Day themed event. Goodies will be handed out along with a prize draw for a gift card to Black Bond Books and a young adult themed book bundle from her publisher.
She will also be meeting her fans and signing books.