"Hearts Never Lie" Patricia Pickett

Reviewed by Kylee Pierce for Amateur de Livre March/2008

Caesar & Mariposa

At its center "Hearts Never Lie" by Patricia Pickett is a love story. The love story is layered with street slang and talk about drugs and murder, but the love is definitely there. Mariposa Soto has crushed on Caesar Simpson for most of her life. Caesar is 4 years older than Mariposa. He is also the best friend of her older cousin, Coffee, which makes both of them off-limits to the other. Mariposa was raised primarily by her maternal grandparents since the age of 7. "Butterfly's" mother was always off looking for the man that would complete her; she had no time for raising her daughter like a mother should. Caesar pretty much raised himself and his younger brother. Caesar's mom was absent in a different way, drugs.

I really enjoyed this book. I related to Mariposa’s struggle as a single mom, trying to make her way in the world while still being a 20-something woman. I would recommend this to any reader of women’s fiction, 16+. To the author I would like to mention two things. 1) There are some pretty distracting editing issues (quote marks are off, some new paragraphs and dialogue were not tabbed). 2) I would love to read a part two to their story.

My favorite part was Butterfly finding the will to stand up to Manny (I actually cringed away from the page when… you’ll have to read “Hearts Never Lie” to find out.

Interview with the author.

from the back:
Mariposa Sota knows all too well the pain of dreams deferred. Whether dealing with the disappointment of being abandoned by her daughter's father, working tirelessly at a dead-end job only to lose it, or watching helplessly as those she loves the most fall victim to the same streets they are all trying to escape, one thing is clear to Mariposa: Whenever she puts her all into something heartbreak is sure to follow. For Caesar Simpson life had always been lived behind the eightball. The firstborn child to an absentee father and drug-addicted mother, Caesar is the only real parent his younger siblings knew. With the love of his homies and an unbridled love for 'the life' Caesar maintained despite hardship. After a five year prison term he's back in Denver and is intent on living right. When Caesar runs into Mariposa, the beautiful woman that had somehow blossomed from the silly little girl that use to follow him around neighborhood, he knew he had found the only good thing that life would ever show him. Problem is, she is his best homies little cousin which makes her off-limits. Despite his efforts, Caesar can't help loving her. For Mariposa the return of her first crush, a man she has loved all her life, makes her more vulnerable than ever. They say hearts never lie, but people do. Will heartbreak, pain and death keep them apart or will their feelings for one another rise above all else?