The world of bodybuilding is not a setting often found in romance stories – if anyone is the epitome of perfection, it is usually the heroine who (effortlessly) looks like a movie star or beauty queen. In this case, it’s our hero who has won the title of “Strongest Man on Earth,” and added to a sweet heroine and delightful Americana setting, makes Hearts a wonderful end to Stef Ann Holm’s Brides for all Seasons series.

Truvy Valentine is on a mandatory “leave of absence” from her job as a teacher in Boise. See, Truvy believes that in a society where women enter marriage practically ignorant of what occurs between husband and wife, a little knowledge can’t be a bad thing. Unfortunately, the benefactress of the St. Francis Academy for Girls finds Truvy’s lessons scandalous, and the headmistress, Lucretia Pond, has no choice but to send Truvy to Harmony, Montana, to stay with her friend Edwina Wolcott (the heroine from Harmony) until things calm down. A determined Truvy vows to return to her job, but welcomes the chance to see Edwina, who is about to give birth to her first child.

Instead of sending her husband, however, Edwina has sent Jake Brewster to pick up Truvy at the station. Her instant appraisal of this rough man is further justified by the nickname someone calls out to him – Bruiser – and by the man’s obvious interests in beer, boxing, and card games. Although Jake has some difficulty reading, he is not the empty-brained hulk Truvy believes him to be. Instead, he is a former champion bodybuilder with a brief, failed marriage, who now owns his own gymnasium where men go to train in hopes of having Jake’s success. Truvy can’t wait for the day when she can go back to St. Francis, but for now she must put up with the overbearing Mrs. Plunkett, her temporary landlady, who misses her newly-married daughter Hildegarde to the point of constant tears.

As Truvy’s less-than-flattering first impression of Jake is dispelled, she finds herself more and more in his company. The two share a tender moment after the birth of Edwina’s baby, and it’s apparent, soon enough, that Edwina has made up her mind to throw the two of them together. When Truvy’s stay is extended because the headmistress of St. Francis is still unable to resolve the situation, Truvy finds herself taking over Edwina’s dance classes, although she is just as devoid of either technique or grace as the students. One of those classes, however, includes the budding bodybuilders of Jake’s gymnasium, in badly need of some grace, except for Jake, who decides a little one-on-one instruction is needed. As Truvy and Jake grow closer, she must decide whether her post at St. Francis is truly everything she wants, and Jake must convince her that she means much more than a pastime to him.

There is more to Truvy and Jake than either of them presents. Believing herself firmly on the shelf, Truvy reaches out for the last bit of happiness she can have before going back to what she believes is the rest of her spinsterhood as a teacher. She yearns for equality for women just as she yearns for the blissful domesticity Edwina has. In the end, she is truly deserving of someone like Jake, a hero for whom the adjective “thoughtful” is an understatement, considering that for her, he even battles his way through the first pages of Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment. There is little he wouldn’t do for her, even honoring her family’s traditions to prove that he is sincere when he pledges his love.

There is plenty of humor to be found here – any scene with Truvy as dance teacher comes to mind – but this is only one of the aspects that made reading this book time well spent. The pacing of the book is not consistent throughout, with a slower-moving middle, which nevertheless is rewarded with a heartwarming, if not slightly rushed, ending. I had little patience with Mrs. Plunkett’s antics, but otherwise found the people of Hearts refreshing, and a welcome change in a world of lords and ladies. Although this is the last in a series, you do not need to have read the previous books to “get” Hearts, but you might want to start your new year getting to know the rest of the people of Harmony, Montana.