With All My Heart is the weakest in the Thorne Brothers trilogy. Its problems permeate all three books to some extent, but they stand out more in novel for some reason. If you’ve read the first two books in this enjoyable series, you’ll want to read this one, which is frankly just slightly better than average.

If you’ve followed the Thorne brothers, Colin, Decker, and Greydon, you know they were separated as children in England, some thirty years earlier. The eldest brother, Colin, Lord Fielding, the Earl of Rosefield, tucked a priceless heirloom earring in baby Greydon’s blankets the day a young couple came and took the infant to live in America. The other earring went with middle brother, Decker, and was pivotal in bringing Colin and Decker together. Now, the earrings have come into play again, this time as an object from which psychic Berkeley Shaw might divine the lost Greydon’s whereabouts.

As for Greydon, he has been living in San Francisco under the name Grey Janeway. A severe beating five years earlier left him with no memory of his name nor his past, nor who it was responsible for nearly killing him. A shrewd and honest businessman, rather than seek gold personally, Grey is content to separate the miner’s from their money at his gambling establishment and hotel. He meets Berkeley when, disguised as a boy, she is set upon by the Sydney Ducks, a gang of seamy Australian ex-convicts bent on causing nothing but trouble. Grey takes Berkeley back to his hotel where he cleans her up, and puts her to work as his hostess. He believes her “special gift” of reading palms, along with her stunning beauty, will bring him a small fortune.

Berkeley’s gift has nothing to do with reading palms, but with sensing things about a person, or an item she can touch. She and her husband, Anderson Shaw, had been funded by the Thorne brothers to come to San Francisco and locate one Graham Denison, a man the Thornes believe might, in reality, be their lost brother, Greydon. When Berkeley meets Grey Janeway, she suspects she may have found Graham, who might truly be Grey(don).

There’s lots of plot in this novel, but in many places, it plods. Once Grey and Berkeley get together at about midpoint in the book, there is a lengthy, lengthy cat-and-mouse game with the villain(s). Plus, each and every detail about the hero and heroine are revisited at least twice. I feel I know their life stories even better than I know my own. None of this moved the story along, and in fact, dragged it down to a halt. I skipped many pages, and cut right to the chase, which also took too long to culminate. So much of this part of the book could have been eliminated – the pacing really suffered.

Okay, I have to say this now, or forever hold my peace: I hated Berkeley’s name. Berkeley? It’s not a pretty name, and I found myself stumbling over it each time I tried to read it (let alone type it for this review). Plus, having been to UC Berkeley and San Francisco many times, this was a major distraction for me – perhaps it won’t bother you.

This story survives on coincidences (as have all three books, but this one has more than it’s share). While there are several, the one huge example that stands out is Berkeley’s family history. I don’t want to do a spoiler here, but there was no reason – plotwise – for this coincidence to have occurred, and it gave the story a very contrived feel.

My peeves aside, if you loved Colin and Decker, you will also love Grey. Although appealing, he seemed a tad on the bland side at times, handsome devil that he is. Berkeley is less feisty than Mercedes and Jonna, but she’s okay. With All My Heart brings the story of the Thorne brothers to closure, so you’ll want to catch this one if you’re a fan of the series.

Jo Goodman’s writing, and her romantic love scenes, are what made the difference for me. If not for her talent for fine imagery, this book might have lost me in places, and I really wanted to hang on. I enjoyed the first two books in the trilogy, and I wanted to enjoy this one as well. With some reservations, I can recommend it, and I hope you’ll give it a read.