48 pages • 1 hour read
Elsie SilverHeartless
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Authorial Context: Elsie Silver
Elsie Silver is a Canadian author who specializes in “small-town romance” novels that feature “dirty-talking alpha heroes and strong heroines who clap back” (“About Elsie Silver.” Elsie Silver). While each of her novels features a distinct romantic relationship, Silver claims on her website that “at their core,” her publications are “all books that [she] [her]self would enjoy reading” (“About”). Her titles include the five Chestnut Springs novels (Flawless, Heartless, Powerless, Reckless, and Hopeless), as well as the four Gold Rush Ranch novels (Off to the Races, A Photo Finish, The Front Runner, and A False Start).
The family dynamics and conflicts portrayed in Heartless are inspired by Silver’s personal life. In the acknowledgments section of the novel, she explains that “writing a book about a little boy the same age as [her] own [son] will always hold a special place in [her] heart” (421). She goes on to say that the “countless notes in [her] phone about hilarious things [her son has] said over the past several months” helped to inspire the finer nuances of Luke Eaton’s character and his relationship with Willa Grant (421). Willa and Cade Eaton’s relationship was also inspired by Silver’s relationship with her husband, who “make[s] [her] laugh every day—even when [he] pisses [her] off” (421). With these notes, Silver confirms that her cast of down-to-earth, expressive characters are inspired by her own intimate relationships. Ultimately, Silver’s personal love of the romance genre fuels her desire to write stories like the ones she has been reading since she was young. Silver has a rich social media following and is known for her open communication with her fans on platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. Her books are akin to romance novels like Lyla Sage’s Done and Dusted, K. L. Walther’s The Summer of Broken Rules, and Ashely Poston’s The Seven Year Slip.
Series Context: The Chestnut Springs Series
Heartless is the second installment of the Chestnut Springs series. The novel is preceded by Flawless and followed by Powerless, Reckless, and Hopeless. All five of the Chestnut Springs books are set in the small Canadian town of the same name. Flawless explores the romance of Summer Hamilton and Rhett Eaton and also uses the enemies-to-lovers romance trope. After Rhett’s bull-riding manager tells him to “clean up [his] image,” he is forced to work “with his ball-busting daughter,” Summer, for the season (“Books.” Elsie Silver). Their frustration with each other gradually blooms into romance. In Heartless, Summer’s best friend, Willa Grant, and Rhett’s brother, Cade Eaton, take the central roles in the novel. When Willa comes to Chestnut Springs to work as a nanny for Cade’s son, Luke, she finds love, home, and family.
Powerless traces the love story between the Eatons’ cousin and friend, using the friends-to-lovers romance trope. When Sloane Eaton endures a personal crisis, her childhood best friend, Jasper Gervais, steps in to save the day, and the two fall in love. In Reckless, an amorous bull rider named Theo Silva falls in love with Summer’s sister, Winter Hamilton, after her toxic marriage falls apart. In the series’ final installment, Hopeless, Cade and Rhett’s brother, Beau Eaton, becomes involved with the local bartender, Bailey Janson, after he returns from deployment. As the two pursue a relationship, the novel employs the fake-dating romance trope.
All five of the Chestnut Springs novels are set in the same small-town region and trace the lives and love affairs of the same group of friends and family. In Heartless, Silver makes deliberate allusions to the lives of Winter, Jasper, Sloane, and Bailey to create narrative openings for their stories’ development in subsequent novels. Willa’s friendship with Summer also allows for the development of organic allusions to Summer’s story in Flawless.
