REVIEW: Hollow Heart by Eve Holmes (Northern Roots; Atlantic #4)

HOLLOW HEART

Northern Roots: Atlantic - Book Four

by Eve Holmes

Release Date: May 1, 2026

Review

This wrecked me! I’m talking, I bawled through the first 50% and continued to tear up off and on throughout the 2nd half.

My kryptonite is people who don’t feel worthy, seen, loved, or appreciated. Who don’t believe they will ever find love. And this epic best-friends-to-lovers hit everyone one of those soft spots through Silas.

This slow burn (I do mean slow…not a criticism, it’s absolutely gorgeous) follows the life of two best friends in a small town on PEI. Silas doesn’t have it easy. And the only person who really seems to have his back is his dad, until Levi. Teachers, other kids, and even his mom all fail him at EVERY turn.

Levi knows how to soothe and help Silas, and no matter what, they are ride or die. Their friendship is beautiful. But then Levi leaves for University, and their lives diverge. And it’s heartbreaking.

Then one day, life conspires to bring them back together. And as they find their way back to friendship, something even more beautiful transpires.

If you love character studies, with amazing scenery, beautifully developed side characters, then you will love this stunning story. I’m not lying about it being a slow burn, and the spice is low, but I would read this over and over again, minus the crying-induced migraine!!

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Synopsis

Not everything that looks broken needs fixing — it just needs the right conditions to grow.

Growing up on the red sand beaches and farm fields of Prince Edward Island, Silas Gallant and Levi Campbell were each other's whole world. They were best friends who understood each other in a way no one else ever could.

But as the easy freedom of childhood gave way to the weight of expectation, the life they shared slowly began to shift. Levi left the island to chase a future in agricultural technology and a world bigger than the fields he grew up in, while Silas stayed, rooted in the safety of his family's potato farm, and in the belief that people will always leave.

Years of silence and hurt pass before their distance closes, when Levi finds himself contracted to support a farm back on PEI — on the same red soil he once ran with his best friend. Old hurt lingers, turning familiarity into tension neither of them knows how to navigate — until slowly, they begin to let each other back in, and question if they ever truly split apart.

Among summer sunsets, red sand beaches, lighthouses, and open fields, Silas and Levi begin to find each other again — learning that they were never meant to stand on opposite sides of the same ground.

And that without each other, their hearts could never be whole.

Hollow Heart is a standalone MM romance with an HEA.

Books in this series do not need to be read in order.

About Eve Holmes

Eve writes character-driven stories that lean into the raw, complicated, and often messy parts of life. She is passionate about real, respectful, and accurate mental health representation, with a focus on healing, connection, and meaningful growth.

She lives in a small town in Nova Scotia, where she spends her free time riding her horses on trails, beaches, and in the show ring. She can almost always be found with a coffee in hand, and usually an animal by her side—because if she had it her way, she would take them all home.

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