Bridges of the Heart is a novel about the power of love and forgiveness and the eternal nature of families. Twenty-one-year-old Rachel's life falls apart when her mother becomes ill and passes away. To add to her confusion, Maxson proposes on the evening of the funeral. Rachel escapes to Utah to think and take time off from the relationship. After returning to Arizona, Rachel finds Maxson in a relationship with Paige--Rachel's rival throughout high school. With time, Rachel convinces herself she is over Maxson, but a strange Southern visitor named Jonathan tells her that in the eternal scheme of life, she was always meant to marry Maxson. Jonathan insists it is her responsibility to apologize to Maxson and set things straight. But Rachel refuses, and because of her stubborness, she is whirled back in time to 1820 to learn that families are eternal not only through time forward, but also the past.