Bermudian author Catherine West had a hit in March 2011 when her first novel, “Yesterday’s Tomorrow”, was released, and now, her second book, “Hidden in the Heart”, is out.Yesterday’s Tomorrow was the searching tale of a woman seeking the ultimate journalism prize in the midst of the Vietnam War and unexpectedly falls in love with a photographer with a secret.The book ended up becoming a hit, winning the 2011 Inspy Award for romance, a finalist in the 2011 Grace Awards and won the silver medal in the 2012 Readers Favourite (www.readersfavorite.com) in the Christian Historical Fiction category.However, while her first novel was entirely fictional, Catherine's latest book, “Hidden in the Heart”, which officially launched last week, is loosely based on her own search for her birth mother.“My story is that I grew up knowing I was adoped, but it wasn’t until after my kids were born that it came to the forefront of my mind,” Mrs. West said of her own adoption story.She eventually found her birth mother, and later a sister.“It was an emotional roller coaster ride, but at the end of the day, it was an incredible story.”“Hidden in the Heart” was not a book she originally planned to pen, but the story kept returning to her and is based, in some parts on her own story.“I took artistic licence in creating the characters, but all the emotions are first hand,” she explained. “I kind of struggled with how much personal information to put in ... but after I finished it, I knew it was what I had to do.”She says that her latest book has a stronger spiritual thread then her first novel.Claire Ferguson, the main character, is living through bitterness and heartbreak, following the death of her adoptive mother, the loss of a child and marital struggles. However, her life is transformed when she searches and finds her birth family, even though it is against the wishes of her adoptive father.Catherine hopes the book will be a source of encouragement for other adopted children, but realises that not all searches have happy endings and added a note to that effect at the end of the book.“It is a very emotional issue. Even in my own search, things didn’t always turn out the way I wanted.”She also realises that the process of an adoptee searching for their birth family not only affects the individual, but also many others, from the adopted family, to the birth family, and throughout the novel, she tries to show all sides to the issue.Published by OakTara, “Hidden in the Heart” is currently available on the OakTara website, and will be availble shortly at local bookstores and on Amazon.For more information on Cathy and her books, you can visit her website at catherinejwest.com, or follow her on her blog, “This is a Blog About Books”, which also features posts by guest authors, at http://thisisablogaboutbooks.wordpress.com.