Review: Seagrass Pier (Hope Beach #3) by Colleen Coble

Title: Seagrass Pier

Series: Hope Beach #3

Author: Colleen Coble

Publication Date: July 1st, 2014

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Genre: Romantic Suspense, Christian Fiction

Pages: 336

ISBN: 1595547843

Source: Paperback from Publisher

Rating:

Synopsis (from Publisher): 
In a secluded corner of Hope Beach, one woman must decipher a stranger's memories . . . before they cost her everything.

Elin Summerall was one of the lucky ones. Not only did she get a heart transplant, but the donor was a perfect fit. A miraculously perfect fit.

But when Elin begins having violent flashbacks---and vivid dreams of being strangled---she realizes that she has been the recipient of more than just a new heart . . . Elin is remembering her donor's murder.

Her strange affliction has attracted some unwanted attention: from the press, from the authorities . . . and from the killer himself. Now, living alone with her young daughter and aging mother, Elin is being stalked---by a man she's only met in her nightmares.

The police are dubious of her story, but one off-duty FBI agent is eager to help her: Agent Marc Everton, the father of Elin's daughter.

Of course, he doesn't know about that. Yet.

Now, in a remote cottage on Hope Island, Elin and Marc must probe the secrets buried in her borrowed heart. And there's no time to waste. One man is desperate to silence her---before she remembers too much.

A | B&N | Gr

Colleen Coble has sold over 2 million novels worldwide. Seagrass Pier, the third installment in her acclaimed Hope Beach series, marks a new highpoint for emotion and complexity in Coble's addictive brand of romantic suspense. 




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        Wow! Colleen Coble has outdone herself once again! I haven't read any of the other books in this series, but after what I just experienced, I definitely want to!

The main character, Elin, lost her husband two years ago. She suffered from a terrible virus that left her with no other option but to receive a heart transplant by a local girl who had been murdered. Suddenly, Elin's life is changed forever as she possesses memories of the girl's life...including her murder. Most people write her off as mad, but as a mysterious man continues to haunt her dreams, and her reality, the plot thickens. No matter how much she tries to escape, she is somehow always found.

Oh, and did I mention her daughter who secretly belongs to the FBI agent tracking the case?

Seagrass Pier seized me in the first few pages. You begin with a thrill, an air of mystery, some suspense, and a dash of romance, all within the very first chapter. The story moved at the perfect speed as we hit the ground running with an addictive plot. It is a contemporary engaging work and I was truly on the edge of my seat the entire time, frantically turning pages to see what was going to happen next. If you like a book that moves fast and carries multiple key elements that require resolution, then this is definitely the book for you.

I'm still being introduced to Colleen Coble as a writer, and I must say, this was a great introduction! I have one of her books from the Lighthouse Series that I have yet to read, and this has definitely inspired me to pick it up.

Note: I am very sad to hear of the passing of author Diann Hunt. I honestly did not know until I read the dedication about it at the end of this book. It was beautiful, and I look forward to seeing the Hallmark Channel adaptation of her book For Better or For Worse in July!

Pre-order your copy of Seagrass Pier and enter to win a KINDLE!

Spotlight: The Final Omen (Second Sight #4) by Heather Topham Wood





Title: The Final Omen (Second Sight #4)
Author: Heather Topham Wood

Publisher: Self Published

Publication Date: November 9th, 2013

Genre: New Adult, Paranormal Romance

Summary (from the Author):  Psychic Kate Edwards had seen her death in a premonition. She was given the opportunity to stop her murder from happening and finally reconnect with her love Detective Jared Corbett. However, fate had different ideas…

Kate finds herself trapped between life and death. Her only companion is Rose Corbett, Jared’s long dead mother. Rose offers answers to many of Kate’s long-awaited questions and alludes to what the future could hold. However, before Kate can finally be happy, she must complete a seemingly impossible task: save Jared from his own tragic fate.

The Final Omen concludes the thrilling Second Sight series.

  

Just breathe, Kate…

Hysteria bubbled up inside of Kate Edwards as she realized her ridiculous line of thinking. She couldn’t breathe. Because she was dead, and the dead didn’t need to breathe.

Grasping the edge of the kitchen countertop for support, she used her free hand to touch the side of her face. She needed assurances of the corporeality of her body. Her flesh felt real. Taking a quick inventory of the rest of her body, she saw the same arms and legs, the same ten pounds she’d been trying to lose.

Her head snapped up and Rose Corbett was still standing there, staring at Kate with a mix of emotions she couldn’t discern. Anguish floored her again as she took in Rose’s raven colored hair, the same hair of her son, Jared. The son Kate craved with her entire being. The one she’d told she loved before she died. She’d abandoned him like his parents had done. How many losses did he need to accumulate until he broke apart completely?

They were in the Edwards’ home or some alternate version of it. Minutes ago, or possibly longer since she was unsure if time worked the same, she’d been murdered by an insane masked intruder in her own home. The irony was she had a premonition of her murder before it happened. Details had changed, but the final act remained the same—she ended up in a puddle of blood on the floor, butchered, her ex-boyfriend Jared too late to revive her.  

When she came to in the dining room, nary a cut in sight, she assumed it was another premonition. Her assumption being the psychic visions were once again trying to protect her. A flash of black hair in the kitchen made her tremble with relief. Jared was there! She’d confess everything to him, tell him about her premonitions, and how she feared someone wanted her dead. He’d protected her in the past and he’d do it again. Instead, Rose had stepped towards Kate, saying her name. 

“Why?” Kate demanded. “What was the point of it all? Why did I have the premonitions if I was going to die no matter what I did?”

A security system and self-defense training hadn’t stopped her attack. Investigating her future murder with fellow psychic Declan Brayden hadn’t unmasked her killer. Months of knowing she could die, but foolishly believing her circumstances weren’t hopeless.

“Kate, I…” Rose began. 

 “You can’t…I can’t hear you say it. Because when you say the words, it’ll be real and I’ll be forced to accept that it’s all over.” She took a long minute to study Rose, taking in her thick dark eyelashes and her glossy midnight black hair, cascading in waves to her waistline. She was exquisite, unearthly beautiful in a yellow sundress. She didn’t look much older than Kate’s twenty-two. It was as if Rose was stuck in time, destined to remain the same age she was at the time of her death. “Is this my purgatory? Being stuck inside my house and forced to stare at a spitting image of him?”

Heather Topham Wood’s obsession with novels began in childhood while  growing up in a shore town in New Jersey. Writing since her teens, she recently returned to penning novels after a successful career as a freelance writer. In 2012, she published the first two novels in her Second Sight series: First Visions and New Revelations. 

Heather graduated from the College of New Jersey in 2005 and holds a bachelor's degree in English. Her freelance work has appeared in publications such as USA Today, Livestrong.com, Outlook by the Bay and Step in Style magazine. She resides in Trenton, New Jersey with her husband and two sons. Besides writing, Heather is a pop culture fanatic and has an obsession with supernatural novels and TV shows.

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COVER REVEAL: Protect Me by Jennifer Culbreth

Title: Protect Me (Protected Love #1)
Author: Jennifer Culbreth

Published Date: July 31, 2013

Publisher: Self-Published

Pages: 364

Genre: New Adult, Romance

Synopsis (from Author): Abbi Hastings had never been fearless. She'd been firmly entangled in her small town roots her entire life until an unexpected inheritance provided her a chance to escape. As she took the only opportunity she’d have to get out, Abbi left her world behind and boarded the plane with her one way ticket to Los Angeles.

Relentless and fighting for her own independence, it all goes to hell when fate throws a twist into her plans. Everything changes the day she accidentally falls into the arms of Ryan. Tall, dark eyed, and handsome CEO of LA’s hottest bodyguard service who is fighting some dark demons of his own.

Can Abbi take a leap of faith and dare to experience all that the world has to offer, accepting that fate has brought her here into the arms of the man who will protect her? Protect her mind, body, and soul.