This Heart of Mine by C. C. Hunter

My Rating: 5/5 Stars!

Cover Rating: 3/10 Stars. It’s a nice minimalistic cover, but I think it’s too overly simple and a bit overdone as far as covers go. I don’t think it sells the essence of the novel the way it should. This book is an incredible mystery/contemporary that I love. I think the cover design could have been better.

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Publish Date: February 27th, 2018

Number of Pages: 384

Received: Netgalley provided an e-arc in exchange for an honest review

Purchase: Amazon

Synopsis:

A new heart saved her life—but will it help her find out what really happened to its donor?

Seventeen-year-old Leah MacKenzie is heartless. An artificial heart in a backpack is keeping her alive. However, this route only offers her a few years. And with her rare blood type, a transplant isn’t likely. Living like you are dying isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. But when a heart becomes available, she’s given a second chance at life. Except Leah discovers who the donor was — a boy from her school — and they’re saying he killed himself. Plagued with dreams since the transplant, she realizes she may hold the clues to what really happened.

Matt refuses to believe his twin killed himself. When Leah seeks him out, he learns they are both having similar dreams and he’s certain it means something. While unraveling the secrets of his brother’s final moments, Leah and Matt find each other, and a love they are terrified to lose. But life and even new hearts don’t come with guarantees. Who knew living took more courage than dying?

Opening Sentence: “It’s over, Eric. Accept it. Let it go, would you?”

Musings:

This Heart of Mine stole a piece of my heart. I wasn’t expecting the emotions and the sadness I would feel as I reached the wonderful ending. It’s a story that blends contemporary and mystery in a seamless way that pulls your heart in all different directions from start to finish.

What I Loved:

Why it was written. I cried for a good half hour after the ending of this novel when I understood that this book came from a very real place. The best stories share a piece of our souls and that was what this was a piece of C.C. Hunter’s beautiful soul.

The depression is so real. Leah deals with some mental health issues in a way that comes off as really authentic. It’s something that is whisper in the back of her mind driving her to be her own antagonist in a very psychological way. I felt so deeply for her and her struggle and I could identify strongly with her anxious thoughts of what could go wrong even when things are starting to go right.

The Mystery. I LOVE that there was this thriller-esque element to the story that made me stress out wanting to know who killed Eric (or if Eric killed himself) and why. Some scenes are really creepy in a very real way and it reads very authentically and goes along well with the story.

The dreams. This sort of supernatural element of Leah having a connection with Eric because she now has his heart was really wonderful. Especially because there are stories on the internet of people suddenly liking different things and slight changes of behavior after a heart transplant. It was a very intriguing aspect to the novel.

Leah’s Doctor. The fact that Leah had an actual friendship with her doctor was an addition that made me smile. It added a nice layer to the novel that just added to its authenticity for me.

The fact that I feel like I can’t articulate the right words anymore. I love this book. I just want to talk about every little detail and shove it in peoples faces and just ask everyone to read it. I feel like I could talk about it for hours. I see every scene like a movie in my head.

Final thoughts:

This Heart of Mine is emotional, mysterious, evocative, and well-told. I highly recommend everyone to read it. It’s such a fabulous novel! It will steal the heart of every reader that goes to read it.

About the Author:

C. C. Hunter is the New York Times bestselling author of over thirty-five books, including her wildly popular Shadow Falls and Shadow Falls: After Dark series. In addition to winning numerous awards and rave reviews for her novels, C.C. is also a photojournalist, motivational speaker, and writing coach. In February 2018, Wednesday Books will publish her contemporary young adult and hardcover debut, This Heart of Mine. And the first book of her new paranormal young adult series, The Mortician’s Daughter: One Foot in the Grave was released on October 31st 2017. C. C. currently resides in Texas with her husband, junkyard dog, Lady, and whatever wild creatures that meander out from woods surrounding home.

C.C. Hunter is a pseudonym. Her real name is Christie Craig and she also writes humorous romantic suspense romance novels. www.christie-craig.com

C.C. would love to hear from you. Because of deadlines, it may take her a day or so to get back with you, but she will reply. cc@cchunterbooks.com

Thanks for reading! Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below.

-Till next time!