Seagrass Pier by Colleen Coble

When Elin Summerall contracted a virus that damaged her heart, she was lucky to get a transplant. At first it was an overwhelmingly good gift. But then she began to remember a murder she never witnessed—the murder of her heart's donor. When she reveals what she knows to a disbelieving police officer, she's exposed as a witness and must flee for her life to a remote cottage on Hope Beach.

Fearing what might happen to her daughter and mother, she asks Marc Everton for help, though she hasn't seen him since the night her father died. Marc is less than convinced that Elin's "memories" are real.

As Elin tries to stay alive and bring the killer to justice, she begins to doubt her own identity. Did her new heart save her life only to cause her to lose herself? And if she's really changed, why does her new heart love Marc just as much as her old one did?

Seagrass Pier by Colleen Coble is A Hope Beach novel but works perfectly well as a standalone novel. The plotline is well paced and includes an excellent mix of suspense, mystery, romance, and danger. There two storylines that weave together; one is the story of the house that Ellin is staying at and its hidden treasure, as narrated by the diary of the original owner. The second and more important storyline is the mysterious killer that is stalking Elin's every footstep. The author did an excellent job setting up the story so that I was left guessing who was the killer until almost the very end when I finally figured it out -and it was not what I expected.  The characters of this novel were interesting and fairly well developed. Both Marc and Elin had their share of flaws and misconceptions towards one another that they had to work through. The idea of Elin developing some of the likes/dislikes of her heart donor was very intriguing, and I have no idea if that is actually possible. There were two other important characters, Sara and Josh, who have been in the previous Hope Beach novels, and they finally had some interesting and sweet developments in their story. The one thing I did not really like about the characters/storyline was the very little mention of God and having faith in Him. He is mentioned a couple of times, but the importance of trusting and having faith in God could have been woven in a little more. Overall, I did enjoy this novel, and I would definitely recommend the series to those who enjoy mysteries and romance.

I received this novel from Book Look Bloggers and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.