Wednesday, February 8, 2017

The Inn at Ocean's Edge by Colleen Coble

Released: April 14, 2015
334 pages
Series: Sunset Cove # 1
About the Book:
 
Claire’s visit to a luxury hotel in Maine awakens repressed memories, threatening all she holds dear. In 1989, Claire Dellamare disappeared from her own fourth birthday party at the Hotel Tourmaline on the island of Folly Shoals, Maine. She showed up a year later at the same hotel, with a note pinned to her dress but no explanation. Nobody knows where Claire spent that year—and until now, Claire didn’t even know she had ever been missing. But when Claire returns to the Hotel Tourmaline for a business meeting with her CEO father, disturbing memories begin to surface . . . despite her parents’ best efforts to keep them forgotten. Luke Rocco lost his mother under equally mysterious circumstances — at the same time Claire disappeared. After a chance encounter reveals the unlikely link between them, Claire and Luke set out together to uncover the truth about what happened that fateful year. With flashbacks swimming just beneath her consciousness and a murderer threatening her safety, Claire’s very life depends on unscrambling her past . . . even if her family refuses to acknowledge it. Someone—maybe everyone—is hiding something from Claire Dellamare, and it will cost her everything to drag the truth out into the light.

My Rating & Thoughts:   ๐ŸŒŸ ๐ŸŒŸ ๐ŸŒŸ (3 stars)


I picked this one up because I wanted to read book # 2, Mermaid Moon, of this series but I could not read that one until I read book one. I was drawn to Claire right after she experiences the panic attack, just like her I wanted to know why the inn caused her to react this way. As she is trying to catch her breath she meets Luke and Meg. This first meeting leads her to more questions about her history. On the same day she also gets attacked. Is everything that happens connected? Or is Claire just having a bad day? I felt for Claire immediately and wanted answers. At chapter 8, the story switches to Kate’s pov, I was so confused by this as I had no idea who Kate was at this point and none of the other characters were around. I even wondered if there was a mistake on my kindle version. But halfway through the chapter Claire returns, so I figured Kate must connect eventually and I just had to wait for it to be revealed. The plot takes quite a few different twists and turns, but I had figured out most of the mystery way before it was revealed. I did enjoy getting to know the three main characters, Claire, Luke & Kate. They each come from different backgrounds and were unique in their own way, no character felt like the other. Claire experiences so much during the search for answers, but some of her reactions don’t seem realistic. For example, she witnesses a murder but when talking to her mom right afterwards it seems more of a “oh, by the way” moment instead of the traumatic event you would kind of expect from someone who has never seen a dead body before. There were a few more moments like this. I was very proud of Kate the moment she stood up for herself, she did not deserve to be treated the way she was. There were quite a few characters I did not like, but I think Ms. Coble wanted me to feel this way about them as each one was hiding something horrible they had done or were doing. The two themes I got from this novel were truth and family. Telling the truth, even if it hurts, is much better than living a lie. What happens when that lie is exposed? What makes a family, is it blood, love or something else? There were no loose ends left at the end of the book, but it also doesn’t end with the traditional happily ever after ending. I am looking forward to starting book 2, maybe I can spend more time with the characters I liked? 
 

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