Thursday, January 17, 2013

#Review : Heart of the Ocean by H.B. Moore #Giveaway

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Historical Paranormal Romance 

From Goodreads:


Heart of the Ocean
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A dark secret . . . a grieving ghost . . . a handsome stranger . . . What more could Eliza Robinson want?
Except for maybe her life.
In Heather B. Moore’s enthralling 1840’s historical romance, Heart of the Ocean, Eliza Robinson has turned down the very pretentious Mr. Thomas Beesley’s marriage proposal. As a business partner of Eliza’s father, Thomas quickly discredits the family and brings disgrace to the Robinson name.
While her father scrambles to restore his good name in New York City, Eliza flees to the remote Puritan town of Maybrook to stay with her Aunt Maeve. Although relieved to be away from all- things-male and unforgiving gossip columns, odd things start to happen to Eliza, and she is plagued by a ghostly voice. Her aunt’s explanation? That Eliza is being haunted by a woman who died of a broken heart twenty years ago.
After Aunt Maeve is tragically killed, Eliza's life is put in danger as she tries to uncover the mystery of her aunt's death. She encounters Jonathan Porter in Maybrook, whose presence in the town seems suspicious, yet she finds herself drawn to him. When she discovers that Jonathan’s dark secrets may be the link between the dead woman who haunts her and her aunt’s murderer, Eliza realizes that Jonathan is the one man she should never trust.


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First thing I thought upon seeing this title was the Titanic. Thank God the book has nothing to do with it!! This is a nice, simple story about a soul finding rest - and two people finding love in the process.

Yummies:  I love simply written, straight-forward prose. There's no fluff, no purple littering the pages.

Eliza and Jon, the MC's, are both tortured characters - by society, their pasts, and present circumstances. They both had my empathy immediately. I really enjoyed seeing their lives develop, and was pleased they got the HEA all romance stories have. 

Loved the idea of an historical paranormal romance, even if the paranormal part has more of a light, supernatural feel. The mystery surrounding the ghost and the two characters involved is what kept me clicking my kindle's pages.

Yuckies:  Between scene changes there was a lot of overview, step-by-step narrative telling how characters got from point A to point B. Got a smidge annoying after awhile. The reader really doesn't need to know the character went to the bathroom to brush her teeth before going to breakfast, or what road and hotel someone stayed at before climbing aboard a coach the next morning to reach their final destination. For me, if it isn't necessary and hinders (makes a reader want to skim) then don't put it in the book.

A few too many coincidences for my liking as well. I'm all about surprises and those, 'No Way!' coincidental moments in romance novels, but this book is riddled with them to the point where it felt forced, almost underdeveloped.

Recommend:  While I'm not jumping out of my skin, yes. If you're in the mood for a mysterious and emotional yet light read, this is it.




Author Heather B. Moore
Heather B. Moore is the award-winning author of ten novels, two inspirational non-fiction books, and two anthologies, including The Newport Ladies Book Club Series, A Timeless Romance Anthology, and Christ's Gifts to Women (co-authored by Angela Eschler).

Her historical fiction is published under the pen name H.B. Moore. She is the two-time recipient of Best of State in Literary Fiction, two-time Whitney Award Winner, and two-time Golden Quill Winner for Best Novel. Her most recent historical novel under H.B. Moore is Daughters of Jared (2012 LUW Gold Award of Excellence & 2012 LUW Best Book Trailer).






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