— New York Times bestselling author PC Cast
"Heartbreaking and heroic. Hunter’s characters will leave you breathless and flipping the pages for more."— New York Times bestselling author Kristin Cast
After ten books and millions of readers, C.C. Hunter’s New York Times bestselling Shadow Falls series came to an end last
year. Now with a popular paranormal young adult series behind her, Hunter decided to turn her prolific pen to a new
project, a personal YA contemporary. THIS HEART OF MINE (Wednesday Books; February 27, 2018) tells the story of a
teen girl who receives a lifesaving transplant and discovers there is more to the heart keeping her alive. With Hunter’s
experience as her husband waited on the transplant list, her change in genre is full of real emotion and love that can
only come from the author’s heart.
Seventeen-year-old Leah MacKenzie is heartless. An artificial heart in a backpack is keeping her alive, which will only
work for 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 an amazing second chance at life. Then Leah discovers who
the donor was—a boy from her school—and people are saying he killed himself. Plagued with unsettling dreams since
the transplant, Leah 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 important. 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 that living took more courage than dying?
Switching genres from paranormal to contemporary came from an extremely personal place for Hunter, as her
husband’s life was saved by the transplant list much like Leah’s. She says, “His journey, his pain, my pain, his fear, my
fear, and our enormous appreciation to the donor and his family for the gift of life, poured out of my soul and into my
keyboard.” The effect is palpable making THIS HEART OF MINE a haunting, poignant tale about living and dying,
surviving grief, guilt, and heartache, while discovering love and hope.
Genre: Heart-Wrenching, Mystery, Romance, Supernatural, Suspense, Teen--
Leah has an artificial heart that keeps her alive which she carries around in a backpack, no hope for a regular life or transplant. Matt is coping with the death of his father and the depression and isolation his mother and twin spiral into. When Leah and Matt have one forced afternoon together, full of normalcy and fun, they know it won't last. But how could they have ever predicted that Matt's twin would die and Leah would received his heart- as well as his memories...
I am such a fan of C.C. Hunter's Shadow Falls series so when I saw she had a new YA mystery I was so excited to get my hands on it. Not only is this a suspense filled mystery with romantic elements, but it was about a heart transplant where there were paranormal elements (yes, I love myself some "death" books as my family calls them where the main character may be dying from a terrible disease- and yes, I consider that a genre!). As a side note, I had a talk with my science friend today where we discussed the legitimacy of having leftover memories from getting a heart transplant, and due to science, this is a true phenomenon that has been documented- consider this your fact for today.
She asks me to unbutton my top . I almost don’t care that I’m flashing my boobs. I think everyone in the hospital has seen them. They try to cover them up with the sides of my pajama top when they examine me, but it never fails, something slips. Boobs are slippery like that.
...Hell, if this was Mardi Gras I would have a fortune in beads.
I did enjoy how C.C. occasionally threw in some random moments of humor to break up the sorrow and tension of the story, be it a puppy encounter, a Christie Craig reference (nice!) or a random inappropriate comment. I use humor as a tool all the time so it really helped me to relate to the characters and situation, a way to make everything feel real. Matt was really cute and reliable, the support for all those around him even while he is hurting on the inside. That boy needed a hug, desperately (but a puppy is a good hug replacement, just saying). Leah has a killer defense mechanism of humor, able to deflect the most uncomfortable of situations, be it public speaking, battling death or facing heartbreak (metaphorical!). Seriously, Leah could be my soul sister with her sarcasm and deflection. I appreciated her so very much, every quirky comment, even when she was making the worst, most frustrating of decisions!
He laughs. Deep, happy laughter. I have no idea what’s funny. “What?” I garble the question out around my makeshift toothbrush. “You. Seeing you so . . .
normal.”
Since when is me panicking, finger-brushing my teeth, and holding up one Dumbo normal?
Overall I found this story to be engaging and really fast read, even while dealing with some dark hard topics. I highly recommend This Heart Of Mine for anyone who wants a murder mystery with paranormall undertones and a meant to be romance.
Author Bio:
C.C. Hunter grew up in Alabama, where she caught lightning bugs, ran barefoot, and regularly rescued potential princes, in the form of Alabama bullfrogs, from her brothers. Today, she's still fascinated with lightning bugs, mostly wears shoes, but has turned her focus to rescuing mammals. She now lives in Texas with her four rescued cats, one dog, and a prince of a husband, who for the record, is so not a frog. When she's not writing, she's reading, spending time with her family, or is shooting things-with a camera, not a gun.
C.C. Hunter is a pseudonym. Her real name is Christie Craig and she also writes humorous romantic suspense romance novels for Grand Central. 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
EVENTS FOR THIS HEART OF MINE- Come meet C.C. and pick up a copy of This Heart of Mine!
HOUSTON, TX
Monday, February 26, 7:00 PM
LAUNCH PARTY at Blue Willow Bookshop
14532 Memorial Drive, Houston, TX 77079
DALLAS, TX
Monday, March 5, 7:00 PM
Interabang Books
10720 Preston Road, Ste 1009B, Dallas, TX 75230
KATY, TX
Thursday, March 22
Katy Budget Books with Farrah Penn
2450 Fry Rd, Houston, TX 77084
No comments:
Post a Comment