Mystery on Hope Beach -- Rosemary Cottage

If you're looking for a good Christian story filled with suspense, action, and romance, Colleen Coble's Rosemary Cottage is a great choice.  The setting is inviting, the characters are well-developed, and the suspense grabs you from the very beginning.  

This story illustrates one of the main reasons I read Christian fiction almost exclusively.  The love story is an important element in the book.  You observe the relationship growing between the characters, but it is presented in a way that is God-honoring; no steamy, inappropriate actions or thoughts are needed to tell their story.
                                                                                                    
The mystery is well played, up to the very end of the story.  I had some of the pieces figured out, but I have to admit that parts of the final resolution caught me completely by surprise.

Rosemary Cottage offers a return to Hope Beach, the setting for the first book in this series, Tidewater Inn.  Although the inn and some of the characters from that story show up here, you will have no problem following the story of Rosemary Cottage as a standalone.  (Of course, I would recommend you go back and read the first book as well.  You can read my review here.)

Thanks to the BookSneeze blogging program for providing a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

About the Book:

Amy came to Rosemary Cottage to grieve, to heal, maybe even find love. But there’s a deadly undertow of secrets around Hope Island . . .

The charming Rosemary Cottage on the beach offers Amy Lange respite she needs to mourn her brother, Ben. She’s even thinking of moving her midwife practice to the Outer Banks community. It’s always been a refuge for her and her family. She also wants to investigate Ben’s disappearance at sea. Everyone blames a surfing accident, but Amy has reason to wonder.

Coast Guard officer Curtis Ireland has lost a sibling too. His sister, Gina, was run down by a boat, leaving him to raise her infant daughter. If anyone knew who little Raine’s father was, Curtis could lose his beloved niece. Yet he can’t help being drawn to Hope Beach’s new midwife, Amy. He even agrees to help her investigate what happened to both Ben and Gina.

Can two grieving people with secrets find healing on beautiful Hope Island? Or will their quest for truth set them at odds with each other…and with those who will go to any length to keep hidden things hidden? 

About the Author

Best-selling author Colleen Coble's novels have won or finaled in awards ranging from the Best Books of Indiana, ACFW Book of the Year, RWA’s RITA, the Holt Medallion, the Daphne du Maurier, National Readers' Choice, and the Booksellers Best. She has nearly 2 million books in print and writes romantic mysteries because she loves to see justice prevail. Colleen is CEO of American Christian Fiction Writers and is a member of Romance Writers of America. She lives with her husband Dave in Indiana.

Visit her website at www.colleencoble.com. Twitter @colleencoble.