The Inn At Ocean's Edge


I've heard so many wonderful things about Colleen Coble, but I've yet to have the chance to pick up any of her books. When I read the description for The Inn At Ocean's Edge, I decided to remedy this because it just sounded so intriguing and mysterious. I wasn't sure what to expect since this was my first book of hers, but I had super high hopes based on the genre, other reviews I've read of her books, and the way this one sounded. The back cover reads:

"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."

I am sad to say that this book just didn't live up to my expectations, even though I really wanted to love it. My main problem was that just two chapters in, I felt an extreme lack of connection to the characters and parts felt confusing. It was like we jumped into the middle of the book with no lead-in. The writing was almost amateurish and the dialogue was so stilted and unbelievable. It lacked depth - the characters felt like two dimensional cardboard cutouts. The plot itself held so much promise, and indeed, was suspenseful and intriguing. However, the execution of the plot was just lacking something important that I couldn't quite put my finger on. I'm not going to give up on Colleen Coble - I'll give another one of her books a shot, and look forward to the sequel to The Inn At Ocean's Edge in the hopes that she works the kinks out and follows up with a better book for the next installment.

I received a copy of this book from BookLook Bloggers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

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