REVIEW: Heart-Shaped Stone (+$25 Amazon GC Giveaway!)

Title: Heart-Shaped Stone

Author: Arby Corry

Series: N/A

Pages: 292

Date Published: July 31, 2014

Publisher: Createspace

Format: Paperback

Genre: Romantic Thriller/Mystery

Source: Goddess Fish Blog Tours
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Synopsis:

Caila, like most dreamers, just wants to be wanted. Unlike most dreamers, she's wanted by the CIA. When the last decade of thirty-two year old Caila Domenici's life disappears, destroyed in a car accident, she is forced to begin again. Defying doctor's orders to slow-go-it, she sets out to navigate the world on her own. It's not going well. Coddled from birth, everything from a bus schedule to how to boil water confounds her. Worse yet, she's about to accept her meddling mother's offer to pay for food and rent. With just a hunch her talents extend beyond that of daughter of privilege, Caila searches for her past. Before she can find it, it finds her. And the handsome azure-eyed stranger who's saying he knows her is somehow part of it. Caila always believed there had to be more, but now, on the verge of discovering the truth, she must decide which is worse - never knowing who she really is, or knowing too much

~My Thoughts~

So the book starts off with a bang...literally, Calia's life is destroyed in a car accident and she has to start over completely new. She sets out to find herself and make a life where she is independent, and knows herself and her own choices. Along the way, she discovers the 

The blend and interplay of romance vs. mystery was beautifully done, and I never felt that the story was being sidetracked because of one or the other. Lol...sometimes I get so frustrated when like...the couple is in danger and they take a minute to make-out against a shed wall or something...um...HELLO there's a murderer out there about to go Stabby-Mc-Stabberson on you guys but no he's just so overwhelmingly hot that you've got to find out what his tonsils taste like before you die...

Needless to say, Heart-Shaped Stone was NOT like that at all. There really isn't murderers involved for the most part...so I was able to be swept away by the hero and only worrying about personal drama mystery was great. The plot moved well, and balanced the romance and mystery subplots wonderfully with no spontaneous murderous make out sessions. 

All in all, I'd say that Heart-Shaped Stone is a good summer read, perfect for lazy days in a hammock or by the beach! 

~Try an Excerpt!~

Reese was being too nice. Something was up - their deep conversation the night before, the bubble bath, the tea, turning down her bed and now breakfast? Caila wasn’t suspicious by nature, and in most cases trusted more than she should, but where Reese was concerned she dropped all pretenses and questioned his every move. He was much too calculating to not see opportunity in everything he did. Caila recognized that in him right away. Her mind was now churning with theories. Why, if he was up to something, would he be so blatant with this sudden kindness? Did he think she would not notice?

Then she imagined the most unexpected thing.

Maybe he wasn’t up to anything at all. Maybe this was another side to the man she detested right from the start. The invader, the man who came to make her life a living hell and push aside her father may not, after all, be the man she believed him to be. But even that theory was short lived.

No, she thought, he has a motive.

~Meet Arby!~ 

Arby Corry has spent the last twenty-five years in the radio business. Performing every job from radio announcer, to program director, to commercial producer to copy writer, Arby gives voice to characters found just on the other end of the request line. Her debut novel, Heart-Shaped Stone, has received critical acclaim as well as delighting readers with its fresh approach. Arby believes in real characters, with real voices. And while a happy ending is always satisfying, she believes life has other plans. When not on the air or writing her follow-up to Heart-Shaped Stone, Arby enjoys spending time with her husband, children and the great outdoors of the Pacific Northwest.

Arby Corry will be awarding $50 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour, and a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn host.

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