Actual rating: 4.5/5 stars

This Heart of Mine follows seventeen-year-old Leah MacKenzie who has an artificial heart and due to her rare blood type, has given up hope for a donor heart and resigned herself to her fate. But when a boy from her school, Eric, is found dead in an apparent suicide, she gets her second chance. But after her surgery, she begins to have dreams that make her believe that Eric's death was a murder, not a suicide.
We also follow Matt, whose twin is the one who killed himself. But Matt doesn't believe Eric would've killed himself, and once he finds out about Leah's dreams, they begin their long journey trying to prove their suspicions are right.

I decided to read this book on Valentine's Day and I'm very glad I did. This book was an emotional and wonderful journey that explored grief, love, and how to learn to live again.

Characters and character development
Leah was my favorite character and I found myself favoring her POV over Matt's. Her character's growth and development was incredible and well thought out. Leah's learning to live her life again was emotional and easily my favorite aspect of the novel. I would've been happy with just a novel about Leah and her personal growth and journey!
Matt was an alright character, I felt he somewhat got the short stick in this novel, his chapters just didn't show very much growth. Matt's way of dealing with his grief is unhealthy and his obsessive behavior over his brother's death covered most of his POV; the author made point to say these things were unhealthy through several characters, which I appreciated. The other part was him loving Leah and how she was helping him heal, which I loved. I felt as if we didn't get much personal growth out of him and I found myself wanting...more.

Plot
The plot was pretty fast paced at times, it had some thriller aspects that I enjoyed. But the best part of the plot was the journeys of two families, one dealing with the fear of losing a person they love and the other family dealing with the grief that comes with losing someone they loved.

Writing
This was my first time reading anything by C.C. Hunter and I absolutely loved her writing style. Everything flowed so nicely and it ended up being quite a wonderful and quick read! I want to pick up and read more of her now that I've had such a wonderful experience with her writing.

If you're looking for an emotional and incredible story that portrays grief and the fear of dying along with learning to live your life the best you can, then I'd absolutely pick this book up when it comes out on February 27th of 2018!

I really loved this. I loved the drama that came from Leah and Matt's personal problems, loved the way it changed and re-changed them. I loved that it was a young adult romance with a paranormal-thriller twist to all the suspense. If they weren't trying to figure out their connection between each other, they were trying to discern their connection with Eric and these mysterious dreams that refused to leave them alone. I've never read about someone with a transplant heart, so this was very informative and intriguing to me. It was sad to see Leah so resigned with accepting Death's company but it was even sadder to see her struggle with the illogical guilt of being alive while the owner of the heart could not. I never thought some people would be against things like organ donations but that is an issue brought up in here, one of the many, in fact, that kept me engaged. I thought this was a perfect combination of budding love and paranormal. And if this book can keep me up til six in the morning to read it, I think it must be hooking enough to check out.

I’ve never read Ms. Hunter’s books before. In reading this book, I fell in love with all the characters especially Leah and Matt. I’m a chronic pain warrior and suffer from many conditions such as hydrocephalus which is water on the brain. It requires numerous brain surgeries so I knew exactly how Leah felt. I loved this book

I became a fan of this author's when I read the Shadow Falls books. I was intrigued to read this author's new book which is different from the prior series. I like this new approach that the author had for a story. Hearing about the author's own experience with heart transplants as her husband is a recipient of one is great. Although, when it came to this book, the second half was way better. I just wished that it had happened sooner.

The first half of the story was fine. It just didn't draw me into the story or the characters as much as the second half. The first half of the story felt more like it was all about the set up. Whereas, in the second half, I felt the connection between Matt and Leah. They pulled me into the story. This book was an enjoyable read.

If I could, I would give this a 3.5 stars.

The story was incredibly interesting at first: Leah, a girl with an artificial heart, receives a heart transplant from her crush's twin brother after he died from an apparent suicide. Matt, his twin brother, however, refuses to believe that Eric killed himself and, with help from Leah, sets out to determine the truth. I was so enthralled by the mystery aspect of this novel, that the romance ended up feeling like repetitive filler.

Not that I don't love a good YA love story! For me, unfortunately, this felt a bit too juvenile and immature. There were more pages consisting of Leah worrying about "but what if he doesn't <i>like</i> me" than I thought necessary. Of course, being worried and anxious is a necessity of the teenage experience, but for me, I wanted more mystery-solving than was included in this novel. Of course, I feel like a jerk complaining about this because the whole point of the novel was NOT about Eric's death, but instead, the life it gave Leah and the difficulty of mental and emotional healing following loss. The book left with some great themes about living for tomorrow and allowing yourself to plan for a future even though it isn't promised. I can get behind that.

So. If you like mysteries, this is not something that will hold your attention completely. If you like kissy teen romances with optimistic endings, this is the one for you.

Transplant stories can be a bit controversial. There are real stories about transplant patients having all sorts of odd feelings, dreams, and behaviors after receiving a transplant. But many people who haven't experienced this are skeptical and find stories about this to be...hokey and unrealistic. Before, I address This Heart of Mine I wanted to say that I appreciated that CC Hunter based this story on her husband's own personal experience with being a transplant patient. Of course this story stretches a bit beyond her husband's experience, but it adds credence to things that seem completely impossible.

This Heart of Mine is full of weighty topics and emotion. To start things off, Leah's currently living with an artificial heart, but she knows that this is only a temporary solution. And with her rare blood type, it's unlikely that she'll receive a heart transplant and will probably die. I mean talk about weighty and emotional up front. Matt's father died in the military a couple of years ago and so his entire family (mom and twin brother Eric) are still struggling with the grief from his death. Again...weighty and emotional. But then something happens and Eric dies too. What's ruled as a suicide by the authorities just doesn't sit right with Matt. He knows his twin brother so much that Eric used to accuse him of being inside his head. And Matt knows that Eric wouldn't put his mother and himself through the grief of losing another member of their family. And then Leah received Eric's heart. She's faced with the gratitude that her life may not be as short as she once believed, but that's only possible because someone else died. And even still, there's no guarantee that her body won't ultimately reject the heart. And so now she has the possibility of a future that she never had before, but that future isn't set in stone. So much depth. And the emotion is pretty authentic, especially knowing that CC Hunter experienced some of these same situations with her husband.

Some might accuse Matt and Leah of having an insta-love kind of relationship because of their first encounter that we get to experience. However, I liked that CC Hunter provided a background where each had noticed and liked the other prior to the first encounter that we get as the reader. Also, there's a large gap between their first encounter and their second. Again...this isn't their true first and second encounters...just the ones that are revealed to us as the reader. I really enjoyed their relationship and the balance between the two of them versus their mission of finding out what really happened to Eric.

I did predict what happened to Eric from early on. I had one slight detail off in regards to Cassie, but overall, this aspect of the book wasn't as mysterious as I would really have liked. And the resolution of this part of the book really felt wrapped up maybe a smidgen too quickly. It was like there was a question for so long throughout the book and then BAM it was answered.

Favorite quotes:
-...my grandmother used to say it was okay to see someone in a beautiful red dress and think, I want a dress like hers. But it wasn't okay to think, I want a dress like hers and I want her to have a wart on her nose.

-I reach for the cereal bowl. Heart healthy is printed on large letters on a package. And it shows a bowl of cereal topped with strawberries. Generally when they show fruit on top, it's because you're gonna need it.

-Don't do anything you know you'll regret. But do enough to know exactly what you'll regret and learn to regret less.

Overall, I really enjoyed This Heart of Mine. I'm intrigued by the twin connection and the donor/recipient connection as well. While there were so many emotions that I went through, I didn't cry. I did tear up though. And I liked the relationship between Leah and Matt. I also really loved the friendship between Leah and Brandy. Even though I didn't discuss this in the heart of my review, I would put these two down as one of my favorite sets of BFFs. This Heart of Mine gets 4 Stars. Have you read This Heart of Mine? What did you think? Let me know!

I was drawn to this book, because it seemed to have a lot to offer. An ailing teen, romance, a mysterious death - I predicted tears and smiles from this one, and I did indeed cry and smile.
Pro: Leah was quite wonderful, and Hunter did such a fantastic job conveying her emotions. After having accepted her imminent death, Leah was trying to adjust to the possibility of a future, something she never thought she would have, and this prompted her to contemplate who this "new Leah" was.

•Pro: The romance was so sweet. From their first interaction, I was shipping these two. This was the second chance they never really thought they would get. After years of missed connections, fate puts them in each others orbit and also gives them quite an interesting thing to bond over. I must admit, the romance was probably my favorite part of the story, because, well, I love romance.

•Pro: Matt had quite a few swoony moments, and I liked that Hunter wrote him to be so sensitive. This was the boy I wanted for Leah. She had a tough time and deserved someone who was wonderful.

•Pro: Leah's doctor stole my heart. She was such a wonderfully written character, who shared quite a bit of wisdom with us during the story.

•Pro: Kudos for the present YA parents. Leah's parents were top notch. Maybe a little overprotective, but in all fairness, their only child was dying.

•Pro: There's a bunch of grieving in this book, and everyone knows how much I like that. The healing process was not one-size-fits all and I thought the exploration of the different characters' grief was quite honest.

•Con: I was not the biggest fan of the mystery element. It was ok, but honestly, I just wanted to be in the middle of the romance between Matt and Leah, because I liked it so much.

•Pro: I think the mystery was supposed to get my emotions all heightened, but it was actually Leah's health that did that for me. I cared about her so much, and needed her to be able to enjoy some sort of life without constantly thinking about dying.

•Pro: I liked that Hunter showed us that even with a transplant, life is not easy. There are complications that can occur, and some limitations, but she also reminded us that every moment is precious and to savor them all.

•Pro: I am a registered organ donor and my daughter has been directed to donate my body to science, so I was all over that part of this book. I really like this topic getting a little attention.

•Pro: I shed a few tears during this story, but the tears really fell as I read Hunter's afterword. When reading the story, it was obvious that Hunter was very passionate about organ donation, but when I read why those happy tears that I love so much started falling.

Overall: A heartwarming story, that combined grief, romance, and mystery, and left me with a whole lotta wonderful feels.

I really wanted to enjoy more this book... And let's say the later half was more of a 2.5, but that would make it a 2.25, so it's still 2 stars.

Leah has always been into Matt, whom she felt was out of her league even before she fell sick, was presented an artificial heart and an expiration date. Until one day he's tutoring Math to her one moment and they are kissing the next... Except he never calls again. A month later, Matt finds out his twin brother Eric and best friend is dead. Thanks to his talk with Leah before he convinces his mother to donate the organs. He just didn't expect they would be given to Leah of all people. Now they are connected by Eric's heart and feelings, a scream that the case of his death is far from closed. And yet, they just have each other to talk about it.

Phew, this was long. No, I don't mean the summary. The book was too long. Not only literally long for a YA novel but it also felt like the chapters wouldn't end. In the beginning, I'd read 15% and fall dead tired, because they had felt like 40, 50%. I do feel I'm partially to blame, I started this book looking for a lighter read, so you can see I wasn't on my most patient moment. But this needed serious editing.

To be honest, lack of a better editor sums up my complaint. I didn't love any characters but they didn't have any major flaws in my opinion—I do wonder about Cassie's line of thoughts but that's something else. I think the beginning and the conclusion were also okay. The focus on donation, on how much good it can do and also on Leah's feelings and treatment, that was all amazing—and in the end, I found out Hunter has had to deal with it in her family, so no one can ever accuse her of not knowing what she's talking about.

I'd say my favorite part was the mystery. That kept me wondering about the ending enough not to give up on the book. Plus, the resolution wasn't dumb—I can't opine on details like the police work and all, but I did think pieces fell into place.

That said, I don't think many people would have enough patience to go through it all. The book never really decided if it's a teenage romance (it even includes lots of safe-sex talk), if it's a supernatural story (although it is wonderful how Leah starts dreaming about Eric's death, it never gave me enough thrill), if it's a family story (I loved the moments with Leah's family, Matt's and Eric's love toward each other and their mother, but it hardly sustained a book), if it's a mystery thriller (possible murderer, lots of question, but the plot twist and the action scenes were beyond weak)...

In other words, it could have been great since it has substance, but it does a poor job in entertaining, because it aimed everywhere

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this book. It wasn’t you’re typical love story, because it involved a young girl with a chronic, life-threatening health issue (heart transplant). This was a first, and though I don’t suffer from any chronic health issues, I’m sure some that do appreciated the representation in such an honest, true-to-life way. I kept thinking to myself that this must be something close to the author’s heart, only to read at the end that her husband received a kidney transplant.

I enjoyed this story and found it hard to put down. It was well-written, with a sad-yet-sweet love story, some mystery, and a little bit of supernatural (is that how you’d refer to the whole dream aspect?). Well worth the read!

I would give this book and C.C. Hunter more than five stars if I could. I've always been a fan of Hunter, but this book for me took her writing to a whole different level. It brought out a side that I hadn't previously seen from her before and it was wonderful. There are so many emotions to be felt while reading This Heart of Mine that it's hard to describe all of them. One of my favorite things is the dual POV. I've always loved when books are dual POV because it allows you to see the story from more than one side. The love story that you get to see unfold between Matt and Leah is touch and raw with everything they have been through. I will be recommending this book to everyone I know.

Leah is heartless. Literally. A severe infection damaged her heart, and she now lives with an artificial one, waiting for that ever-elusive heart donor that would lead to her much-needed transplant. She may be heartless, but she’s not *heartless*. Her crush for Matt lingers, and she’s fond of Matt’s twin brother Eric. And then the unexpected happens: Eric kills himself. He is an exact match for Leah. So now Leah has Eric’s heart, and she’s in love with Matt. But Matt has a bad feeling about all this. He misses his twin brother and, what’s worse, he believes his brother did not commit suicide. Something sinister is going on. Will Matt figure it out, and could he and Leah find love amid heartbreak?

“I hate thinking about a transplant. Not just because I don’t think it’ll happen, but because someone having to die to give me life is all kinds of wrong. And that’s what my parents are doing. Sitting around hoping someone will die.”

This is such a heartwarming and moving story. The characters are relatable and full of depth. I love what C.C. Hunter did here. The author delved into the condition of the human spirit in ways that few YA authors have accomplished. I had to know how it would all end. Downsides? Some scenes were abrupt, like the first few pages, when Leah and one of the twins make out. There’s little romantic tension throughout the book. The conflict is well defined — Matt is in a very difficult situation — but I would’ve liked more romantic buildup between the characters. Other than that, This Heart of Mine is a memorable YA read. I give it four out of five heart-shaped swirl cappuccinos.

This Heart of Mine is such an interesting story and the story is about Leah and Matt and Eric's heart. Matt and Leah have gone through tough situations, Matt lost his father and not even a year later he lost his twin brother for apparent suicide. Leah lost the heart she was born with to a virus and the artificial heart that is keeping her alive is just not cutting it and she knows that she needs a new heart otherwise her days as a living, breathing human being are counted.

From the horrible situation that Matt is going through, Leah gets a new chance at living and she knows who she owns that new opportunity to. And so does Matt. He knows who got his brother's heart, and even though he doesn't blame Leah, at first he is mourning so it is hard for him to accept that his brother is dead, but his heart is still beating in someone else's body.

But that doesn't last long because he knows, he is one hundred percent sure his brother didn't kill himself, but nobody believes him. He needs a friend, someone that believes him and that understand what he is going through, and that is how he and Leah become closer friends and their adventure begins.

Honestly I loved the story, both characters are still high schoolers and C.C. Hunter was able to capture the essence of what it is to be that young and be dealing with such horrible situations, and how a real normal teenager would react. A teenager with great determination and moral values that is.

This Heart of Mine also captures the deep connection that exists between twins and family itself. It captures the grieving process and how hard it is for family to deal with suicide, or apparent suicide in the case of this story. There is always denial and how sometimes that can drive people crazy and how important it is to have someone by your side when you are going through such denial, someone to trust and someone that believes you until the moment you come to peace with what happened.

The story is an inspiring, romantic, and an altogether great read. Anyone who is looking for a romance with a twist of adventure and self discovery has to read This Heart of Mine for sure.

The best part of this story is that it really captures what it's like to be a teenager and having to deal with life threatening illness, losing two of the most important people in your life, and still be able to breath and kind of piece your life together little by little. It is a very real story.

The only thing I would say that was a little disappointing and probably the reason why it got only four stars instead of five, is how much time the whole, "my brother didn't kill himself somebody killed him" drama went on and on. For all the truth to be reveal within like two pages. I feel like those chapters where the "did he do it, did he not" questioning happened could have been used better in describing what happened when the truth was revealed instead of just saying what happened with the case with just like four paragraphs.

Over all if you couldn't tell by now, I truly enjoyed This Heart of Mine and I will probably read it again. Totally recommend it!

This Heart of Mine is a lesson that we should enjoy life without forgetting the past, for it has led us to what we are today....

This was a heartwarming (no pun intended) book. It really had me invested and the different view points was great towards the growing romance in the book. Though the book coverers some very heavy topics and handles a lot on loss and grief there is still a great love story built in with survivors as the main characters. There is also an undertone of supernatural connections, but in a well thought out non-supernatural type of book. So basically it wasn't cheesy and too much for a contemporary love story because it made the relationship stronger and ended up help solve the biggest question in the book, but wasn't the sole solution to it. Overall was a super cute fast read. Side note my favorite part was when Eric told Leah to go back and it wasn't her time.."I'm the good-looking twin" ahh heart eyes I'm a sucker for a good contemporary

This is one of those rare times when I finish a book and I’m left with conflicted feelings it doesn’t help that the authors note at the end made me cry leaving me to add a star and tip the scales in its favor.

“This Heart of Mine” follows Leah, a high school senior in desperate need of a heart transplant who finds herself crushing on a boy she used to like, Matt, feeling hopeful and wanting a chance to have normal teenage experiences while also living in fear that her time is running out. All of this is put on hold when Matt’s brother dies by an apparent suicide and his heart is given to Leah resulting in conflicted feelings of jealousy and love as he tries to tackle the fact that he had to lose one person he cared about to save another. When Leah and Matt start having strange dreams and acting out of character they team up to try and uncover if Eric’s death was a suicide like the police say or something more sinister.

The concept itself is great and as someone who has watched a friend go through a similar situation it was nice to see how realistic the after care was and the fear of the body rejecting the only thing keeping Leah alive, however everything around that left a bit to be desired.

This is more of a story about learning to accept the idea of having a tomorrow when all you are used to knowing is the now and less about solving the mystery. Yeah it’s there but it’s more of a background conflict that paves that way for Leah’s growth and Matt’s healing and unfortunately the answer is something you pick up on pretty fast making the reveal so anti climactic. I’m not sure if that was done on purpose to psyche out the audience for a moment later in regard to Leah, but to me it was just disappointing.

The characters themselves are okay I didn’t really feel attached to any of them and sadly the only relationship I cared about was Leah and her doctor everything else felt pretty bland in comparison.

Also and this is more of a side note because it might just be the formatting on the copy I received but there were a lot of moments when I had to go back and reread entire pages because the point of view would switch without any warning like a page or chapter break and I would have no idea what was going on or who was in charge of the narrative until a pronoun or name was used.

Anyone looking for an easy read that deals with romance, grief and learning to take a chance on life will probably enjoy this book, unfortunately it just wasn’t for me.

**thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

A truly beautiful heart wrenching read that will have you on the edge of your seat until the very last page! This book had it all. Mystery, suspense and raw emotions! I literally couldn’t put it down. Highly recommend you read this book.

I would actually give this one 3.5 stars. C. C. Hunter has written an enjoyable story of mystery and romance with a healthy dash of medical thriller. Seventeen -year-old Leah has had a crush on Matt since 7th grade. She is surprised when he turns up at her door as a substitute for her usual tutor. Leah knows that she is dying. She is being kept alive by an artificial heart while waiting for the transplant that she doesn't expect to happen. Leah has relatively rare AB blood. Leah decides that since she expects to die she might as well finally kiss this boy that she has crushed on for so long. The kiss is everything she imagined it might be. Matt tells her that he has AB blood and if he could donate a kidney he would. Leah boldly gives him her phone number but a month goes by and he doesn't call. She doesn't much blame him for not wanting to get involved with a dying girl. Then, amazingly she gets the call that a heart is available for her, but she discovers the heart is that of Matt's twin brother Eric who is believed to have committed suicide.
After the transplant Leah begins to have vivid dreams of someone being chased through the park with a gun in hand. She discovers Matt has never accepted that Eric committed suicide and is having similar dreams. The two join forces to try to discover what really happened to Eric. Even as Leah falls more in love with Matt and is determined to help him, she hides fears that her body may reject the transplant. My thanks to NetGalley for permission to read an advance copy in return for an honest review

I was sold on this book from the get-go because even though I don't suffer from the same heart condition that the MC does, I do suffer from a heart condition and I know how scary that can be. I was unsure if this would be a trigger for me and I was a little nervous going in, but it ended up being just fine. I feel like I could relate to the MC's feelings but it didn't cause me any anxiety at all and again, I think that's because my heart condition is so drastically different.


To be honest, this is the first time I considered giving a book a 3.75 because I was so undecided between 3.5 stars and 4. The more I think on it, the more undecided I am. I really did like a lot of the story, but it left me feeling a little unresolved. I'm not sure if this was due to the murder mystery aspect of the story or the health condition aspect of the story. But either way, I was left feeling like the story didn't truly end, but not in the way that an open ending would. Just more of a build up build up build up...and then fizzle. I really loved the MC, Leah, and her family a whole lot. I enjoyed reading from both the perspectives of Leah and Eric. I liked seeing her interact with her old life as the new Leah and really enjoyed her interactions with her cardiologist.

Review will go live February 20th on my blog and on Goodreads.

It's been a while since I've read a damn good contemporary. But that all changed with this book. This Heart of Mine by C.C. Hunter made me laugh, it made me cry, but most importantly it taught me a lesson that is so easy to forget.

This book follows Leah, a high school student with an artificial heart. She carries her heart around in a backpack until one day she is fortunate enough for a transplant. Enter Matt, the charmingly handsome boy who's twin brother Eric's heart Leah was fortunate to receive after Eric committed suicide. After Leah gets her transplant, she starts to have dreams hinting that it may not have been a suicide after all. She and Matt bond over this unsettling notion, because like Leah, Matt is also having dreams and feeling's regarding Eric's demise. Leah promises to help Matt get to the bottom of what really happened to Eric...after all, she did get his heart, and the fact that she's falling for Matt doesn't hurt.

This book was way more than I ever hoped for. There's love and passion, mystery, fear, and above all else, hope. Hope to get to the bottom of what happened to Eric. Hope that Leah's body won't reject her new heart. Hope that Matt and Leah's relationship really is the real deal. And an underlying but ever present hope for tomorrow. This book teaches us to not give up that hope, and to take advantage of what time we are given. Life is too short to waste it worrying about what could happen rather than actually living our lives. I sound like a complete cheese ball, but really this book was incredibly cheesy and I wouldn't have it any other way. As a 28 year old, it takes a lot for a YA contemporary to touch me, but this one not only touched me but violently grabbed at my heartstrings and pulled until I was drained of all emotion after both laughing and crying my way thorough this book.

And to top it all off, not only is this just about the best contemporary I've ever read, but it's an own voices novel! The author's husband had a kidney transplant that saved his life, so all the emotions, both hope and fear, packed into this novel are 100% genuine.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

A huge thank you to St. Martin's Press for allowing me early digital access to this book. This Heart of Mine by C.C. Hunter releases on February 27th, so be sure to pick up a copy!