Because You're Mine 

ebook, paperback, hardcover, audio

by Colleen Coble

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (reprint edition) 
• January 10, 2017
• ISBN-13: 978-0718083809

Amid the beauty of Charleston, not all is as it seems.

When her husband Liam is killed by a car bomb while their Celtic band is on tour in Charleston, singer and Irish beauty Alanna doesn’t quite know where to turn. Her father-in-law is threatening to take custody of the baby she carries, but Alanna knows she can’t lose the only piece of Liam she has left.

Alanna’s manager offers her a marriage of convenience to obtain U.S. citizenship and allow her to escape her father-in-law’s control. It seems like the perfect solution until she arrives at the family home of her new husband—a decaying mansion with more questions than answers.

Strange things begin happening that threaten Alanna’s life and the life of her child. Are they merely coincidences? Or is something more sinister at work?

A mysterious painting, a haunting melody, and a love stronger than death leave Alanna questioning where darkness ends and light begins.

My thoughts: First, the disclaimer. "I was provided a free  copy of this book. All opinions are my own." That done, websites say this is a reprint but I can't find any mention of when it was originally published or under what title. It reads like a much earlier Colleen Coble novel, not her more recent, stellar ones. This one was creepy, creepy, creepy. (shudder)

Alanna's husband is barely in the grave when despite warnings from her friends, she marries  her band manager to keep her former in-laws from kidnapping her not-yet-born baby. It gets creeper as the new husband lives in a "haunted" mansion, has family members living with him she never even knew existed, and seems to have a fascination with redheads and alligators. Not necessarily in that order. 

Jesse is her first husband's best friend and when a failed "suicide/murder" attempt goes south, leaving one dead and the other alive, Jesse finds himself trying to piece together a life he doesn't remember. Why no one does DNA testing, I don't know (written prior to it?) but he finds him having never before talents of his best friend and a despicable life that had gotten him fired multiple times in the past. 

While creepy and not as stellar written, BECAUSE YOU'RE MINE is still addicting and I had to find out what happens next. We *know * all is not as it seems, and due to  my knowledge of formula and the genre I *knew* who the bad *guy* was and what *really happened* as well as a few other things. But I won't give any spoilers away. There is no faith message. 

Mystery novels might enjoy this reprinted work by Colleen Coble.