Shadows in the Sand by Gayle Roper

Carrie is the owner of Carrie's Cafe in Seaside, New Jersey. Greg is the ex-cop & widower who is trying to live with the demons of his past. Carrie's past isn't all roses either. But when her dishwasher goes missing and then later turns up dead, and her waitress's strange behavior starts raising eyebrows, Carrie and Greg work together to figure out what exactly is going on. In the course of doing so, both must come face to face with past fears and learn to trust God and each other.

What a delight to be able to return to Seaside, New Jersey. I remember first "meeting" Greg back in Spring Rain. The story is fast paced and filled with touches of humor and suspense. One of the things that I loved about this book is the fact that forgivenss is one of the biggest themes in the book. Carrie must forgive her mother if she hopes to have a future free of anger and resentment. Greg must forgive himself for allowing his late wife to drive his car which resulted in the deaths of her and their children otherwise his guilt will eat him away. Andi, Carrie's waitress, must forgive her parents for taking her into a cult called The Pathway. Another thing I loved about this book is the fact that the characters felt real to me. I'd met a few of them before in the other Seaside books, and it was good to catch up with them. I loved the way that Twitter and Facebook played such a role in helping the cops apprehend the killer and all the other little details. Used to be the case that in a small town, everyone knew everyone's business. Now, while that's still true, Twitter and Facebook made it so much easier for the officials to know what was happening.

I really enjoyed this book. It's been a long time since I read one of Gayle Roper's books, and I plan on soon dusting off the ones I own and reading them again. I received this book for free from Waterbrook/Multnomah's Blogging for Books program. My thoughts and opinions are my own.