Death And The Girl Next Door by Darynda Jones Published by St. Martin's Press on October 2, 2012
Pages: 274
Format: eBook
Source: Amazon
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Ten years ago, Lorelei's parents disappeared without a trace. Raised by her grandparents and leaning on the support of her best friends, Lorelei is finally beginning to accept the fact that her parents are never coming home. For Lorelei, life goes on.
High school is not quite as painful as she thinks it will be, and things are as normal as they can be. Until the day the school's designated loner, Cameron Lusk, begins to stalk her, turning up where she least expects it, standing outside her house in the dark, night after night. Things get even more complicated when a new guy—terrifying, tough, sexy Jared Kovach—comes to school. Cameron and Jared instantly despise each other and Lorelei seems to be the reason for their animosity. What does Jared know about her parents? Why does Cameron tell Jared he can't have Lorelei? And what will any of them do when Death comes knocking for real? Thrilling, sassy, sexy, and inventive, Darynda Jones's first foray into the world of teens will leave readers eager for the next installment.
Darynda Jones had me at FIVE FEET TALL…
“I lowered my voice, controlled the tone and inflection of every word, every syllable, striving to make myself sound menacing. I took up a mere five feet of vertical air space, so menacing was not always easy for me to accomplish.”
Welcome to the world of Lorelei McAlister. At five feet tall, red-headed, and alabaster complected, Darynda Jones creates quite the firecracker in our petite heroine. Lorelei’s parents vanished when she was 6 years old and the 10 year anniversary of that fateful day is upon her. Since being orphaned, Lorelei lives with her grandparents who run the town church and a small store. Lorelei and her two best friends, Brooklyn and “Glitch” spend their time between the cliché town cafe and high-school in their small home town of Riley’s Switch, New Mexico. Things are taking their normal course until Lorelei brushes against a tall, dark, and handsome stranger. The vision this encounter gives Lorelei is both beautiful and menacing. Something she can’t make any sense of, and that’s when things start to get weird.
The handsome stranger who inspired Lorelei’s haunting vision shows up at her school and knows more about her than he should. His name is Jared Kovach and he seems to be paying special attention to her along with the school loner, Cameron Lusk (our blonde hottie on the cover). Both of these guys are demonstrating supernatural strength and explosive hostility towards one another, and Lorelei is the catalyst. Jared and Cameron both have a secret and these old souls have an agenda with her. Both want to protect Lorelei’s life, but only one of them is supposed to. Riley’s Switch, New Mexico is about to enter the Twilight Zone.
The snarky humor and wit in this book had me laughing out loud on the very first page. I instantly became a fan of Darynda Jones. My short girl with tall, hot guy fantasies were shown the light of day. This is the first book that I have read where the main character was five feet tall, and being in the same height bracket I instantly connected with Lorelei. Lorelei is a special gal in this book, and I felt like it was about time the awesomeness of short people was represented. A lot of punch is packed into Lorelei’s petite character. She’s clever, charmingly self-deprecating, and brave. The chemistry between ALL of the characters is edgy and humorous, making this story an entertaining read the whole way through. The events and details that unfold through-out caught me off guard. It was a strange and wonderful juxtaposition of heavy elements mixed in with the light. Sometimes you read the first book in a series and you don’t feel obligated (or motivated) to read the next one. This isn’t one of those books. I can’t wait to dive into book two. After reading book one, I’m definitely Team Jared, but I’m keeping Cameron in my back pocket. That’s how I roll.
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