Spellbound (Harlequin Teen) by Cara Lynn Schultz

Spellbound (Harlequin Teen) by Cara Lynn Schultz

 Spellbound (Harlequin Teen) is the tale of a doomed loved. Present day teen Emma has led a rough life. Her twin brother died when she was fourteen, her mother died almost a year later, and she was almost killed in an accident with her drunken stepfather. Having no one else to turn to, Emma goes to live with her wealthy Aunt Christine. At her new private school, Vince Academy, she learns having money doesn't make you a better person. At VA she meets a whole host of new friends and those not so friendly. There is the resident "freaky witch girl", the cool-in-the-closet-gay friend, the friend that's always hung over, the mean girl, and the jock who isn't quite right, and then there is Brendan. For some reason she finds herself mysteriously drawn to him and him to her. He seems to like her and find her interesting and then he won’t talk to her for weeks on end. On top of dealing with the new social pressures of high school, some very strange things start to happen. The pendant her brother gave her matches the one Brendan has in his locker. What does this mean? What’s with the talk about a doomed love? Why does she keep having flashes of other people's lives? The big question could is, “Could this be flashes of her life?

 In Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz there was good make-believe romance in this book. It was just a little clichéd for my taste. The whole curse on a doomed love has been done a lot. The relationship progression between Emma and Brendan was just “off” somehow. I didn't find that there was anything new brought to the plot. If you are looking for a sweet but sappy destined to be true love story this is your book. Now comes the tough part…the rating. This wasn’t a horrible book, but it wasn’t one that I kept either. I think I tend to rate my books on my blog harder than the ones on LibraryThing and Goodreads. I struggled between giving this one a 2 ½ star and a 3 star rating. I normally don’t try to compare books. However, compared to my other 3 star books this one isn’t quite up to their standard. I give this book a 2 1/2 STAR rating.

***Spellbound (Harlequin Teen) Extras***
Spellbound (Harlequin Teen by Cara Lynn Schultz has approximately 352 pages and was published on June 21, 2011 by Harlequin. The next book in the series is called Spellcaster and will be release March 27, 2012.