Cocktails and Books
Written on May 22, 2011
Emma’s living with her Aunt, after escaping a death at the hands of her drunken step father. She’s enrolled it a very posh private school, where her aunt is on the board and her younger cousin is her only ally amongst the student body. When she meets Brendan Salinger, she doesn’t expect her reaction.
“He turned and looks at me for a brief second - any my pulse sped. I didn’t expect my response. I’d been around good looking guys before -- but this guy looked like a rock star. Long black lashes framed his green eyes - twinkling green eyes that locked with mine.”
I like that Emma had issues fitting in at the new school. She didn’t fit into any of the pre-established “cliques” and didn’t really try, figuring out what the dynamics were at the school pretty quickly. She did manage to make friends with the “outcast” Angelique, when no one else would because she was a scholarship student. I also like the fact that even though Emma felt drawn to Brendan, she wasn’t overly obsessive about him (which could have very easily happened).
Brendan was one of those male characters that we all wished we had as our first (and true) love in high school. Once he stopped running from what he was feeling, he was the boyfriend that made his girlfriend feel like a princess. He was protective, but not in the “I’m going to put you in a bubble” sense. Even when he knew that the two of them being together could be disastrous for Emma, he admitted he wasn’t willing to let her go.
The story did have it’s villans and they were spectacular in a high school kind of way. Kristin was the ultimate bitch and made sure to make Emma’s life a living hell. How dare she snag the hot guy! And we can’t forget about Anthony. He was evil, in every sense of the word.
Sprinkle in a little magic, some century old curses and plain old high school woes and you’ve got yourself quite an enjoyable read. I recommend this one.