Death and the Girl Next Door by Darynda Jones

Death and the Girl Next Door (Darklight, #1)

by Darynda Jones

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? 

Reviewed by littleread1 on

4 of 5 stars

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***WARNING*** This review contains MINOR spoilers, such as if there is a love triangle or not. If you don't consider that a spoiler, or don't care if you know that or not, then read on.

This is my first book by Jones - yes I KNOW I NEED TO READ HER OTHER SERIES - I even have the first book, give me a minute here, I am trying to get caught up, and I was not disappointed!

I wasn't hooked from the start though, it took me a minute to get into the story. At first I thought it was going to be a typical YA love triangle and I was rolling my eyes. We have Lorelei, "Lor" for short, who has a near death experience. Then we have Jared and Cameron, both extremely powerful, both extremely aggressive, and both acting super weird and fighting over her. So I was terribly excited when Cameron started paying attention to the friend. THANK GOODNESS NO TRIANGLE.

I did have a bit of a hard time seeing the attraction Jared had to Lor. He was pretty instantly enamored with her, but he is so quiet and doesn't talk much I just never got WHY. I totally get why she likes/loves him though. I love him too. Even with him being, well, what he is. Or maybe especially because he is what he is.

All in all, once I got sucked in, I couldn't put the book down and IMMEDIATELY went and bought book 2. You know I liked a book when I go for book 2 right away. Always a good sign.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 2 January, 2014: Finished reading
  • 2 January, 2014: Reviewed