13 to Life by Shannon Delany

Everything about Jessie Gillmansen’s life changed when her mother died. Now even her hometown of Junction is changing.  Mysterious dark things are happening. All Jessie wants is to avoid more change. But showing a hot new guy around Junction High, she’s about to discover a whole new type of change. Pietr Rusakova is more than good looks and a fascinating accent—he’s a guy with a dangerous secret. And his very existence is sure to bring big trouble to Jessie’s small town.  It seems change is the one thing Jessie can’t avoid…(courtesy of Amazon)

Shannon Delany brings us Book 1 in the 13 to Life series.  I'm a fan of werewolf/shifter series, so when I heard this book recommended from a fellow book lover on another site (book reader addicts) I figured I would give it a try.  I didn't have to try hard, I was completely enthralled in this book.  The storyline is there from the moment you open the book.  Our lead character is a high school junior, she has been through amazing tragedy and is overcoming it as she moves to finish high school.  Enters her headache - steamy new Russian student - Pietr - he's her shadow as he's learning the new school.

But funny – Pietr is Russian and there is a lot of Russia controversy in the news…and guess what he’s from a town where there was some interesting happenings. Could he be what he claims to be? The interaction between the two starts out as aggravated with each other and ends up aggravated that they can’t be with each other enough.  The sweet onset of romance promises good things to come.  There definitely was a lot going on in this book, I felt that there are quite a few possibilities for this series to just continue and be over the top.  A few storylines were opened and not yet completely explained, ending with a slight wrap up, I can't wait for Book 2 in Feb 2011.

5 slices