Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz

Summary Provided by Goodreads:

What's a girl to do when meeting The One means she's cursed to die a horrible death?

Life hasn't been easy on sixteen-year-old Emma Conner, so a new start in New York may be just the change she needs. But the posh Upper East Side prep school she has to attend? Not so much. Friendly faces are few and far between, except for one that she's irresistibly drawn to—Brendan Salinger, the guy with the rock-star good looks and the richest kid in school, who might just be her very own white knight.

But even when Brendan inexplicably turns cold, Emma can't stop staring. Ever since she laid eyes on him, strange things have been happening. Streetlamps go out wherever she walks, and Emma's been having the oddest dreams: visions of herself in past lives—visions that warn her to stay away from Brendan. Or else.
 
My Thoughts:
I saw this book on netgalley, but I didn’t request it because it didn’t seem like a book that I would really enjoy. Then it kept popping up on people’s blogs, and I started to read a lot of positive reviews about it. I really liked the cover and let’s face it-it’s from Harlequin Teen, so how bad could it really be! Let’s just say I am so happy that I gave Spellbound a chance. From page 1, I was intrigued. I thought the story was original and I really liked the characters. I also had so many laughs out loud moments and I wish I would have wrote down some of the hilarious lines that I read.

Emma moves to NYC from PA after her alcoholic stepfather drove drunk and almost killed her. Emma already lost her twin brother, Ethan and her mother and is now living with her Great Aunt in the city. She wants to just be normal and try to forget about the horrible things that have happened. When she meets the popular, hot, and rich boy Brendan she feels an undeniable attraction to him. Brendan and Emma begin to realize that their attraction can not be helped because of a curse put upon their souls hundreds of years ago. This curse also means that Emma is going to die. I could not turn the pages fast enough. I had to know what was going to happen.

I found the entire story of the curse very interesting. I thought that Cara Lynn Shultz did a wonderful job explaining it.

I loved everything about Emma. She is a tough cookie. She has been through a lot in her short life, but she is still capable of love and is strong. She lets people in, and isn’t afraid to be herself. I would want Emma as my best friend. Brendan was a little hard to figure out at first and it was hard for me to be able to form an opinion about him. Once I did understand him, I loved him. As much as he loves Emma, he was willing to suffer and be without her to save her life. He wasn’t selfish, and he is genuinely a good person. He really is not the bad boy he originally appears to be.

The secondary characters were also fleshed out in a wonderful way. I enjoyed Emma’s Cousin, Ashley, who was adorable. Emma also meets Cisco and Angelique, who play a huge part in the story. Even her dead brother Ethan plays a much larger role then I would have thought!

Overall, Spellbound was a fast-paced enjoyable story. I loved the ending and I am looking forward to reading more from Shultz.