Review: Summer in Salem

Summer in Salem by Brina Courtney
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Release Date: September 2012
Buy Links:

Amzon

Book Description:

Teagen’s summer has been turned upside down by a body, a pentagram necklace, and an old flame.

Nine months ago, Teagan Matthews' boyfriend disappeared and took her sense of stability with him. But when the opportunity to live with her aging grandmother in Salem arises, she decides it's time to get on with her life. A new home, new job and new friends are adding up to a beautiful summer...

...until a young girl's body shows up one night in town, wearing a necklace exactly like Teagan's.

Now a guy looking remarkably like her missing boyfriend has arrived in Salem along with a mysterious stranger who may have some answers that Teagan has desperately been searching for. Teagan must now decide who to trust. It's a matter of life... and her death.

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Irish accents are hot, which is the first thing you should note about this story even though you won’t know what I’m talking about until you get a quarter way into the book.

Believe it or not the thing that drew me to Summer in Salem by Brina Courtney was the name of the main character. I was reading through the synopsis and it was just such a refreshing and unique name that I figured anyone who can be that creative with just a name, must have an even more creative story to tell. And I was right.

Teagan Matthews is a young woman who has lost her way. A tragic moment in her life forced her to reevaluate things and she hasn’t been the same since. Lucky for her, Teagan’s grandmother is having some issues living all by herself in Salem and so she goes to spend the summer with her and what she uncovers will change her life forever. The secrets shrouded in mystery that Teagan finds awaiting her in Salem frighten and excite her, but they also bring danger and pain.



The plot for this story was good and I enjoyed following Teagan as she came out of her shell in Salem and met Larkin, another awesome name, and started working at the local art gallery. While I enjoyed Teagon’s character and how strong willed she was her initial refusal to believe in anything magical sort of bugged me. But that was rectified throughout the story and I really liked the change in Teagan throughout the book.

She went from thinking all things magic and witches were a joke to the other end of the spectrum. By the end of the story she’s ready to learn and embrace her heritage and I love that. Another character that I thought was great was Larkin. I can relate to the quick friendship that was built between the two girls. Sometimes when you meet someone, it’s like there’s this instant click and I feel like that’s what happened between Larkin and Teagan.

Then there’s Seth, I can picture this adorably handsome Irish guy in my head and all I want to do is swoon every time he pops up in the book. I like his loyalty to Teagan, but I am really glad this is a serious because I feel like there’s so much we didn’t learn about him. There’s a scene where he’s looking at a painting in the gallery, Teagan’s painting and he’s talking about it in regards to what Jason told him, which meant he knew Jason before and I want to know how.

There’s a pretty awesome twist in the story, but I’m not going to give it away. It happens fairly soon in the beginning and when I realized what was happening I was like:



There wasn’t much romance which is how I usually like my supernatural stories, but the actual plot unfolding kept me interested and involved. Then there was the second to last chapter…or maybe third to last I can’t remember, but it broke my heart! I was like:


So incredibly sad, but the story ended on a hopeful note where Teagan is ready to tackle the life that she stumbled into and move forward. The last scene is sort of inspired. I really enjoyed this book and if the whole paranormal witch thing is your scene, I think you’ll really enjoy Summer in Salem, so check it out.

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Author Bio:

Brina Courtney is a young adult author obsessed with chocolate, crime shows, and fantasy movies. She's spent the last few years as an elementary teacher and a high school cheering coach. She lives in a small town in Pennsylvania with her husband and two very loud, small dogs.

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