Review: Starstruck (Starstruck #1)

 Starstruck (Starstruck #1) by Brenda Hiatt
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Release Date: August 2013
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Book Description:

Nerdy astronomy geek Marsha, M to her few friends, has never been anybody special. Orphaned as an infant and reluctantly raised by an overly-strict “aunt,” she’s not even sure who she is. 

M’s dream of someday escaping tiny Jewel, Indiana and making her mark in the world seems impossibly distant until hot new quarterback Rigel inexplicably befriends her. 

As Rigel turns his back on fawning cheerleaders to spend time with M, strange things start to happen: her acne clears up, her eyesight improves to the point she can ditch her thick glasses, and when they touch, sparks fly—literally! 

When M digs for a reason, she discovers deep secrets that will change her formerly humdrum life forever . . . and expose her to perils she never dreamed of. Yes, the middle of nowhere just got a lot more interesting!

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The reason why I had picked "Starstruck" by Brenda Hiatt to read was mostly because I agreed to do a review for the second book in her series, "Starcrosssed" (check back to the site tomorrow to see my review of "Starcrossed"). Even though I only picked up this series for review purposes, I'm glad I did. I flew through both books in a matter of days, and I already miss the characters and the small town of Jewel, Indiana where the story takes place.

This book is a Young Adult Paranormal (which is usually my favorite type, and the "Starstruck" series is living up to my expectations), but since the paranormal factor isn't touched upon until midway through, I won't spoil it for you. I will say that it isn't the humdrum vampires and werewolves that we're used to. Instead, it's a completely different aspect of the paranormal world, and I'm impressed with the way that Hiatt handled it.

Our main character, Marsha (or M to her friends), has lived in the boring town of Jewel for most of her life, and nothing significant ever really happens there. That is until the new kid, Rigel, moves in and starts to show an interest in her. Yes, this part of the book may be the cliché of the nerdy girl finally getting noticed by the popular guy type of Cinderella story, but I don't really care. It's not just M's luck that draws Rigel to her, but there are deeper explanations that have to do with that secret paranormal factor that I'm not going to talk about.

Even if I wasn't annoyed by the cliché of M going from nerd to popular girlfriend of the quarterback, something that did bug me was the instant love between the two. They share this weird bond instantaneously, and even though some part of it has to do with *spoiler*, I still didn't see a real connection being made at first. 

Since M has been unpopular for all of her school life, she doesn't know how to handle the attention that the hot Rigel is giving her, and most of their first interactions are her staring at her hands or giving awkward one word answers. It didn't seem like much of a love connection to me. Yes, later on they are more comfortable with each other and M opens up more, but they're already a serious item by then.

Since M is new to this whole paranormal lifestyle that Rigel eventually introduces her to, she's pretty clueless about all of the ins and outs. This is good for the reader because it provides Hiatt the opportunity to give the reader all of the background information that we need in order to understand what is really going on. We learn about *spoiler* right along with M, so it doesn't seem out of place when the characters start explaining things in greater detail.

Have I said yet that I adore this series? Because I do. I like M a lot, especially as the book (and next book) go on and she becomes more and more comfortable and confident in herself. I like Rigel and their relationship (even if it did seem a bit rushed at first). And I like the overall story. Hiatt took a girl from small town Indiana and put her right in the middle of  *secret spoiler stuff* (do you hate me for not telling you yet? You should just go read the book) and creates a story that becomes very difficult to put down. 

♥ ♥ ♥

Author Bio:

Brenda Hiatt has published fifteen novels with Harlequin and HarperCollins, including six traditional Regency romances, one time travel romance and eight historical romances, most set in Regency England. She is now indie publishing her backlist as she continues to write in these and other genres, to include mystery/suspense and young adult romance.

In addition to writing, Brenda is passionate about embracing life to the fullest, to include scuba diving (she has over 60 dives to her credit), Taekwondo (where she recently achieved her 2nd degree black belt), hiking, traveling, and pursuing new experiences and skills. She is an active member of Romance Writers of America, the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and Novelists, Inc, an international organization of multipublished novelists, where she served as President in 2006. For the past dozen years, Brenda has also collected data on writers' earnings, which she shares at her website.

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