Mar012012

GUEST REVIEW: Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz

by Guest Reviewer • Posted in 4.5 Star Reviews

Spellbound (Spellbound #1) by Cara Lynn Shultz
Harlequin Teen (June 2011) | Ebook, pages
Paranormal YA

Guest Reviewer: Casey

When I started reading Spellbound, I figured it would be another one of those cutesy, kind of romantic, fluff stories that are rather rampant in YA. (Not that I don’t like those books, they’re just not my favorites.) Spellbound took me by surprise by being so much more than that.

Spellbound was a love story through and through. It made the romantic in me sigh in happiness. Yet there was enough magic and action/fight scenes to keep the rest of me appeased too. The angst and the we-want-but-we-can’t-be-together never got to the point of annoying me. In fact, it really only made the inevitable that much sweeter.

The plot wasn’t completely about Emma and Brendan getting together either. They each had to over come family/personal issues before they could even begin to figure out how to break the curse that was set on them lifetimes ago. Emma was strong yet vulnerable, which was an odd combination, but it worked. She was almost afraid of confrontation unless someone she loved was being hurt. Then there was no stopping Emma, even if what she did could be considered excessively stupid.

Brendan was everything I wanted and more. Sweet, funny, romantic yet cynical with a bad boy attitude. And did I mention he was yummy? Because he was so deliciously yummy. Very swoon/drool worthy. He wasn’t the typical boyfriend that pops up in YA books; he wasn’t exactly what you’d call perfect but his imperfections made him all the more alluring.

VERDICT:

To make a really cheesy joke, Spellbound kept me spellbound. I was riveted from the beginning, and alternately sighed and swooned through the rest of it. I cannot wait to see what happens next in Spellcaster. (Though I don’t know if it could possibly beat Spellbound. That’s going to be a tough call to make.)

RATING: