Ultra Meital Reviews: Falling for the Ghost of You by Nicole Christie

This one tells the story of Violet a teenage school girl who falls in love in practically the "(not only) American Dream" - he's gorgeous, he's rich, he's a little older than her (college guys are the hottest, right?), he's experienced with girls (but as always he's not the relationship kinda guy..) and as a bonus it seems that he's her soon to be step brother.. oh, his name is Zane (as a Cut & Run addict I clearly approve of the name :D)

Violet's mother and her soon to be step father decide to go on a pre-marriage honeymoon and leave 17 years old Violet with a friend of her mother. Too bad she is called off to help her daughter somewhere far away and can't have Violet staying in her apartment while she is away. Having no other choice Violet ask Zane to "crash" at his place. Things start to heat up between the two of them quite quickly but neither of them wants to make the first move. Zane doesn't want to hurt Violet who is far less experienced than he is and she isn't sure she is willing to trust him since she had her disappointments in the past (her ex and her father both are cheaters!). But nevertheless love blooms..

Violet accidentally finds out Zane is keeping something from her. She isn't brave enough to confront him about it. His secret is HUGE and he doesn't tell her because it is obvious to him that it's either she accepts it or she walks away without looking back and he isn't willing to let that happen so he continues to keep his damn secret.

I must admit that recently I "discovered" a truth about myself ;) I'm not a fan of Young Adult novels.. I'm not sure if it's because I hated been a teenager myself or because the characters are usually quite immature - anyhow I don't have a lot of patience to listen to teenagers narrations.. and yet I decided to read this book. A bit strange, I know.. Actually I stumbled on to this book randomly when I was bored browsing through the recommended books on Amazon's website. Haven't a clue why they would recommend a YA book when I hardly read any but the summary seemed fun so why not.. I forgot about it for a few months than saw it again recently and thought to myself I should give it a chance. a right call! who would have believed I would LOVE it? :)

Lets put the truth on the table here - I'm a clumsy klotz! so I can appreciate it when I read of one! But Violet is a whole new level of clumsy! hooooo yeahhh She also says a lot of things she REALLY didn't mean to say but they kinda "slip" with no sane reason.. I should say it's genetic since her mother isn't tactful herself... I died laughing too many times reading this book. I literally had to stop reading, put the book aside before I could continue reading. I usually don't quote since I find that a kind of a spoiler but this has nothing very spoilery about it so..

The next night I walk in on Zane just coming out of the shower. He's wearing nothing but a towel knotted low around his waist. Beads of water slide down his tanned muscles, from his chest down to the fascinating ridges along his hips..

Don't worry, I handle it well. I scream "Ewww" and run from the room.

No, I really did. I walked into that room and saw the hottest, sexiest guy I've ever seen - wet and half naked. And I said, "Ewww."

I know. How am I still single, right?

and there are SO many examples of things she would have LOVED NOT having said.. to him or in general...

What I dislikes about this book? well, first, I guess I'm kinda rusty in books that sounds a bit like grandpa's narration in "Princess Bride" movie:

Grandpa: They rode to freedom. And as dawn arose, Westley and Buttercup knew they were safe. A wave of love swept over them. And as they reached for each other...

- - - Grandpa closes the book - - -

The Kid: What? What?

Grandpa: No, it's kissing again. You don't want to hear that.

It's not that I'm looking for erotic scenes in everything that I read but in this book it really felt like it was oriented to crowds much younger than I am.

Secondly the concept of Zane's secret felt mmm chewed? I must admit I didn't see that one coming but it's something that again falls into the category of the most wanted dream which might appeal to younger crowd more than someone my age... it's kinda hard writing this without spoilering so I'll try and hint if off in my own devilish way ;) I read one book who dealt with this concept in the past. I gave it 1 star even though I explicitly wrote I didn't finish reading it.. figure this one out! :D

The two points above "works" with a YA book and didn't bother me THAT much but the third and last one did! (which is the reason I gave this 4 stars) - I really didn't like what happened with Lauren (Violet's best friend) and especially the conclusion of the situation. I'm not sure what was the point in it and I feel that first it didn't "go" with her character and the conclusion in my (mature) eyes wouldn't do her personally any good though it is implied that it does.

I'd recommend this one to young adult or whoever love reading about teens. I mostly enjoyed the funny parts and the teasing between the two of them. The romance wasn't my favorite kind and again I "blame" the age of the characters and not the writing. It makes me wonder if I'll venture to read more YA books. The writing was fun and flowing. I actually read this one in one day and laugh my ass off SO many times. So maybe if I know it's going to be a least half a comedy I'll try it ;)