Day: February 25, 2014

I was asked to review this Young Adult Paranormal novel by the author Melissa MacVicar. Before my review here’s what you can expect from ‘Ever Near’ the first book in the Secret Affinity series.

‘Love is ever near. But trouble is never far.

Nantucket Island is haunted, but only sixteen-year-old Jade Irving knows it. Ignoring the disturbing spirits isn’t an option, because one dwells in the enormous historic home she shares with her newly blended family. Jade is finding it more and more difficult to explain away Lacey’s ghostly, anguished tantrums, especially with Charlie, her gorgeous, almost step-brother, living right across the hall.

When a power-hungry ghost hunter tracks down Jade and blackmails her, Jade’s secret teeters on the edge of exposure, and her entire future hangs in the balance. If anyone finds out Jade can talk to ghosts, her life will be forever changed.

Can she save herself, free Lacey, and hang on to her tenuous connection with Charlie? Or will everything she ever wanted slip through her fingers?

Add Ever Near to your Goodreads

My Review

 Ever Near is a Young Adult Paranormal romance.

Teenage Jade’s unusual supernatural gift seems like a curse. It frightens her and interferes with her already complex life. Living on Nantucket Island with her mother who is about to remarry is complicated enough. Jade rarely sees her father or her paternal grandparents whom she loves and misses. Then there’s Charlie her soon to be step brother who she is crushing on. Fair Ever her new family home proves more challenging than she imagined. Only she can see the sad, tormented ghost who lives there.

Terrible nightmares threaten to reveal her secret and Charlie who sleeps across the hall starts to suspect something is amiss with Jade. As they become emotionally attached Jade’s gift threatens to destroy their new-found feelings.

Jade is a lovely character courageous and vulnerable as she battles with entities she cannot fully understand. She turns to the local ghost hunter for help but he only wants to exploit her gift. Dealing with him matures her and proves she isn’t a victim. Until Charlie realises her secret only in her journal can Jade record and make sense of what she sees. Charlie is a great young hero willing to support and protect Jade despite his misgivings about the truth of Jade’s stories.

The story is interesting and well paced and Jade’s observations about the community humorous. I particularly liked the descriptions of the ghosts which produced vivid images in my mind.
The plot is full of suspense as Jade faces conflict on all sides. Help from an unexpected person makes the ending of the story satisfying and believable.
Ever Near is a charming story with romance, humour, poignancy and suspense which make it an absorbing page turning read.
I received a copy of this eBook from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Melissa MacVicar has lived most of her life on Nantucket Island. A true native, she’s able to trace her ancestry back to the island’s first settlers. After attending The Pingree School, she went on to graduate from Franklin and Marshall College with a degree in English. She also received a master’s degree from Boston University School of Social Work. When she turned forty, Melissa decided to renew her adolescent passion for fiction writing. Having once thought writing a novel to be an impossible dream, she’s proud to be achieving her childhood ambition.
Melissa currently lives with her husband and two children on Nantucket where she teaches 7th grade Writing Composition. When she isn’t teaching, parenting, and writing, Melissa enjoys running, eating expensive chocolate, and watching her beloved Patriots.