Review: Ever Near by Melissa MacVicar

Series: Secret Affinity
Release date: September 11th 2013
Publisher: Red Adept Publishing, LLC
Source: I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
Genre: Young-adult paranormal
Rating: 4 Stars

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?

My thoughts on this YA paranormal...

Hot crushes, summer beach parties, BFF's, and GHOSTS! Yes I said ghost! Ever Near is a YA Paranormal, and it fits perfectly into it's genre, in fact it's just what I was looking for in a good summer read!

Jade just wants to be normal, but when her mom remarries and moves them into Fair-Ever she meets Lacey, a ghost who just happens to have zero self-control. Not to mention her new step brother Charlie whom she's crushed on as long as she can remember.

I felt I could relate to Jade from the get-go because I could see myself making the same decisions if I were in her shoes. Melissa MacVicar does an astounding job developing Jade's character throughout the book. In the beginning of the story when we meet Jade she just wants to be a normal teenager, hiding her secrets because she's afraid of people's reactions. Without giving away too much she learns you can't ignore your problems, you must face them head on and that sometimes it's okay to be vulnerable and lean on loved one's for support.

The setting of Nantucket and Jade's frightening confrontations with ghost marinates beautifully with the romance Melissa MacVicar intermingles into the story, I couldn't ask for a better recipe! Throughout the story the beach scenes are my favorite, the way in which they are described makes you feel as if you are standing barefoot in the sand, hearing the waves come in and the seagulls calling overhead. Ever Near is the perfect summer read!

Check out this cute book trailer...