by Libby Heily
Genre: YA Magical Mystery
Release Date: June 12th 2016
Fire & Ice Young Adult Books
Summary from Goodreads:
Sixteen-year-old Grape Merriweather has just moved to Sortilege Falls and already she knows something isn't right. A small pack of teenage models, too beautiful for words, holds the town in their sway. The models have no plans on making Grape's life easy. But no matter how cruel they are to Grape and the other Normals, no one can stay angry with them for long.
Grape's life changes for the better, or so she thinks, when Mandy, the only nice model, befriends her. But that’s when the trouble truly begins. Mandy's friendship places Grape smack in the middle of a medical mystery that has the entire town on edge. One by one, the models fall ill from an incurable disease. Grape quickly realizes that the models' parents are hiding a secret, even as they watch their children die. To save her only friend, Grape will have to find the truth–and that means putting her life in danger.
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Amazon│Barnes & Noble│iTunes│Kobo│SmashwordsEXCERPT:
Grape is in her backyard at night. Her brother, Brad, has just gone off into the woods to collect plants–Brad is a huge botany nut. Grape is staring into the distance, trying to see into the woods when she hears something behind her:
Fancy meeting you here.
Grape screamed.
Calm down, the vamp kid from school said, his hands raised in the air like a victim. He had switched his purple shirt for a black one and slicked his curly hair back as well. It’s cool. It’s just me, he said and reached out to grab her shoulder.
Grape pushed him hard in the chest, making him stumble backward. Don’t touch me. What are you doing here?
He regained his balance and rubbed his chest where she’d shoved him. I wanted to see where you lived. That really hurt.
She slit her eyes at him. I’m glad it hurt. It was supposed to.
That’s not very nice.
Grape grabbed the lawn chair and held it above her head. Are you a stalker?
No.
You’re sneaking around my house at night wearing all black. She readied herself to swing the lawn chair. It was pretty light and wouldn’t do much damage so she decided to aim for a vulnerable spot—his face.
No. I just thought... I don’t know. I thought you looked nice.
Do I look nice now? She gave the chair a swing, missing his nose by inches. She hopped back a little and held the chair up high again. He got one warning shot, that was it. The next swing would break his nose.
I’m sorry. I thought this would be romantic. He reached into his baggy pants pocket and pulled out an iPod with a little set of speakers attached. I was going to play a song for you.
Totally creepy!
No. Really, listen.
He pressed play and an unholy mix of instruments blasted out in a tinny blare. He shut it off quickly. Wrong song. One second.
Leave.
He looked up at her with heartbreak in his eyes. I just need one second.
Shoo! Go! Off with you! She shoved the chair at his chest, driving him backward.
He gave her one last dejected look and walked around the corner of the house toward the street.
About the Author
I was born during a blizzard. I’m told it was pretty cool, but I have no memory of that time. I grew up in two tiny towns in Virginia and spent most of my twenties moving around the US. I’ve lived in Virginia, Florida, Missouri, and Washington. I’ve settled down, for now, in Raleigh, North Carolina.
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