Flirting With Fate by J. C. Cervantes

 

“Ava Granados will never forgive herself for being late to her beloved nana's deathbed. But due to a flash flood that left Ava in a fender bender with a mysterious boy, she missed her grandmother's mystical blessing--one that has been passed between the women of her family upon death for generations.

Then Nana's ghost appears with a challenge from beyond the grave. As it turns out, Nana did give Ava a blessing, but it missed its target, landing with the boy from the night of the storm instead. Was it fate? Ava refuses to believe so. With the help of her sisters and Nana's rather bumbling spiritual guide, she's determined to reclaim her share of the family magic and set Nana free.

For guarded Ava, befriending some random boy is the last thing she wants to do. She's gotten along just fine protecting her heart--keeping people at a distance is a great way to ensure no one ever hurts you. But as Ava embarks on her mission to retrieve the lost blessing, she starts to wonder if getting close to thunderstorm boy is worth the risk.” - taken fro Goodreads.

This was a heartwarming, uplifting story about love and loss. Ava rushes to get to her grandmother's bedside before she dies to receive her blessing. Only she has a minor fender bender on her way. Ava arrives in time to hear her grandmother's last words, a very cryptic message. Soon she realizes that her grandmother's blessing went to the young man she was in the accident with. With the help of her grandmother's ghost and a saint, Ava is in a race to figure out how to take back her blessing from Rion and be able to allow her grandmother's spirit rest peacefully. A magical love story that leaves Ava questioning her disbelief in the power of fate and destiny.

Visit J. C. Cervantes’ website.

Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen McManus

“Echo Ridge is small-town America. Ellery's never been there, but she's heard all about it. Her aunt went missing there at age seventeen. And only five years ago, a homecoming queen put the town on the map when she was killed. Now Ellery has to move there to live with a grandmother she barely knows.

The town is picture-perfect, but it's hiding secrets. And before school even begins for Ellery, someone's declared open season on homecoming, promising to make it as dangerous as it was five years ago. Then, almost as if to prove it, another girl goes missing.

Ellery knows all about secrets. Her mother has them; her grandmother does too. And the longer she's in Echo Ridge, the clearer it becomes that everyone there is hiding something. The thing is, secrets are dangerous--and most people aren't good at keeping them. Which is why in Echo Ridge, it's safest to keep your secrets to yourself.” - taken from Goodreads.com

I loved the author’s first book, One of Us is Lying, but her sophomore novel absolutely blew me away. Ellery Corcoran is a true crime fanatic in part to her mother’s twin sister’s disappearance during their senior year homecoming dance. With their mother now in rehab in California, Ellery and her twin Ezra move across the country to live with their Nana in Echo Ridge, a small town full of secrets. With multiple stories and layers of mysteries to be solved, readers will be gripping tightly to their books well after the last line is read.

Visit Karen M. McManus’s website.