Review: Storm by Brigid Kemmerer

Title: Storm

Author: Brigid Kemmerer

Publisher: Kensington

Publication Date: 4.24.2012

Pages: 353

Genre: Paranormal

Series: Yes (Elementals #1)

Source: ARC from a friend

Rating: A+

Summary (from Goodreads):

Becca Chandler is suddenly getting all the guys all the ones she doesn't want. Ever since her ex-boyfriend spread those lies about her. Then she saves Chris Merrick from a beating in the school parking lot. Chris is different. Way different: he can control water just like his brothers can control fire, wind, and earth. They're powerful. Dangerous. Marked for death.

And now that she knows the truth, so is Becca.

Secrets are hard to keep when your life's at stake. When Hunter, the mysterious new kid around school, turns up with a talent for being in the wrong place at the right time, Becca thinks she can trust him. But then Hunter goes head-to-head with Chris, and Becca wonders who's hiding the most dangerous truth of all.

The storm is coming.

Review:

I went to a yard sale a few summers ago and my mom bought this small little trinket box for $2. When we got to the car and she opened it to expect it, she found a diamond ring with a platinum setting inside. Needless to say, my mom went back and returned the ring (a family heirloom that had been missing for years), but I liken my reading of Storm to that. I’ve had this copy of Storm for months. Probably close to a year. A friend gave it to me, but it kept getting shuffled to the bottom of the TBR, forgotten until I randomly starting talking to the adorably sweet author, Brigid Kemmerer, this past week.

Reading Storm was much like finding that diamond ring—unexpectedly amazing and pulse pounding.

I loved that this book was told in third person and shifted periodically to give the reader a sense of what was going on in each character’s head. While the story predominantly followed Becca, there was a good amount of time spent with Chris and Hunter to give the reader a great feel about these two guys vying for Becca’s attention. I’m one of those readers that likes to know the couple to root for throughout the series in book 1 and keep going, but I’m genuinely at a loss for who I want Becca to end up with. Both guys have amazing strengths and flaws that complement Becca. I’m not a triangle fan, but because of the story and all that was happening it just worked here.

And yes, there are five amazingly delectable guys in these pages. The Merrick brothers reminded me a lot of the Curtis brothers (from S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders). Their family dynamic is fascinating to watch. I could read a novel just about these four brothers in their normal, everyday life. Each has such a strong, individual presence which is necessary so as not to confuse them.

Storm is one of those books where you literally hit the ground running and it doesn’t let up. From the first chapter where Becca saves Chris to the very end, I felt like Kemmerer did a phenomenal job of keeping a brisk, quick pace without ever losing me. The story moves, and I anxiously kept turning pages to see how things would end up.

By the time I was halfway through Storm I went ahead and bought a finished copy of it as well as a copy of the sequel, Spark. I cannot wait to get them in the mail today (!) so I can tell you how much I love Spark—Gabriel’s story. This is one series you can’t miss out on!

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