So I saw Jeff on a panel at the recent RT Booklover Convention in Atlanta, and had to shake my head. The cover of his book is one of those that just kept popping up in front of me wherever I went: online, reading magazines, in stores. I have no reason as to why I didn't buy it (I should know by now how to read a sign, right?). It seemed interesting to me, I added it to my To Be Read list, etc, but never picked it up. Of course the man behind the book ended up in my face for 60 minutes that day, cracking me up and spewing insightful things and finally giving me the shove to buy the damn book. And I'm so so glad I finally took the hint.

For once I started reading it, I finished it the same day.

Yes, this is a love story, but romantic love isn't the only kind in the spotlight here. In short, 17yo Zoe is struggling with the recent death of her dad and her elderly neighbors, for now she's had to step up even more at home since her (wonderful) hippie mom has to work all sorts of hours to keep things afloat and her 8yo brother is, well, very much an 8yo dealing with a lot of crap right now. During a blizzard, it's up to her to find her brother who had wandered off, and this hunt leads to them being attacked by a man who reeks darkness. This is when X steps in.

X is a bounty hunter from a place I kind of envisioned to be as if there were a place in hell that was like a self-storage facility, where the staff is full of bad guys put in charge of catching and storing other bad guys who happen to still be on earth. Once assigned a bad guy to collect, they are given powers to go catch their person and bring him back. Only once Zoe and X touch, everything becomes a question.

Is X really a bad guy? Why is he a bounty hunter? Who is judging all of this? What happens when those from the "Lowlands" mix with those on earth? How strong is love when it comes to keeping people together, whether they are family or friends or exes or strangers?

Each new character, human or kind of not, is breathed into life by the author in a delicate, easy way. His similes are quiet but strong (just how I like them). He has a great grasp of the teenaged brain, but he also knows how complicated the human heart can be. I was propelled through the pages by the book's charm, humor, sweetness, scariness, energy, and many faces of love, and am now telling all my friends to read this one ASAP.

(And if you ever get a chance to meet Jeff Giles or hear him speak: GO. He's a hoot.)

Teen/YA, Thriller & Suspense, Romantic, Fantasy & Supernatural