Book Review: Storm by Brigid Kemmerer

Storm by Brigid Kemmerer
(Elementals, #1)
Release Date: April 24, 2012
Publisher: Kensington; 353 pages

Earth, Fire, Air, Water – they have more power than you dream.

Ever since her ex-boyfriend spread those lies about her, Becca Chandler is suddenly getting all the guys—all the ones she doesn't want. 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 . . .

This book blew me away (pun intended). I read the novella, ELEMENTAL, before reading STORM so I had an idea of who some of the characters were and the story. (And it also explains why the cover model for Michael is older looking - so my bad on judging that. Makes sense now...)

The Merricks brothers known around the community and school, even feared by some. Eldest brother, Michael, is their legal guardian and a bit of a hard ass (understandably so), twins Gabriel, with a fiery temper, and peacemaker, Nick, finally leaving us with Chris Merrick, the innocent younger brother. Chris is the newest to come into his power and his control is basically non-existent which makes him incredibly dangerous. But hello, who doesn't like a little danger?

Becca Chandler is just an innocent bystander when she see's two guys beating up on one guy in the parking lot outside of school. At first, she thought it might have been the Merrick twins beating up on someone since they have a knack for getting in trouble but the longer she watched, she noticed it certainly wasn't. She did recognize the victim, though . . . Chris Merrick. She had just gotten out of a self defense class but still had no idea what she could do to help when it was two guys versus her. A car comes in handy and she scares off the two guys, one of whom she recognizes as Seth Ramsey from school, he's a senior. You'll recognize the second guy if you read ELEMENTAL before reading STORM.

She never talked to Chris until she saved his life. Now, she finds herself showing up at his house, being partnered with him in class and running in to him at parties. There's an attraction there that either she's afraid to admit or isn't quite sure what the feelings are, exactly but before she can deal with those feelings she meets a new guy at school. For the longest time she nor the readers know his name, we only know him as New Kid. Turns out, his name is Hunter and he's got one amazing dog, Casper.

Things start to build between Becca and Hunter which causes so much tension with Chris and his brothers. To me, this love triangle is one that seems too real. One I've seen many times while attending high school, so kudos to Brigid for making it so believable (and frustrating).

This book was filled with tension, anger, hurt, confusion and so much more. It made me want to keep turning the pages until I got to the end. Then I was like 'no, please don't end, not like that...' but sadly, it did end like that. I cannot wait to read the next book. I definitely recommend this book for something different for all you supernatural/paranormal fans out there.

*highlight to view spoiler* I'm not sure how many readers are Hunter fans or Chris fans...I happen to like both guys BUT for Becca, I was rooting for Chris from the beginning. When he kept getting pushed to the side for Hunter, it frustrated me soooo much. Especially since he showed interest in her the day after she saved him, of course, she took it the wrong way but still. Frustrating. However, I LOVED how it ended...it had me giddy like a school girl! *spoiler*