Hidden Deep (Hidden Trilogy #1)

Summary:

Sixteen-year-old Ryann Carroll has just run into the guy who saved her life ten years ago. You might think she'd be happy to see him again. Not exactly. She's a bit underdressed (as in skinny-dipping) and he's not supposed to exist. 

After her father's affair, all Ryann wants is to escape the family implosion fallout and find a little peace. She also wouldn't mind a first date that didn't suck, but she's determined not to end up like her mom: vulnerable, betrayed, destroyed. Ryann's recently moved back to her childhood home in rural Mississippi, the same place where ten years earlier she became lost in the woods overnight and nearly died. 

She's still irresistibly drawn to those woods. There she encounters the boy who kept her from freezing to death that long ago winter night and was nowhere to be seen when rescuers arrived. He's still mysterious, but now all grown-up and gorgeous, too. And the more she's with him, the greater the threat he poses to Ryann's strict policy-- never want someone more than he wants you. 

Seventeen-year-old Lad knows the law of his people all too well: Don't get careless and Don't get caught. It's allowed his race to live undetected in this world for thousands of years, mentioned only in flawed and fading folklore…

Lad's never been able to forget about Ryann since that night ten years ago. When he sees her again, his fascination re-ignites and becomes a growing desire that tempts him to break all the rules. He's not even supposed to talk to a human, much less fall in love with one.

And the timing is atrocious. The Assemblage is coming, the rift between the Light and Dark is widening, and mysterious celebrity fan pods are becoming more and more widespread and influential. Lad may have to trade his own chance at happiness to keep the humans, especially Ryann, blissfully unaware and safe.   (Summary and book cover courtesy of goodreads.com)

Please note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review courtesy of YA Bound Book Tours.

Review:

This was a book that completely had be intrigued when I read the summary.  The book unfolded well and I was not expecting it when Lad had his “big reveal”.  I liked that Ryann was leery at first and that she and Lad didn’t immediately start spending all their time together.  It allowed us to get to know the characters a little better before the romance started in full swing.  Patrick has a good writing style and I think she accurately portrayed the hormone-ridden swings that come in the teenage years.

My main complaint is that at about 70% of the way through the book I had some guesses as to how things would be resolved and I accurately predicted them.  I can overlook that, but the ending in general felt rushed.  I wish Patrick had taken more time to allow things to unfold rather than a paragraph at the end of the last chapter summarizing everything.  That being said, the epilogue has me intrigued and I would be interested in continuing the series!

Rating: 3 stars!

Who should read it? Young adults looking for a light romantic read.

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