Review: Deception (Haunting Emma, #1) By: Lee Nichols

Title: Deception (Haunting Emma, #1)
Author: Lee Nichols
Publisher: Bloomsbury, 310 Pages (June 8th 2010)
From: the Publisher - Thanks!

Synopsis: When Emma Vaile's parents leave on mysterious business trip, it gives her the perfect excuse to be a rebellious teen. Throw some parties, get a tattoo (or maybe just a piercing), and enjoy the first few weeks of her junior year. Then her best friend stops talking to her, the cops crash her party, and Emma finds herself in the hands of a new guardian—her college-age "knight in J.Crew armor," Bennett Stern—and on a plane to his museum-like mansion in New England.


After enrolling at Thatcher Academy, Emma settles in by making friends with the popular legacy crowd. But she can't shake the strange visions that are haunting her. She has memories of Thatcher she can't explain, as if she's returning home to a place she's never been. Emma doesn't trust anyone anymore—except maybe Bennett. But he's about to reveal a ghostly secret to Emma. One that will explain the visions . . . and make Emma fear for her life.

Review: 4.5 Stars - Deception had me hooked from the first page right until the last and let me tell you that last is a shocker!! Please remember I go out of my way to remain spoiler free in my reviews, so don’t worry about me giving that HUGE cliffhanger away.

Nichols has a knack for writing a great ghost story full of rich likeable characters and a plot that’s so full of mystery I didn’t want this book to end. Weaving our main character Emma on a journey through the past and the present to discover just who she is and the deep and some extremely dark secrets that she finds lurking behind every turn she makes – makes this more then a thrilling tale.

When Emma finds herself stranded and alone when her parents go off to visit her brother Max, things start to happen around her. Things she can’t explain, things that remind her of something terrifying that happened to her when she was younger. She has no where to turn and ends up making friends with a new girl.

With a betrayal at a party Emma had been hosting comes to light, she finds herself stuck on the verge of going into Foster Care. Before her eyes a family friend comes to her aid on behalf of her parents. In walked Bennett with a way out and a place to stay. How did he just appear knowing she’d need help? Moving Emma to his family home in New England – giving Emma no answerers only more questions.

Living in a house that’s more like a museum, and going to an exclusive private school – Thatcher Academy, Emma has never felt more alone and more scared. I found myself wondering right along with Emma what was going on, who she could trust to tell about all the strange things happening to her and where were her parents?

When she finally gets a few answers out of Bennett she realizes many things about her past, present and family she never expected.

Emma is strong character with a good head on her shoulders and Bennett is a mysterious white Knight who ended up being the one person she could count on when she needed someone the most….

There’s just so much mystery in this first installment of a trilogy that I have no clue where Nichols will take us or her characters next, especially after that cliffhanger ending. I’ll be eagerly awaiting the next in this series and will be on pins and needles until I find out just what happens. If you haven’t read this one and are thinking about it, don’t pass it up, it was fast to become one of my favorite reads/new series this year.

FTC Disclaimer: I did not pay for this book, nor have I been compensated at all in any way or means for reading and writing this review.