Deception by Lee Nicholas

Genre: Ghosts

Hardcover: 310 Pages

Published: June 8, 2010

Series: Haunting Emma

            1. Deception

            2. Betrayal

            3. Surrender

Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads 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. 

My Review:

            Wow! What an amazing series! I was surprised at how much I enjoyed reading Deception. It was easy to engage with the characters and it had perfect pacing. It's about a young woman name Emma Vaile who learns that she can communicate with ghosts. She can summon a ghost and dispell them at will. Emma is all alone. Her parents are looking for her brother who happens to be missing, her friends won't talk to her and to top it off she is having creepy visions. She ends up with Bennett, a family friend who takes her to his museum-like home only to leave her alone with ghosts! How creepy is that!?

            As Emma settles into her new home with ghosts, she discovers that she comes from a long line of ghostkeepers. She also has a direct power line to her ancestor Emma Vaile. Her character is fun and likeable. Despite her struggles she never really moped around but instead got things done. I love that about characters. I hate to see a character that I fall in love with to be lazy and  complain all the time. Emma is definitely not like that. She is strong and determined to find out all the secrets that her family has been hiding from her. With a little help from Bennett, Emma is able to control her powers only to find out that she has a target on her back. She must find out who is after her and why Bennett is always so mysterious. He has many secrets and by the end of the book some of them start to unravel. I can't wait to find out what happens in the next book because the ending for this one left me wanting for more!