Deadly Little Lies (A Touch Novel)

by Laurie Faria Stolarz
304 pages

As sequels go Deadly Little Lies wasn't bad.

In the first book, Deadly Little Secret, Camelia is immediately drawn to the new guy at school with the troubled past, but Ben is more mysterious than anyone could have thought. Ben has a special ability called pyschometry that allows him to sense the future through touch. Camelia and Ben have an undeniable attraction to one another, but Ben tries to keep his distance. At the same time Camelia begins receiving threatening messages and all signs point to Ben as the sender.

This book pick up four months after Deadly Little Secret. Camelia hasn't been the same since Ben left her. Ben returns to school just as heartbroken Camelia is finally starting to heal. The electricity between Ben and Camelia is just as strong as ever, but Ben is also trying to distance himself. Camelia also realizes that her sculptures are starting to predict the future. With the help of her two best friends she tries to decipher the messages in her pottery, but doesn't understand enough about her new powers and knows that Ben might be the only one who can help her. But after going back and forth with Ben, Camelia finally decides it is time to move on (it doesn't hurt that the sweet new guy at work Adam keeps asking her out), but then the messages start appearing again. Just like the first time they appear mysteriously in her room or in the mail, but this time they warn her that she is going to die. Camelia knows Ben is the only one who can help her, as long as he isn't the one trying to kill her...

Although predictable, this was a quick, exciting read and I enjoyed it. Laurie Stolarz breaks up some of the chapters with Camelia's aunt's diary entries from 1884. Readers lean that Aunt Alexia also had the ability to see the future through art, but this development is left open for the next book in the series. This book was hard to put down. The tension between Camelia and Ben is intense and you just want them to be together. I love Camelia's friends Kimmie and Wes, who provide Camelia with comic relief as well as good advice. Stolarz flawed characters are endearing and believable, even when Camelia hides her death threats from her parents. Overall I liked it.

And the verdict is: Not my favorite YA series, but I will defiantly read the next one.