Spark by Brigid Kemmerer

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Pages: 350pgs

The Story

Gabriel Merrick plays with fire. Literally.

Sometimes he can even control it. And sometimes he can't. Like the fire that killed his parents.

Gabriel has always had his brothers to rely on, especially his twin, Nick. But when an arsonist starts wreaking havoc on their town, all the signs point to Gabriel. Only he's not doing it.

More than Gabriel's pride is at stake - this could cost him his family, maybe his life. And no one seems to hear him. Except a shy sophomore named Layne, a brainiac who dresses in turtlenecks and jeans and keeps him totally off balance. Layne understands family problems, and she understands secrets. She has a few of her own.

Gabriel can't let her guess about his brothers, about his abilities, about the danger that's right at his heels. But there are some risks he can't help taking.

The fuse is lit . . .

The Review

A big thanks to Allen & Unwin Australia for sending me a review copy of this book!

Honestly there's no better word in describing SPARK than it being hot, hot HOT?! Because really that is exactly what it is folks . . . HOT! With the book being far more than light fiery sparks flying across the pages and with me being already in love with the author's previous installment Storm, it's no real secret when I say I'm a huge fan of this series, especially when it comes to Brigid Kemmerer's work and her fabulous ways of entertaining her readers with in-depth characterization, sizzling romances and spine-tingling action! It's just plain awesome!

For the next sequel of the Elemental series, SPARK, this time round the story mainly focuses on Gabriel Merrick, one of the other Merrick brothers that we've read about previously, and unlike his twin-brother, the calm and collective Nick, Gabriel is a hot-tempered, arrogant, and a blunt mess to boot. But as he tries to work on his elemental powers and maintain a normal lifestyle as much as possible, Layne - the sweet, caring and shy girl - suddenly comes into his life, and Gabriel must seriously rethink his situation and what he is really living for. And, like what we have previously experienced from the first book in the series, with many other dangers headed on the horizon for Gabriel and his family, he will soon remember exactly what it means to protect his family, his love and everything lying in-between.

Despite some minor issues I had with Gabriel from the previous book to this one (mostly because of his arrogance and saying the wrong things to certain people in certain situations), I have to say that he really did surprise me in this sequel and he's definitely more than meets the eye. I mean throughout the entire book, SPARK, Gabriel's character continued to slowly evolve into bigger and much better things, and he has faced so many, many challenges that tested him to the ultimate limits - things including studying for the first time in ages, falling in and out with his relationship with his own twin brother Nick, becoming an outcast, and falling in love in the most unexpected places. It was needless to say such a pleasure to read about Gabriel's own story and journey, and finally seeing how different he is compared to his twin, Nick, even when he too shared some of his brother's most likable qualities which surprised me also.

For Gabriel's main love interest, Layne, she was someone I liked straight off the bat, even when I first met with her as a main character. As much as I loved Becca, the other main love interest from the first book Storm, but Layne for me was my favourite kick-ass girl in the series so far and I could relate to her on a lot more levels. She's geeky, she's shy, she's well-balanced (sooooooooo like me at least I would like to think so haha) and she's in all honesty the perfect match for Gabriel as he is quite the opposite to her. It's a great match what can I say? While Layne's father was a total mess for the majority of the book and I so wanted to slap him for being an idiot  but when it came to the relationship between Layne and Gabriel it was just something that may have started out as very rocky and complicated at times, but in the end it ended up being something totally undeniably perfect and I can see why this book was called 'Spark' because there was definitely sparks flying about when you interacted closely with these two main characters and I loved every moment of it!

Overall, SPARK was such a fabulous follow up to the Elemental series and while it wasn't necessarily my favourite in the series but considering we have another book, Spirit, heading our way very soon, I'm still super excited to see what else Brigid Kemmerer has to offer us! I'm sure it'll be a book that will make has swoon like we've never swoon before!

The Rating

4/5 stars