Spellcaster by Cara Lyn Shultz

Blurb:
Finding your eternal soulmate - easy.

Stopping a true-love-hungry evil - not so much…

After breaking a centuries-old romantic curse, Emma Connor is (almost) glad to get back to normal problems. Although...it's not easy dealing with the jealous cliques and gossip that rule her exclusive Upper East Side prep, even for a sixteen-year-old newbie witch. Having the most-wanted boy in school as her eternal soul mate sure helps ease the pain-especially since wealthy, rocker-hot Brendan Salinger is very good at staying irresistibly close....

But something dark and hungry is using Emma and Brendan's deepest fears to reveal damaging secrets and destroy their trust in each other. And Emma's crash course in über-spells may not be enough to keep them safe…or to stop an inhuman force bent on making their unsuspected power its own.

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Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Teen for allowing me to read this.
I found Spellcaster very enjoyable, it follows on a couple months after the horrific incident that occurred in the previous book, we all thought that Emma and Brendan could spend the rest of eternity together la-di-da. Alas, it was not be so and evil has once again resurfaced to tear the two lovebirds apart.
I feel I should be wearing a billowing dress and have a hand on my forehead :)

And so, moving onto the characters. Emma, who in the last book foolishly walked into a trap, you can read more of that on my quick review on goodreads, has now grown a backbone. Yay! I do so love it when characters blossom and grow :)
Spellcaster has the roles reversed a little, instead of Brendan taking all the risks, it's Emma, with her not-so-reliable magical prowess. And that adds more spice to the book, I think, things get more interesting and more risky. She stands up for herself more, albeit with some magical help, but the intention was there.

Brendan is still his uber awesome self, and I'm not going to waste time talking about him, though he is a tad possessive, but not too much. We also see a sweeter side to him, a more caring and gentle side, and he shares all his fears and hopes in this book… :) how cheesy do I sound? Hehehe

Now… when a book is centred on true love, there is always, always the option of separating the two characters and making them write depressing poetry about life, maybe some dramatic plays too. Well.
THANK THE WRITING WORLD THAT THERE IS AT LEAST ONE AUTHOR OUT THERE WHO DOESN'T SPLIT UP THE CHARACTERS FOR THEIR OWN "SAFETY". I was over the moon. The number of times couples have been split and forced to stare into each others eyes from across the room is astounding, and completely and utterly annoying.

"I'll love you forever Gertrude but's it's just too dangerous… you'll have to stay away from me"
"No Phyllis!! I couldn't, please don't make me do this"
"No Gertrude…. It's the only way"

Yes. That is a scene that we have grown so, so familiar with (I made that up randomly by the way) and to tell you the truth… doesn't it seem Twilight-ish?

“I promise that this will be the last time you’ll see me. I won’t come back. I won’t put you through anything like this again. You can go on with your life without any more interference from me. It will be as if I’d never existed.”
hahahahaha

But seriously, when a book does that, it completely turns me off and there are very, very few authors who can pull off a scene like that, and still I'm doubtful. To be honest, there were time when I doubted Cara Lyn Shultz, there were times when I thought she was going to go down that road but NO! She stayed strong! She resisted the urge and for that I am grateful. I'm rambling aren't I?

Ahem--The story is quite original, the plot is a mixture of yeah-i-knew-that-was-going-to-happen and GAH!-why-did-that-just-happen. The writing is easy to read and understand. It gets the point across and conveys the desired message so all is good.

You often get books with the idea of true love, soul mates, yeah you can roll your eyes, but Spellcaster is built on so much more. There's magic and curses and ghosts and all these things add up to an original and story that's a quick and exciting read. Give it a go, you'll be surprised.