Ever Near - Blog Tour

Synopsis:
Love is ever near. But trouble is never far.

Nantucket Island is haunted, but only sixteen-year-old Jade Irving knows it. Ignoring the disturbing spirits isn’t an option, because one dwells in the enormous historic home she shares with her newly blended family. Jade is finding it more and more difficult to explain away Lacey’s ghostly, anguished tantrums, especially with Charlie, her gorgeous, almost step-brother, living right across the hall.

When a power-hungry ghost hunter tracks down Jade and blackmails her, Jade’s secret teeters on the edge of exposure, and her entire future hangs in the balance. If anyone finds out Jade can talk to ghosts, her life will be forever changed.

Can she save herself, free Lacey, and hang on to her tenuous connection with Charlie? Or will everything she ever wanted slip through her fingers?

Review:

I've always been intrigued by novels about mediums, psychics, and the supernatural. Melissa MacVicar gives her teenage main character the ability to see ghosts but not a clue about what to do with it in her novel, Ever Near. Jade has been able to see spirits since she was a young girl and she never told a soul. Until now. She's falling in love with a boy who happens to be in line to become her step-brother and when he wakes up to her screaming across the hall - she doesn't have the option not to tell him what's happening. And then the real trouble starts which includes blacking out multiple times, ending up in the mental ward of a hospital, and trying to force a ghost to pass on in peace. 

The only part of the plot I didn't like specifically was the mingling of Jade with the Nantucket ghost hunter. He came off way too creepy for me to believe she'd travel to an abandoned house with him just to prove her abilities. And when she threatens him with her innocence so he'll keep her secret... I think that went a bit too far. I want to think that the plot could have been better developed if he played a larger role and was someone that Jade could trust. She is, after all, facing down angry violent ghosts. She needs all the help she can get.

Jade has many qualities of the stereotypical teenage girl. She's moody, secretive, sneaky, and head-over-heels in love. Young adult readers will relate to the teenage atmosphere and situations, while adult readers will have a few flashbacks of their own teenage years. Some of the dialogue throughout seemed awkward, but when viewed with a YA perspective it flows more smoothly. I enjoyed Jade's character but wanted her to be stronger when it came to her medium abilities. Perhaps this is something the author will focus on in the continuation of the series. 

Rating: 3/5 Cups

Meet the Author:

Melissa MacVicar has lived most of her life on Nantucket Island. A true native, she’s able to trace her ancestry back to the island’s first settlers. After attending The Pingree School, she went on to graduate from Franklin and Marshall College with a degree in English. She also received a master’s degree from Boston University School of Social Work. When she turned forty, Melissa decided to renew her adolescent passion for fiction writing. Having once thought writing a novel to be an impossible dream, she’s proud to be achieving her childhood ambition. Melissa currently lives with her husband and two children on Nantucket where she teaches 7th grade Writing Composition. When she isn’t teaching, parenting, and writing, Melissa enjoys running, eating expensive chocolate, and watching her beloved Patriots.