Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

When Nora and Patch are forced together as lab partners, Nora would rather fall to her death than put up with his elusive answers to her questions, his teasing, and his infuriatingly handsome face and hypnotizing eyes. It seems Patch was put on earth just to drive her crazy.

But before long, Nora's defenses start to break down as her curiosity about Patch heats up. Why does he always seem to be wherever she is and know exactly what she's thinking? How does he know what to say to both attract and repulse her? And what is up with those V-shaped scars on his chiseled back?

As their connection grows stronger, Nora's own life becomes increasingly fragile. Nora needs to decide: Is Patch the one who wants to do her harm or the one who will keep her safe? Has she fallen for one of the fallen?

I read this because I'm working her event tonight, for her new book Black Ice, which I haven't read yet. Hush Hush has always been on my peripheral but I've never had a chance to pick it up. And that was incredibly stupid of me because it was the best sort of dark romance that I adore. It was dripping mystery and danger, keeping us guessing who the bad guy was and what exactly Patch's secret was. The dark and creepy setting was exemplified by the atmospheric windy Maine background, with early nights rushing in and bad weather keeping rescue at bay.

Even though I devoured it, there were a few things that I can easily criticise. For one, the whole 'I don't know if I can trust Patch but he's so gorgeous' thing dragged on for longer than I would have liked. I believe that was just Patch being a secretive douche rather than Nora's lack of self-control but his secret was kept hidden for just a little bit too long. The other thing could be a criticism but I'm actually praising it: the mind-trickery and suspense. As Patch was messing with Nora's mind, the line between fiction and reality was bending, and the non-knowing the truth, while incredibly frustrating, was really well written.

Nora and Patch's relationship was weird from the off, but despite my annoyance with the length of the mystery, I quite liked their developing friendship and lust. It was never a case of Nora falling head over heels, she just acknowledged the attraction; if there's one thing I hate it's insta-love. And Patch was a dangerous presence but never tried to romance her with lies. So while their relationship might be pretty weird, you know with attempted murder and stalking and the almost death threats, it was almost-cliched dark romance but still so entertaining to read and I can't wait to see where they go next.

Published 1st January 2009 by Simon and Schuster.