Betrayal (A Haunting Emma Novel, #2) by Lee Nichols

Summary/Cover Image from Author's Website:

Emma Vaile is the most powerful ghostkeeper in centuries. Which is great for battling the wraith-master Neos and horrible for her social life. Emma knows fellow ghostkeeper Bennett Stern is her soul mate, but when ghostkeepers fall in love, the weaker one loses all power. And until Neos is defeated, Bennett and Emma can't risk it.

When the temptation of being with Emma gets to be too much, Bennett disappears, pursuing a dangerous path to increase his powers. Heartbroken and alone, Emma tries to lose herself in school. But when the Knell, a secret ghostkeeping society, sends two new ghostkeepers to Echo Point—one a snarky teen guy, the other a British scholar—Emma throws herself into training to battle Neos. But as the team grows stronger, so do the ghosts. And worse, one of their own will betray them. One Emma never suspected. . . .

Review:

Ever since reading the promising start to this trilogy, I've been dying to know what will happen to next to Emma, Bennett, and all the other ghostkeepers and their friends, family, and enemies I came to love and even hate in some cases. Thankfully enough Betrayal was a fabulous continuation to this rock solid series. I'll even go so far to say this was even better than the first one- something I thought would be nearly impossible!

Betrayal starts shortly after Deception ended with Emma picking up the pieces after her beloved friend Coby died under some usual circumstances involving her and her ghostkeeping world. The majority of her friends and schoolmates think she's the one to blame, and that's okay with her, because she does feel at fault and at least she still has Bennett and Natalie to call friends and in Bennett's case something more than just a friend. Plus, she has bigger fish to fry, namely the evil wraith-master Neos and his army who want nothing more than to see her dead. But after a horrifying event everything is left askew in Emma's world. Bennett has pulled away, going so far as to move out of the house, she has a new ghostkeeping team including one hot heated British boy and a snarky teen, and Neos is growing stronger each and every day. Will Emma be able to defeat Neos when she sees him again? And when Emma's parents make their grand return will everything begin to make sense? Better yet will her and Bennett ever reunite? Only time will tell in this deeply thrilling and romantic read that will have nearly any Haunting Emma fan asking for more, more, and more.

Just like in the first one the characters were my absolute favorite part of Betrayal. Lee Nichols has done such a fantastic job of making each and everyone even more relatable and developed, even going so far to introduce some new ones into the mix. Better yet, I loved what she has done with Emma's character, because not only is she more fierce and kick-butt before, but I truly enjoyed seeing how Emma grows as a ghostkeeper and person in this one. Plus I can't help but love the star crossed she has with a certain boy whose name begins with a B. I also enjoyed seeing her friendship with Natalie continue to develop as well as the intro of the new snarky boy named Lukas.

Adding to this all, the plot of this one was filled with lots of twists and turns and drama that nearly always had me on the edge of my seat, curious to know what would happen next to Emma and her friends and foes. And when mixed together with Lee's excellent writing and characters, this book was such a fun way to spend a morning.

Lastly, if you thought Deception had a nail-bitingly bad cliff-hanger ending just wait until she wait Lee has up her sleeve with this one. It'll make you want to pull at your hair and scream, but in the grand scheme of things it was worth it and the perfect way to end the book, and that all I'll say about that.

In all, if you loved Deception or even just liked it, you sure to love Betrayal. Filled with romance, funny, well developed characters, and twist and turns every step of the way, it's sure have nearly any reader in love with the story at hand!

And if you haven't read Deception for some reason, be sure to pick it up as well! I promise you won't regret it.

Grade: A+

Betrayal is now out!

Source: Publicist at Bloomsbury. Thanks Kate!