Surprising Saturday: Death Lies Between Us by Jody A. Kessler

Happy Saturday everyone!  So I am doing a special post today.  For those of you who follow my posts weekly I didn’t get to post my Fresh Face Friday yesterday.  Unfortunately, I had a slight eye problem that prevented me from even looking at my computer let alone posting anything.  So, Surprising Saturday is basically Fresh Face Friday on Saturday.  Confused yet???  Ok.  Now that I have your brain working over time I am going to introduce my spotlight today, Jody A. Kessler and her book Death Lies Between Us.  This is a wonderfully fresh novel.  It approaches the idea of life and death through the eyes of both the person destined to die and the Angel destined to help them cross over.  Be sure to check out the rest of my review after the book blurb.

Book Blurb:  (Courtesy of Goodreads)

Saving the life of someone you love should not be the worst thing you have ever done, unless you are an Angel of Death.
Disgruntled with his position in the afterlife and conflicted by his feelings toward his new client, Nathaniel Evans forgoes the rules and saves nineteen year old Juliana Crowson from being hopelessly stuck in Forge Creek. This alters Juliana’s destiny and she finds herself in a series of near death accidents.
In the mountains of Colorado, Nathaniel comforts Juliana as she struggles to understand her paranormal abilities while coping with her brother’s drug addiction. When an ill-tempered Native American Shaman teaches her the difference between ghosts and place memories, she decides she wants nothing to do with the supernatural world. Too bad she doesn’t know that Nathaniel is part of it.
Will fate bring these two together, or has Nathaniel made the biggest mistake of his afterlife?

Review:

Death Lies Between Us introduces us to Juliana (Jules) and Nathan.  Jules is a most unique girl.  She has the ability to see things that most other cannot.  This has run in generations of her family.  Being part Native American it is this part of her that instinctually knows when things are going to happen.  Along with knowing things that will happen she also has the ability to see paranormal entities such as ghosts and Angels.  This is how we meet Nathan.  Nathan is an Angel of Death sent to help Jules when it is her time to die.  There is only one little snafu with Nathan’s new assignment.  He finds he doesn’t want her to die.  In fact, he is going out of his way to save her life, repeatedly.  Jules doesn’t know what Nathan is except that he is an extremely cute guy with the uncanny ability to save her from near death.  As many events thrust Jules in to danger Nathan is always there and they begin to get closer and closer.  Nathan knows he is walking a fine line and can’t reconcile his new feeling with his job.  How can a relationship work with a girl destined to die and the Angel meant to escort her into death?

This was such a good story.  Jules and Nathan are such well-developed characters and the story is very well-rounded.  I found myself almost looking around corners in the book to try to figure out how Jules was gonna kick it.  Underneath the main story there is also the story of Jules’ brother Jared and his burgeoning drug problem and his band’s success.  Not to mention the very wealthy and handsome record exec who has the hots for Jules.  These little wrenches or hurdles that Jules and Nathan must over come only add depth to a wonderful story.  I also enjoyed much of the Native American addition to the plot line.  It felt like it gave it validity especially the parts about the spirits.  Overall, it was a fantastic book and I do believe if Jody wrote a sequel she could definitely have multiple roads to explore further.  This reader personally hopes that she does!

Author Bio: (Courtesy of Goodreads)

Jody A. Kessler enjoys writing paranormal novels and is a member of Pikes Peak Writers. She is a yoga instructor, Reiki Master, and a graduate from the Colorado Institute of Massage Therapy. When she took an extended leave from her massage practice to stay at home with her newborn she returned to her first true passion —writing. She spends most of her time being a mother, writing, and teaching yoga, but also likes going to concerts, hiking, practicing herbal medicine, and reading anything that catches her interest. Jody lives in the mountains of Colorado with her family.
She welcomes visitors to her website www.jodyakessler.com