Tae

I recently purchased a slew of ninety-nine cent kindle books on Amazon... largely because I've been having trouble finding something to read, and it'd have to be horridly bad to make me regret ninety-nine cents.

One of the things I picked up (and I honestly don't know how I found it) was the first book in the Peachville High Demons series.  It's in the same genre as Twilight, which isn't usually my thing, but it has one incredible selling point:

Demonic.  Cheerleaders.

At least, that's what the summary implies.  And there's just something inherently amusing about the idea that the popular girls in school are so insanely sought after because they're trafficking with the devil.

Or is that just me?

Anyway, I read it and then quickly followed with the rest of the series (currently four books).  It's not the greatest thing I've ever read, but I'd recommend it over Twilight without hesistation.  Here are some of the most obvious reasons why:

Both series feature protagonists with interesting names; 'Harper' is unique without the contrived feel of 'Bella' the Beautiful (FYI, Harper doesn't once sit down and play an instrument).

Both series feature protagonists who are forced, unwillingly, into the spotlight; Harper's difficulties are due to revelations about her mysterious past, while Bella's stem from the unbearable strain of being popular.

Both series are written in first person; Harper's voice sounds fairly realistic for a teen, whereas Bella's is some bizarre mix of monotone melodrama punctuated with unbelievable vocabulary.

Both series contain something of a love triangle; happily, Harper actually has a reason -- other than boneheaded indecision -- to be torn.  She also comes to her senses comparatively quickly.

Both series feature a paranormal hottie; Harper's spends absolutely no time being an unapproachable, creepy, controlling jerk.  He also gets bonus points for having a source of angst that's reasonable.  Oh, and he never once comments on how delicious she smells, or thinks of her as food.

Best of all, however, the Peachville series has a plot, and didn't bore me. 

Mind you, it's not perfect.  An old romance novel (a favorite of mine) features an exchange in which the female says she wouldn't marry the male if her life depended on it.  He retorts that she should be reasonable, as there's only so much mortal danger he can arrange on her behalf.   (I still love that line.)  Someone should have said something similar to Sarra Cannon:  Harper spends entirely too much time barely escaping death, especially considering so many people in her new home town should, by rights, be trying to keep her alive.  Also, it's an indie series, and although the first book is strong, the quality of the editing decreases noticeably with each volume.  Finally, the books are also incredibly quick reads:  I read all four in a single afternoon.  As such, although the prices for individual volumes are low, in the end I still paid almost $8 for what is usually a single book's worth of entertainment.  That seems a bit much, especially considering the prices go up as the quality goes down.