Embers — Karen Ann Hopkins

There are descendants of angels walking among us. Ember is one of them.

Kirkus Reviews: “An impending apocalypse provides a compelling backdrop for romance in this page-turning first installment of a new YA series. Hopkins expertly weaves her plotlines together in this compulsively readable teen romance story…Hopkins delivers many successful elements of young-adult romance -- appealing lead characters, high-voltage chemistry, repressed sexuality -- which will win her ardent followers. A paranormal YA tale that's highly recommended for fans of the Twilight series; move over, Bella and Edward, there's a new set of kids on the block.”

Embers is an epic paranormal adventure/romance about an eighteen year old girl who discovers that she's immune to fire and any other injury when she's in a horrific car crash that kills her parents. Following a violent episode with her aunt's boyfriend, Ember flees Ohio to live with an old relative in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. Ember's exuberance at escaping a bad home life soon turns to trepidation when she learns that she's a Watcher, a descendant of angels.

While Ember is instructed about her heritage and the powers that go along with it, she strikes up friendships with two teenagers who live inside of a frightening walled compound in the forest. Inexplicably drawn to one of the young men in particular, an impossible romance develops. But it's cut short when Ember discovers that her new friends are fighting on the opposite side of a war that's been raging between two factions of Watchers for thousands of years. When the compound's inhabitants threaten the townspeople, Ember takes action, sealing her fate in the ancient battle of good versus evil, and the grayness in between.