DEFY – L. J. SHEN

**Spoilers Ahead, Read On With Caution**

Back when I reviewed PRETTY RECKLESS, I said I’d love to read a novella about Jaime and Melody Followhill, Daria’s parents, as I found their forbidden, taboo coming together interesting. Little did I know, and because I hadn’t look properly yet, there already was one, and it came out before PRETTY RECKLESS. It’s a part of the SINNERS OF SAINT series which I’ll know be reading through as it tells the stories of how all the parents in the ALL SAINTS HIGH series found each other and fell in love. If I’d have spent two minutes more on FantasticFiction.com I’d have seen that SOS was written before ASH, and had them in that order, but I stumbled upon PR first, and this is a pretty interesting way to read the books too. Like the mother of all prequels.

“Because that was the problem with society. It cared too much about who you fell in love with but never about why. The why matters.”

Melody Greene is a twenty six year old injured ballerina who now teaches English Lit, with Jaime Followhill, eighteen, in her class. And their story is like stumbling into love that someone else already has planned to you, no other way to go but down. Jaime was determined and already had Melody in his sights, had just been biding his time to age, hit that magic eighteen, and get her to fall in love too.

“You’re my someone. Always and forever.”

Their story is fast, I found it to be one of the weaker romances, but only because of its novella status. Had it been a standard twenty six chapter book I’m sure it would have been better, more meaty. This felt very much like a flash in the pan, but I’m sure we’ll get to enjoy more of their life and love, through the rest of the series. 

Was fun to finally see what all the dads of the ALL SAINTS HIGH books were like as teenagers, and boy do their kids take after them! Live hard, party harder. I’m very excited to get to read the rest of the series soon.