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Amateur Angel by Karri Thompson.
 
Title: Amateur Angel
Author: Karri Thompson
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Romance
Goodreads Summary: Only 18-years-old, Ashley is no ordinary teenager. Not only is she dead, but upon her death, she mistakenly enters the wrong line in the afterlife, a line meant for trained, guardian angels. With a pair of wings on her back, Ashley is sent to Los Angeles to replace another angel whose "assignment" was none-other-than Cannon Michaels, a current member of the band Sendher, the sexiest man alive, and Ashley's celebrity crush in life.
While exposed to Cannon's selfish, judgmental behavior and his reckless, rock-and-roll lifestyle, Ashley is far from meeting the requirements of a true guardian angel. She misses her family and friends. Will she ever be able to accept her own death? What will she do when she jeopardizes her position as an angel and Cannon's physical safety by falling in love with him?

{ Review }

I wasn't really sure what to expect from Amateur Angel, but I thought a story about love and guardian angels would be something nice and lighthearted to read during summer.

This book is written from the first person perspective of Ashley, the angel, which gives the reader more of a connection to her. Ashley herself is pretty clueless from the beginning so you feel like you're going on a journey with her as she learns the ropes of being a guardian angel. I thought that her character could've been developed a little better as sometimes I thought her feelings were a little rushed and out of the blue. I also thought that she settled into being a guardian angel a little too fast for someone who had just died and been thrust into a new and strange existence but she is an interesting character nonetheless.

The other main character, Cannon Michaels, is a little harder to figure out. He is quite an unpredictable character which makes the story all the more interesting as, of course, it can be quite difficult to look after someone if you have no idea what they're going to do next. Ashley has quite a hard job keeping up with Cannon and his rock star lifestyle but as she is stuck within a 10 foot radius of him she soon gets to know him quite well.

I loved that the guardian angels could never been seen or heard but were silent protectors. Or at least, that's what we're led to believe. The book centres around Ashley and Cannon and their 'relationship', though, of course, they don't really have one given that Ashley is basically invisible to him. I found this a little frustrating because I've never read a book where the two protagonists never actually interact with each other, but I suppose that was refreshing.

The ending was quite unexpected for me and I was a little disappointed with it. As I was reading the book, I kept imagining different scenarios for how this would end but I couldn't predict what actually happened. I suppose this is also a good thing because I like it when a book surprises me and it gets a bit annoying when all the books you read are predictable and repetitive. 

Amateur Angel is like no book that I've ever read before and it provided me with an interesting and quick summer read. The writing simply flows off the page so I was done with this book in no time. I liked that the story wasn't too heavy and it was just a quick and easy read.

{ About the Author }

As a first-time author, I cannot express- not even in words- how excited I am about the release of my debut novel, Amateur Angel.  It took a lot of hard work and sleepless nights.  There were many disappointments and rejections along the way, but in the end, my persistence and determination eventually paid off.  In many ways, I think writing a novel is easier than finding an agent to represent it and then a publisher to buy it.  Two years ago, I almost gave up on my dream to become an author, but then my son, Kyle, wrote a special poem for me, and it inspired me to write a new book and try again.  The new book was Amateur Angel.

Here is his poem:

        You fail and you fail,

        You fix and you fix,

        You wait and you wait,

        Until you succeed.

I hung this poem in my closet and read it every day when I was getting ready to go to work and each night before I went to bed.  It is still there and always will be.  I know what I’m about to say will sound like a cliché, but based on my own personal experience, the best advice I can give anyone is to always believe in your abilities, hold your head high, swallow your pride, accept criticism and then learn from it, and most importantly, never give up.

I grew up in San Diego County and attended San Diego State University, earning a bachelor’s degree in English, a master’s degree in education, and my teaching credential.  I am a high-school English teacher in the East County of San Diego where I also live with my husband, our son, and two dogs.

Being a lover of Victorian literature, my favorite author is Charles Dickens although I haven’t quite finished reading all of his books.  Someday I’ll finally finish David Copperfield- I promise.  If you are one of my students, you are either laughing or shaking your head at this.

I lead a very busy life, but when I’m not teaching, grading papers, or attending my son’s soccer games, I find time to write novels, my greatest passion. 

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