**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net**

Jillian Cade: (Fake) Paranormal Investigator by Jen Klein is a young adult book that made me so happy because it totally surprised me. It is the first book in an unnamed series, and I am so crazy happy that there are going to be more of these books especially because of the direction that Jen Klein took Jillian Cade in. Jillian is the daughter of a paranormal expert, whom she lovingly (not really) refers to as a con artist. That should tell you all you need to know on Jillian's stance on the paranormal.

I felt so bad for Jillian. I mean, her mom passed away, her dad is always off traveling so you can guess that there is a bit of a strain on their relationship because of that. Not to mention Jillian is kind of bitter about the whole paranormal thing because her father has basically abandoned her to tour the world, leaving her alone and without money to even pay the power bill at her house. Talk about child neglect. To keep things going Jillian heads up her dad's paranormal investigation private eye business. I loved that she made her clients jump through password hoops to protect her identity from them. She is a savvy one, which is one of the things that I immediately liked about her. She is a fighter. A sassy fighter.

Jillian and her cousin help people rid ghosts from their house, or help out with curses, and the like, even though Jillian doesn't believe in any of it. (think Psych or monk or the mentalist.) But when a new guy shows up in town, and is a big groupie of her dad he basically forces her to come along on her next assignment. Saving the popular girl at school's boyfriend from a curse. And that is about all I am going to tell you about the plotline from the book because this book is just so darn good, I don't want to spoil a thing. Whether you are going into Jillian Cade expecting a contemporary or more of a paranormal, it doesn't matter, because I guarantee you will be surprised and pleasantly so while reading. (and nope, I am not going to tell you which one of those I expected. I've even included both contemporary and paranormal in my genres as a kind of pathetic attempt to throw you off. It's not actually both. winkwink)

If you love spunky characters, a riveting plotline, some romance to boot, and not to mention the set up for what looks like it is going to be a great series, then you have the right book. Jillian Cade exceeded all of my expectations. And then some.


This review was originally posted on Book Briefs