Runes by Ednah Walters

About Runes
Seventeen-year-old Raine Cooper has enough on her plate dealing with her father’s disappearance, her mother’s erratic behavior and the possibility of her boyfriend relocating. The last thing she needs is Torin St. James—a mysterious new neighbor with a wicked smile and uncanny way of reading her.

Raine is drawn to Torin’s dark sexiness against her better judgment, until he saves her life with weird marks and she realizes he is different. But by healing her, Torin changes something inside Raine. Now she can’t stop thinking about him. Half the time, she’s not sure whether to fall into his arms or run.

Scared, she sets out to find out what Torin is. But the closer she gets to the truth the more she uncovers something sinister about Torin. What Torin is goes back to an ancient mythology and Raine is somehow part of it. Not only are she and her friends in danger, she must choose a side, but the wrong choice will cost Raine her life.

My Rating: 4 stars
Runes started a little slow for me, although it was clear with the immediate chemistry between Raine and Torin that SOMETHING fun would happen. As the story progressed, I found myself really getting into it, liking Raine and her friends, and rooting for her to end up with Torin. There are lots of twists and turns, although a few I saw coming.

After the initial chapter or two, the pacing picked up and the story flowed well. The writing is great with minimal errors. The characters are very believable and, for the most part, likeable. And the bad guys are more shades of gray than black and white, which is what I prefer. It ends in a way that has me looking forward to reading more books in this series.