Spark (Elemental 2) by Brigid Kemmerer

Gabriel Merrick plays with fire. Literally. Sometimes he can even control it. And sometimes he can't. Gabriel has always had his brothers to rely on, especially his twin, Nick. But when an arsonist starts wreaking havoc on their town, all the signs point to Gabriel. Only he's not doing it. And no one seems to believe him. Except a shy sophomore named Layne, a brainiac who dresses in turtlenecks and jeans and keeps him totally off balance. Because Layne has a few secrets of her own...

*****

Aaaah loved this book! I flew through it in less than two days. Like, one and a half days. And that is really fast for me. This series is my ultimate delicious guilty pleasure, a bit like eating Nutella out of the jar...

Okay, enough gushing. This book basically has all the good parts of the first one in the series but none of the parts that I didn't really like in Storm. For one, no love triangle. Now I love a good love triangle, but I never really cared for Hunter in Storm. (Although I have to say I warmed up to Hunter a bit because of his bromance with Gabriel in Spark.)

This book focuses very much on the relationship between Gabriel and Layne, and it's just so sweet; good-looking tough temperamental guy falling for shy nerdy girl... My favourite kind of couple. There was considerably more kissing in this book than the last one, and what is more, kissing between the right people. I loved how protective Gabriel is, I loved how Layne, even though she's shy, is a strong character and I loved how Layne and Gabriel slowly start opening up to each other.

Of course, the Merrick brothers are still as awesome as ever. They have their conflicts, but in the end they're family and they work it out. I loved Michael's story-line in this book, and also the conflict between Gabriel and Nick, and how they miss each other... yeah, bromance <3

Even though the story focuses more on the romantic development and on the conflict and relationships both in Gabriel and Layne's family, there is also the plot-line with the arsonist and the mystery of who is starting those fires. Yeah, this plot-line had to take the backseat, but I didn't really mind.

The story is told, as in the last book, from both Gabriel and Layne's point of view, and we got to see a lot from the guy's perspective this time. I loved Gabriel's struggles with his powers and also with his school work, how he slowly came to accept help and gain control. It was nice to have insight into his inner conflicts.

Overall, this book is more focused on the characters and the romance than the first one in the series, but it is by no means boring and plot-less. It's fast-paced and full of deliciously hot guys. Awesome.

My rating: ☆☆☆☆☆