After losing her parents in a car wreck, Kate Mercier must leave her happy Brooklin home to live with her artsy grandparents in Paris. Drowning in the depths of despair, she immerses herself in books and Parisian art. Unlike her sister, who distracts herself with boyfriends and club-hopping, Kate spends her days at a local café re-reading To Kill a Mockingbird. Every day is the same…that is until she she meets Vincent.

Tall, dark and mysterious, he’s everything a brooding  teenage girl dreams of. Even though Kate refuses to let herself feel love for anyone ever again, she can’t help but give in to his advances. And just when the walls around her heart begin to crumble, she discovers that his world is surrounded by the one thing that scares her the most: death.

In this new spin on YA paranormal romance, this talented author offers up a supernatural being that I have yet to encounter: A revenant. Vincent and his band of pseudo-siblings are undead beings who are forced to sacrifice themselves over and over again to save the lives of innocent people.

With two star-crossed lovers – drawn to each other and miserable with despair when apart – it sounds like Amy is taking a page from  Stephanie Meyer’s playbook. However, our fearless leading lady isn’t too quick to sacrifice her humanity and put her family members in danger for a boy she just met.  But alas, unrequited love conquers all, and Kate decides to take the plunge.

I would also like to add that there are no weird subhuman babies with werewolf boyfriends involved, which is a big plus in my book. I may not win any popularity contests by saying this, but really Stephanie, what were you thinking when you came up with Renesme?

But I digress…if you are a fan of atmospheric paranormal love stories, check this one out. I’m interested to see what happens next when Vincent and his brethren face off with their evil counterparts, the Numa. Unlike the heroic revenants, the Numa’s goal is to wreak havoc on the City of Lights – and possibly the world over – by taking the lives of others.

Addendum: The Hollywood Game

Sometimes when I’m reading a good book, I like to play what I call the “Hollywood Game.” Like a literary casting agent, I handpick a celebrity who best fits the descriptions of the characters. 

While reading Die for Me, I couldn’t help but envision Ty Borden (the cute ranch hand in Heartland) playing the part of Vincent. With his shaggy mop of dark hair skimming over his forehead, chiseled features and dark eyelashes, this relatively unknown actor really fits the bill.

As for the leading lady, when I saw the book cover depicting a waiflike girl with long wavy hair, I instantly pictured Shanae Grimes (90210) playing the part of Kate Mercier. What do you think? Did I get it right, or am I way off the mark?