REBEL BELLE

This paranormal chick-lit comedy finds a queen-bee high school girl from Alabama gaining superpowers that require her to protect the boy she’s disliked all her life.

There’s no accounting for the title, which has virtually nothing to do with the book’s content, but laughs will be flying as fast as ninja kicks when the too-good-to-be-true student-body president, head cheerleader and 4.0 student with the Perfect Boyfriend finds herself transformed into a Paladin in the bathroom while waiting for the announcement that will crown her homecoming queen. Seventeen-year-old Harper just wants to get into a great college, marry longtime boyfriend Ryan and become the second female governor of Alabama. So being attacked by her scimitar-wielding history teacher comes as a surprise, but suddenly she can fight back with style. Now, though, she finds herself compelled to protect David—superdork, her rival for valedictorian and the bane of her existence since kindergarten. Worse, she must protect him to the death, an event that may occur, as the dreaded Ephors, guardians of the oracles, do not want a male oracle. Alas, David is that oracle. As the two spar, however, they also find themselves attracted to each other, a condition Harper strongly opposes. Comedy ensues. The story itself stands up as decent paranormal suspense, but it’s the snarky humor that gives it legs.

Plenty of merriment, even for Yankees.