Gilt Hollow by Lorie Langdon : ARC #BookReview

Title: Gilt Hollow
Author: Lorie Langdon
Publisher: Blink
Published Date: September 27th 2016
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Mystery
Page Count:304
Format: Kindle

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

Goodreads Summary: 

Willow Lamott’s best friend is a murderer, and no one in the small town of Gilt Hollow will let her forget it. For four long years, she’s tried to fade into the background—but none of that matters when Ashton Keller comes striding into school, fresh out of juvie and fueled by revenge. The moment their eyes meet, Willow no longer feels invisible. Drawn to the vulnerability behind Ashton’s mask of rage, she sinks deeper into his sinister world and begins to question whether he’s a villain, a savior, or both.
Ashton thought he wanted vengeance, until Willow reminded him what he’d been missing. Now he longs to clear his name and become the person she sees in him. But the closer they get to uncovering the truth, the darker the secrets become, and Ashton fears his return to Gilt Hollow will destroy everyone he loves, especially the girl he left behind.
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 My Review:

"All heartbreak fades with time. Don't be afraid to move on... and don't be a victim!"

Willow has been mostly friendless since her childhood best friend went to jail for a murder she doesn’t think he committed. She has defended his innocence since that time and because of it has been cast out by most of this small town. All while never hearing a word back from him with all the letters she wrote him.

"He was a protector. She'd known it from the day she met him."

Ashton has been at juvie for almost four years for a crime he didn’t commit. In that time he’s learned a lot both good and bad. But mostly he’s learned that no one cares about him anymore or so he thinks.

Once Ashton gets back to Gilt hollow though has decided to figure out who really committed the murder and why. All while trying to avoid anything that would get him sent back to prison this time.

At first the two avoid each other for the most part, but after certain things start happening they end up becoming friends again in order to find out who is making life hard for both of them.

"She'd just discovered a fellow student may have been murdered; she was being blackmailed via text message; she was hiding her ex-convict/ex-bestfriend in her attic while trying to keep him out of jail and not fall head over heels in love with him."

 Of course though while they start to work together they realize that they’ve have feelings for one another. But can’t act on them for multiple reasons.

Overall I really enjoyed this story. It was a mystery and scary at times when you realize why the person did what they did and how crazy they really were in order to make sure that they didn’t get caught. The way that Willow and Ashton worked together was extremely smart even though it also put them both in danger it was something that had to be done. Sure I think the ending was a little too perfect, but it was nice to see a happy ending for two people that had struggled for years with loss of things.

Thank you to Netgalley and Blink for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.