Illuminate by Aimee Agresti

"Haven Terra is a brainy, shy high school outcast. But everything begins to change when she turns sixteen. Along with her best friend Dante and their quiet and brilliant classmate Lance, she is awarded a prestigious internship in the big city— Chicago—and is sent to live and work at a swanky and stylish hotel under the watchful eyes of a group of gorgeous and shockingly young-looking strangers: powerful and alluring hotel owner Aurelia Brown; her second-in-command, the dashing Lucian Grove; and their stunning but aloof staff of glamazons called The Outfit.

As Haven begins falling for Lucian, she discovers that these beautiful people are not quite what they seem. With the help of a mysterious book, she uncovers a network of secret passageways from the hotel’s jazz-age past that leads her to the heart of the evil agenda of Aurelia and company: they’re in the business of buying souls. Will they succeed in wooing Haven to join them in their recruitment efforts, or will she be able to thwart this devilish set’s plans to take the souls of her classmates on prom night at the hotel?"

So, this was a fairly thick book, and it took me a tiny bit to get into it. Still, once I re-picked it up and got back into it, I was hooked. I loved the images and the luxury. The setting's really well fleshed-out and alluring, and it's not a stretch to picture yourself in the hotel with the characters. There wasn't much in it that truly surprised me, but there were enough new twists to keep it very interesting. I liked the characters, especially Lance. I'll admit, Dante has some good one-liners too. Haven was a good character. She wasn't exceedingly, wholeheartedly unique, but I liked her and could kind of relate to her. There were some slight comic relief spots mixed in with the enthralling nature of the hotel, which I liked. All in all, it's definitely worth reading. No, seriously, you'll like it. It's over at Kettleson.