Book picks similar to
Balancer by Patrick Wong


fantasy
young-adult
paranormal
first-reads

Fated Dreams


Christina Smith - 2012
    But for Sarah, meeting the guy of her dreams comes with a price.On the outside Sarah looks like she has it all--friends, a loving family, and a hobby she's really good at. But if you look closer, Sarah's keeping secrets from everyone in her life, even...Lucas. From the very first time they bumped into one another, she has felt drawn to him. He makes her feel like she's found something she never realized was missing. Life would be perfect if it wasn't for the constant feeling that someone is following her. She feels a presence everywhere she goes, work, home, even...in her dreams. Sarah suddenly finds herself wrapped up in a dangerous mystery that started eighty years ago involving two tragic deaths. After several attempts on her life, she and Lucas realize they must solve it before history repeats itself.

Transformation


John O'Riley - 2013
    Imprisoned for years and forced to use her talent to help a company thrive, she now reaches a point where she must escape or die. A natural disaster will cause chaos, death, and destruction throughout the entire world while transforming most of the survivors into psychics. After this happens, Psi-Tech will kill all of their prisoners to hide the evidence of their horrific crimes. Knowing how the disaster will affect her captors gives Emily one slim chance to escape. She must seize this opportunity to save not only herself but her brother as well who will die without a medical treatment that doesn’t yet exist.

Airel: The Discovering


Aaron M. Patterson - 2013
    I have not jumped on the whole "fallen angel" bandwagon, just as I didn't jump on all of the vampire stories that came out after Twilight. This is not your typical fallen angel story. It is one that has left me breathlessly waiting for the next one in the series. Hurry up please!!!" --Sandra Stiles* * * Bestselling thriller writer Aaron Patterson, teams up with Chris White, in this exciting new, young adult paranormal romance series! BOOK DESCRIPTION: AIREL is a young adult paranormal story about an angel who falls so deeply in love with a woman that he chooses to fall from heaven to be with her. She gives birth to a daughter in Arabia, 1250BC. The girl is pursuedferociously, relentlessly by an enemy in the deepest darkness. In present day, Boise, Idaho is just a girl: Airel. She's just your average high school student...who turns out to be anything butaverage. It's because of who she is, because of her ancestry, because of her lineage. Past and present crash in on each other in the final pages as what has been twisted comes dangerously unraveled.* * * AIREL, The Awakening (Book 1: Part 1 in the Airel Saga) AIREL, The Discovering (Book 2: Parts 2-4 in the Airel Saga) MICHAEL, The Curse (Book 3: Parts 5-6 in the Airel Saga) MICHAEL, The Mark (Book 4: Parts 7-8 in the Airel Saga) URIEL, The Inheritance (Book 5: Parts 9-10 in the Airel Saga) URIEL, The Price (Book 6: Parts 11-12 in the Airel Saga) * * *

The Academy, Book One


Chad Leito - 2013
    These kidnappings happen in the span of a week, as reliable as clockwork. The victims don’t know each other, or their kidnappers. The fifteen-year-olds either end up with a ‘missing persons’ file gathering dust in a filing cabinet, or they are assumed dead. No one ever discovers what happens to them. The families move on, forever missing their lost loved one. Unknown to them, their child, grandchild, or sibling, has been taken to the Academy. The Academy, as its members will boast, is the most secretive, powerful organization in the world. The workings of the organization are revealed on a need-to-know basis, and the organization has decided that no one, other than its most trusted members, need to know its true business. Outsiders don’t even know it exists. Occasionally, a hunter or hiker will stumble upon the Academy’s remote location. They are quickly taken care of.When Asa Palmer, age fifteen, is out running in the woods behind his house, he is taken. Twelve hours later, after being tied and bound, and transported through an underground train station, he finds himself amidst a series of beautifully crafted structures that rest in between a circle of five secluded mountains. He has been chosen as a candidate for the Academy. Each six months, the Academy kidnaps more recruits than they can actually use. For Asa Palmer to live he must undergo body-altering mutations and compete with his cohorts in a series of dangerous and strategy ridden tasks to prove that he is worthy of the Academy’s time.

Spiritus


Dana Michelle Burnett - 2011
    As the seductive spirit lures her closer and closer, she learns about her own past and starts to understand that some mistakes are meant to last.Becca McAllister has always been different from other girls her age. Never part of the "in crowd", Becca never really fit in anywhere. When her mother dies and her father moves them to the small town of Corydon, Indiana, Becca didn't expect things to change.But things do change when Becca accidentally makes contact with a one hundred and sixty year old ghost, Alastor Sinclair, that haunts the halls of her new home.To Becca, Alastor is a seductive spirit that seems to see straight into her soul. To Alastor, Becca is what he was waited a century for--A second chance.But the closer they get, the more Becca realizes that this isn't the first time she and Alastor have known each other. Worse still, is she the one responsible for his death so long ago? And if so, did he come back for love or revenge?

Finding Eden


Camilla Beavers - 2012
    She dreamed of a man, one with liquid gold eyes. But when she meets Sahariel for the first time she can't help but wonder if she's going crazy. People can see him, but she can't see any colors swirl around him, not like they do with other people. Feeling irrevocably tied to him, she can't figure him out. Even with her own eccentricities, Eden thought she had finally become somewhat normal, but once he stepped into her life, everything was changed.

Her Guardians


Jaimie Roberts - 2014
    She can see the past, present, and future of people when she touches their hands. It is a gift she has had to deal with her whole life, and she has seen things she wished she hadn’t.Because she already knows what her dates are thinking and feeling, what they’ve done in the past, what their near future holds, relationships are difficult to come by. It is something that would put anyone off.She does like someone, though—very much. His name is Michael and he’s a police officer at the station where she works. The problem? He doesn’t bat an eyelid at her. In fact, she would go as far as saying that he hates her.However, when a new officer, Stephen, joins the force and seems to sweep Cassie off her feet, all that changes. For some reason, she cannot read him, and he quickly becomes a mystery that she needs to solve. Michael, on the other hand, doesn’t like it one bit and, pretty soon, jealousy rears its ugly head, leaving Cassie confused and frustrated.Later, Cassie learns a nasty secret, resulting in a shocking revelation regarding Michael and Stephen. Cassie soon realises that there are things beyond her world—beyond her imagination. Michael is her protector, her savior, her guardian. But can he keep her safe? Can she control her growing feelings for not only Michael, but Stephen? Can she make a choice? And will her choice result in the happily ever after she so desperately desires?

The Book Waitress


Deena Remiel - 2012
    Escaping his evil clutches as a child, he's come back with a vengeance for her now.Derek Galloway's inquisitive nature has led him to be an award-winning investigative reporter and straight into the path of pure evil.When a child vanishes from a sleepy island town, Camille, its subdued librarian, becomes embroiled in Derek's investigation. A satanic cult has plans for the child, while Satan has plans for Camille and the rest of the world. Amidst evil of the most supernatural and human kind, Derek and Camille find a shred of light and goodness in the form of their budding relationship.First in the Book Waitress Series, the portal between Hell and Earth will be torn asunder, and it will take everything Camille and Derek have and then some to close it. Satan won't go down easy, but nothing worth everything comes without a price.

The Breaker's Code


Conner Kressley - 2013
    Vesuvius, that the necklace her father left her is mysteriously missing, and that her house is minutes away from exploding. To top it off, Owen, the enigmatic, if slightly off-kilter guy of dreams, tells her that not only is he NOT interested in going out with her, but he's also a superspy sent by a clandestine organization to keep tabs on her.Turns out Cresta is the subject of a 500 year old prophecy, and if Owen and the other “Breakers” can't find a way to circumvent the future before she turns sixteen, Cresta is destined to bring about the end of the world -- something she'd rather not have on her college applications. That is, of course, if the gun-toting cult members piling onto her front porch don't get to her first.Happy birthday, Cresta.

Invisible Power


Mary Buckham - 2013
    If he wins she’ll watch her brother die.Sworn enemies and former lovers must hunt the same enemy with different agendas. Alex Noziak, part-witch; part-shaman must save her brother before warlock Bran eliminates the only man who knows where her brother is hidden.The IR Agency’s new recruits, each with unique if untested abilities, are brought deeper into the world of the preternaturals as their governing body, the Council of 7, is caught in a dangerous and vicious feud between Weres and Shifters.But when Alex has a chance to save her brother and capture the Weres who held him hostage disaster happens.

Burn Mark


Laura Powell - 2012
    Glory is from a family of witches, and is desperate to develop her 'Fae' powers and become a witch herself, though witch-activity carries a threat of being burned at the stake. Lucas is the son of the Chief Prosecutor for the Inquisition with a privileged life very different from the witches he is being trained to prosecute. And then one day, both Glory and Lucas develop the Fae. In one fell stroke, their lives are inextricably bound together. (Bloomsbury)

Sundered


Shannon Mayer - 2011
    The side effects were anything but hopeful. Mara and Sebastian are young, in love and newlyweds. Far too soon, they will face tests to their love that most others won’t survive. Their bond strengthens with each loss, destruction and unbearable race against time. In each other, they find the will and hope to endure. Hand in hand, they will face the darkening of humanity with strength and integrity and an undeniable spirit to survive; together.

The Last Orphans


N.W. Harris - 2014
    In a span of mere hours, the entire adult population is decimated, leaving their children behind to fend for themselves and deal with the horrific aftermath of the freak occurrence. As one of the newly made elders in his small town, Shane finds himself taking on the role of caretaker for a large group of juvenile survivors. One who just happens to be Kelly Douglas—an out-of-his-league classmate—who, on any other day, would have never given Shane a second glance. Together, they begin their quest to find out why all of the adults were slaughtered. What they find is even more horrifying than anything they could have expected—the annihilation of the adults was only the beginning. Shane and his friends are not the unlucky survivors left to inherit this new, messed-up planet. No, they are its next victims. There is an unknown power out there, and it won’t stop until every person in the world is dead. A spine-tingling adventure that will have you gasping for breath all the way until the last page, The Last Orphans is the first book in an all-new apocalyptic series.

First Visions


Heather Topham Wood - 2012
    While unconscious, she crept into the mind of a missing boy and awoke with the knowledge of his location. Friends and family were skeptical and wary of her new ability to see into the minds of others. Their fears prompted Kate to keep her psychic powers a secret. Feeling alienated, she dropped out of college and spent most of her days holed up at her mother's home. Now another child has been abducted. Police detective Jared Corbett seeks out Kate for her help in solving the case. Reluctantly, Kate agrees and they must work together to bring 8-year-old Cori Preston home to her family. Although attracted to one another, Jared has a girlfriend with ties to the abduction case and Kate is sarcastic and guarded since her coma. With visions she can't control and an uncontrollable attraction to the detective, she wonders if she can leave the past behind and finally stop hiding from the world. Otherwise, Cori may be lost forever.

Firebug


Lish McBride - 2014
    Which would all be well and good if she weren't caught in a deadly contract with the Coterie, a magical mafia. She's one of their main hitmen . . . and she doesn't like it one bit. Not least because her boss, Venus, killed Ava's mother. When Venus asks Ava to kill a family friend, Ava rebels. She knows very well that you can't say no to the Coterie and expect to get away with it, though, so she and her friends hit the road, trying desperately to think of a way out of the mess they find themselves in. Preferably keeping the murder to a minimum, in Lish McBride's Firebug.