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The Guardian Chronicles #1
Be the Death of Me
An alternate cover edition can be found here.
BILLIE FOSTER is a seventeen-year-old with a bit of an attitude problem. It wasn’t long ago that she had it all ─ booming social life, loving boyfriend, anything and everything a beautiful, popular teenage girl could want. That is until her life is taken by a violent and mysterious school fire, leaving her forever trapped in limbo, alone and jaded in the afterlife.
Billie is put to work, assigned to the organization known only as THE GUARDIANS, a group of spirits charged with the task of keeping the living alive. But Billie is no “employee of the month.” Why should she protect the living when no one did the same for her? Fed up with her cynicism and total disregard for authority, her boss, THE CAPTAIN, gives her an ultimatum: work with a partner or face the consequences of her carelessness.
TUCKER REID is a charming and hardworking member of the Self-Sacrifice organization, and much to Billie’s dismay, exactly what The Captain orders. Right off the bat, Tucker proves he isn’t afraid to keep her in line, refusing to back down from what he knows is right. Little does Billie suspect, however, that Tucker carries with him secrets of his own.
BENEDICT FORD is a teenager who is still alive, but someone is trying to kill him. He becomes Billie and Tucker’s first assignment, but all three of them soon learn that that things are neither as they seem nor as they should be. Something in the afterlife is askew, threatening to destroy them all. Can Billie, Tucker and Benedict work together? Or will their differences be their ultimate downfall?
BILLIE FOSTER is a seventeen-year-old with a bit of an attitude problem. It wasn’t long ago that she had it all ─ booming social life, loving boyfriend, anything and everything a beautiful, popular teenage girl could want. That is until her life is taken by a violent and mysterious school fire, leaving her forever trapped in limbo, alone and jaded in the afterlife.
Billie is put to work, assigned to the organization known only as THE GUARDIANS, a group of spirits charged with the task of keeping the living alive. But Billie is no “employee of the month.” Why should she protect the living when no one did the same for her? Fed up with her cynicism and total disregard for authority, her boss, THE CAPTAIN, gives her an ultimatum: work with a partner or face the consequences of her carelessness.
TUCKER REID is a charming and hardworking member of the Self-Sacrifice organization, and much to Billie’s dismay, exactly what The Captain orders. Right off the bat, Tucker proves he isn’t afraid to keep her in line, refusing to back down from what he knows is right. Little does Billie suspect, however, that Tucker carries with him secrets of his own.
BENEDICT FORD is a teenager who is still alive, but someone is trying to kill him. He becomes Billie and Tucker’s first assignment, but all three of them soon learn that that things are neither as they seem nor as they should be. Something in the afterlife is askew, threatening to destroy them all. Can Billie, Tucker and Benedict work together? Or will their differences be their ultimate downfall?
380 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
82 people are currently reading
222 people want to read
About the author
Rebecca Harris
4 books13 followersRebecca Harris discovered her passion for books at an early age. Presently, she works as a bookseller where she spends far too much time dreaming up new stories from behind the cash register. When she's not writing she enjoys reading classic literature, listening to showtunes, and solving crossword puzzles. She currently resides in Tennessee where she lives with two very spoiled cats.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 29, 2018
I was super excited for a ghost book and there were certainly some interesting ideas in this story and some fun snappy dialog but the story ultimately fell flat for me because of the cursed insta-love.
(Another issue I had was that there were multiple POVs and it was difficult to discern one character voice from another, particularly with the two love-struck swains that flocked around the fire of Billie's beauty.
And we never stop hearing about how gorgeous she is, but all she did was snap and snipe at everyone and super rarely showed a soft underbelly. And I'm one that can usually appreciate a bad-boy/bad-girl character or a morally gray or ambiguous one and I got NOTHING for Billie. I mostly just found her unlikeable.)
To be fair, I didn't read this with a fine-tooth comb because I got bored and started speed reading, but my recommendation would be that if you haven't read much in the genre, this book may be enjoyable. Particularly for a fun new view on the afterlife.
However, if you have an issue with insta-love (and that most annoying variety of IL: having NO IDEA what the APPEAL of the person everyone's instantly in love with....) maybe skip this one.
(Another issue I had was that there were multiple POVs and it was difficult to discern one character voice from another, particularly with the two love-struck swains that flocked around the fire of Billie's beauty.
And we never stop hearing about how gorgeous she is, but all she did was snap and snipe at everyone and super rarely showed a soft underbelly. And I'm one that can usually appreciate a bad-boy/bad-girl character or a morally gray or ambiguous one and I got NOTHING for Billie. I mostly just found her unlikeable.)
To be fair, I didn't read this with a fine-tooth comb because I got bored and started speed reading, but my recommendation would be that if you haven't read much in the genre, this book may be enjoyable. Particularly for a fun new view on the afterlife.
However, if you have an issue with insta-love (and that most annoying variety of IL: having NO IDEA what the APPEAL of the person everyone's instantly in love with....) maybe skip this one.
February 5, 2017
What a book!
This is such a fantastic book! I was blown away. I laughed, cried and just hurt for these three characters. There's everything you could want in a story right here!
This is such a fantastic book! I was blown away. I laughed, cried and just hurt for these three characters. There's everything you could want in a story right here!
July 22, 2017
An interesting read if you like the paranormal genre. It's a different take on the afterlife that I enjoyed. It's not a perfect book, but it's pretty great for a first time author.
July 27, 2017
Let's just say one of the main characters will get you so mad you would want to beat the shit out of him. Cough- tucker. He gets me so mad. I read this book and the second book. I HAD to make myself read this and in the middle of the second book I started to ask myself why am I reading this book? It is not an amazing read. It's not even an ok read. I was hoping to love this book. Plus the main characters get me pissed especially tucker.
August 21, 2018
Wasn't what I thought it would be
I was a bit surprised that I didn't care for this book as well as I thought I would. I felt it bounced around back and forth with the characters too much for me.
I was a bit surprised that I didn't care for this book as well as I thought I would. I felt it bounced around back and forth with the characters too much for me.
January 10, 2018
Great start to series, love the characters. Interesting world. Will continue with series, though I was a bit sad at end of this book. Wonderful MCs.
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September 29, 2014Introduction
Four years ago, Billie Foster had it all. Friends, a boyfriend, a nice school, beauty, and then in a mysterious school fire, she lost everything. Including her life. In her afterlife, she was given a position. Guardian. Her job, to keep the living alive. Billie, isn't exactly the greatest at her job, testing the patience of her Captain and the all important Elders. Her latest assignment: Benedict Ford. A teenager with not much of a social life, lives with his grandmother. He is still alive, but somebody is out to kill him regardless of if he knows that or not.
Because of the fact that Billie doesn't have the best track record, her captain assigns her a partner. Tucker. Tucker and Billie have met, when they were alive, even though the memory of Tucker has escaped Billie, it is something that even in death, Tucker won't forget.
Traditionally, living people should not be able to see guardians, but Ford is an exception, and this has made everything much more interesting than it was ever meant to be.
Cover
I don't mind this cover, which actually comes as a surprise to me since I don't often like covers with characters faces on them. Soo...*Thumbs up*
Billie
I liked Billie, her snark an sarcastic comments kept things fresh.
Tucker
Tucker, the responsible one in the partnership, he was obviously less amusing but he kept things balanced so it wasn't all jokes all the time.
Ford
Ford was also, quite amusing at times, especially because he has guardians that he can see, and talk to. It was funny to read about him trying to make sense of everything that is happening to him. Including the whole, someone-is-out-to-kill-me thing.
Mystery elements
Be the Death of Me is written in alternating POVs, meaning it isn't always focused on exactly who is trying to kill him, but when it comes to the point of the book where you do find out who is out to get Ford, I can't say that I called it. I wasn't necessarily surprised. But I didn't figure it out right away.
Love Triangle (?)
The book was written like a love triangle should happen, between Billie, Tucker, and Ford. But I wan't sold on it. I mean, yeah, Billie and Ford kind of flirt sometimes, sort of. But obviously, it can't happen, Billie is dead for crying out loud,
Dislikes
The spelling in this book isn't great. I counted so many mistakes. Published books should not have mistakes. Let me repat that. Published books should not have mistakes.Spelling is such an easy fix, too. Although the spelling is the only problem I had with this book, it's a pretty big problem
Conclusion
This book was a very enjoyable read for me, aside from the spelling I was extremely happy reading this book.
Four years ago, Billie Foster had it all. Friends, a boyfriend, a nice school, beauty, and then in a mysterious school fire, she lost everything. Including her life. In her afterlife, she was given a position. Guardian. Her job, to keep the living alive. Billie, isn't exactly the greatest at her job, testing the patience of her Captain and the all important Elders. Her latest assignment: Benedict Ford. A teenager with not much of a social life, lives with his grandmother. He is still alive, but somebody is out to kill him regardless of if he knows that or not.
Because of the fact that Billie doesn't have the best track record, her captain assigns her a partner. Tucker. Tucker and Billie have met, when they were alive, even though the memory of Tucker has escaped Billie, it is something that even in death, Tucker won't forget.
Traditionally, living people should not be able to see guardians, but Ford is an exception, and this has made everything much more interesting than it was ever meant to be.
Cover
I don't mind this cover, which actually comes as a surprise to me since I don't often like covers with characters faces on them. Soo...*Thumbs up*
Billie
I liked Billie, her snark an sarcastic comments kept things fresh.
Tucker
Tucker, the responsible one in the partnership, he was obviously less amusing but he kept things balanced so it wasn't all jokes all the time.
Ford
Ford was also, quite amusing at times, especially because he has guardians that he can see, and talk to. It was funny to read about him trying to make sense of everything that is happening to him. Including the whole, someone-is-out-to-kill-me thing.
Mystery elements
Be the Death of Me is written in alternating POVs, meaning it isn't always focused on exactly who is trying to kill him, but when it comes to the point of the book where you do find out who is out to get Ford, I can't say that I called it. I wasn't necessarily surprised. But I didn't figure it out right away.
Love Triangle (?)
The book was written like a love triangle should happen, between Billie, Tucker, and Ford. But I wan't sold on it. I mean, yeah, Billie and Ford kind of flirt sometimes, sort of. But obviously, it can't happen, Billie is dead for crying out loud,
Dislikes
The spelling in this book isn't great. I counted so many mistakes. Published books should not have mistakes. Let me repat that. Published books should not have mistakes.Spelling is such an easy fix, too. Although the spelling is the only problem I had with this book, it's a pretty big problem
Conclusion
This book was a very enjoyable read for me, aside from the spelling I was extremely happy reading this book.
July 28, 2014
This was a pretty unique blend of Guardian angel and ghost stories. The Guardians aren't called angels (and angels are mentioned as separate beings), but the job is the same. The Guardians are previously living humans who died and were determined to be good for helping the living. Billie is a Guardian with a chip on her shoulder, and she has failed her previous assignments. Tucker has just been promoted, and has been assigned as Billie's partner for an assignment that is her last chance. I love how the stories intertwined between the characters, all stemming from one shared event. There is a romantic undertone to the story, but I wouldn't call this a romance, unless things end up with a HEA later in the series. There were a handful of grammar and editing errors, but not heavy enough to detract from the story. I would read more from this author.
September 6, 2014
Interesting plot and snappy dialog
The author skillfully handles the intersection of her character's lives, the impact of seemingly random actions and the bureaucracy of heaven. The dialog and character's motivations are congruent and develop along with the story line. I would be interested in reading the next book in the series.
The author skillfully handles the intersection of her character's lives, the impact of seemingly random actions and the bureaucracy of heaven. The dialog and character's motivations are congruent and develop along with the story line. I would be interested in reading the next book in the series.
March 12, 2016
I enjoyed learning the story from the point of views of each character. Tucker loves Billie so much he gave his life for her. And now they are partnered together on an assignment. Can he keep his feelings from interfering with his work?? Looking forward to finding out what happens when Tucker sacrifices for Billie yet again.
October 20, 2016
I just loved this book! I went through an awry of emotions, from pity, heartache to happiness, and even tears! I was completely transported to their world! I love Billie!! Ford and Tuck were awesome and I loved how she put their past lives in the path of each other.. Super great read! I highly recommend this book!
December 3, 2013
Awesome book! I didn't know anything about it before I started reading, but I'm so glad I did! Loved, loved, loved it!
December 11, 2013
Really good book. You wouldn't expect a book that deals with death to make you laugh, but this one did!
July 5, 2014
It tore me to pieces
I loved it!
I loved it!
September 2, 2014
Intriguing YA novel - free kindle download - exploring what happens after death and if the guardian (angels?) can interact effectively with their charges on this plane of existence. Worth the read.
February 25, 2015
Great new author
This was written by a good friend of mine. If you know Becky, you can hear her in Billie the entire way through the book. Great story
This was written by a good friend of mine. If you know Becky, you can hear her in Billie the entire way through the book. Great story
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews