Paul has known he was destined to be a Protector for as long as he can remember, fated to serve a Speaker who could hear the voices of spirits lingering after death. Partnerships between the two are extremely important because these lingering spirits, while annoying in the beginning, can turn into Malevolents. When they do, their ability to reason is severely impaired while their power to wreak havoc is truly frightening. Left unchecked, they could eventually destroy humanity.
Paul is waiting to be paired, but when Charles, his trainer and the man who has been like a foster dad to him since he was wandering alone on the streets as a child, introduces him to Vivienne, he knows he's in for a real challenge. She's scary and so full of fear and anger he's not sure how to respond. She wants nothing to do with him, but her reasons aren't something he's able to figure out quickly or easily. Charles, however, refuses to let her blow Paul off, so grudgingly, reluctantly, they start learning how to work together.
As Paul starts putting some of the pieces together, He discovers why Vivienne is so angry and mistrustful. These make him all the more determined to hang in there until she begins to open up and share parts of her past with him. When what might be the worst Malevolent on the planet, Smith, kidnaps Vivienne's aunt, things go into overdrive. Fortunately, Paul and Vivienne have developed the connection so important between Protector and Speaker, one that allows them to share thoughts and emotions without speaking. There's one heck of a final confrontation that will have teens reading with a frenzy.
This is the second book in the series, but can be read as a stand-alone quite nicely. I like how the author has taken different characters (in the same manner as Katie McGarry has done) who were peripheral or nonexistent in the first book and given them the stage to strut their stuff. Teens who like paranormal or urban fantasy with a nice dash of romance will love this book. ( )

I was pretty bummed when I saw that FRAGILE SPIRITS was not going to continue to follow Lenzi and Alden but from pretty early on you see that they are still a big part of the book and that the new main characters are pretty interesting all on their own.

Only a month has passed since the ending of SHATTERED SOULS. FRAGILE SPIRITS follows the story of rule follower Protector Paul and fly by the seat of her pants, no one tells her what to do Speaker Vivianne. One of my favorite parts of getting to know Vivienne was her attitude and how different yet similar she is to the other characters. Both her and Paul have a hidden past and are so much more than they appear on the surface. Getting to know them was not hard to endure. I enjoyed their interaction, connection and the development of their relationship.

This series has some great secondary characters. We of course get a nice dose of Lenzi and Alden but we also see a lot of Race. Race is such a hoot. I think he needs his own book next *cough, cough*. FRAGILE SPIRITS was very much character driven. The storyline was of course interesting but the characters were its driving force.

I thought book 1 was a standalone so getting a book 2 was a great surprise. The author did end the story arc but also started some things I feel need to be in a new book so I will sit and wait patiently to see if we will get a book 3. If you enjoyed SHATTERED SOULS you will not want to miss FRAGILE SPIRITS.

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. ( )