Book Review: Lost Girl by Holly Kammier @hkammier @PublishingAcorn @XpressoTours

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Title: Lost Girl
Series: A Shelby Day Novel
Author: Holly Kammier
Publisher: Acorn Publishing
Publication Date: January 5, 2020
Genres: Mystery, Young Adult

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Purchase Links:
Barnes & Noble // Kobo // iBooks
Amazon // Indiebound

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Lost Girl
A Shelby Day Novel
Holly Kammier
Acorn Publishing, January 2020
ISBN 978-1-947392-61-8
Hardcover

From the publisher—

AN APPALLING ACT OF VIOLENCE AND AN UNSOLVED DOUBLE MURDER.

SMALL-TOWN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, SHELBY DAY, IS DETERMINED TO HUNT A KILLER. 

As her search draws closer to uncovering the twisted truth, she begins receiving ominous warnings to stay quiet and drop the story. The young journalist is in danger. Her cameraman and best friend, a person with his own secret past, says he wants to protect her. But Shelby is headstrong and dodging anything that could lead to love. She can’t allow anyone to distract her as she fights for the two women who deserve justice. 

She never expects along the way she’ll have to stop and save herself.

Ticktock… If Shelby doesn’t solve the crime soon, she’ll become the killer’s next victim. 

“Lost Girl is a compulsive thrill-ride that reads as if it’s been pulled straight from the headlines. Kammier’s journalism background brings undeniable authenticity to a novel that has it all– a love story, a murder mystery, and a real-life introduction into the distinctive world of television news.” 
-CAROLINE MITCHELL, New York Times best-selling author

This book is for anyone who loves:
Young Adult love stories
Murder Mystery
Redemption
Books with journalism elements
Intended for a mature YA audience

Fans of Veronica Mars, In The Woods, and One Of Us Is Lying, will love this novel.

Lost Girl is, in itself, a puzzle because it’s listed as Young Adult but I don’t know why. The characters are not high schoolers, which is what you usually find in YA, and the setting is not YA-related so the designation really doesn’t make much sense. I’m not particularly fond of the New Adult categorization that started cropping up a few years back but that is what this is so why not call it that or nothing age-defining at all?

Shelby Day is an interesting protagonist largely because she’s not very likeable and that’s fine with me. A character with flaws nearly always enhances things for me and I imagine some of the traits that make an investigative reporter good at her job are exactly those that can irritate other people. Shelby has that dogged determination and pushiness that drives a reporter to get the story. Is she annoying? Yes, and she made me cringe with some of her behavior and her zeal to get the story despite some bad decisions but I also understood her emotional connection to the murder victims. On the other hand, I didn’t buy her claim that PTSD is built into Jewish DNA and actually thought that was a bit dismissive of those who really do suffer from PTSD. Her cameraman and friend, Jack, is nearly as problematic in his somewhat controlling attitude but I did appreciate his willingness to stick by her. The romance between the two may or may not develop but Jack certainly hopes so.

As mystery investigations go, this one is a little weak primarily because I never could figure out why Shelby would be privy to so much information and exclusive interviews and the like. Surely a cub reporter would have to pay a lot more dues to achieve such favored status. Still, the various leads and rising tension kept me reading till the end.

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, January 2020.

About the  Author

Co-owner of Acorn Publishing, the UCLA honors graduate is an accomplished content editor/writing coach (her authors have gone on to become USA Today best-sellers and a New York Times best-seller). With a background in journalism, Holly Kammier has worked everywhere from CNN in Washington, D.C. and KCOP-TV in Los Angeles, to the NBC affiliate in small-town Medford, Oregon.

She is the best-selling author of the novel, Kingston Court (Acorn Publishing 2015), and Could Have Been Hollywood, a memoir. Holly recently published her third book, Choosing Hope, a harrowing story of passion and deceit, and the things we do for love. Her next novel, the YA Romantic Suspense, Lost Girl, is scheduled for release in early 2020.

Holly resides in her hometown of San Diego, California, close to family and friends. An avid reader with a passion for timeless books and beautiful writing, she also enjoys long walks, romantic movies, and pink peonies.

Author links: 
Website // Twitter // Facebook // Goodreads

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