Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

I was not overly keen on reading Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick--it is another YA supernatural/paranormal romance, and having read the first three Stephenie Meyer Twilight books, I have had my fill. But a friend recommended it (and I got her to read The Hunger Games trilogy, which she loved) and went so far as to loan me her copy of it, so I read it (while on vacation without any other books to tempt me).
It opens with high school sophomore Nora, living alone with her mom (her father died about a year ago), best friend Vee, and sudden new classmate, Patch.
Oh, the mysterious dark male student. Nora is determined to not get involved with boys, wanting to get out of high school and on to college and no guy is good enough for her. But Patch, suddenly her new biology lab partner, draws her in and tempts Nora to do things Nora would not do before. Nora's the safe girl, the well behaved girl, but Patch is the dangerous one, hanging out in pool halls, riding motorcycles. He feels wrong for her but she can't keep away.
Well it comes out that Patch is a fallen angel (there's the paranormal bit). I admit I was a little skeptical when I first started to read: girl in school, slightly loner-ish, absent parents, meets dark mysterious boy with a secret, turns our to be supernatural, girl is constantly in peril ... it was reading a lot like Twilight. Though I appreciate the story Stephenie Meyer is trying to tell in Twilight (and the other books) I can't freaking stand Bella and all the books are filtered through Bella (I think that's why I find the storyline more interesting in the movies).
Becca Fitzpatrick is a better writer than Stephenie Meyer. I like Nora. I think Nora is well developed and Patch was more developed at the end of the book. Vee could use a little more of the storyline (but that's because I like her), more of the fallen angel stuff could be revealed (as I'm sure it will be in the next books), but overall, I'm intrigued to read the next book and the first thing I did when I finished Hush, Hush was put Crescendo on hold at my local library. Which is saying a lot compared to dreading reading the next book in the Twilight saga (I still have to read Breaking Dawn, and want to read it to get it over with, but am not looking forward to it). The pace of Hush, Hush picks up towards the end and there are some moments of suspense that make you want to keep turning the pages. I liked it. I liked it enough to want to read the second one, which is pretty good for me.
Overall, I recommend Hush, Hush, especially if you're a fan of the supernatural romance bit. It's a light fluffy read, perfect escapist literature.