cover image Wrong in All the Right Ways

Wrong in All the Right Ways

Tiffany Brownlee. Holt, $17.99 (352p) ISBN 978-1-250-13053-2

In her YA debut, Brownlee models the ill-advised love affair between her protagonist, Emma, and Emma’s foster brother, Dylan, after Catherine and Heathcliff’s forbidden love in Wuthering Heights. When Emma’s parents bring home her new foster sibling, she assumes he will be close in age to her seven-year-old brother, Matthew. But Dylan is Emma’s peer, and attraction immediately strikes. The duo’s halfhearted attempts to keep apart quickly find them involved in a clandestine romance that could threaten Dylan’s adoption. Meanwhile, Emma is reading Wuthering Heights for class and writing letters to Catherine, confessing about her growing feelings and romance with Dylan, the secret they are keeping from her parents, and her attempt to protect this secret by openly dating her new best friend’s brother. Soon, Emma is enduring Dylan’s Heathcliff-like mood swings, and tragedy looms over them both. Emma’s voice is frank and intelligent, though the story’s obsession with Dylan can make other characters and aspects of Emma’s life seem like filler. For readers looking for star-crossed romance and melodrama, Emma’s rocky relationship with Dylan is sure to satisfy. Ages 12–up. [em]Agent: Jill Kramer, Waterside Productions. (July) [/em]