Unearthly Book 7

Okay, so based on my love of paranormal romance and all the 5 star reviews on goodreads, I expected to love this book, but I can't say I loved it.  It was a fun and light read, I just don't think it could live up to all the hype.

Clara is part angel, and all angels on Earth have a purpose. One reason for their existence which will become clear sometime during their teen years. From the beginning of the book, it's obvious that Clara's purpose centers around saving a boy, Christian, from a forest fire. Her family picks up and moves from California to some small town in Wyoming, so that she can meet this guy in order to fulfill her purpose. This bothered me. It seemed like if this were her purpose and she was destined to fulfill it, she shouldn't have to move across the country to pursue it because she would have been at the right place at the right time anyhow. Once she gets to Wyoming and meets the guy, he's not interested in her. In fact, no one is. She goes through the typical "new girl w/ no friends" bit. But what I found particularly funny was that her mom, her new found friend, and she all think for a while she should be dating Christian. I didn't really get this. If her purpose was to save him from a fire, why should she date him? Not to mention, he has a girlfriend.
Halfway through the book, the romance is this paranormal romance finally picks up. This after Christian left her at prom and another guy brings her home. The romance is with the other guy. It's cute and believable, but her mom still thinks she should be dating Christian. This is where I got really annoyed. Purpose or not, there is no way I can see encouraging a teen ager (or anyone probably) to date a guy who took her out and left her somewhere to take another girl home. Wow. No way. I don't care that he had a good reason.  Clara does find Christian at the forest fire like her vision said she would, and this happens with a nice little twist. But it doesn't seem she's fulfilled her purpose. And finding Christian at the fire doesn't seem like it's going to make it any easier for her and Tucker (the other guy) to be together.
Throughout the book, there is all this mystery surrounding the mom and her past. It goes on to the very last page and is never resolved. Clara has a repeated vision she knows is connected to her purpose, but isn't sure what her purpose is. This is also not resolved. Clara spends most of the book trying to decide if she date Christian who isn't interested in her or Tucker. This is also not resolved. So I think my major qualms with the book are the lack of resolution and under developed characters. I just never really connected to any of them, and Clara seemed very self centered. The most interesting character to me was Angela, the half angel best friend. But this wasn't Angela's story, so that bothered me.
In spite of all this, the story has a strong voice and manages to be engaging. I couldn't put it down, but at the same time I was annoyed with it. But it made me remember my high school summer breaks. It was a fun book, but it will never make it to my favorites list. I give it 3 stars.