After Luce’s date dies in a mysterious fire, she is sent to spend her senior year at a decrepit reform school called Sword & Cross.  Luce remembers nothing of the night Trevor died, but fears she may somehow be responsible or that the shadows that she has seen her whole life, but that no one else sees, are. 

At Sword & Cross, Luce becomes entangled with two boys, Daniel who she can’t seem to tear her eyes away from and Cam, another young man who is both charming and gorgeous, and maybe just a little dangerous.

Luce’s life is filled with uncertainty at Sword and Cross; she is the new girl and the other residents often appear hardened. Her new friend Arriane warns her away from Cam as her new enemy Molly warns her about Daniel.  Luce doesn’t know who to trust or what to believe and the ever-present shadows become more menacing than ever. Can she trust Cam?  He wants to spend time with her; he is nice to her, buys her gifts, and she does enjoy spending time with him as well as kissing him.  Daniel, on the other hand, runs hot then cold. One minute he is nice and the next he’s scowling and abandoning her.

Yet, it is Daniel that she can’t get out of her mind and Daniel that she longs to kiss. She believes that she has met him before.  As Luce starts to put the pieces together about who Daniel is, she must also remember who she is, but very slowly.  Her life depends on it.  (Pamela Lowe for Colorado Blue Spruce Award, 2013)