E-galley Review: Love at Second Sight by F.T. Lukens

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Love at Second Sight by F.T. Lukens
Published by Margaret K. McElderry Books on April 29, 2025
Genres: YA LGBTQ, YA Paranormal Romance
Pages: 368
Source: the publisher
Format: E-galley
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My Rating:

Blurb:

When a teen has an unexpected vision about a future murder, he must juggle newfound interest from the supernatural community with trying to prevent the murder from happening in this new romantic fantasy from New York Times bestselling author F.T. Lukens.

Tired of being known as the artsy oddball, fifteen-year-old Cam Reynolds hopes to fly under the radar when he changes high schools as a sophomore. It shouldn’t be too hard, considering he’s a human going to school with kids who have super-cool paranormal powers, like his best friend and witch, Al, and longtime werewolf crush, Miguel.

Then Cam has a psychic glimpse of the future in front of most of the student body, seeing a gruesomely murdered teen girl from the point of view of the killer. When Cam comes to, he knows two things: someone he goes to school with is a future murderer and his life is about to change. No longer a mere human but a clairvoyant, one of the rarest of supernatural beings, Cam finds himself at the center of attention for the first time.

As the most powerful supernatural factions in the city court Cam and his gift, he’ll have to work with his friends, both old and new, to figure out who he can trust. Because the clock is ticking, and Cam and his friends must identify the girl in the vision, find her potential killer, and prevent the murder from happening. Or the next murder Cam sees might be his own.

My Review

Okay, this book reminds me of the first book by the author because I LOVED it so much! So much that I wish we could have a whole series with this group of friends that I fell in love with all of them.

First was our main character Cam. He was so relatable with his oddball persona, and a friend that was kind of drifting away even as they had a chance to go to school together again, because of how their lives were different. And then something crazy happened to Cam, now he was paranormal instead of just human, but it still didn’t mean he and his best friend Al were closer. They still had a distance between them because Al’s family was a coven of witches and they wanted Cam to align with them. But Cam didn’t know that he wanted to align with just one group, he wanted to use his power to help people.

Worse though is that first glimpse or vision that he had. Especially when he figures out who the murdered teen girl is. At that point he wants to know if once he’s seen something it can be changed. Along the way Cam kind of collects his own Scooby gang of paranormal group reps. Starting with the werewolf he’s had a crush on for a long time, Mateo. Mateo’s best friend Kaci, who is also a psychic like Cam, but she has a different talent. And then the other kind of paranormal, besides Cam’s oldest BFF Al – the witch, is a sprite – Reese, someone they aren’t sure at first if he is a friend or just along to make sure how things go. Finally a girl named Gemma – a human – who is the one that kind of outs Cam’s psychic power by posting a video that goes viral on her social media account where she’s all about all things paranormal even if she’s only human.

And then there is the family drama. Cam’s older brother Aiden disappeared when he went away to college and hasn’t once reached out to him. Cam’s parents are not a fan of anything paranormal, and warn Cam that he should find human friends and not pick back up with Al just because they are at the same school. Secrets come out about Cam’s family, good, bad, and ones that lead up to our moment at the end of drama.

Gah, I just loved this book so much and could barely put it down! I love the way all of our Scooby gang characters had things to grow and do with their own powers, even if they’d had them their whole lives. I love the whole parallel to being “outed” for his glimpses and it was against his will, and how that can apply to the LGBTQ community and people treating them the same way. Even how Cam’s parents treated him when he got his power was what I’m sure is reminiscent for teens who have non-supportive parents when they come out as their preferred gender or sexuality.

I have only one teeny, tiny issue, and it was at the very end, when he asked one of the elders who they thought he should align with, and their answer was good. But there was nothing at all about who he should pick or that he shouldn’t pick anyone or anything like that. And he didn’t even think anything about that? Another great book from this author!