The Circle by K.M. Montemayor

Synopsis via Amazon:

He was created for only one person. She was never supposed to be the One. It is 1988 and Lilly, a shy high school senior with a non-existent social life, is forced to live out her romantic fantasies through the fictional characters of her books. That all changes when she issues a spur of the moment invitation to the strange new kid. The world Charlie comes from is much different than Earth. Almost every aspect of a Sentrian's life is under complete government control. There is only one right the intrusive authorities may not violate: that God chooses your soul mate. While on his planet, Charlie never found his One, so when he develops an attraction to Lilly, he is torn. Should he ignore his feelings for the Earthan, or pursue a doomed relationship with the only girl he has ever cared about? His contact with Lilly does not go unnoticed. Involvement with an Earthan is considered blasphemy, and Charlie is condemned as a criminal of the state. The couple is faced with a difficult choice: accept eternal separation or risk everything to stay together.

I received a copy of The Circle in exchange for an honest review.

This story caught my interest. I mean, a sci-fi (in my opinion when I read the blurb) love story that takes place right after I graduated high school, I was in! Well, it ended up being a story that crossed genres. For me it was a sci-fi, paranormal romance, YA, and contemporary romance all wrapped up in one.

Well, it took a little while for me to get into this book. It was slow going at first. Miss Montemayor started out giving the back story (or, that is what it seemed to be for me) of the two main characters. I really felt that she could have incorporated a lot of that info into other parts of the story. But, once I got into it, the story really took off! 

I like how Miss Montemayor created Charlie and the Sentrians to be different, yet the same as us Earthans. Charlie was so similar to Lily that unless you really got to know him, you wouldn't know anything about him was different. She actually took pages out of our own history to help create the Sentrian's opinion of Earthans. Prejudice is supposed to be at the core of all Sentrians. But then Charlie comes along and challenges that mandate.

Lily is a sweet, young teenager who has been forced to grow up at an early age. All she has is her single mom, a nurse who works a lot to make ends meet. She knows who she is and what she wants. She is a senior in high school who has taken a few younger students in band under her wing.
When Lily and Charlie meet, they fall in love. For Charlie, it isn't allowed. For Lily, Charlie is her first boyfriend.
Miss Montemayor does great job developing their relationship.. She keeps it on a teenage level. The ups and downs are very realistic (at first) of teen angst, and then develop as Lily learns more about Charlie. She keeps her references to the '80s constant and relevant.
I found myself rooting for Charlie and Lily. I even found myself trying to help Charlie figure out how to be more like an Earther when Lily would get mad or frustrated at him. I got so into this story, that as soon as I finished The Circle I bought the next two, The Circle Broken, and The Circle Complete.

Check this one out! Happy Reading!!