Streetwise Romeo and Juliet meets Stephen King's Firestarter.
HER MAMA ALWAYS SAID SHE WAS SPECIAL.
HIS DADDY CALLED HIM A DEMON.
BUT EVEN MONSTERS CAN FALL IN LOVE.
Montessa Tovar is walking home alone when she is abducted by Lu, a serial killer with unusual talents and a grudge against the world. But in time, the victim becomes the executioner as 'Aplocalyptic' Montessa and her doomed 'Nuclear' Lulu crisscross the country in a bloody firestorm of revenge.
Proudly brought to you by Crystal Lake Publishing.

Interview with the author:

Q: How did you come up with the idea for such a unique and dark love story?
Mercedes: Believe it or not, I came up with the title first. I knew it was going to be a love story, and I knew I wanted the characters to burn with passion. At the time, I didn't realize how literally I would take that. But I had the title and thought about my two main characters and how they would make each other ignite.

Q: Where did Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu get their names?
Mercedes: It's based on more reality than you'd think. The beginning scene is quite true in that my mother saw the name "Montessa" on a grave stone and thought it was lovely. She wanted to name me Montessa, but it didn't turn out that way. My husband is named Luke, and our last name is Yardley. He lived in the Baltics for a few years and speaks Russian. The Russian word for "nuclear" sounds quite close to Yardley, so people would call him Luke Nuclear or Nuclear Lulu. But let me point out that the name is the only thing my husband and Montessa's Lu have in common. Lu's his own beast, and as far as I know, my husband doesn't spend his evenings out kidnapping and killing girls. He's usually reading bedtime stories and trying to fix the sink.

Q: What is your favorite characteristic of Montessa?
Mercedes: Montessa has a big heart. She's friends with the other dancers and the doormen. She tries to find the best in Renan, and looks straight into Lu's soul. She has a habit of loving the broken bits of other people, and I find that quite admirable.

Q: Why should readers give Montessa a try?
Mercedes: Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu is a unique story. It's passionate while being almost detached in a way. It's gritty, romantic, dark, and almost uplifting. It makes you root for characters that you would normally shun. It's also quite poetic. This book has a tendency to shake a reader out of apathy.