Storey is a seventeen year old girl that has trouble concentrating in school, is embarrassed by her Wiccan mother and has been dumped recently by her boyfriend on Facebook nonetheless. She's in search of some excitement in her life, something fun and adventurous. Her one means of escape, of dealing with it all, is to draw. One day as she's walking to school, she stumbles on an interesting looking pencil on the ground. When she picks it up, her wish for excitement and adventure is about to be fulfilled by a pencil, actually named a stylus, that is able to draw her in to alternate dimensions and a whole new world of trouble.

This book builds in pacing and story development at a steady rate, keeping you hooked in to see what new things are around the corner. Mayer's use of alternate dimensions and another race of people that have been visiting and studying Earth at will also serve to pique the readers' interest. These people, the Tourans, consider themselves to be superior to humans in intellect and technology, but the irony is that their closed minds may be their ultimate downfall. Enter the main character, Storey. Besides having a great name, Storey is a relatable character, not too angst-ridden, and she's resourceful and smart as a tack. Her resourceful qualities are needed to save the Tourans from a horrible end at the hands of the dreaded Louers, if only they will let her. The heroine, Eric, a Touran who just happens to be the son of their highest authority, the narrow-minded and unforgiving Councilman. Eric isn't over the top with likeable features, but he has just the right amount and is well-rounded enough that I really cheered for these two to get together. There are enough conflicts to make the story arc interesting, and the world building that Mayer employs is fascinating and well developed.

With an interesting and unique premise that incorporates a little bit of sci fi, a whole lot of tension, and an underlying vein of attraction and tension with romance, DANGEROUS DESIGNS was a great read. The action in the last third of the book is written with style, and the character's dialogue is smooth and believable. DANGEROUS DESIGNS ends with a cliffhanger that takes the reader straight into the follow up book, Deadly Designs. I can't wait to read the next book and see what happens to Storey and Eric!

Book Summary

Drawing is her world...but when her new pencil comes alive, it's his world too.

Her...Storey Dalton is seventeen and now boyfriendless after being dumped via Facebook. Drawing is her escape. It's like as soon as she gets down one image, a dozen more are pressing in on her. Then she realizes her pictures are almost drawing themselves...or is it that her new pencil is alive?

Him...Eric Jordan is a new Ranger and the only son of the Councilman to his world. He's crossed the veil between dimensions to retrieve a lost stylus. But Storey is already experimenting with her new pencil and what her drawings can do – like open portals.

It ... The stylus is a soul–bound intelligence from Eric's dimension on Earth and uses Storey's unsuspecting mind to seek its way home, giving her an unbelievable power. She unwittingly opens a third dimension, one that held a dangerous predatory species banished from Eric's world centuries ago, releasing these animals into both dimensions.

Them... Once in Eric's homeland, Storey is blamed for the calamity sentenced to death. When she escapes, Eric is ordered to bring her back or face that same death penalty. With nothing to lose, can they work together across dimensions to save both their worlds?