Granted (The Wishgiver Trilogy, #1)

"Granted" tells the story of how a “Wish Giver” named Alexander meets a high school student named Natalie “Talie” Corte; an encounter which permanently alters both their lives.

Wish Givers can best be described as modern-day genies. These Wish Givers were once humans who have been cursed to endure a life of unending servitude to whomever touches their skin. When their masters die, they are set free until touched again, and it is only when they are unbound that they can be killed. Alexander has been passed down in one family from generation to generation until the death of his most recent master, after which he managed to escape. With his new-found freedom he has decided to end his life, finding death preferable to continuing his eternity of servitude.

Natalie happens upon Alex just before he can attempt to jump off of a freeway overpass. She ends up barely brushing her fingers against his, and he becomes her servant for the duration of her life.

Having only served older, very greedy men (who had all descended from the Spanish Conquistadors) serving a teenage girl was completely foreign to him. Both Alexander and Natalie find themselves unprecedentedly frustrated with the mundane quality of her hidden desires.

Alexander has the ability and the obligation to grant Talie’s every whim, both spoken and unspoken. He can hear her thoughts to the extent of what she wants, but no more than that. This presents Alex with an endless stream of idle wonderings, dreams, and fancies that amuse him to grant, but also make him feel his days have become quite tedious. However, Talie learns that having every request fulfilled in a flash can have the gravest of consequences.