Book one of the Shadow Promised series.

Dodie Chase has a terrible crush on her neighbor, Christian Casillo. But a man like him—karate black belt, exotic dancer and romance novel cover stud—could never be interested in a mouse like her.
And thoughts of romance fly out of her head when her best friend’s boyfriend is brutally murdered, leaving Mindy white-haired and in shock. An evil clown, a creature from Dodie’s worst nightmares, is pursuing everyone she loves—and she starts to realize that Christian is among them.