Early Review: Snared by Jennifer Estep

Snared by Jennifer Estep

Elemental Assassin #16

If you don’t know Gin “the Spider” Blanco, you don’t know dangerous female heroines.

Irony 101—The Spider herself snared in someone else’s web…

Another week, another few clues trickling in about the Circle, the mysterious group that supposedly runs the city’s underworld. Gathering intel on my hidden enemies is a painstaking process, but a more immediate mystery has popped up on my radar: a missing girl.

My search for the girl begins on the mean streets of Ashland, but with all the killers and crooks in this city, I’m not holding out much hope that she’s still alive.

A series of clues leads me down an increasingly dark, dangerous path, and I realize that the missing girl is really just the first thread in this web of evil. As an assassin, I’m used to facing down the worst of the worst, but nothing prepares me for this new, terrifying enemy—one who strikes from the shadows and is determined to make me the next victim.

There is no better word to describe my feelings for this series then "amazed." It is simply amazing how Jennifer Estep is able to up the stakes with each new installment without things ever once feeling stale or too over the top. Each new "big bad" is worse than the previous, and fully unique. It's truly incredible to be honest to have 16 books in a series and being just as excited upon finishing as I was with the first book. This time around, the danger hits closer to home than it has sometimes in the past with Gin herself under the most threat by the end. While it was an awful turn of events, it did show a bit more vulnerable side to her, keeping that all so important realism to her character. You just can't go through everything she throughout this entire series and always come up on top and unscathed. So I really enjoyed the added depth it brought to the series with her being at full risk this time around.

What better praise can I say other than sixteen books in and I still want more? I hope there are many more Gin Blanco books to come in the future, and I can't wait to see what's next. Fans of the series will be more than pleased with this latest installment in this fantastic and action packed series!

(Received a copy from the publisher)

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Other Reviews:
     That's What I'm Talking About
     Floating Leaves
     The Linseyverse

Previous Books:
     1. Spider's Bite
     2. Web of Lies
     3. Venom
     4. Tangled Threads
     5. Spider's Revenge
     6. By a Thread
     7. Widow's Web
     8. Deadly Sting
     9. Heart of Venom

     10. The Spider

     11. Poison Promise

     12. Black Widow

     13. Spider's Trap

     14. Bitter Bite

     15. Unraveled

Early Review: Blade Bound by Chloe Neill

Blade Bound by Chloe Neill

Chicagoland Vampires #13

The thrilling final installment of Chloe Neill’s New York Times bestselling urban fantasy series sees a sinister sorcery advancing across Chicago, and it may usher in the fall of Cadogan House…

Since the night of her brutal attack and unwilling transformation to vampire, Merit’s stood as Sentinel and protector of Chicago’s Cadogan House. She's saved the Windy City from the forces of darkness time and again with her liege and lover, Ethan Sullivan, by her side.

When the House is infiltrated and Merit is attacked by a vampire seemingly under the sway of dark magic, Merit and Ethan realize the danger is closer than they could have ever imagined. As a malign sorcery spreads throughout the city, Merit must go to war against supernatural powers beyond her comprehension. It’s her last chance to save everything—and everyone—she loves.

Everything about BLADE BOUND felt like a satisfying progression towards closure. From the humans' animosity towards the supernaturals of Chicago, to Ethan and Merit's relationship, old prophecies, as well as closure of past threats. I was hooked from the first page until the very last word. Trust me when I say this is one action packed, emotional, and more than satisfying read. 

We finally get the much anticipated wedding that has been building since the very first page of this series. Sure, Merit and Ethan started out as all but enemies, but the writing was on the wall...and after 13 books I can say that it's FINALLY time. Let me just say it was everything I had hoped for and suited the characters and the vampires well. Of course, in true Chicagoland style, there's plenty of chaos and danger abound in-between all the wedding happiness, and it made for an excellent balance.

BLADE BOUND was one heck of a series ending book. While I'm sad to see this much loved come to a close, I couldn't have asked for a better send off. Chicagoland fans will absolutely love BLADE BOUND. Bravo Ms. Neill, Bravo!

(Received a copy from the publisher)

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Other Reviews:
     SnoopyDoo's Book Review
     Beauty and the Beastly Books
     Fantasy Raiders

Previous Books:
     1. Some Girls Bite
     2. Friday Night Bites
     3. Twice Bitten
     4. Hard Bitten
     5. Drink Deep
     6. Biting Cold
     7. House Rules

     8. Biting Bad

     9. Wild Things

     10. Blood Games

     10.5. Lucky Break

     11. Dark Debt

     12. Midnight Marked

     12.5. Phantom Kiss

Review: Hunted by Meagan Spooner

Hunted by Meagan Spooner

Beauty knows the Beast’s forest in her bones—and in her blood. Though she grew up with the city’s highest aristocrats, far from her father’s old lodge, she knows that the forest holds secrets and that her father is the only hunter who’s ever come close to discovering them.

So when her father loses his fortune and moves Yeva and her sisters back to the outskirts of town, Yeva is secretly relieved. Out in the wilderness, there’s no pressure to make idle chatter with vapid baronessas…or to submit to marrying a wealthy gentleman. But Yeva’s father’s misfortune may have cost him his mind, and when he goes missing in the woods, Yeva sets her sights on one prey: the creature he’d been obsessively tracking just before his disappearance.

Deaf to her sisters’ protests, Yeva hunts this strange Beast back into his own territory—a cursed valley, a ruined castle, and a world of creatures that Yeva’s only heard about in fairy tales. A world that can bring her ruin or salvation. Who will survive: the Beauty, or the Beast?

Beauty and the Beast has always been one of my favorite fairy tales, so I knew HUNTED would be right up my alley. The author took this much loved familiar tale and gave it a fresh spin that I absolutely loved. I especially enjoyed the matchup of the Beauty lore along with the Firebird tale. It just gave the story something extra, and a new feel. Another difference, while Beauty is a rather strong heroine in the original story, in this version she's a fully kick butt version. She's firece and exactly my kind of heroine.

There was much less of a romance feel in HUNTED, which despite my normal love for all things romance, really worked for me. While there definitely a spark of attraction, the overall feel was more centered around the book's main feeling of wanting something more. And Beauty and the Beast both felt this sense in one another which led to a sort of kinship budding into more. Sure there's still a bit of Stockholm syndrome with her, but it's handled very well in my opinion.

All in all, I really enjoyed this fabulous retelling. HUNTED kept me captivated from the first page, and I highly recommend it!

(Received a copy from the publisher)

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Other Reviews:
     Between Dreams andd Reality
     Du Livre
     A Page with a View