by Jennifer Estep
Publisher: K-Teen
Release Date: April 28th 2015
There Be Monsters Here. . .
It's not as great as you'd think, living in a tourist town that's known as "the most magical place in America." Same boring high school, just twice as many monsters under the bridges and rival Families killing each other for power.
I try to keep out of it. I've got my mom's bloodiron sword and my slightly illegal home in the basement of the municipal library. And a couple of Talents I try to keep quiet, including very light fingers and a way with a lock pick.
But then some nasty characters bring their Family feud into my friend's pawn shop, and I have to make a call--get involved, or watch a cute guy die because I didn't. I guess I made the wrong choice, because now I'm stuck putting everything on the line for Devon Sinclair. My mom was murdered because of the Families, and it looks like I'm going to end up just like her. . .
OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES:
Magic Mob Families rule the town of Cloudburst Falls. Known as the most magical place in America. The only thing I wasn’t sure about is if it was the only magical place in America. The structure of the mob families, the talents of the people with magic and the monsters that lurked in the shadows was pretty cool. I really enjoyed how it all worked together.
I like Lila, she really likes to kick some butt. She had some pretty cool talents herself but she holds her cards close to her chest. After the loss of her mom she kind of became a recluse, with her only friend being Mo who is also her employer. I like that she speaks her mind because she doesn’t really care what people think of her. Although sometimes I think her snarkiness is to keep people from getting attached to her at times. Although she finds herself unintentionally wrapped up in the families drama, she doesn’t really lose her edge. Even when she is doing something because it’s the right thing to do, she still thinks about what she can get out of it. She’s a thief and everything she does is a tactical move. Unfortunately that even plays into her love life. She considers herself more of a realist.
The romance is actually pretty light. To be honest Devon and Lila are hardly even together in the first 50% of the book. She actually blames him for her mother’s death at first and therefore doesn’t want t associate with him. Even though her soulsight talent gives her a little bit more of an inside look at him. She starts to really respect and admire him for the things he does. It begins to warm her up to him. Although she still understands that she should be keeping her distance, simply for the fact that mixing herself up in mob business is risky business.
Devon is very kind and caring. A humble and gentle soul that seems to want to do the right thing. I liked how he doesn’t rely on swords or magic. Instead he has fist of fury and trains himself like a prize fighter.
Felix is definitely entertaining and so is Oscar. I would consider the two of them a nice comic relief.
I liked the plot. Someone is trying to knock off Devon or so it seems. They are not sure who so after a chance encounter with Lila. She becomes his body guard, putting together the pieces of a larger puzzle. I did figure out the killer before she did but I thought it was still concealed well enough. The other interesting thing was the passage of time. Rather than everything happening in a day there are gaps of weeks or days in between things. Where Lila sums up what she was doing the days we don’t touch base with her. I really liked that. It made it feel like nothing was rushed but didn’t cause a lag either.
I really liked the Cold Burn of Magic. I’m intrigued to the read the next book and see where Lila’s adventures take her.
LILA
Marie Avgeropoulos
seriously she looks like she could kick everyone's butt
DEVON
William Beau Mirchoff
I had a harder time finding the right music for this playlist. Things were just not standing out to me like they usually do. I picked some songs based on thing like Black Star reminds me of Lila's ring and sword. How to Save a Life, well reminds me of what she was doing. Kiss with a Fist just reminds me of Lila in general.
Her Elemental Assassin series follows the life and times of Gin “the Spider” Blanco, a barbecue restaurant owner who also happens to be an assassin with magical control over the elements of Ice and Stone.
The Mythos Academy series focuses on Gwen Frost, a 17-year-old Gypsy girl who has the ability to know an object’s history just by touching it. She studies at Mythos Academy, a school for the descendants of ancient warriors.
Her Bigtime paranormal romance books feature sexy superheroes, evil ubervillains, and smart, sassy gals looking for love.
Estep’s new Black Blade series is about 17-year-old thief Lila Merriweather, who has a Talent for sight, along with the ability to take magic others used against her to boost her own powers. She tries not to get involved with the Families who control much of the town, but ends up in the middle of a potential turf war.
