Review: Cold Burn of Magic (Black Blade #1) by Jennifer Estep

Cold Burn of Magic

Author: Jennifer Estep

Series: Black Blade

Pages: 368

Publisher: Kensington

Release date: 28/04/2015

Amazon

Synopsis: (Goodreads)

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.

Review: 4 ½ out of 5 stars

Cold Burn of Magic is a wonderful start to the Black Blade series; I have been wanting to read a Jennifer Estep book for a while now so I was quietly excited to receive an advance copy of this title from Kensington.

Our kick butt fabulous MC is seventeen year-old Lila Merriweather, orphaned at the age of fourteen, she is a thief and resides in the basement of the town’s library.

The setting of the book is in magical Cloudburst Falls that is run by mob families with special talents – an awesome concept that was beautifully executed.

Lila hides her own special abilities that I found to be intriguing, she spends most of her time working for pawnbroker Mo Kaminsky who is more or less her guardian. Her life takes on a big change when she is helping out at his shop and inadvertently saves a group of people not knowing who they were but quickly finding out that she had saved someone from one of the most powerful families in town and bought her to the attention of the family boss, Claudia who strongarms her into accepting a security position protecting her son, Devon Sinclair. She has gone from squatting in a basement to scoring a room in the mansion of the Sinclairs and stuck in the middle of a brewing war between the Sinclairs and the Draconis, the most powerful Family in town.

Devon was a sweetheart, kind, caring and compassionate; he is the families Bruiser. I loved Lila and Devon’s interactions; both had secrets that they weren’t willing to share so I was eager to see how it would all pan out. There was chemistry between them but the romance definitely isn’t at the forefront of the story although I can’t help but hope we’ll get more in the next book, I loved them together. Devon’s best friend, Felix was also a wonderful character and bought some humour to the story; rival families were written well, I am especially keen to read more about the Draconis family.

I enjoyed reading about the Magicks and their differing talents such as strength, speed and senses (sight, smell, sound, taste and touch) as well as the creatures that exist in the busy touristy town – Pixies, trolls, Monsters etc. The world-building was fabulous! Full of family feuds, conspiracies and politics and the plot was entertaining and fast paced, this is a book that I couldn’t put down and was disappointed when it all ended!

If you are after a beautifully written, exciting title that takes you on a magically thrilling adventure; I highly recommend Cold Burn of Magic by Jennifer Estep. The next book in the series, Dark Heart of Magic is due to release in October 2015.

Thank you to K-Teen for the opportunity to read and review Cold Burn of Magic.

About the author: Jennifer Estep is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, prowling the streets of her imagination in search of her next fantasy idea.

Jennifer writes the Elemental Assassin adult urban fantasy series for Pocket. Books in the series are SPIDER'S BITE, WEB OF LIES, VENOM, TANGLED THREADS, SPIDER'S REVENGE, BY A THREAD, and WIDOW'S WEB. THREAD OF DEATH, an e-novella, is also available. 

HAINTS AND HOBWEBS: AN ELEMENTAL ASSASSIN SHORT STORY can be found in THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF GHOST ROMANCE.

DEADLY STING, the eighth book, is set to be released on March 26, 2013.

Jennifer also writes the Mythos Academy young adult urban fantasy series for Kensington. 

Books in the series are TOUCH OF FROST, KISS OF FROST, and DARK FROST. CRIMSON FROST, the fourth book, is set to be released on Dec. 24, 2012.

FIRST FROST, a prequel e-story to the series, is available as a download. HALLOWEEN FROST, an e-short story, is available in the ENTANGLED e-anthology.

Jennifer is also the author of the Bigtime paranormal romance series. Books in the superhero-themed series are KARMA GIRL, HOT MAMA, JINX, and NIGHTINGALE. A KARMA GIRL CHRISTMAS, an e-story, is also available.

Excerpts, free short stories, and more information on Jennifer's books can be found athttp://www.jenniferestep.com.