First Line
Bad things always come in threes. Three strikes. Those three bears that Goldilocks ran into.
What I thought of this book
I have been wanting to try this author for a while and I have heard good things about her Elemental Series, so I was excited to get this book. It wasn’t as good as I hoped it to be and was actually hard to get through up until the last 40% of the book. I do understand a bit of world building and that sometimes first books have to get a lot of things out of the way, so I kept going.
Cloudburst Falls is grouped by families, sort of like the the mob but with magic. The more powerful of the two are the Sinclairs and Draconis. Draconis is the more powerful out of the two and Victor and his son Blake are cold and ruthless. They don’t care who they have to kill to get what they want.
Lila has been on her own since she her mother was killed by the Draconis and all because of the Sinclairs so she doesn’t want anything to do with any of the families. Then one day some of the Sinclairs come into her friend Mo’s pawn shop and so does some thugs who want to take out Devon Sinclair, the second in command. Lila knows she shouldn’t care that she should stay out of it but she can’t and now she is working for the Sinclairs as Devon’s bodyguard and it could very well get her killed.
I found the premise for this novel to be really interesting, as it’s about a play that boast they are the most magical place on earth and they have magic but they have monsters too. It’s a huge tourist trap and the mortals come in droves to see all the magic and monsters and the families pretty much protect them from the monsters. Their is a sea monster under the bridge and if you don’t give it a little offering of some kind you might not make it over the bridge alive.
Lila is a kick ass heroine and knows how to take care of herself. Her mother was a protector and she taught Lila how to fight and use a sword. She is comfortable living on her own with no one but herself to take care of and I really like her.
What I think I liked most about this book is that there is no love triangle and well really there is no romance at all. There was one moment of a missed kiss but other than than that not really anything. Devon does like Lila but she doesn’t want to get involved with the family. Felix likes Lila but more of a friend sort of way cause he is crushing on someone he should not be crushing on!
I love Oscar the pixie that takes care of Lila, never heard of a redneck cowboy pixie before so he was kind of funny and boy he has attitude. 🙂
The last 40% was action packed and fast paced and I really enjoyed it, I sort of already had it figured out who the bad guy was but it was still good. I am curious enough about the series and what will happen next to give the next in the series a try and hope I like it better.
If you are into YA and Urban Fantasy type novels then you might like this one. If you have read it I would be interested in knowing what you thought!
Jennifer Estep is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of urban fantasy and paranormal romance.
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.
i have read good reviews and now this one. I almost bought this earlier today. Just not sure. I have never read this author-maybe if I had I would go ahead and buy it but I think I am going to wait. Thanks!
This was my first book by this author and everyone loves her books so I was really excited and then..meh. Though with all the reviews I have read I think I am the only one who thought that way…lol.
Can you believe I’ve never read Jennifer Estep, Stormi? Isn’t that just strange? She writes in a genre I read a lot in, but somehow, her books have always fallen through the cracks. I definitely need to remedy that!
I have this up to read next week, and while this didn’t completely wow you I am super excited..I am a noobie to this author too.