Review: Venom (Elemental assassin #3) by Jennifer Estep

What kind of assassin works pro bono? 

It’s hard to be a badass assassin when a giant is beating the crap out of you. Luckily, I never let pride get in the way of my work. My current mission is personal: annihilate Mab Monroe, the Fire elemental who murdered my family. Which means protecting my identity, even if I have to conceal my powerful Stone and Ice magic when I need it most. 

To the public, I’m Gin Blanco, owner of Ashland’s best barbecue joint. To my friends, I’m the Spider, retired assassin. I still do favors on the side. Like ridding a vampire friend of her oversized stalker—Mab’s right-hand goon who almost got me dead with his massive fists. 

At least irresistible Owen Grayson is on my side. The man knows too much about me, but I’ll take my chances. Then there’s Detective Bria Coolidge, one of Ashland’s finest. Until recently, I thought my baby sister was dead. She probably thinks the same about me. Little does she know, I’m a cold-blooded killer . . . who is about to save her life.

I really need to stop star rating books on goodreads immediately after I finish reading the book. I'm way too involved and often give a 5 when really it should be a 4. I want to give this book a 5 though. :/ but I have issues with it. Notably the re-capping of previous events, and also the fact that Gin kept saying "don't worry I kill him/them. You'll never have to worry about him again" then she'd mess up, but she'd keep on saying it so that I stopped believing her. It's a little thing but still :/ 


After reading Spider's bite and Web of Lie in quick succession, I couldn't wait to get stuck into this 3rd instalment, Vemon. I'm loving this series. Gin is still kick ass but we're starting to see a little beneath the surface now. Again, it's action packed and fast paced. One of the many reasons I love this series. The only thing I don't like (and I've already mentioned) is the way Estep re-caps everything that happens in the previous books. Everything! All the time. It's like the start of a TV show "previously on..." but throughout. I find it jarring, and it makes me skip ahead a lot and I don't want to do that. This happens in every book and by the 3rd book I wanted to pull my hair out. Okay, it didn't bother me that much and the fact that it's a great series makes it up a little but I wish it would stop. I know there's a reason for it but it's getting repetitive, and to be fair, if you're going to start a series in the middle, or 3rd book in you deserve to not know what the hell is going on (IMHO). 


 All in all Vemon is a great read. You get everything you expect from Gin and more, although, please start at the beginning of the series :) 


Rating: 5/6 - Really Liked It

Review: Every Which Way But Dead (Rachel Morgan/The Hollows #3) by Kim Harrison

Description (from Goodreads)

There's no witch in Cincinnati tougher, sexier, or more screwed up than bounty hunter Rachel Morgan, who's already put her love life and soul in dire jeopardy through her determined efforts to bring criminal night creatures to justice. Between runs, she has her hands full fending off the attentions of her blooddrinking partner, keeping a deadly secret from her backup, and resisting a hot new vamp suitor. Rachel must also take a stand in the war that's raging in the city's underworld, since she helped put away its former vampire kingpin - and made a deal with a powerful demon to do so that could cost her an eternity of pain, torment, and degradation. And now her dark "master" is coming to collect his due.

This is the third book of Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan series and it has a lot of meat. I'm hooked on this series now and I really enjoyed this one, in fact, I think it's my favourite so far. Although it doesn't seem to have much plot it makes up for it with character development and lots of acton.


Rachel doesn't have it easy. There's a lot going on in this book. Big Al continues to be the bane of Rachel's life. Always turning up when he's least expected to leaving Rachel way under prepared, but she always manages to come up triumphant. Luckily (very lucky) for her she has friends who would do anything to help her.


I really loved the date with Kisten and I'm really, really glad it happened. It did kinda feel a little sudden though, that's he's gone from scary to dateable in such a short space of time but hey I'm not complaining :)


Rating: 5/6 - Really Liked It

Review: Twice Bitten (Chicagoland Vampires #3) by Chloe Neill

Description (from Goodreads)

Shapeshifters from across the country are convening in the Windy City, and as a gesture of peace, Master Vampire Ethan Sullivan has offered their leader a very special bodyguard: Merit, Chicago's newest vampire. Merit is supposed to protect the Alpha, Gabriel Keene-and to spy for the vamps while she's at it. Oh, and luckily Ethan's offering some steamy, one-on-one combat training sessions to help her prepare for the mission.

Unfortunately, someone is gunning for Gabriel, and Merit soon finds herself in the line of fire. She'll need all the help she can get to track down the would-be assassin, but everywhere she turns, there are rising tensions between supernaturals-not least between her and a certain green-eyed, centuries-old master vampire.

To be honest I deleted this review by mistake and I can't remember for the life of me what the hell I wrote. I've read loads of books since, and with my shitty memory I can't remember much about it. That's not a slight on the book, only on my memory. I do remember that I really enjoyed, and I'd even go as far as saying that it's my favourite one. I loved the action with the werewolves (yes I remember the weres :).

I even kinda like Ethan now.

Rating: 5/6 - Really Liked It

Review: Magic in the Shadows (Allie Beckstrom #3) by Devon Monk

Description (from Goodreads)

Allison Beckstrom's magic has taken its toll on her, physically marking her and erasing her memories-including those of the man she supposedly loves. But lost memories aren't the only things preying on Allie's thoughts.

Her late father, the prominent businessman-and sorcerer-Daniel Beckstrom, has somehow channeled himself into her very mind. With the help of The Authority, a secret organization of magic users, she hopes to gain better control over her own abilities-and find a way to deal with her father.

Magic in the Shadows is my favourite book in this series. The world building is fantastic and I'm loving all the history of Magic. The secondary characters are more prominent and fleshed out a little more than in books 1 and 2, although there are lots of them, and they all have different roles, it doesn't make it too confusing. I loves Shamus. He is definitely my favourite and I really do hope to see more of him in future books. However, Allie is still grating on my nerves. Her attitude sometimes is damn right annoying, acting like a stroppy 13 year old instead of a young woman in her early twenties. She still listens to no one, putting people in danger because "how dare they tell/advise/suggest her to do anything that might keep her alive". Don't get me wrong, I'm still enjoying this series I just hope (again) that she grows/learns in the future... and soon.

Rating: 5/6 - Really Liked it