Bitter Bite

Elemental Assassin, Book 14

By: Jennifer Estep

Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang

Which is stronger: blood ties or a battle-tested friendship? That's the question Gin Blanco asks when a friend's long-lost relative strolls into town. The suspicious reunion is a surprise for everyone - and a big problem for Gin.

Book 14 in the New York Times best-selling urban fantasy series RT Book Reviews calls "unbeatable entertainment"!

It's not easy being queen bee of an underworld abuzz with crooks and killers. Wielding my potent Ice and Stone elemental magic will get me only so far - my real secret is my tight-knit makeshift family, a motley crew of cops and criminals, dwarves, and playboys. My foster brother, Finnegan Lane, is my right-hand man, but when his suddenly not-dead relative comes back into the picture, I'm the one on the outside looking in.

It's funny how life works: One minute your best friend is rock steady, and the next he's doe eyed and buying in to this whole loving-relative routine to the point of ignoring you. I'd like to be happy for Finn, I really would. But all of my instincts are telling me that beneath the syrupy-sweet demeanor and old-fashioned charm, this sudden interloper is planning something. The whole shtick leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. This person might have avoided the grave once, but I'll put anyone who hurts Finn in the ground - for good.

©2016 Jennifer Estep (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Refreshing

I love this series. It is unique and well written. Lauren Fortgang does a great job bringing this series to life with her narration.

Another interesting twist to the series

I like the fact Mrs. Estep finally gave Gin a challenge worth much more than a big fight. This instalment finally gets Gin away from the routine of killing enemies left and right. Well almost, Gin can't really be Gin without being covered in the blood of her enemies, but this time there is more in the line for Gin. Gin's brother, Fin, has some hard time coming his way and Gin will be there even when be doesn't want her too.

We discover along Gin a spider web that gets scarier and more interesting. Everything Gin thought she knew is crumbling down and I can't wait to read more about it.

Solid entry in this series.

Moves the plot along nicely, with some excellent twists.

The Elemental Assassin books are one of my guilty pleasures...

In this latest installment, Gin gets herself up to no good when someone from Finn's past arrives unexpectedly in town - unexpected, because she's supposed to be dead. If only she had stayed that way, because as things progress, it starts becoming very clear that much bigger fish are starting to circle her corrupt little town, and there may be much more going on than she first thought...maybe going on for quite a while now.

While there are the plot holes big enough to drive a semi through, as typical with this series, Jennifer's consistently deft handling of the emotional flow of her books far outweighs them in sheer overall satisfaction.

Disclaimer: I was given a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. That being said, I have personally purchased both the Kindle and Audible versions.

What an amazing twists,

when I toad the story was going to be a duplicate of the other books they change it completely.

Keep doing what ur doing it amazing, also the voice incredible...

Now I can't wait for the next one...

Great Series

EA review


 The Elemental Assassin books are great.  very engaging with interesting strong characters and good story lines.  a perfect mix of fantasy, action and romance. And I love having a series with a strong, add kicking female as the lead character

14 books and still so much fun

After fourteen books in the series, and Gin is still going strong. This series has been going strong since book one and doesn’t seem to be slowing down. While this book is more Finn’s book than Gin’s, it is still told entirely from Gin’s first person POV, which gives it an interesting take on the story.

When a supposedly dead relative appears back in Ashland and in Finn’s life, you can see how it would affect Finn. I can also see why Finn responded the way that he did. I mean, you don’t want to think that every person who comes to town, is doing so for nefarious reasons, when you could be the reason. When you grow up with a hole in your life and all of sudden, you see a chance to get that hole filled, who would want to see the downsides?

Gin, on the other hand, couldn’t help but see the coincidence in the situation. Bria also noticed that something was off with our new visitor to Ashland. Gin continued to be her protective and loyal family member to Finn whether he liked it or not. Plus, she had the warning from Fletcher to help her, who continues to be a very large secondary character in this series.

I will say that Jennifer Estep’s ability to come up with new villains for Gin to fight continues to amaze me. They are all unique in the own way. They all require Gin to learn new ways to tackle their villainous ways. This one was particularly difficult for Gin and required her to rely on her magic more than she ever has in her past. We even learn more about the past of Mab Monroe and even Eira Snow. It will be interesting to see where the series goes from here with the information that we learn towards the end of this book.

Narration
Lauren Fortgang continues to do a fantastic job with the narration of this series. This is a series that I started off reading, but once I listened one of the books, I’ve been audio only ever since. She does such a great job with all the different Southern voices of both men and women, she really adds to the story. I think in this story in particular, I could really see Deidre Shaw for the fake that she really was based off her voice alone. LOL. If you haven’t tried this series on audio, I highly recommend you give it a try.

WOW WOW WOW!!

JUST READ IT!!!! You won't be dissapointed. One of the best Elemental Assassin book thus far!!!

Awesome as always

This book is as amazing as all the others. strong story that makes you laugh and cry while sitting on the edge of your seat Bravo

Elemental Assassin Book 14

Elemental Assassin Book 14

This series never disappoints. After the revelation that Finn's mother is actually still alive, Gin digs for proof of her existence and information on how that will affect her foster-brother. However, unknown to Gin, Deirdre has ingratiated herself to her son as a new client. The night that Gin intends to reveal the information she has found to Finn, their dinner is crashed by the very woman she means to tell him about. A robbery sets things into motion that even the head of the Asheland Underworld cannot halt, especially when her brother just will not listen.

If you've loved this series in the past, this book will draw you even deeper into the lives of Gin, Finn and their friends. Even this far into the series, bombs can still be dropped...

Lauren Fortgang truly is the voice of this series. She has just the right amount of an accent and drawl for the world the characters live in, and every single character has a specific voice.

Finn's second chance

This book was one of the best. In fact, it is second only to Spider's Revenge where Gin and Mab Monroe finally had their showdown. This book had all the things that I enjoy in this series: good fighting scenes, interesting villains, a good crime mystery, good teammate work and a final twist setting up the next book. It didn’t put this one down until I was finished. I always listen to this series because I love the narrator Lauren Fortgang’s interpretation of Gin. Her voice is full of sass, sarcastic humor and pizazz. She brings Gin to life and I can imagine the Spider drawling “Oh Sugar” or “Gin, like the liquor”. It’s always a pleasure to listen to Lauren transport the reader to the drama in Ashland because she allows the characters to shine.

The author definitely upgraded the characters. I saw growth in Gin Blanco as well as Bria. The old Gin would have dug her heels in regarding her opinion on Finn’s mom. But the new and smarter Gin made her point and backed off in respect of her adopted brother's feelings. Not once did I feel the normally judgmental comments I have come to expect from Bria. No note of censure, only support from little sister Brian. In addition, I love how Gin and Bria handled Mama D. For the first time, Gin trusted Bria and her team early and that is what helped her in the end. This was more of a team effort that I am used to with Gin and it made the book so much better for me.

I am very curious about Ora Snow, Gin and Bria's mother. I can't wait to find out more about the woman whose death set Gin upon the path of being an assassin.