Venom by Jennifer Estep Review and GIVEAWAY!

From Publisher:  It’s hard to be a bada** 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.

My Take:  This is my first book by this author.  This is also the third book in a the series, "An Elemental Assassins."  This might have been a disadvantage except that the author writes a brand new story, gives a brief summary of each character from the previous books, and includes a only enough information about the previous stories that is relevant to this book.  Oh, how I hate when an author perseverates about previous books.  Estep has a gift for being concise.

Action packed and likeable characters, the book moves along quickly and keeps the reader turning the pages.  I had no problem jumping into this series without the first two.  I will have no problem continuing with this series.  Estep's gift for weaving a tale combining paranormal and regular life without it feeling awkward is refreshing.

Don't let your kids read this one.  Bad language, sensual scenes, blood and gore.  I'd rate it borderline PG-13 to R.

4 stars.

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