Deadly Sting by Jennifer Estep

I have to be honest I kind of miss big bad Mab. Things were so much more fun when Gin was always trying to find a way to slay that nasty piece of work. Gin needs another arch-enemy asap.

Now you may wonder why I think that, well that’s because I think there were far too many giants in this story.

In fact the author seems to have forgotten that there are actually other supernatural beings or elementals who could serve as villains. It made this all a bit one-dimensional. It was just all a bit easy for Gin.

True it might have been because the whole scenario takes place in the space of one night, which I must admit is quite an interesting concept. Gin does her version of Bruce Willis in Die Hard.

Owen deserves a slap round the face with a wet kipper as far as I am concerned. Talk about being a drama diva. He needs to wake up and smell the roses before Gin moves on to greener pastures.

In fact I think the author should introduce a new hot-blooded male, preferably dark and dangerous, to get her pulse racing and to make Owen reconsider his actions. Gin needs someone who will accept her regardless of the fact she might have to kill the odd ex-girlfriend of her boyfriend’s. I mean that could happen to anyone right?

This did feel like an interim book. Sort of an in between morsel till the next. After the book with the epic showdown with Mab and Owen acting like a complete plonker, any book after that was going to have trouble living up to the hype. Not as strong as the previous ones perhaps, but one that fans will lap up anyway. I think Estep is keeping all her eggs in a basket for the next one in the series.
I received a free copy of this book via Edelweiss.
Read more of the Estep's Elemental Assassin series here: Spider's Trap, Poison Promise, The Cold Burn of Magic, The Spider, The Black Widow and Heart of Venom.

Heart of Venom by Jennifer Estep

After the lukewarm performance of the previous book in this series I am happy to say that both Gin and Estep have got their groove back.

After the unfortunate demise of Mab, Gin has been in dire need of a worthy opponent. The psycho sibling villain combo in this book fit the bill quite nicely. Gin has to settle an old debt from the Fletcher’s past. She gets all gung-ho and forest ninja to try to save an old friend.

I liked the fact that the author took Gin back to her feisty murderous self in this story. She doesn’t spend an entire book wondering about Owen or beating herself up about killing Salina. Gin goes back to her old mantra of some people just deserve to die and she is the one that should help them on their way.

After all the hardcore Spider action I wasn’t overly keen on the way the book ended, but who cares Gin got her groove back. It is a Gin with a huge slice of humanity bouncing round inside her though and I wonder whether that will have some impact on her insect antics further on down the line.
A cracking read.
I received a copy of this book via Edelweiss courtesy of the publisher.
Read more of the Estep's Elemental Assassin series here: Spider's Trap, Poison Promise, The Cold Burn of Magic, The Spider and The Black Widow.

The Spider by Jennifer Estep

The relationship that made Gin the person she is today…

Estep has taken us back to the roots.A sort of prequel or story in between.
The beginning of what makes Gin who she is as a person. Not the traumatic childhood, but rather the defining moments as a young adult, especially the emotional ones.

The Gin the readers have come to know is the wary, cynical and colder Gin, as opposed to the spontaneous emotion driven girl she was. This book explains just how Gin got so jaded.

I really liked this tenth book in the series, because the author not only wrote Gin with the passion she had in the beginning, she also used the story-line to make a point. A very important one about abuse.

We tend to hear the stories about the victims who are weaker physically or emotionally. The stronger personas who fall into the trap of abuse tend not to speak about it.

In that sense I think Estep has done a brilliant job of presenting the scenario of the indestructible, dominant and strong persona falling prey to the behaviour of a controlling, manipulative, dangerous and abusive person. Sometimes you can’t see the forest for all the trees.

There is also a subtle introduction of Owen, Bria and the mysterious M.Monroe, albeit it very short.
It was a really great read with plenty of Ginesque moments, as only she can have and a healthy dose of Finn the Charmer.
I received a copy of this book courtesy of Edelweiss and the publisher.

Read more about Gin in Estep's Elemental Assassin series here: Spider's Trap, Poison Promise, The Cold Burn of Magic, The Black Widow, Deadly Sting and Heart of Venom.