Title: Bitter Bite
Author: Jennifer Estep
Publisher: Pocket Books
Release Date: February 23, 2016
Pages: 400
Book Source: Library Paperback
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 fourteen in the New York Times bestselling 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 only get me 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 into 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.
My Review:
The Elemental Assassin series is one that I always look forward to. The previous book, Spider’s Trap, was not as awesome as the other books in the series. But Bitter Bite more than made up for it!
This series is one you need to start at the beginning, with Spider’s Bite. Estep does such a magnificent job with developing the characters, that you won’t want to miss any of it.
The previous book relied heavily on flashbacks, and while this book had one that continued throughout the story, it added more dimension to the book.
And if you read my review for Spider’s Trap, you will see my biggest issue was Gin not remember something, and it felt like Estep was just using that to add more pages to her book. In this book, Gin’s sister, Bria, is not able to remember something, but Estep didn’t heavily dwell on it. And once Bria does remember, it makes sense why she hadn’t.
The ending to this one was, Wow! We learn more about a character from the past, and there is an even bigger baddie that we will be seeing in upcoming books.
I know it’s not a long review, but if you’re a long time fan, I don’t want to give anything away. And if you just stumbled across this book review, I want you to start with book one. Trust me, it’s well worth it.