Review: Cold Burn of Magic

Author Jennifer Estep
Format e-ARC
Print Length 368 pages
Publisher K-Teen
Published April 28, 2015

There Be Monsters Here. . .

It's not as great as you'd think, living in a tourist town that's known as "the most magical place in America." Same boring high school, just twice as many monsters under the bridges and rival Families killing each other for power.

I try to keep out of it. I've got my mom's bloodiron sword and my slightly illegal home in the basement of the municipal library. And a couple of Talents I try to keep quiet, including very light fingers and a way with a lock pick.

But then some nasty characters bring their Family feud into my friend's pawn shop, and I have to make a call--get involved, or watch a cute guy die because I didn't. I guess I made the wrong choice, because now I'm stuck putting everything on the line for Devon Sinclair. My mom was murdered because of the Families, and it looks like I'm going to end up just like her. . .

My Opinion

Cold Burn of Magic is a fascinating tale about a girl who finds herself caught between her own desires and her destiny. I have been in a reading rut for a while now. Nothing has really appealed to me. I read the book and think oh that’s okay but nothing to write home about. Then one day Cold Burn of Magic showed up on my Kindle. Almost as if Lila herself was urging me to open it and see what was inside. From the first sentence “Bad things always come in threes.” I was hooked. Before I knew it the first sentence turned into the first paragraph, then the first chapter and ultimately the ending of the book in one seating. Cold Burn of Magic was what I need to turn my reading rut around.

Lila is an orphan with a special Talent. She keeps this part of her secret as Talents can sometimes cause you trouble, even get you killed. One day she intervenes on an assassination attempt and from then on her life as she knows it is over. Swept away by a power Family, hired unwillingly as a bodyguard for Devon Sinclair. Lila is not the only one with secrets- secrets people would kill for. If the feud doesn’t kill her, the family politics just might.

Lila is a strong minded heroine who can resist a cute guy. Devon is a quite minded male who wants to show the world what he can do. Together they would make a cute couple- they have the chemistry. They are attracted to each other. But with all that is going on with someone putting a hit out on Devon romance it the last thing on either of their minds. Sure, it may creep up when there is a peaceful moment. This book is so action packed that peaceful moments are few and far in between.

A remarkable start to an interesting series, Jennifer Estep does not disappoint. Cold Burn of Magic will seriously take hours of your life away without you realizing it. It does however leave you satisfied that those hours were well spent.

My Rating 5 stars out of 5

Favorite Quote Really, though, all us magicks were circus freaks more than anything else, able to do amazing things with our bodies.

Other People

Deah- member of the Draconi Family
Mo- Lila’s quesa-guardian and friend
Felix- Devon’s bestie and bodyguard
Grant- Sinclair family broker