Dark Heart Of Magic

by Jennifer Estep

Appointed by the Sinclairs to compete in the Tournament of Blades, a young contender struggles with growing feelings for Devon Sinclair while outmaneuvering a dangerous adversary and protecting her loved ones from a mobster.

• ISBN10: 1617738263
• ISBN13: 9781617738265
• Publish Date: 1 November 2015
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 19 April 2022
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Kensington Publishing
• Format: Paperback (UK Trade)
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[liz089]

Read this one as an audiobook and I really liked it. The narrator is awesome and the plot was very exciting ! Full of action and mystery, combined with fantasy and magic 3
Some plot twists in this second one that I did not see coming at all, and just the right amount of romance :) Can't wait to start on the last one !!

[Melanie]

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

Dark Heart of Magic centers mostly around the Tournament of Blades. It is part of a festival in Cloudburst Falls where the families and compete against each other in a so called friendly way and provide a tourist attraction. Deah was the champion last year. And her family puts a lot of pressure for her to keep the trophy in the Draconi family.

There are some twists and turns in this book. Lila is thrown for a loop when she learns that she will be competing in the Tournament of Blades for the Sinclair family. She will not be able to hide in the shadows for long. She is going to have to try even harder to keep her real identity a secret before Victor Draconi decides to come after her.

I loved seeing more of Deah. While she might be the “princess” of the Draconi family on the outside. This book shows that life is not as glamorous for her on the inside. She has it much tougher than her brother, Blake. She also has much more of a conscience than the two of them put together, but she has her reasons for not standing up to them. I think she will be critical in the final battle with Victor.

The story is a little bit slow building as the families deal with murdered tree trolls which is driving the tree trolls into town and causing a nuisance. We don’t have all the worldbuilding that takes place in the first book, but there is plenty of storytelling and more character development. I can’t wait to see where the final book in this trilogy will take Lila, Devon, Mo and the gang.

Narration
Once again, I thought that Brittany Pressley really nailed the narration of this series. I loved how she did each of the different voices. I was clearly able to tell each of the characters apart. Her pace and tone were perfect. There was one particular character in this book that has clearly lost marbles and she did a great job portraying that with her narration.

**Audiobook was provided to me by the author. This review is my opinion and was not requested or provoked in anyway by the author.

[Berls]

Full review to follow

[kimbacaffeinate]

While Dark Heart of Magic got off to a slower start than its predecessor Estep once again impressed. Character growth, ARC development and a murder mystery surrounded by the Tournament of Blades made for an interesting tale. The world Estep has created is filled with mythical creatures and despite the danger, I would gladly pack my bags for a visit.

Cloudburst Falls is preparing for the Tournament of Blades, a competition between the families where they battle it out on the field. Lila Merriweather, thief extraordinaire and bodyguard to Devon Sinclair is settling into her new role and life at the Sinclair castle. The trolls in Cloudburst Falls are acting strange, the woods are too quiet and accidents are occurring during the game. Lila’s spidey scenes are telling her something is off. Estep creates an engaging mystery that quickly hooked me as she continues to flesh out the overall arc of the Black Blade series.

Lila is still plotting to seek her revenge against Victor Draconi for her mother’s murder and has been using her skills to spy on him. This aspect of the tale was suspenseful and Estep created the perfect villain with Victor Draconi. He is someone readers will love to hate and uncovering his evil plot will give you the shivers.

I appreciate seeing growth and development from the characters and was pleased with Lila. We see her being to lay down roots, acknowledge her own feels and grow not only in her magic but emotionally as well. This bacon loving little thief is a heroine you will want to root for.

We spend time with characters we have meet previously including Devon, Deah, Felix, the ever-obnoxious Blake. Mo continues to be hilarious and I enjoy his humor and antics. We spend some time with the leader of the Sinclairs and I am truly beginning to admire this woman. We meet a few new characters that further develop the current mystery and series. Lila learns more about her mother, ancestry and father. Estep reveals some unexpected connections along with a prophecy. She really has a gift for grabbing the reader and pulling them completely into the world she has created.

The current mystery was dark and gruesome. The synopsis is very vague but let me assure you it is intense and dark. Estep slowly revealed the storyline creating suspense and slowly increased the danger. I will tell you there is death and a nail-biting climatic scene you will not want to miss. The villain of this thread may surprise you. Estep did a good job with the red herrings and foreshadowing. The tale still remains young adult but leans towards the older end of this genre.

The romance is still present and we some development. While it remains in the background allowing the current mystery and overall arc to take center stage. I am perfectly happy with this arrangement, but also felt the romance added depth, gave our character's vulnerability and a second romantic thread gives us a forbidden romance that helped propel Dark Heart of Magic’s storyline.

Copy provided by publisher. This review was originally posted on Caffeinated Book Reviewer

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

Dark Heart of Magic is a fun sequel, although not nearly as great as the first book. It's a few weeks later, and the Families are gearing up for the Tournament of Blades. Of course, Lila is surprised when she's put up as one of the contestants, but she's determined to win. Meanwhile, a bunch of magical creatures keep turning up dead, and someone seems to be sabotaging the competition. Are the two things related? Either way, Lila has to figure out what's going on before things go too far.

I'll start with why I didn't like Dark Heart of Magic as much. As soon as the first body appeared, I guessed at what was going on. It's that obvious. When there's a corpse with wounds that should be gushing blood, but there is no blood around, where did the blood go? It's like not like it evaporated into thin air, or just got up and walked away (or did it?). For every body that Lila stumbles upon she notes the lack of blood along with the excessive wounds. I mean, duh! I felt like I was watching Blue Clues and yelling "There's a clue behind you! Turn around, idiot!" Come on! How did she not even consider what was happening with the blood until the very end? Not even an inkling?

Dark Heart of Magic was still a lot of fun though. I really enjoyed watching the tournament, and the whole story takes place over just three days. I'm quite the fan of short timelines. There was also a bit more romance this time around as Lila fights her feelings for Devon. Devon, on the other hand, is making his feelings known and everyone around them is basically like "Get to kissing already!" I was definitely one of them.

In the end, Dark of Heart of Magic is a good sequel, if a predictable one. The blood thing just nagged at me until Lila finally figured it out. Then the culprit had to give their monologue about why they're doing this, and it was just kind of silly. It did lead to some interesting findings toward Lila's revenge though, so I definitely can't wait for the final book!

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.