Cold Burn of Magic (Black Blade, #1)

by Jennifer Estep

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. . .

• ISBN10: 1617738247
• ISBN13: 9781617738241
• Publish Date: 28 April 2015 (first published 1 January 2015)
• Publish Status: Inactive
• Out of Print: 30 July 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Kensington Publishing
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 368
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/isbn/9781617738241

Reviews

[Leigha]

A young thief becomes involved with the machinations of the magical royal families when she ends up being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

How did I not know Estep had a new YA series out? I absolutely adored the Mythos Academy! Cold Burn of Magic is the first book in a new series. I must admit to being confused at first about the novel’s setting and time period. I almost thought I was reading a historical until I realized it was urban fantasy. I wish the setting had been explained more in detail earlier on in the narrative instead of the reader being emerged into the setting with no explanation. However, it’s a small detail that may have only nagged me.

Much like the Mythos Academy, it crafts an interesting world with intriguing characters. I absolutely adored Lila, the strong, kick-butt protagonist with a vulnerable side. I enjoyed the majority of the secondary characters, although I struggled to like Devon. It’s not that he is an unlikable character, he just comes across as “meh” to me. The plot between the different factions intrigued me and left me wanting to read more. I’m interested to see where this series goes from here.

tl;dr A strong and likable protagonist set in an interesting world is bound to entertain you, particularly if you enjoyed previous works by Estep.

[Melanie]

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

I’ve been a big fan of Jennifer Estep’s Elemental Assassin series for adults for many years now. I religiously purchase that series audiobook on release day every year. I’ve yet to try another series by her. I’m not a big fan of young adult novels. I used to read them all the time, but I got really burnt out on the similar tropes that seem to pop up on all the paranormal YA novels. I even blacklisted them from my reading for a while. I’m starting to pick them back up, mostly from authors that I already love. I’m really glad that I did here. This series isn’t like any other YA series I’ve ever read.

This is a fantastic world that Ms. Estep has built around magical and powerful families. There are a ton of similarities between this series and the adult Elemental Assassin series. But, not so much that I felt like I was reading a younger version of the same story. There are straight up humans that don’t have magic and there are people with magic who kinda run things. They all have different types of magic, some even have more than one magic power. As with the Elemental Assassin series, the magic families have all the power and they exploit that power.

There are also really great characters in this story. Lila Merriweather is our main character. She has had a rough life. Her mother died when she was young. Her father is MIA. She was in foster care for a while, then decided that she was better off taking care of herself on the streets. She wasn’t completely alone though, she has Mo. Mo is an adult that helped her with documents and signing things for school. He also gives her jobs to help her. He also her only real friend and a mentor for her. He is also the one who convinces her that she should take the bodyguarding job with one of the powerful families.

Devon Sinclair is the only son of the Sinclair family. There have also been many attempts to kill him lately. When his current bodyguard is killed in Mo’s shop, Mo and Devon’s mother work out a deal to get Lila to become his new bodyguard. I liked Devon. He could be like so many other “trust fund babies”, of which you do see some in this book, but he isn’t. He is a real down to earth guy.

I also have a penchant for loving secondary characters, and that is no different here. I just fell in love with Oscar. He is a redneck pixie that lives in a dollhouse sized dilapidated trailer in Lila’s new room in the Sinclair home. The Sinclair’s felt she needed a pixie, so Oscar helps out around her suite. He also has a tiny pet tortoise named Tiny. If you’ve ever read Kim Harrison’s The Hollows series, Oscar makes me think of a hillbilly Jenks. Always drinking honey beer in the trailer, where Jenks would get drunk on just plain ole honey and lived in a rolltop desk (even if only in the winter). I can’t wait to see where Oscar goes in this series.

This story was full of monsters, action, and great characters. The worldbuilding was amazing. Both Lila and Devon proved to be wonderful young adult characters without all the angst that seems to creep into so many YA novels. We do see them interact with some of the other kids and do things like go on dates, which sounds mundane, but turns out not.

Narration
This is my first book with Brittany Pressley. She did a great job with the narration of this series. It takes place in a mythical town of Cloudburst Falls, West Virginia. So there are Southern accents for most of the characters. There is even the accent for the aforementioned Oscar, the drunk, hillbilly pixie. I thought she did a great job with all the different voices. I could always tell who was talking. She really brought out the tone of the story and did great with the snark. I plan to finish this series on audio.

[Berls]

I should have read this months ago like I had planned. Thank goodness I ended up with book two to review - who knows how long I would have waited to read this gem! Full reviw to follow. 4.5 stars

[Stephanie]

This review was originally posted on Once Upon a Chapter

[kimbacaffeinate]

Five Caffeinated reasons to drop what you are doing and read Cold Burn of Magic

• Our protagonist, Lila Merriweather is a kick-ass, orphaned thief who makes her home in the basement of a library in a town filled with magic. The story takes place in Cloudburst Falls, West Virginia where tourists come from all around to see pixies, Fae and monsters. Rich families who are constantly feuding run the town. Estep brought the world to life in vivid three-D imagery from the troll on the bridge to the pixies preparing meals.


• The characters were unique from zany Mo to the cold and manipulative mother of Devon. Lila is a colorful heroine who I quickly warmed up to. Lila is young and has some baggage but she is also street smart and in some ways wise beyond her seventeen years. Fiercely loyal she has several talents. She is content attending high school by day and thieving by night but she unwittingly finds herself involved in protecting one of the “royal” families’ sons after intervening in a deadly fight. A certain grumpy pixie about stole my heart and the attention to detail with this secondary character was amazing.


• The story Estep weaves is magical, filled with action and growth for Lila. I would love to see this made into a Disney movie. I can just see the Sinclair mansion on the big screen. Weapons, spider spun jackets and rare talents amped my enjoyment of the world. I have a feeling with the right narrator this would be an amazing listen on audio. Estep weaves in several storylines from the feuding families to Lila’s own past. She satisfied my need to know while leaving room for more details as the story progresses. Villains, a mysterious stranger and betrayal added danger.


• While there are hints of a budding romance, Estep did not bog this tale down with unnecessary drama, insta-love or triangles. Instead, she hinted at a slow-burning romance.  This added a few swoony moments and left us with the possibility of a future romance. I l found it to be refreshing. The tale wraps up nicely, giving us closure but also an idea of what is to come leaving the reader satisfied.


• Others suggest a similarity to Estep’s other series but as a newbie, I cannot say. However I will tell you I found it to be fresh and exciting. I am eager to read the Mythos and Elemental series to explore their similarities. The next Black Blade novel, Dark Heart of Magic is coming in October of 2015 and I for one will be waiting.

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

[bookishzelda]

Cold Burn of Magic takes Mob families and Magic and mixes them up together. I thought it was intriguing and unique.

Magic Mob Families rule the town of Cloudburst Falls. Known as the most magical place in America. The only thing I wasn’t sure about is if it was the only magical place in America. The structure of the mob families, the talents of the people with magic and the monsters that lurked in the shadows was pretty cool. I really enjoyed how it all worked together.

I like Lila, she really likes to kick some butt. She had some pretty cool talents herself but she holds her cards close to her chest. After the loss of her mom she kind of became a recluse, with her only friend being Mo who is also her employer. I like that she speaks her mind because she doesn’t really care what people think of her. Although sometimes I think her snarkiness is to keep people from getting attached to her at times. Although she finds herself unintentionally wrapped up in the families drama, she doesn’t really lose her edge. Even when she is doing something because it’s the right thing to do, she still thinks about what she can get out of it. She’s a thief and everything she does is a tactical move. Unfortunately that even plays into her love life. She considers herself more of a realist.

The romance is actually pretty light. To be honest Devon and Lila are hardly even together in the first 50% of the book. She actually blames him for her mother’s death at first and therefore doesn’t want t associate with him. Even though her soulsight talent gives her a little bit more of an inside look at him. She starts to really respect and admire him for the things he does. It begins to warm her up to him. Although she still understands that she should be keeping her distance, simply for the fact that mixing herself up in mob business is risky business.

Devon is very kind and caring. A humble and gentle soul that seems to want to do the right thing. I liked how he doesn’t rely on swords or magic. Instead he has fist of fury and trains himself like a prize fighter.

Felix is definitely entertaining and so is Oscar. I would consider the two of them a nice comic relief.

I liked the plot. Someone is trying to knock off Devon or so it seems. They are not sure who so after a chance encounter with Lila. She becomes his body guard, putting together the pieces of a larger puzzle. I did figure out the killer before she did but I thought it was still concealed well enough. The other interesting thing was the passage of time. Rather than everything happening in a day there are gaps of weeks or days in between things. Where Lila sums up what she was doing the days we don’t touch base with her. I really liked that. It made it feel like nothing was rushed but didn’t cause a lag either.

I really liked the Cold Burn of Magic. I’m intrigued to the read the next book and see where Lila’s adventures take her.

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

If the mob owned a Disney park, that would be Cloudburst Falls, the setting of Cold Burn of Magic. Lila lives in a town known for its magical tourism. Lots of people have magic, but there's also monsters lurking the dark. Lila's Talent is sight, which is basically superhuman vision, which she uses to make her living as a thief. Her mother was killed four years ago, and after a brief stint in foster care, Lila took off on her own. Now she may have a permanent place to live, since one of the reigning families want her as a bodyguard for their heir: a boy Lila has saved twice before but loathes.

Cold Burn of Magic was super fun! I have to say that it reminded me a lot of the author's Elemental Assassin series. It had that same magical, organized crime set up, and Lila is no wilting flower. I'm just a huge fan of how magic and magical creatures fit seamlessly into the "real" world. This mobster twist was also really unique. There's several families that own different sections of the town, and of course, there's tensions between them. Lila wants nothing to do with the mob families after her mother is killed by the head of one, but she's dragged into it all nonetheless, since she's an excellent fighter in addition to her thieving abilities.

The plot was pretty exciting too. Lila saves Devon's life when some men try to kidnap him from the pawnshop she "works" for. His mother finds the situation quite suspicious, but winds up recruiting Lila to be Devon's newest protector. But Lila doesn't just follow him around with her sword, she's actively trying to figure out who's after him and why. It does get a bit cheesy once they figure out who it is and all that, but I really liked how the ending served as a solid set up for what the main conflict of the rest of the series is going to be!

I really liked Cold Burn of Magic. It really is almost Elemental Assassin but with magical teenagers instead of elementals and trolls. I do worry that the overarching plot is also going to be extremely similar given what we find out at the end. I want something new and surprising! But I'm still excited to see what's coming next.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.