Willy W. reviewed on 3/25/2012 + 503 more book reviews

More urban fantasy/mystery/action than romance. Don't let the "her love life is killer" tag line fool you.

This book reminded me of the very early Anita Blake books by Laurell K Hamilton (before Anita started having sex). There's a lot of fighting, blood, and general badass-ness and not much romance. It's occasionally sexy but not romantic. Also because the story is written in the first person, there's a bit of a campy feel to the action and scenes: Gin describing her own actions - it sometimes feels a bit silly. Also Gin's description of herself, not quite as dorky as LKH with Anita Blake ("my creamy white breasts"), but pretty goofy "my beautiful gray eyes stared into his golden ones". Cheese. And the use of "mmmm" got old the second time I read it but she used it about 100 times in the book.

Initially I found the book a little boring and couldn't figure out how this story got such great reviews. I forced myself to finish and was glad I did because the ending and the wrap-up to the story was worth the read. I enjoyed how Jennifer Estep also left things hanging for the sequels but still provided an ending that was a satisfying conclusion to this phase of Gin's life.

Overall, not sure Elemental Assassin is my kind of series, as I prefer the scales to tip toward romance rather than action and blood, but I think if you like the reverse, you will really enjoy this series. A very good start.

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