COLD BURN OF MAGIC by Jennifer Estep

B+
Release Date: 4/28/15
Synopsis:
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 thoughts on the book:
As most of you know, I'm a huge fan of anything Jennifer Estep writes. I love her world-building, descriptions, and kick ass heroines. Cold Burn of Magic did not disappoint me. While this is very different from the Mythos Academy novels, it is an engrossing and thrilling series debut. Estep has created another terrific world and filled it with interesting and complex characters. I can't wait to see what happens next. 

Lila is so different from Gwen that it was impossible to compare the two, which is good. I hate when authors write the same characters all the time. Lila resembles Gin from Estep's Elemental Assassin series much more than she does Gwen. Lila isn't quite as cold, but she is pretty hardcore. I enjoyed reading from her perspective, and she was one of those types who you trust because she just doesn't care enough to lie. I respected that. She was emotionally closed off, which I understood, yet somehow she was likeable and easy to relate to. Devon was a fantastic love interest, and he seems like a genuinely good guy. I really enjoyed getting to know him and look forward to learning more about him in the next book. Felix and Mo were entertaining secondary characters, though they had similar personalities. Mo was a bit more used car salesman than Felix, though. 

The world-building was fantastic for this novel. I love how Estep creates her own towns and cities in the US. In this particular book, she mentioned the other worlds she's created, too, which served to broaden the world as a whole. I now feel that Lila and Gin could run into each other because they live in the same world, even though they're in different cities. The plot itself was intriguing and full of suspense and action. I had the bad guy figured out pretty quickly, but I usually am pretty good at figuring out who can't be trusted in books and TV shows. The powers introduced in this series are very different from the ones that Estep has worked with in the past, and I really liked learning about these new forms of magic. The ending tied things up nicely and left room for a sequel.

Overall, I really loved this book and can't wait to see what happens to Lila and company next. I'd recommend this for anyone who's looking for a kick-ass YA heroine to read about. 

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