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Branded by Fire (Blood & Magic – Book 4)

by Danielle Annett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Urban Fantasy

Available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited

Down and Dirty

The Series is getting better as it grows, falling away from the shadow of other UF novels and standing on its own. Worth picking up.

See my review for Books 1-3 here!

What is it about?

Aria’s carefully constructed life is a mess. Not only is she mate-bonded to Declan, the Alpha of the Pacific Northwest Pack (The Alpha of THE Alphas) she is struggling to rebuild the mercenary business and dodging attacks from her mother, the all too human snake that leads the HAC. It is a powder keg of danger, Supernatural Intrigue and race relations gone wrong – and Aria is smack dab in the middle of it all.

Thoughts

Book 4 is solidly better than the first two and just a bit better than book 3. Aria is coming to terms with what everything means and no longer fighting alone – even if sometimes she feels like she is.

The similarities to other, more familiar UF novels has fully faded by this point in the series, allowing Aria and her troop of misfits to carve out their own place in this growing genre – and make a sounding impression as they do. The interconnections between the characters is being net together carefully, pulling the threads of their lives ever closer, and bringing them all that much nearer to a potentially cataclysmic, Supernatural War. I really liked the notion that the fate of the city, or even the very world, does not solely depend on the actions of just one person – but on ALL the factions. Aria plays a powerful role, and her choices can make or break the volatile situation, but it is going to take all of them, together, to solve this ever growing pressure.

Perspective

First Person, Multiple POV

Pros:

• Relationships – they get better, if far more complicated.
• Aria: Just badass. Seriously.
• Good editing
• Doesn’t resemble Kate Daniels anymore, but fans of that series will love this one.

Cons:

• Poor character choices – they make good plot points, but… really?
• Some continuity issues from previous book.
• Inarus: Maybe not so much a ‘con’…. but I just can’t love this guy. I am trying – really, but he bothers me…. maybe he will get better in Book 5? (Don’t get me wrong, he isn’t written badly, his motivations just make me suspicious).
• Wish it was a bit longer.

Verdict

We’ve finally gotten to the point with this series where I will say, ‘Read it.’ It’s rare when it takes this long to really hook me, but hey – what can I say? Sometimes things get better the longer they brew.

Published: May 19th, 2018

175 pages

Your Turn

What are you reading today? Have you stumbled upon any great books so far this year? Drop a comment, let me know! I am always on the lookout for new fodder for my Kindle – and if the author is fairly unknown, even better!