The characters were interesting and the story was engaging. I will look for other books by this author.

A new urban fantasy series starts off with a lot of action and yes, plenty of blood. Engaging and fast moving, will be interesting to see how this series progresses!

3.5 stars for me.
Petra Graves, a supernatural assassin is sent to Poland to hunt down a rogue bloodmancer,it didn't go as planed and in order to defeat him, she release the wild magic. Well,her easy life take a turn,and with Max and Fenrir and few more of misfits she needs to fight to stop coming apocalypse.
What crown is hiding from her?
Is her life and friends are even real?

Good first book in the series,it keep me engaged,constant reveal after reveal.

This book is full of action,secrets and magic and I would recommend it for fantasy fans.

Thank you netgalley and Dark Ether Press for free copy.

Book summary from my perspective:
Petra Graves is a lone specialist whose job is to carry out missions for her contractor, the Crown. We get little backstory or character development as fate throws an unexpected and unwanted team at her: Max (who probably is but refuses to be called a leprechaun), Fenris (a werewolf), and Nina (an ex-Crown tech-savvy teenager). An unknown evil wielding new magic is trying to disrupt Petra’s life, and this story follows her journey to discover who she is and why this evil force is targeting her.

Character Development Issues:
I was left with many questions about the characters and their motivations that could have elevated this book to the next level. Petra often “just knows” things through instincts, but the author doesn’t take time to explain how or why or what she is feeling. The supporting characters’ motivations are equally unclear. Fenris’s actions makes no sense given his willingness to just follow along without question and Petra’s almost immediate trust towards him for no reason. Petra asks herself why he’s so compliant, then immediately dismisses the question. Max tried to leave and can't until he can and doesn't. Nina feels like she wants to be rebellious and didn't want to be a part of the team but just follows along. For someone who’s spent her whole life as a lone wolf, she trusts some people instantly while distrusting others for no clear reason.

Plot Inconsistencies:
Several plot points felt rushed or contradictory. Intriguing mysteries are often explained just a page or two after being introduced, which felt anticlimactic. There are inconsistencies with character actions based on their supposed physical limitations (Max has to magically be within a close distance of Petra yet she goes to the other side of town without him for a run) .
Strangers who value their own lives and don't even want to be involved suddenly become willing to sacrifice themselves for the team—this transformation felt unrealistic without more character depth explanations.

Small Details That Pulled Me Out:
Some logistics didn’t make sense to me, like whether a six-hour layover in LA is really enough time to leave the airport, go shopping, book and shower at a hotel, eat, and return for the next flight (all of which didn't really add to the story). Also, Petra seems shocked that her crown contact Remy knows her location—shouldn’t the Crown have basic resources like phone tracking? There was even a moment where she goes “upstairs into an underground lair,” which was jarring.

Overall Impression:
Despite these issues, the story was well-told with an ending that defeats the immediate threat while leaving on a massive cliffhanger. The writing style was engaging and fun, and I can see the potential for this series to be phenomenal once these character and plotting kinks are hopefully worked out in the next books. The foundation is solid—it just needs more attention to consistency and character development and motivation.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an advance review copy in exchange for my honest opinion

This is an adequte urban fantasy with the requisite "kick ass heroine who kills things" putting together a band of misfits to kill some unknown evil. It’s rough, and the writing in the early chapters has some moments of almost wincing alliteration and a few malapropisms (plutonic instead of platonic) but the pace is good. It’s a fast, easy read, but the listed genre of “Paranormal Romance” is a misnomer. At least, for now. There’s no romance in this book, unless you count Fenrir mourning his dead mate.

Pete, as a character, wants to be seen as a Buffy-esque girl, with killing and quipping and a blasé attitude, but she mostly comes across to me as surly and indifferent. She doesn’t react to anything, unless it’s to sigh in a “been there, done that” weariness that translates as more try hard than jaded. Her handler, Remy, exists; there’s no rapport between them, no sense of camaraderie or friendship. Just two people who see one another at work.

And the same goes for Max, Fenrir, Nadine, and everyone else. They’re there to quip, or help Petra fight, but not to be characters in there own right, and not to have any emotional bond with Petra. This is a very action oriented book and the action is … fine. The world building is interesting, with lots of information being held back for future books, and a lot of it waved away as unimportant, but I do get the sense that the author knows what they’re doing, which marks it the most enjoyable part of the book.

As I’ve said many times before, I really prefer a character driven book to a plot driven one, and while I can be pulled in by a good plot or strong world building, this book didn’t do it for me. It’s a fine, solid read. It’s a bit boring but it plays fair with the reader. The breadcrumbs are laid out and the foreshadowing pays off. If you enjoy this author, you’ll probably enjoy this book.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC.