Smash reviews By a Thread by Jennifer Estep

**SPOILERS FOR PREVIOUS BOOKS**
My name is Gin Blanco, and I’m the assassin the Spider. All the Ashland’s lowlifes are gunning for me and trying to make a name for themselves by taking out the Spider. So I think it’s a good idea to get out of Ashland for a while until things cool down.

So I’m headed south to a swanky beach town, along with my baby sister, Bria, for a weekend of fun in the sun. But when an old friend of Bria’s is threatened by a powerful vampire with deadly elemental magic, it looks like I’ll have to dig my silverstone knives out of my suitcase after all. But this time, not even my own Ice and Stone power may be enough to save me from coming home in a pine box…

Gin Blanco can’t get a break. She can’t even take a weekend trip to the beach without some nasty scumbag mucking things up. And seriously: Gin needs a vacation. Does she get one by the end of the tale, or does she get her tail handed to her?

Dude. Duuuuuuuuuude. Randall Dekes is a beast of a villain. What a sinister, evil, malicious, horrifying man. Just when I thought it didn’t get worse than Mab, Jennifer Estep throws us another award-winning villain. This man was evil incarnate and made my skin crawl. The things he did to his victims was beyond what I can express in words. It was a akin to rape, but in a different fashion. Fucking wretched. He was a serious match for Gin, and I honestly thought she was going to get dead a time or 5. Chic has 9 lives or something.

Donovan. Fucking. Caine. I honestly did not think we’d see him again. Gin’s reaction surprised the hell out of me, but damn did she grow a lot in this book! She never did have the opportunity to heal from his devastating departure and it showed. I wanted to violently shake her to her senses. Of course, she came to them all her own, and it was glorious. He was a complete asshat in this book and gets his just desserts. Stupid man.

The flashbacks with Fletcher were intense. I am amazed, with each book, how much Fletcher continues to remain such an integral part of Gin’s world. It’s quite fascinating and I always love learning more about him and his relationship with Gin. It was heartbreaking to experience Gin’s pain as she recalled moments with Fletcher, but I always find his ways of teaching her lessons to be harsh and brilliant.

The growth between Owen and Gin was so damn beautiful in this book. Their intensity lit up the pages and made my heart do flip flops. And I can’t leave out Bria and Finn. Those two are wicked cute. Finn steals the show most of the time, as the quote below can attest. I adore Gin and her makeshift family.

Favorite Quote

“I looked at Bria. “How do you put up with him?”

Bria started to open her mouth, but Finn piped up instead.

“She puts up with me because I happen to be rich, handsome, charming, a witty conversationalist, and exceptionally talented in bed,” he smirked. “Flexible too.”

I groaned. “I did not need to hear those last two.”

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• Tags: Elemental Assassins, Jennifer Estep•