Lisa Edmonds

4.5

“There were all kinds of books: books that educated, books you read at the beach or on planes, books that sold bad advice…and books that could level whole cities.”

Well done Urban Fantasy is still my favorite genre, but as the years go on, after I read more so many that were subpar or overdone, and as the market has become saturated, finding new favorites is harder. This one was great fun and the whole series (I’m caught up on it) is a delight. This one pushed a lot of my generic show more I-Like-UF Buttons.

The MC is a powerful woman with a lot of secrets. She investigates, has morals, and is sarcastic without having a massive chip on her shoulder. I love when the MC has secrets that take forever to reveal and is a mystery that everyone wants to solve. Another plus is the magic blending with the MC is unique and not something you see in other Urban Fantasies in quite the same way.

The world-building was nifty with an assortment of paranormal critters, councils, each with their own wags, agendas, and shake peace treaties. The vampire world is dark and gritty, the shifter violent and secretive, the magic unbalanced and screwed up (scary), the police involved with their own investigations that land them in hot water and eye the heroine of the story.

Tension and secrets remain, not resolved from multiple stories, kept me glued with tension. The story held a worthy enough mystery for an urban fantasy opener while not drowning out the personalities of the players and relationship side-plots. There are actual investigation steps and stages.

We get a ghost sidekick. One that’s present a lot, has secrets of his own, and is involved with her powers. Another winning draw.

I adore the new boyfriend - an alpha werewolf. Also some interest from a shady vamp. Be still my hormones. There are some actual, genuine steamy scenes too. *fans self*

Cops can get in the way in some of these stories, but one of the best selling features of this story was the dicey relationship with a pretty cool human cop who sees and senses too much. That added even more layers that kept my interest.

If you’re in the mood for a new Urban Fantasy, I highly recommend this one. There’s a few books out and the books don’t take too long to be released. show less

"I had so many people around me wondering if you were strong enough to be my partner that I didn’t think to ask if I was strong enough to be yours. It’s me who needs to be stronger, not you. I’ve always told myself that I wanted a partner and a mate who would stand beside me and who would fight with and for my pack, but I don’t think I ever really understood what that meant until now. [...] You are exactly what I’d wished and waited for, and I almost blew it because I didn’t know show more how to deal with your power, your courage, and your need to protect others. You face your enemies as though you were the alpha of a pack. You are fierce and you’ll fight until you have nothing left. [...] The minute I figured out that I had to stop trying to force you to be someone else, the answers fell into place."

Ok I know that quote is kind of long but I was just blown away at the end of this book, and I would like to congratulate Lisa Edmonds for being literally the only author that I can think of to write an urban fantasy with a werewolf love interest that I actually like! I'll admit it was a little bit rocky in the first few books, but I think Sean and Alice have both grown a lot since then [this book was GREAT for their individual character development and the development of their relationship] and it's great to see them in a place where they respect each other. Seriously, A+ for having your ~dominant alpha male~ character examine his behavior and admit that a lot of it is unreasonable and he's working on it [and also that Alice has a few things to work on as well, it's nice to see them meet in the middle].

The rest of the book was great as well. Definitely a lot happened here regarding Alice's backstory and I'm excited to see where that is going to go next. Also I just really love the focus on like ...free will and consent in this particular story line. It's sad how refreshing that is in the urban fantasy market today but it is unfortunately true. Overall just a really fun series with a very interesting magic system and three-dimensional characters and relationships. Can't wait to see what happens next! show less

Mortal Heart by Lisa Edmonds.
Exiled former archangel Ronan and Arkady Woodall, private investigator and business partner of Alice Worth, team up to track down the supernatural beings behind a human trafficking ring. Arkady and Ronan are both suitably kick-ass, and they're a good team. I liked how they snarked at each other. There was insta-lust, almost insta-love, misunderstandings in the way of both, and graphic sex. I'd say it's not absolutely necessary to have read the main Alice Worth show more series before this, but it definitely helps. Reviewed from an eBook copy received through the LibraryThing Early Reviewer Program in return for an unbiased review. show less

I love this series in general, and I re-read the first four in preparation for this fifth release. Unfortunately this turned out to be my least favorite by far. The author still writes well, I still love the series and plan to continue, but for the bad parts:

1. Amnesia. I hate it. Loathe it. If it's the plot of a standalone, I avoid it. Having Amnesia in the main character for almost the entire book right in the middle of a series is a nightmare. I don't feel like seeing her meet people all show more over again and discover things all over again --- I'd rather get plot progression from the events of the last book. More development in relationships instead of her not remembering anyone. Argh.

2. Dual POV. Alice was always single pov. The author, probably due to the amnesia or maybe wanting to change this more to PNR than Urban Fantasy/Mystery, mainly told this through Sean's POV. I love Sean, but I don't like romantic dual POV. We already know how he feels about her, so having it repeated in her head, then his directly, made it repetitive and dull.

3. Not much plot. There's some back and forth time shifts in the storyline, but really this one has the slowest plot out of the Alice Worth books. The majority is spent with her and Sean going over a lot of the same ground they've already covered in previous books, and a few scenes with Nan and Carly. There's a cool sorcerer battle but the book is large and it needed more action and direction. I will say we got a potent moment out of the real Alice's past that was well written.

4. The author has decided to kill any good relationship with Charles. I'm team Sean all the way but I liked Alice's bond of at least friendship with the vamp. That was pretty much tossed out the window now.

5. There's no connection to anything with Moses, which has the been the large story of the first four books, and the ending cliffhanger of the fourth - nothing is progressed there at all. In addition, we don't get anything more resolved with her potential new family member other than a cliffhanger. Lake and others from previous books aren't here at all. There isn't a big mystery other than Alice trying to recover power and memories.

6. For someone who is supposedly so powerful, can we please have her stop getting hurt every other chapter in every book?

7. It's a personal pet peeve of mine that the powerful can have their powers easily stolen. If that's the case with the worldbuilding, I can't be that impressed by their power.

8. The wolf thing is awesome - but I still want her to be in her roots involved with all the supe groups and herself instead of making it all about wolves, which is where the story seems to be suddenly heading.

Sadly the book was mainly dull, it pains me to admit it. Some of my dislike of it is personal pet peeves that aren't the books fault (my irritation at convenient amnesia or powers being stolen), but otherwise the book's shift of POV made it feel basic and repetitive, the filler quality without much story and not continuing any of Alice's personal story was a disappointment after the wait, I was saddened to see every character associated with the vamps at all to now being enemies again (she's even rude to Brian instantly at the beginning). show less