Boundary Broken

I had a lot of fun with this book, mainly because I like Lex and the way Kate Rudd's narration brings her to life. She's brave and loyal. She knows that she's good at tactics but not a strategy. She doesn't see herself as heroic, just as someone doing what needs to be done to protect her niece and support her friends.

This episode of the Boundary Magic series has Lex at the centre all the way through. She doesn't always know what's going on and she loses as many rounds as she wins. What makes the book work is that I cared what happened to her more than I cared about the deviousness of the plot.

The plot has a few good surprises in it to keep me interested but wasn't particularly complex. In terms of story arc development, this felt like show more a transitional episode, setting up some new possibilities and making changes to the available characters and their relationships. On the basis, it promises well for the future.


I enjoyed the way in which Lex's knowledge and use of her power develops in this book. Her boundary magic has gone from vague to something with a solid internal logic.

This was very much a woman-centric story. There are male players in it, but mostly they are there either to get rescued, get threatened or killed or to strut around being muscular, menacing and dumb. The story is moved forward by women who are strong, bright, sometimes ruthless but very much in charge of what is happening to them. This isn't done in an in your face - look how strong my women are - way. It's subtle enough simply to be the natural outcome of the situation and the players. Still, I can't think of another series that has done this to this extent and made it work so well. I'm taking that as a good sign for the future as well.

As always, the pace is brisk, the stakes are high and the action is vivid. The end slowed down a little, partly to accommodate some of those new possiblities, but it didn't drag.

I still prefer this series to its sister/crossover series with Scarlett Bernard in LA. It feels more grounded to me. I've always preferred Colorado to California, so maybe it's just my prejudice but I find myself more engaged with Lex than with Scarlett. show less

This is the first book I've read by Melissa F. Olson, and I loved it!. Boundary Broken is the fourth book in the series. It's unusual for me not to read the books in order, but I was intrigued by the blurb. So, I can confirm that it can be read as a stand-alone, although there are a couple of things that I didn't quite get. I'm considering getting the other books and start from the beginning. I loved how fast paced it is, the immersive plot and the intense build up. I could not put it down. In my opinion, it looks like it was made by an inexperienced graphic designer and didn't match the quality of the writing. So guys, don't judge a book by its cover!

Bear in mind that I didn’t read the first three books in the series, so there might show more be plenty of details (Easter eggs) that escaped my attention. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading the book.

Lex is a boundary witch, which means that unlike regular witches she sees the ghosts of those who had violent deaths (if I understood correctly, only those leave behind ghosts, and there are several types of ghosts). By performing boundary magic, Lex helps the ghosts find the door to wherever souls go after death.

“There was boundary magic in my blood, and ghosts could somehow sense that. They didn’t move any closer, but their laughing faces went slack, and they turned their heads toward me, regarding me like a particularly sweet and tempting treat. [...] Still in the crouch, I turned in a circle, smearing the blood in a dark line that looked almost blue in the yellowish streetlights. [...] “Door,” I said out loud, concentrating as hard as I could on the image of a doorway.
Inside the circle, the pavement disappeared, replaced by a sort of swirling smoke that led… somewhere. I hadn’t opened a gate too, say, heaven or hell - that much I was pretty sure about. This was more of a neutral bridge to… wherever. Limbo, the gates of Saint Peter, Santa’s workshop. I didn’t know, and I wasn’t the least bit tempted to find out.”

Her peaceful life is disturbed when werewolves that saved her once come to her door to collect the favor she owed. A couple of werewolves from their pack went missing in the Colorado dunes. All they ask of her is to grant them safe passage in Boulder, Colorado (they weren’t allowed there, and I feel this was addressed in previous books). With Mavel’s approval (the vampire leader and her boss) she accompanies them to the dunes only to find them dead.

Read the complete review here: https://www.summonfantasy.com/book-reviews/book-review-boundary-broken-by-meliss.... show less

This story begins with a werewolf calling in a favor. Lex had promised to help him and now he needs safe passage into Colorado to hunt for a couple of missing pack members. Lex goes along with witch Simon Pellar to help locate them. They find their bodies but that only deepens the mystery. When the werewolf who called Lex in is caught and murdered before he can get out of the State with his packmates bodies, Lex feels that there was something else she could have done to change things.

What Lex doesn't know is that the deaths of the werewolves is only the first move in a well-thought out plan to disrupt things in Colorado. The villain wants to change rulership of the covens of witches and grab power from Lex's boss Maven. To do this, the show more villain threatens Lex's four-year-old niece Charlie who is a null and under the protection of Maven.

Between conflicts among the witches, conflicts among the werewolves, conflicts with the vampires including her boyfriend Quinn, and Lex's own magic which she still doesn't know very much about, Lex has her hands full in this episode.

Even though it has been years since I read the first three books in this series, I felt right at home here. I really like Lex and the magical world that Melissa F. Olson has built. show less

This series just keeps getting better and better. Although I must admit that I received this from the publisher as an ARC-I am going to be buying my own copy because I really want to support this author. I first started reading this series on a whim-I don't normally use my Kindle Unlimited (why? Mostly because I don't expect to find quality reads, but I am so glad I made an exception with this series. These books are quality reads).

This book jumps 2 years from the last book, so you need to get used to the fact that Charlie is now a toddler with a vocabulary! It was a little awkward for me at first, but I quickly got over the time jump. I don't know how to discuss the plot without giving away tons of spoilers (and I am really holding show more myself back from doing so!!!)

There are so many things going on and so many new people especially people that we have only met in passing in this book. An old enemy comes back, many people die or get hurt quite badly, the mystery is very convoluted but in a good way that really keeps you on your toes.

This was a very non-put-downable book filled with action and preying on some of our main characters worst fears and nightmares.

All in all, with the way things ended, I can't wait until book 5 comes out.

*ARC supplied by the publisher. show less

I liked this. This is the fourth book in the Boundary Magic Series. I had not read any of the previous books in the series and I think It works as a stand alone but there are so many auxiliary characters that I would have enjoyed the story more if I had read the previous books. I might go back and read the earlier stories so I can fully understand the back story. I think I will read the rest of the series as they are released. I liked the characters and their relationships but I was disappointed when characters I liked were killed off or were severely injured. Also, Lex sure does take a lot of beatings and so do her friends and relatives. My only complaint is that Lex sometimes does not anticipate the moves of some of her enemies. show more Sometimes, I was slapping my forehead saying, “What a rookie move!” I won’t give any spoilers but some of the tragic events at the end could have been avoided if Lex had put more thought into her actions and their consequences. Overall, I liked the story. And will read the rest of the series. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own. show less

I liked this. This is the fourth book in the Boundary Magic Series. I had not read any of the previous books in the series and I think It works as a stand alone but there are so many auxiliary characters that I would have enjoyed the story more if I had read the previous books. I might go back and read the earlier stories so I can fully understand the back story. I think I will read the rest of the series as they are released. I liked the characters and their relationships but I was disappointed when characters I liked were killed off or were severely injured. Also, Lex sure does take a lot of beatings and so do her friends and relatives. My only complaint is that Lex sometimes does not anticipate the moves of some of her enemies. show more Sometimes, I was slapping my forehead saying, “What a rookie move!” I won’t give any spoilers but some of the tragic events at the end could have been avoided if Lex had put more thought into her actions and their consequences. Overall, I liked the story. And will read the rest of the series. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own. show less

To read more reviews in this series and others, check out keikii eats books!

Short Review: Great new installment to the series. It was even better than I hoped for.

---

86 points, 4 ½ stars!

Wow, Boundary Broken was a great installment to this series. I've always liked Lex and her boyfriend, Quinn. This series was always better than the Scarlet Bernard ones. I like what Lex gets up to, I love how Quinn helps and supports her. Also I really like Lex's powers.

It has been a while since I read these books, nearly a year now, so I had forgotten a bit about the story. I'm actually surprised that Melissa F. Olson decided to continue on under this series name than make a new one, like she did for Scarlett. Luckily, this managed to remind me of show more everything I had forgotten over the course of the last year easily enough. It did a good job of it, even. However, I think new readers would be a little lost. This story takes place three years after the previous book's events, so there is quite a jump. However, a lot of references to prior events were brought up, but weren't really explained.

Actually, a lot of Boundary Broken is treading old ground. There are old allies that we team up with against old enemies who are playing off of the same playbooks as before. It is quite a repeat. The only reason I wasn't lost was because I had read the previous books before. If you haven't read them, and are looking to maybe jump in here, it would be a mistake. Yet for continuing readers, this new start to the series is great. It sets up the direction this series is going to take from now on very well. I'm looking forward to reading the rest in a way I wasn't before I read this.

Boundary Broken is fun because the characters are fun and the story is well laid out. It isn't just Lex and Quinn I enjoy, it is all of their friends and their Boss and Lex's family. They are all great people I enjoy having around. The prejudice the Old World has against each other, where every group hates and distrusts the other groups? That grew really old by the end of the book. I'm afraid there might be more of that throughout the rest of this arc of the series.

Overall, though, I really enjoyed reading this. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more in this series.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Melissa F. Olson, 47North, and Netgalley for providing this copy for review! show less