Saturday 27 June 2015

REVIEW - PURE BLOODED - JESSICA MCCLAIN BY AMANDA CARLSON

Title: Pure Blooded
Series: Jessica McClain
Author: Amanda Carlson
Publisher: Orbit
Genre: Paranormal, Urban Fantasy
Release Date: 16th June 2015

BLURB from Goodreads
Jessica arrives back from the Underworld to find her father embroiled in a battle against the Made wolves. She and her crew drop everything to join them.

Once she arrives, the threat is after her. Jessica is lured into danger when her adversary takes something precious from her. With help from an unlikely source, Jessica goes up against her creator in a battle that will decide the path of everyone involved. She must war against a new set of foes, ones who could not only steal her power, but could take her soul as well.


PURCHASE LINKS
Amazon US
Amazon UK


INITIAL THOUGHTS
Approaching reading this book, the fifth in the series I am looking forward to catching up with Jessica and Rourke. I also want to see what happens with Jessica's father and the problems of the rogue pack too.. . .My only worry is will I remember the key events from the last book as it feels like it has been such a long time since I read it

MY REVIEW
So I was super lucky with this title, I requested an e-copy on Netgalley but didn't expect to receive one as they were being targeted at the US audience, so I spoke to the lovely publicist at Little Brown/Orbit/Piatkus etc who kindly sent me a paperback copy. The cover again features Jessica McClain who is the kick butt female lead character in this series.  The cover fits well with the rest of the series, so the paperback I was sent will look great on my bookshelf with my other books from the series. There's a quote about the book from Karen Chance, which is usually one of my pet hates but the quote is well placed so that it doesn't interfere with the cover. So would the cover make me pick this book up in a book store? Yes! It shouts shifter, and mystery and makes me want to learn more about the plot.
So my worry of not remembering how things were left from the last book was left was taken care of fairly quickly as this book sort of recaps about what has happened before as it goes along. I admit the pace for this book was a little slow and meandering for my taste to begin with. Though once I got past the initial slower paced part of the book, it picked up pace and became more interesting and wow it had me hooked. I didn't want to put the book down. We caught up with old favourites Naomi the vampire and Danny the werewolf who was bonded to Jessica. These two have come to the realisation that they are soul mates and are allowed to go off to complete the "soul mate" rituals. Jessica now has the power of 5 forms of magic combined and is still reeling from the shock of it. Jessica has given her wolf the responsibility of holding this power, so she is wary when she has to follow her instincts and allow her wolf to release and use this new power in this book.
So the first threat's Jessica faces are dealing with a voodoo priestess/sourceress, a bokor, a loa, "zombie" man made werewolves, snakes and crocodiles. Though she does have Marcy and some spells to help her win that battle
Just as you begin to relax thinking Jessica and her pack have sorted out one threat, she is kidnapped by a driver-less van and taken to meet an old Warlock called Jebediah Amel to talk about Coalition business. Her reveals quite a lot of things that Jessica hadn't really thought of, like the as she is the enforcer she is also the head of the coalition. Jebediah also explains that the job Jessica will be doing for the Coalition involves doing a lot of paperwork which he will be sending to her. Jessica hasn't even heard of Jebediah before so its a surprise meeting. Jebediah is also there to tell Jessica how much danger she is in from the hag Enid. Whilst in the Underworld Jessica killed an important supernatural before fate said it was their time to die so now Jessica has to make amends. The two remaining hags are in disagreement about what need to be done to reset fate on the correct course. One hag thinks Jessica can put things right. Where as the hag sister called Enid insists fate can only be put right by the death of Jessica. Luckily Jessica has one powerful hag on her side championing her. Can she put fate right, or will Jessica die as Enid wishes?
Jessica's other half and protector becomes frustrated in this book when they come up against the very old and powerful magic of Enid. In fact he isn't sure he can safeguard Jessica from the magic. It's quite strange to see a vulnerable side to Rourke, but made him even more endearing. 
It turns out someone who Jessica thought was "human" is in fact a strong supernatural who has been cloaking themselves from her for years. We discover that this "human" has had a hand in the course of Jessica's life journey from a young age. This "human" turns out to be a powerful ally that helps Jessica on many occasions in this book. Enid blackmails a young necromancer into helping her so Jessica and Rourke find themselves fighting We meet a young necromancer called Kayla who Tyler becomes tremendously caring and protective over. . . . hmmm I'm thinking ahead with this one. I'll say more in my final thoughts. We also hear of a potentially very strong teenage boy that may need rescuing. 
Throughout this book there are hints at what may be forthcoming in subsequent books. Jessica is told she must follow her heart, that she will lose someone/something precious to her . . . .(yeah I immediately though Oh no, they're gonna kill Rourke off) but it will be something she can cope with. so that prediction leaves you asking what she is going to lose.
So this book really had me thinking about what could happen. . .and I decided to share some of my idea's. Could Kayla & Tyler be soulmates? Will Kayla & Ajax become part of Jessica's team? Then there's the whole Jessica losing someone/something precious. . . Could that be losing her Alpha father Callum. . .I mean he has just recovered from being cursed and he is getting older. . . .he does express in this book that he wants Jessica to have her own pack around her to help her and protect her. Or Could she have to give up working at her Private Investigating Business with friend and fox shifter Nick? Or maybe It will no longer be safe for her to live in her flat and she could class that as having to give up some elements of her independence?  Then there's What is happening? Where is Tally? and What will Jessica come up against next?
I could so go on and on about this book, I feel like I haven't told you very much but at the same time I don't want to get too detailed about the plot as you want things to be revealed in the correct order and within the sequence of events within the book. It really is a MUST read! 

FINAL THOUGHTS
My final thoughts are numerous, consisting of the questions I have asked above as well as me looking forward to the Coalition and meeting the other members, the strong women, that will sit alongside Jessica on the council. We know one of those sitting on the council with Jessica is Eudoxia, the Vampire Queen so who are the others and how will they all work together? To sum up Slightly slower and a few pace changes made this one harder to enjoy initially. When the pace increased, and the plot became more complex I was drawn further into the book and loved it there was plenty of action, and battles to fight. 
So did I enjoy the book? Yes, I loved it. Action packed, with hints of more to come in the following book/booksWould I recommend this book? Of course, I'd recommend this series .. . .and this Author. Would I want to read another book in this series? Yessss, please,when can I read it? This is the bit I hate. . waiting for the next book.
Would I want to read any other titles by this author? Yes, I have read the Sin City Collectors books written by Amanda too. I love how she writes and have read her Jessica McClain Series from the very beginning when I didn't even have a kindle and due to a medical condition I cannot read for long enough to read a book on a computer, and her PA at the time was so kind and printed the novella off and sent it through the post for me to read it. I have been a "super fan" ever since. I do consider myself a devoted fan of this author.

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