Fourteenth in the Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series and revolving around Gin Blanco, the Spider. It's been a few weeks since Spider's Trap, 13.

My Take
Poor Gin. She can't get no respect, lol.

It's a look back at Finn's earlier years. How much he looks like Fletcher. How much he acts like his mother. Why Fletcher took the moniker of the Tin Man. Aw, man, that was almost enough to make me tear up.

It was pretty obvious about the partnership; I don't know why Gin didn't twig much, much sooner about all those anomalies that kept cropping up. Heck, if I can see it, anyone could! Why she (or anyone else in her clique) didn't speculate more. Although, from what we learn in Bitter Bite, it seems not thinking much runs in the family. For such a smart woman, I don't understand why she wasn't reaching out to her mob contacts, either. How has she stayed alive so long? For that matter, for all her vaunted patience, she doesn't do so well at that first meeting at the Pork Pit with Deirdre. Of course, it's easy for me to be critical. I wouldn't have done as well as Gin, at all.

Another gripe is the lack of show. Estep never did make me feel Finn's longing for his mother. She talked it up, but it never sank into me emotionally. As for Finn's obsessive attention to his mother, I was expecting a different explanation. Something to do with Mama Dee's trinket, but no go. I was disappointed with that bit as well.

"He can be quite aggravating when he wants to be. But his true superpower is being aggravating when he's not even trying."

I'm guessing that those flashbacks, Gin's nightmares of the night Finn threw that high school party, were supposed to expose Gin's insecurity as a child and how long Finn has had her back. It wasn't particularly impressive other than being a look back at their mutual childhood.

It's fun to watch Silvio dig up the dirt on Deirdre. Dirt that gets enhanced later on with those warehouse confrontations. Including that interesting bit of foreshadowing about Deirdre and Tucker both coming from Ashland.

I'm also enjoying how Estep is keeping the series going, the new bad guys who crop up. This latest big bad should be truly nasty, and I'm looking forward to seeing how Gin deals with them and what new truths they'll drop on her. As for her core characters, they're quirky, loyal, and very supportive with interesting tastes.

It's a lot of looking back. At mothers. At loss. And some nasty sharp shocks for both Gin and Finn. Alleviated by the letter from Fletcher to Finn that we finally get to read.

The Story
It hurts. Watching Finn get all doe-eyed and obsessed with his long-dead mother. So in thrall to her that he ignores his real family, the woman he loves.

Gin wants so much for Finn to have what he wants, but not at his expense. She'll put anyone who hurts Finn in the ground — for good.

Even from beyond the grave, Fletcher is still protecting those he loves.

The Characters
Gin Blanco, a.k.a., the Spider, is a "retired" assassin and Ice and Stone elemental who now heads up the criminal element in Ashland. Or so she thinks. The too-charming Finnegan "Finn" Lane, an investment banker, is Gin's foster brother, her family. All that each other has left since Fletcher Lane's death. Their father, her mentor. Eira Snow was Gin and Bria's mother; Annabella was their older sister.

Owen Grayson, a Metal elemental, is her very supportive significant other. Detective Bria Coolidge is Gin's sister and an Ice elemental. She and Finn are in love. Work-wise, she's partnered up with Xavier, a giant in love with Roslyn Phillips, a vampire madam who runs the Northern Aggression, a decadent nightclub. Silvio Sanchez was a mobbed-up vampire (Poison Promise, 11), and now he's Gin's very efficient personal assistant.

The Pork Pit is…
…the barbecue restaurant Gin inherited back in Spider's Bite, 1. The Goth Sophia Devereaux works as a chef for Gin. Her sister, Jo-Jo Devereaux, another Air Elemental, runs a successful beauty salon and is called upon, often, to heal Gin. Catalina Vasquez, Silvio's niece, is a waitress there.

Deirdre Shaw, a.k.a., Dee-Dee and Mama Dee, is Finn's mother come back to life. A very strong Ice Elemental. Hugh Tucker, a vampire, is her personal assistant.

Rodrigo Santos is a highly skilled thief. Ralph is part of his crew.

The mob bosses of Ashland include…
…Lorelei Parker and her greats-grandmother, Mallory Parker, a dwarf. Mallory considers herself Gin's friend while Lorelei and Gin are making an effort. Lily Rose had been Lorelei's mother. Raymond Pike had been Lorelei's half-brother (Spider's Trap, 13). The totally human Phillip Kincaid is a friend of Owen's and runs a gambling operation on his riverboat, the Delta Queen. Jade Jamison is definitely happy with Gin, since Spider's Trap, 13, anyway. The Circle runs everything in Ashland. Everything.

Dmitri Barkov and Luiz Ramos are minor league with a hate-on for Gin. Jonah McAllister is a "down-on-his-luck lawyer who fell from the Mob's grace. He's awaiting his murder trial. Ya shouldn't try to cross Gin, boyo. Ethel and Don are the grave-robbing dwarves who learn better. Salina Dubois had been one of Gin's enemies and Owen's ex-fiancée in Widow's Web, 7.

Warren T. Fox had been a friend of Fletcher's. Stuart Mosley, a dwarf, is the founder of First Trust, the bank in Ashland. Briartop is the art museum where Clementine Barker's heist shot the place up in Deadly Sting, 8. Larry is another cop.

Back in the day…
…the invited kids included Steve, Tony, and the oh-so-lovely Ella. Paul and two others were uninvited vampires.

The Cover and Title
The cover is a grayed-out purple with Gin right out front in her black silverstone vest, cleavage-enhancing T, and jeans, wearing her spiderweb rune necklace, brunette hair blowing in the breeze. The background is a stone arch filled with a silver spiderweb and lit with a storm of white lights.

The title is that Bitter Bite that only family can give.

Oh, Gin, I missed you and the gang so much! The book was fantastic, and I did not expect the ending at all. There was a ton of magic and madness (there was even a sexy pillow fight!), though this book was more aimed to pull at the heartstrings, which it certainly did. I was hoping for a longer final battle (but that's just me) and I thought this storyline would extend longer than it did, but I can't complain about a fun, creative series that always pleases me to read. Though I gotta say, I don't know where this new storyline is going, but I'm sure that Gin and Co. will have their work seriously cut out for them this time! Keep them coming, Estep! :D

This was my first book of the series, and I didn't really like the book. It fell flat for me and I had to struggle in order to complete the book. I'm sure its a great series, it just wasn't for me. We meet Finn's mother who pretends to be a loving caring mother, while Gin is trying to tell Finn she's up to something. Fletcher left letters for both Gin and Fletcher telling them that she is evil and in it for herself. In the end Finn finds out that Gin was right and almost ends up getting killed in the process. Of course Gin saves the day.

Received ARC in exchange for honest review from NetGalley

Originally posted at Vampire Book CLub

At the end of Spider’s Trap readers were told pretty much point blank what—or maybe I should say who—was coming up next. In Bitter Bite, Finn’s elusive mother is back in Ashland. Deirdre Shaw, whom everyone thought long dead these thirty-plus years, has returned. Coupled with Fletcher’s beyond-the-grave warnings about Deirdre and Gin’s own Spidey sense, it’s very clear from the onset that all is not right with Mama Dee. Finn, who it seems desperately felt the void left by not growing up with a mother, enthusiastically embraces the chance to get to know Deirdre. To say the least, Finn has blinders on where she’s concerned and won’t listen to reason from anyone. So it falls upon Gin to figure out what game Deirdre is playing. She just hopes Finn comes out unscathed in the end.

What I’ve always found interesting with the series, and something that is coming into play more and more, is the fact that the past doesn’t stay buried, and the past is not always what we remember. We see this in every book with the addition of some reminiscence of Gin’s involving a past case with herself and Fletcher. The whole premise of Bitter Bite is the past coming back to wreak havoc. While sometimes I feel like the coincidences between how things have tied together have been a little too convenient, I did like the addition of Deirdre.

Ever since Gin got rid of Mab at the end of the first story arc in the series, I’ve felt like the villains have been hit-or-miss. Sometimes the buildup doesn’t necessarily pay off, but in the case of Bitter Bite and Deirdre Shaw, I think it does. I think I give nothing away when I say she is a bad elemental. Someday (say by the end of the series), maybe the other characters will finally believe Gin when she says that something is not right, instead of just claiming she’s paranoid. When it came down to Deirdre’s endgame, I wasn’t too shocked. Honestly, the formula that Jennifer Estep has established with this series runs true in Bitter Bite and when it all comes down to it, the biggest thing that sets Deirdre apart from other villains is that she is Finn’s mother.

Something that I loved in this book was getting to see some tender moments between Gin and Finn. I feel like this series sometimes glosses over opportunities for the characters to grow through their vulnerabilities. I love the driving action as much as the next person, but I also love a well-rounded character and sometimes that involves slowing down a little bit. I feel like this opportunity was missed with the Owen and Gin reconciliation. Here, I liked seeing Finn and Gin reconnect after he dismisses those who care about him in favor of a mother he never knew. I’m also happy to learn we’ll get a Finn point of view story, Unwanted (out in July), which I hope will delve further into Finn’s state of mind.

Overall, if you’re a fan of this series, I can’t imagine Bitter Bite being a disappointment to you. While it follows the same protocol as other books, I really felt a sense that we’re heading into the final act(s) of another story arc, if not the entire series.

This series has become so formulaic that the books are now actually comforting, in an artificial kind of way. Sort of like a big bowl of buttery, warm instant mashed potatoes. My entire life can be in chaos, but at least I can trust Gin Blanco to find a cryptic, hidden message from her foster father, easily kill several low life thugs, make delicious soul food in her restaurant, and eventually vanquish any big bad guy around (after being quite bruised and battered, of course.)
While a steady diet of this stuff would make my literary self sick, a nice piping hot serving every once in a while is just the thing for a cozy evening.

Mit Finn mehr im Vordergrund der Geschichte war es ein sehr guter Band. Auch wenn es einige bekannte Muster beinhaltet hat.
Das Ende hat mir sehr gut gefallen und bringt auch wieder mehr Spannung für den nächsten Band mit.

This book is book number 14 in the Elemental Assassin series and it seems like this series will never end but that it ok because I am loving this series and I just don't want it to end.

Bitter Bite is very well done and yes I stayed up later than I should while reading this book because I was so into it and I did love every minutes of it. It is very well written and I am surprised that this series is still so very much one that i can't stop reading. Most times after while series kinda get boring but not this one.

I highly recommend this book .