It could've been about 100 pages shorter, and Gin was especially bad at putting the clues together. That said, Estep did a good job at showing Gin and Finn's sibling relationship and the emotional process they both went through. The side characters only played tiny roles, and it might've been stronger if more characters than Roslyn had been on vacation.

I do always forget the tiny time span in these books. That Owen and Gin have only been together for like 8 months and that Fletcher has been dead for a little over a year. The latter happened in the first book, and this is book 14. This series could use some time jumping, even if just between books.

In Bitter Bite we learn that the reports of Finn's mother's death had been greatly exaggerated, the mystery woman showed up in Ashland looking to start a relationship with the son she abandoned shortly after he was born. Gin, forever the pessimist believes theres is more to her reappearance and works on figuring out the real reason Finn's mother is back in town.

In this 14th instalment in the series we also learn that the underworld in Ashland is way more complicated than Gin had originally thought, and she may not exactly be running things, as she had been led to believe. What is even more interesting is what her mother may have been a part of this world and her death may not have been cut and dry like she thought. It will be interesting so see what happens next in the series.

This book was one of the best. In fact, it is second only to Spider's Revenge where Gin and Mab Monroe finally had their showdown. This book had all the things that I enjoy in this series: good fighting scenes, interesting villains, a good crime mystery, good teammate work and a final twist setting up the next book.

In this book, Finn had an opportunity to reconnect with his mother who had not been a part of his life since he was a little boy. Gin and the gang weren't so trusting of the sudden appearance of Mama D. Gin had to walk a very fine line with being honest with Finn and also having Finn's back in case Gin's suspicions on Mama D proved to be true.

I saw growth in Gin Blano. In prior books, Gin would have been stubborn in her opinion. In this book, Gin made her point and backed off in respect of her adopted brother's feelings. I love how Gin handled Mama D. I love how she finally confided in her loved ones. Gin trusted Bria early, trusted her team early and that is what helped her in the end.

Finn deserves a special shout out for not wearing blinders as long as Owen did. Finn did what needed to be done and I was so impressed with him.

I am very curious about Ora Snow, Gin and Bria's mother. I can't wait to find out more.

Loved it.... Action packed as always.... Waiting for the next book in this series....

Great book

When Finn's mother Deirdre shows up out of the blue, Gin knows something is up. But there is a part of Finn deep down and well hidden that wants to be loved and he's determined to believe his mother despite Gin's misgivings.

With Finn spending more and more time with Deirdre, it's left to Gin and Bria to get to the bottom of what she's doing in Ashland and stop her.



First of all, Bitter Bite is entertaining urban fantasy in the way that most books in this series are entertaining urban fantasy. There is nothing boring about this book. But I have a problem and maybe (probably) it won't be a problem for anyone else.

With each book, the bad guys get tougher, the challenges get harder and Gin takes more punishment somehow managing to survive. I wonder how long it can go on before we have the shark jumping moment.

Far be it for me to tell the author what to write, but I'm wondering if perhaps instead of ever more villainous villains it's time to pare back the series and perhaps write a few smaller stories.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the book, I just don't know if the series can continue on down this path for much longer and a slightly different focus might breath new life into it.

Many thanks to Pocket Books and Edelweiss for providing me with this ARC

Elemental Assassin Book 14

This series never disappoints. After the revelation that Finn's mother is actually still alive, Gin digs for proof of her existence and information on how that will affect her foster-brother. However, unknown to Gin, Deirdre has ingratiated herself to her son as a new client. The night that Gin intends to reveal the information she has found to Finn, their dinner is crashed by the very woman she means to tell him about. A robbery sets things into motion that even the head of the Asheland Underworld cannot halt, especially when her brother just will not listen.

If you've loved this series in the past, this book will draw you even deeper into the lives of Gin, Finn and their friends. Even this far into the series, bombs can still be dropped...

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

After fourteen books in the series, and Gin is still going strong. This series has been going strong since book one and doesn’t seem to be slowing down. While this book is more Finn’s book than Gin’s, it is still told entirely from Gin’s first person POV, which gives it an interesting take on the story.

When a supposedly dead relative appears back in Ashland and in Finn’s life, you can see how it would affect Finn. I can also see why Finn responded the way that he did. I mean, you don’t want to think that every person who comes to town, is doing so for nefarious reasons, when you could be the reason. When you grow up with a hole in your life and all of sudden, you see a chance to get that hole filled, who would want to see the downsides?

Gin, on the other hand, couldn’t help but see the coincidence in the situation. Bria also noticed that something was off with our new visitor to Ashland. Gin continued to be her protective and loyal family member to Finn whether he liked it or not. Plus, she had the warning from Fletcher to help her, who continues to be a very large secondary character in this series.

I will say that Jennifer Estep’s ability to come up with new villains for Gin to fight continues to amaze me. They are all unique in the own way. They all require Gin to learn new ways to tackle their villainous ways. This one was particularly difficult for Gin and required her to rely on her magic more than she ever has in her past. We even learn more about the past of Mab Monroe and even Eira Snow. It will be interesting to see where the series goes from here with the information that we learn towards the end of this book.

Narration
Lauren Fortgang continues to do a fantastic job with the narration of this series. This is a series that I started off reading, but once I listened one of the books, I’ve been audio only ever since. She does such a great job with all the different Southern voices of both men and women, she really adds to the story. I think in this story in particular, I could really see Deidre Shaw for the fake that she really was based off her voice alone. LOL. If you haven’t tried this series on audio, I highly recommend you give it a try.

This review was originally posted on Rantings of a Reading Addict

Bitter Bite is book 14 of the Elemental Assassin series. In this installment, Gin is following up on a lead that her foster brother's mother might not be dead. Finding mementos from Fletcher confirms it and the novel takes off quickly.

Finn's long lost mother, Deirdre Shaw expertly cons her way into her son's life by posing as a wealthy woman looking for a new investment firm. I knew Finn was going to fall for her charms when she tells him that she's his mother. We've all grown to know and love Finn's character with each passing book in the series, I know I have. We know Finn's so charming and suave and that his personality is quite different from Fletcher. I wasn't surprised to see that Deirdre held most of the same characteristics. It did make me nervous though since Finn has longed for that motherly connection and she clearly is up to something. Blinded by the love and acceptance Finn is most assuredly walking into a trap of some sort. And Gin is forced to play nice around Deirdre, or else she'll risk losing Finn. This installment really had a ton of emotion mixed in and it gave me an uneasy feeling while reading almost the entire time.

We're gearing up for another big villain(s) I believe. We learn something new about Gin's family, and it's going to be a doozy when everything comes to light. Until then, we'll get a few more books with some villain that leads us closer to the big bad. I can't wait, but I hope everything manages to get through it safely. I adore this series, it somehow stays fresh even at book 14. I hope there are plenty of more to come! I recommend this series if you're looking for a cunning assassin Urban Fantasy.