Early Review--Magic on the Line by Devon Monk

Allison Beckstrom has willingly paid the price of pain to use magic, and has obeyed the rules of the Authority, the clandestine organization that makes-and enforces-all magic policy. But when the Authority's new boss, Bartholomew Wray, refuses to believe that the sudden rash of deaths in Portland might be caused by magic, Allie must choose to follow the Authority's rules, or turn against the very people for whom she's risked her life.

To stop the plague of dark magic spreading through the city, all that she values will be on the line: her magic, her memories, her life. Now, as dead magic users rise to feed upon the innocent and the people closest to her begin to fall, Allie is about to run out of options...

I received this book from blogging friend Candace@Candace's Book Blog

I love the Allie Beckstrom series!! Devon Monk really writes a fabulous series and I love her take on magic always coming with a price! So when my blogging friend Candace offered me her early copy of Magic on the Line, since she had just started the series, I immediately said yes! So thanks again Candace!!

The Allie books are so fast paced, yet you never really feel lost or slow to catch up. Things just move quickly and I love that! The pacing is just ultra grand! Read this at a pretty good pace considering I have a slight cold. I couldn't put it down, nor did I want to.

Things are not going good for Allie. There's a new boss in town taking over the Authority, Bartholomew Wray. And yeah, you can pretty much guess what kind of character he'll be. Rhymes with "tick", but begins with a "pr"! ;)

But there's nothing Allie can really do, unless she wants to challenge him and find herself Closed. Bartholomew is already making big changes and doesn't seem to care one way or another about the outcome whether it's positive or negative. He's power hungry.

That's not Allie's only problem though.The Veiled are causing monstrously huge problems. They're endangering people. And when they target one of Allie's own, all bets are off. She will do whatever it takes to get rid of them and help her friend out. Even if it means calling on some of her dad's resources.

Allie and Zay are still doing well as a couple. They face some hard trials in this book, but still manage to find moments of peace together. I love them together! I love Zay's Zen-ness. Yet if the moment ever calls for it, he can be fierce! And her makes some drastic decisions in this book as well.

The ending was quite shocking as well. Big things were going down and big things will continue to go down. This is only the beginning for Allie and her friends. A few new characters popped up, yet their roles weren't totally strong, but my mind is definitely reeling with who they might be in the next book, Magic Without Mercy. Now as to which side they'll be on, I'm still skeptical! But that's what I love about reading! I love the constant guessing about characters' motives!

Overall rating 4.5/5 stars

Magic on the Line will be released on November 1, 2011

Once again I have to thank my friend Candace for the early copy! Hope you enjoy the rest of the series Candace!