A girl who uses her illusions to fool the world into thinking she's just like all the other magi.
A dragon who sees through her lies.
Together they just might survive a world that wants to control or destroy them both.
Kimberly
may wield ultimate cosmic power, but even a mage has to pay the rent.
No one will hire her for her magic talents until she's got the
credentials, so she’s stuck in a crappy rent controlled apartment with
her mother, yearning for treats she can't afford at her part time job in
a café, counting down the days until she graduates the secret
Blackhollow Academy school for magi. Only then will she have the
certificate she needs to land her dream job in a coven.
The problem? She needs a familiar to graduate.
As
an illusionist, she doesn't have the ability to summon or create a
familiar of her own. Her only option is to convince a supernatural
creature to let her bind it instead. Since having a powerful Other at
her beck and call would guarantee her a place in a coven after she
graduates—and legendary treasure hoards are an added bonus—she thinks
binding a dragon as her familiar will solve all her problems...
Because sometimes a girl needs a dragon, not a knight....
I received this ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review. I was in no way compensated for this review.
Jess Haines brings us a delightfully new series that rings of some familiarity of her previous one. In fact,
Smoke and Mirrors takes place in the same world, only we
get a new cast of characters. I think one familiar name was dropped, but
that was about it. Of course, I’ve read this one sporadically over the
course of a busy few days,
so my memory might be playing tricks on me!
Anyway,
here we have a young sorcerer Kimberly, who is just trying to get
herself through mage school and find a place for herself in the magic
community
that she and her mom won’t have to worry anymore. As it is, she and her
mom are always overworking themselves just to pay the rent. It really
hit me hard to see them struggle so much. I mean, these poor women are
so focused on trying to pay the rent that there’s
hardly ever any groceries for them to eat. So it’s Kimberly’s hope to
get into the right coven so she can find a good paying job and put an
end to all their struggles.
It’s
Kimberly’s professor who recommends that she find a powerful familiar,
such as a dragon, before graduation. That would be good for her in the
long run and she sends her to a man named Cormac Hunter who could be
the key to finding exactly what she needs. Only Cormac isn’t the most
personable of people. But he does take Kimberly under his wing and sort
of introduces her to the hidden magical world
that she didn’t realize was right before her (Granted, she is a
sorcerer so she’s not unfamiliar with magic, it’s only that the place he
takes her to is a secret of sorts and meeting other new paranormals was
an eye-opener for her in some ways).
Kimberly
is hard pressed to make it on her own. She’s a very strong-willed and
independent individual. I loved her moxie! She isn’t one to cave, not
even in face of Cormac, who again, as I said isn’t the friendliest of
types. He also harbors a dark secret and at times feels that Kimberly
may be more deceitful than anyone else. Since this is told in third
person, we kind of get both of their points of view
and we quickly learn that both of them are a little clueless as to who
the other one really is.
Sparks
explode and fly once things get rolling and secrets get revealed. Then
Kimberly is dealing with a sinister wyvern who has his own evil agenda
that involves Kimberly. She will have to use all of her talents to get
herself out of the danger she finds herself in.
Naturally,
we see a bit of chemistry between Kimberly and Cormac. I gotta say, I
loved it! I love seeing the strong willed type, like Kimberly stand
up to the stingy Alpha male types like Cormac. And then once the two
realize what they feel for the other, I get all those gushy feels for
them! Cormac being the Alpha male sort really crumbles once he falls for
Kimberly and for some reason this always makes
me smile! I loved it! And just because these two start falling for one
another already, don’t expect it to be all insta-love, because it’s not!
There’s some real struggles between them and they have issues to work
out between them.
I
also really liked how involved Kimberly’s mother was in her daughter’s
life. Yes, they live together and both struggle to make ends meet, but
still.
It’s rare to see the young 21 or so year old living with her mom. I
guess that rang home for me as well because I was always very close to
my own mother. And as you can see from my teaser earlier yesterday,
Kimberly’s mom is very protective of her daughter.
The
ending was pretty surprising and it leaves you with a nice feeling that
more should be on the way. As of this time, I have no clue if this was
a standalone or not. It feels like it could be series, but it’s too
soon to tell.
The
pacing to this one was pretty decent! Just the right kind of speed, not
fast, not slow, but just perfect! There was quite a lot of excitement
going
around, and since we got multiple points of view, you were really kept
on your toes!
If
you’re looking for a story filled with magic and other powerful
creatures and of course, a nice dose of romance, then this is the read
for you!
Overall Rating 4/5 stars
