I am very excited to have Jennifer Estep visiting FVBR today.  I recently read her Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series and loved it.  I’m not shy about admitting I am a fan!  Please welcome Jennifer Estep.

 

 

Greetings and salutations! First of all, I want to say thanks to Sophia and the other folks here at Fiction Vixen for having me on the blog today. Thanks, everyone!

Some of you might know me as the author of the Ele­men­tal Assas­sin urban fan­tasy series. The books focus on Gin Blanco, an assas­sin code­named the Spi­der who can con­trol the ele­ments of Ice and Stone. When she’s not busy killing peo­ple and right­ing wrongs, Gin runs a bar­be­cue restau­rant called the Pork Pit in the fic­tional south­ern metrop­o­lis of Ash­land. The city is also home to giants, dwarves, vam­pires, and ele­men­tals – Air, Fire, Ice, and Stone.

The first two books in the series are Spider’s Bite and Web of Lies. Venom, the third book, is coming out on Sept. 28. Tan­gled Threads, the fourth book, will be pub­lished in May 2011, while the fifth book (unti­tled) will be released in Octo­ber 2011.

    

I’ve also sold a young adult urban fantasy series called Mythos Academy. The first book is called Touch of Frost and will be out in August 2011. The books focus on Gwen Frost, a Gypsy girl who has the gift of psychometry, or the ability to know an object’s history just by touching it. After a serious freak-out with her magic, Gwen finds herself shipped off to Mythos Academy, a school for the descendents of ancient warriors like Spartans, Valkyries, and more.

So Sophia asked me to talk about cooking today since that’s such a big part of my Elemental Assassin series. My heroine, Gin, may be an assassin, but cooking is one of her passions in life. In each book, I describe various dishes that Gin cooks at her barbecue restaurant or for her friends and family. Some of the recipes are real ones that I’ve gotten from friends, family, cookbooks, magazines, and other places over the years. However, some of the recipes are purely fiction and exist only in my imagination, like the barbecue sauce that Gin makes at the Pork Pit.

And before you ask, no, the books are not like the movie Fried Green Tomatoes. Gin does not barbecue the people that she kills and serve them at the restaurant. That would be gross. But you’d be surprised how many people have asked me that.

So why write about an assassin who likes to cook? Well, I wanted Gin to have a hobby that readers could relate to. Plus, I just like writing about food, and I enjoy cooking myself. I’m totally addicted to the Food Network. Sometimes, I watch just to see how much butter Paula Deen will put in a dish. LOL.

And frankly, I got tired of reading books about heroines who couldn’t even boil water and had nothing in their refrigerators but mustard and baking soda. It’s one thing if you don’t like to or don’t have time to cook. But seriously, who can’t make a sandwich or a salad? It just doesn’t seem realistic to me. Anyway, here’s a recipe that Gin makes in Spider’s Bite and a sandwich that I make for myself quite often. If you don’t like sandwiches, the peanut butter and pumpkin mixed together makes a great dip for fruit or graham crackers.

Peanut But­ter and Banana Sandwich

1/2 cup peanut but­ter 1/2 cup pump­kin 1 banana, sliced Honey Cin­na­mon 2 slices of your favorite bread

Mix the peanut but­ter and pump­kin together to form a creamy spread (there will be enough spread for more than one sand­wich). Put the spread on one slice of your favorite bread. Top with the banana slices. Driz­zle the banana slices with honey and sprin­kle with cin­na­mon, if you wish. Top with the remain­ing piece of bread and enjoy your sand­wich with a glass of cold milk.

If you want to know more about Gin’s cooking, visit my website here and scroll down to Gin’s Recipe Box where you’ll find some more recipes. Most of them are really easy to make.

What about you guys? Do you like to cook or read about someone who does? Why or why not?

 

Thank you for stopping by today Jennifer and thank you for the recipe!  I love that Gin is a badass in the kitchen as well.  And I’m super glad she’s not serving up body parts at the Pork Pit.  – FV

Jennifer would like to giveaway a copy of VENOM to one lucky commenter.  To enter leave a comment here answering Jennifer’s question from her post above:

“What about you guys? Do you like to cook or read about someone who does? Why or why not?”

Giveaway is open to US and Canada only.  Open until October 2, winner announced soon after.  Good luck!

 

Books in the series:

• Spider’s Bite
• Web Of Lies
• Venom (September 28, 2010)
• Tangled (May 2011)
• Untitled (October 2011)

Venom by Jennifer Estep Paperback: 416 pages Publisher: Pocket Available: September 28, 2010 Genre: Urban Fantasy

What kind of assassin works pro bono?

It’s hard to be a badass assassin when a giant is beating the crap out of you. Luckily, I never let pride get in the way of my work. My current mission is personal: annihilate Mab Monroe, the Fire elemental who murdered my family. Which means protecting my identity, even if I have to conceal my powerful Stone and Ice magic when I need it most. To the public, I’m Gin Blanco, owner of Ashland’s best barbecue joint. To my friends, I’m the Spider, retired assassin. I still do favors on the side. Like ridding a vampire friend of her oversized stalker—Mab’s right-hand goon who almost got me dead with his massive fists. At least irresistible Owen Grayson is on my side. The man knows too much about me, but I’ll take my chances. Then there’s Detective Bria Coolidge, one of Ashland’s finest. Until recently, I thought my baby sister was dead. She probably thinks the same about me. Little does she know, I’m a cold-blooded killer . . . who is about to save her life.

Reviewed by: Sophia (FV) 

Gin is still officially retired from her trade however she hasn’t stopped flexing her assassin skills.  She’s on a mission to end Mab Monroe, the woman who killed her mother and sister years ago.  But Gin is ever loyal to her friends and family and when she finds out that Mab’s right hand man, giant Elliot Slater is stalking her vampire friend Roslyn, she sets out to put an end to his reign of terror.  She’s also got Jonah McAllister, Mab Monroe’s personal attorney breathing down her neck and maybe even trying to break it.  He suspects Gin had some kind of involvement in his son’s murder, which she did. 

Gin kicks ass, and takes names like no other urban fantasy heroine earning her a spot on my all time favorite heroines list. In Venom, we learn even more about her past through flash backs and thus begin to discover who the real Gin Blanco of today really is.  Although Gin thinks of herself as a cold blooded killer, she is so much more.  She is an intriguing character that can be counted on to do right by those she loves no matter what it takes.

Speaking of love, Gin’s love life has taken an interesting turn.  Owen Grayson is a much bigger part of Gin’s life now and he is determined to win her over.  Gin has to decide if she should continue pining over the upstanding Detective Caine that is everything she thinks she is not, or should she take a chance on Owen who not only wants her, but seems to get her as well.  That fact that Owen is charming and super sexy doesn’t hurt his case at all.  

All of the secondary characters we’ve come to know from the previous books are present within this story but it seems that as time goes on Gin’s friends are becoming more like extended family to her.  Now a new upstanding Detective has hit town and it’s Bria, the baby sister who Gin once thought perished along with her mother and older sister.  Gin will have to keep Bria safe and in the dark about her true identity until she comes to terms with this new turn of events and decides just how to handle this new discovery.  There relationship will be interesting since they are on opposite sides of the law. 

While I enjoy the colorful cast of characters in this series, one secondary stands out above the rest and I just can’t get enough of him.  Finnegan Lane is a womanizing, sort of sleazy but not really, kind of guy that adds a special flavor to this series.  Jennifer Estep really has a knack for creating characters that by all intents and purposes should be despicable but I just can’t help but love. 

Venom, like the previous books in the series is action packed, violent, and is a genuinely kick ass read.  But Jennifer Estep really kicks it up a notch and out does herself with this installment in her Elemental Assassin series.  This is definitely a page turner and the ending will leave you itching for more.  

Favorite Quote:

Finn did what he always did when confronted by an angry woman—he checked out her boobs.

 

Books in the series:

• Spider’s Bite
• Web Of Lies
• Venom (September 28, 2010)
• Tangled Threads (May 2011)
• Untitled (October 2011)

Other reviews on GoodReads

Author’s Website

Purchase Links: Amazon || Book Depository

Check back later today for a guest post from Jennifer Estep.  She’ll be giving away a copy of VENOM to one lucky reader.

Web Of Lies by Jennifer Estep Paperback: 432 pages Publisher: Pocket Available: May 25, 2010 Genre: Urban Fantasy

Curiosity is definitely going to get me dead one of these days. Probably real soon.

I’m Gin Blanco.

You might know me as the Spider, the most feared assassin in the South. I’m retired now, but trouble still has a way of finding me. Like the other day when two punks tried to rob my popular barbecue joint, the Pork Pit. Then there was the barrage of gunfire on the restaurant. Only, for once, those kill shots weren’t aimed at me. They were meant for Violet Fox. Ever since I agreed to help Violet and her grandfather protect their property from an evil coalmining tycoon, I’m beginning to wonder if I’m really retired. So is Detective Donovan Caine. The only honest cop in Ashland is having a real hard time reconciling his attraction to me with his Boy Scout mentality. And I can barely keep my hands off his sexy body. What can I say? I’m a Stone elemental with a little Ice magic thrown in, but my heart isn’t made of solid rock. Luckily, Gin Blanco always gets her man . . . dead or alive.

Reviewed by: Sophia (FV)

Since this is the second book in an ongoing series it is possible there will be mild spoilers if you have not read the first book in the series. 

Quick Rundown:  Gin has now retired as an assassin and owns the Pork Pit, the restaurant she inherited from her mentor, Fletcher Lane.  Life has settled down until the Pork Pit is robbed by a couple of young, dangerous punks.  Gin foils the robbery but it turns out one of the punks has a powerful father with connections that could cause Gin all kinds of trouble.  Also, a mysterious customer has come in search of The Tin Man, AKA Fletcher Lane.  She’s seeking his help but doesn’t realize Fletcher is dead.  When a sniper takes a shot at this mysterious girl in the restaurant, Gin decides to help her and her grandfather who was an old friend of Fletcher’s. 

Impressions after the first chapter: We start of right in the middle of a robbery and Gin is as badass as ever. Don’t mess.

The Heroes: Detective Donovan Caine is still wrestling with his feelings for Gin and his conscience.  He’s in a constant state of emotional conflict when it comes to Gin.  I’m still not on team Donovan Caine, and wish he would either come to terms with his feelings or move on.  But there’s a new stud on the scene and he’s got eyes for Gin.  Owen Grayson is the brother of one of the girls that was in Pork Pit when it was robbed and he is grateful to Gin for protecting his sister.  He’d like to show his gratitude in more ways than one and he’s not wrestling with those pesky moral issues. 

The Heroine: Gin, although she is technically retired, is still the assassin with a heart.  She learns more about her mentor and the kind of man he was and has an opportunity to carry on his legacy by helping out an old friend.  She still finds herself  attracted to Detective Caine seems to be holding on to a shred of hope they can be together.  However, there might be a spark where Owen Grayson is concerned. 

What worked: As with the first book in the series, I loved that Gin is badass to the core.  She’ll slit a giant’s throat in a heartbeat but she doesn’t kill unjustly. 

[…] opened his mouth to scream. I left the knife where it was in his heart, clamped my hand over his fat lips, and yanked him forward so the blood gushing out of his chest would fall into the bathtub and not spatter onto the tile floor. And so we stood there, seesawing back and forth over the tub, […] trying to jerk away, and me pulling him closer, my hands digging into his face.

She is also fiercely loyal to those she considers family and would do anything to protect them.  In this book we get to look a little deeper into Gin’s past and where she comes from making her an even more appealing character.  I’m looking forward to learning more about the long lost sister Bria.

What didn’t work: Again, I never got on board with the romance between Gin and Donovan Caine.  I’m intrigued to see how things will play out now that Owen Grayson has his sights set on Gin.

Final conclusion: I adore this series for it’s unique setting, action, suspense and mystery but most of all for it’s amazing heroine Gin.  This series is well on it’s way to becoming a favorite of mine.

 

Favorite Quote:

I didn’t know what bothered me more. The fact Mab Monroe had considered taking me up on my fake offer to fuck her or the fact I’d left the Fire elemental in her own bathroom with a dead body in the tub. Either way, things were starting to get out of hand.

 

Books in the series:

• Spider’s Bite
• Web Of Lies
• Venom (September 28, 2010)
• Tangled Threads (May 2011)
• Untitled (October 2011)

Other reviews on GoodReads

Author’s Website

Purchase Links: Amazon || Book Depository

Check back tomorrow morning for my review of Venom and then later in the afternoon for a guest post and a giveaway from Jennifer Estep.

Spider’s Bite by Jennifer Estep Paperback: 395 pages Publisher: Pocket Books Available: January 26th 2010 Genre: Urban Fantasy

"My name is Gin, and I kill people."

My name is Gin Blanco. They call me the Spider — the most feared assassin in the South (and a part-time cook at the Pork Pit BBQ joint.) As a Stone elemental, I can hear the whispers of the gravel beneath my feet and feel the vibrations of the soaring mountains above me, though I don’t use my powers on the job unless I absolutely have to. Call it professional pride.

After a ruthless Air elemental double-crossed me and killed my handler, I’m out for revenge. And I’ll exterminate anyone who gets in my way. I may look hot in a miniskirt, but I’m still one of the bad guys. Which is why I’m in trouble when irresistibly rugged Detective Donovan Caine agrees to help. The last thing a coldhearted killer needs when she’s battling a magic more powerful than her own is a sexy distraction … especially when he wants her dead just as much as the enemy.

Reviewed by: Sophia (FV)

Quick Rundown:  Spider’s Bite is the first book in the Elemental Assassin series.  Gin Blanco is an assassin.  She’s been contracted for a hit and finds that she’s been double crossed and her beloved handler has been brutally murdered.  She is determined to avenge the death of her handler and will stop at nothing to do it.  Not long ago Gin assassinated Detective Donovan Caine’s partner and he now wants her dead.  But the double cross on Gin goes deeper than meets the eye and Donovan Caine team up with Gin to find the culprits.

Impressions after the first chapter:  Gin is posing as a patient in an insane asylum ready to make a hit.  Love that heroine is a ‘bad guy’ and the opening chapter takes place in an insane asylum.  Off to a really good start.

The Heroine:  Gin is an elemental which means she can control and manipulate the four elements—Water, Air, Stone, and Fire. In Gin’s case stone with a minor in ice magic.  She was orphaned as a child and witnessed the death of her mother and sister.  She lived on the streets until a kindly BBQ pit owner took her in.  Now, she is an assassin with ethics somewhere under her hard surface.  I love that she’s badass, refreshingly unapologetic and solid.  Although she has some inner conflict, she remains strong and focused making for a very likeable heroine.

The Hero: Detective Donvan Caine is one of the few upstanding members of the police department and he wants Gin dead.  He’s also very attracted to her.  Caine comes off very arrogant and is dealing with his own set of ethics, and his attraction to Gin. 

What worked: I love it when a author can make a character that should be despised the one you pull for.  Gin is a pure badass, unapologetic paid assassin.  She’s professional, good at what she does and isn’t willing to change herself because of what others think.  She is loyal to a fault and although her profession isn’t one I’m likely to get behind, she has become one of my favorite urban fantasy heroines.  I also loved the urban fantasy world this series in based in.  Jennifer Estep did a fantastic job building her world up around this story without overwhelming and distracting with excessive details. 

What didn’t work:  I’m not completely on board with the romantic relationship between Caine and Gin.  Caine comes off very arrogant and I never really warmed up to him. I understand his hatred for Gin since she murdered his partner but his whole ‘I hate you but I’m going get dirty with you and then hate you again’ deal doesn’t do it for me.  I don’t really understand what Gin sees in Caine but this is the first book in the series so I’m eager to see where this relationship goes.

Final conclusion:  Fabulous start to the series, I can’t wait to get Web Of Lies.  The world building, action, and characters all drew me in and kept me riveted from beginning to end.  

 

Favorite Quotes:

The two men stared at each other. Caine looked at Finn’s supple leather jacket, designer khakis, and custom made polo shirt. Finn eyed the detective’s ratty duffel bag, the threadbare patches on his jeans, and the stains on his faded boots. Assumptions were made, judgments rendered, dicks measured.

“I do want you.” His voice was low, tight, strained. The confession cost him. It was all he could do to keep from reaching for me. Good thing I had no qualms about making the first move.

 

  

Books in the series:

• Spider’s Bite
• Web Of Lies
• Venom (September 28, 2010)
• Tangled Threads (May 2011)
• Untitled (October 2011)

Other reviews on GoodReads

Author’s Website

Purchase Links: Amazon || Book Depository

Check back later today for my review of Web Of Lies.

 

Oh I love a good book cover.  This is the cover for Ilona Andews’ Bayou Moon, tentatively scheduled for release in September 2010.  The color is gorgeous and I’m digging the sword.  You can read an excerpt of Bayou Moon on Ilona’s blog HERE.

Jennifer Estep revealed the cover art for Web Of Lies.  I think this is another winner is the cover art department don’t you?  Very nice.  Read the first chapter HERE.