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Laws of Magic #1
The Gods Defense
In a world where the gods and magic have returned, enforcing justice just got a lot more hazardous! Cassandra Berry is a prosecutor with a problem; the Defendant in her latest case is claiming Dionysus made him do it, and if he wins, defendants across the country will be pulling this excuse in every case. In order to get the god to answer a subpoena, she asks Apollo for help. But divine favors always come with strings attached…
- GenresUrban Fantasy
263 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 2, 2016
18 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
Amie Gibbons
45 books29 followersTo hear about new releases, and get a free short story not available anywhere else, sign up for Amie's mailing list here: https://mailchi.mp/afc38083307c/amie-...
Amie was born and raised in the Salt Lake Valley. She started making up stories before she could read and would act them out with her dolls and stuffed animals. She started actually writing them down in college, just decided to do it one day and couldn't stop.
She took an unplanned hiatus from writing when she went to Vanderbilt Law School and all of her brain power got consumed by cases, statutes, exams, and partying like only grad students in Nashville can. She graduated and picked her writing back up as soon as her brain limped back in after the bar exam.
She loves urban fantasy and is obsessed with the theory of alternate realities. Whether or not she travels to them in the flesh or just in her mind is up for debate.
She spends her days living the law life and her nights writing when she's not hitting downtown Nashville to check out live music or inflict her singing on the crowds at karaoke bars.
Amie was born and raised in the Salt Lake Valley. She started making up stories before she could read and would act them out with her dolls and stuffed animals. She started actually writing them down in college, just decided to do it one day and couldn't stop.
She took an unplanned hiatus from writing when she went to Vanderbilt Law School and all of her brain power got consumed by cases, statutes, exams, and partying like only grad students in Nashville can. She graduated and picked her writing back up as soon as her brain limped back in after the bar exam.
She loves urban fantasy and is obsessed with the theory of alternate realities. Whether or not she travels to them in the flesh or just in her mind is up for debate.
She spends her days living the law life and her nights writing when she's not hitting downtown Nashville to check out live music or inflict her singing on the crowds at karaoke bars.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 15, 2019
Apollo’s an ass
I do love a good Gods in a contemporary world series, but boy, did I have a hard time trying to like these characters. There was a whole lot of pseudo hand wringing, and disbelief from the the MC, and the gods were just arrogant prats (Zeus and Apollo in particular). I am semi-curious to see how things pan out after the climax of book one, but I will be borrowing it from my library.
2 stars
I do love a good Gods in a contemporary world series, but boy, did I have a hard time trying to like these characters. There was a whole lot of pseudo hand wringing, and disbelief from the the MC, and the gods were just arrogant prats (Zeus and Apollo in particular). I am semi-curious to see how things pan out after the climax of book one, but I will be borrowing it from my library.
2 stars
April 12, 2016
Needs an editor
I enjoyed some of the writing, but the plot is too disjointed. There are also too many uses of acronyms or shorthand that is not even vaguely in common parlance.
Fun world ideas; marginal execution.
I enjoyed some of the writing, but the plot is too disjointed. There are also too many uses of acronyms or shorthand that is not even vaguely in common parlance.
Fun world ideas; marginal execution.
August 11, 2017
I obtained this book through the Kindle Unlimited program.
First, a comment on the Oleg Volk cover: I love the realistic style ! I think it provides a nice branding of Gibbons' works.
"The Devil made me buy this dress!" That's an old Flip Wilson skit; blaming a spiritual power for an act that is morally iffy. However, in this case, it's the literal truth, and is the opening move in a complicated scheme to get the magic users and the human legal system involved with each other.
There are a couple of particularly praiseworthy aspects to this novel.
1. It gives me a chance to tell this lawyer joke I just made up: A lawyer walks into a bar. The bartender shoots him in the ass with a shotgun. Nobody seems to have a problem with that.
2. It's another example of the way in which a personal belief system can inform construction of escapist material. It's a pretty straightforward approach, in fact: what happens to religious belief when magic users appear? Not much.
3. Most importantly to me, this work gives me a great opportunity to see the development of the writer. I've read her short stories, and her psychic undercover series, and those have the same feel as this book, but whereas I was ready for the heroine of this book to get hit by a bus at a couple of points, the later books make the point about her personality, without being so heavy handed.
Evidently, Cassandra has a concealed carry holster that allows her to successfully hide a pistol and access it easily, while wearing an evening gown. I regret that I don't understand the terminology of ladies formal wear enough to really know how this works.
The book is nicely done, and a pleasant diversion for a day of reading.
First, a comment on the Oleg Volk cover: I love the realistic style ! I think it provides a nice branding of Gibbons' works.
"The Devil made me buy this dress!" That's an old Flip Wilson skit; blaming a spiritual power for an act that is morally iffy. However, in this case, it's the literal truth, and is the opening move in a complicated scheme to get the magic users and the human legal system involved with each other.
There are a couple of particularly praiseworthy aspects to this novel.
1. It gives me a chance to tell this lawyer joke I just made up: A lawyer walks into a bar. The bartender shoots him in the ass with a shotgun. Nobody seems to have a problem with that.
2. It's another example of the way in which a personal belief system can inform construction of escapist material. It's a pretty straightforward approach, in fact: what happens to religious belief when magic users appear? Not much.
3. Most importantly to me, this work gives me a great opportunity to see the development of the writer. I've read her short stories, and her psychic undercover series, and those have the same feel as this book, but whereas I was ready for the heroine of this book to get hit by a bus at a couple of points, the later books make the point about her personality, without being so heavy handed.
Evidently, Cassandra has a concealed carry holster that allows her to successfully hide a pistol and access it easily, while wearing an evening gown. I regret that I don't understand the terminology of ladies formal wear enough to really know how this works.
The book is nicely done, and a pleasant diversion for a day of reading.
April 12, 2025
This novel started off as quite an interesting read, but by shortly after the halfway point, it felt like the author became very bored and just abandoned her writing to extremely incoherent rambles and a whole lot of telling, not showing. Perhaps a few drams of Southern Comfort were involved? The characters grew increasingly flat and cardboard-like... characters like the one-dimensional science geek and the one-dimensional athletic friend (erroneously described as a "sociopath" so very, very many times). I finished this thing by scanning entire pages. A story that began with an engaging foundation turned into something notably painful to read.
January 28, 2017
Brilliant
What to say about this book. it has everything,gods.,magic, wars,saving mankind and romance. The author tells a story in a way that gets you hooked and you have to finish reading. well done . can't wait for the next one.
What to say about this book. it has everything,gods.,magic, wars,saving mankind and romance. The author tells a story in a way that gets you hooked and you have to finish reading. well done . can't wait for the next one.
August 11, 2016
An excellent take on the way gods from the Greek pantheon in particular might interact with mortals in this day and age.
April 4, 2017
What do you get when you throw 3 lawyers, Greek gods, magic, portals from another world, and a plot to kill all of mankind? A whole lot of crazy. The fun kind.
Magic is back and so are the ancient gods who have a millenia old tiff. Some of the lessor gods are determined to bring down the more powerful ones and will use any means necessary, including wiping out mankind.
Cassandra Berry is a spunky Nashville prosecutor, and psychic, who gets drug into the battle between the gods by an old flame, Apollo. She has to use her wit and charm to not only outsmart the evil, Ravena, but also to keep Apollo's affections at bay. And, she has to do all of that while helping Zeus prevent the destruction of both gods and man.
Her two sidekicks, Tyler and Millie, are also lawyers. Tyler is a kickass action chick ready to jump into the fray with guns blazing. Millie is the quiet, but dangerous one who says whatever comes to mind. You never know what she's going to say.
Then there are the gods. Apollo is the sexy ex who doesn't want to continue being an ex. His father, Zeus, isn't fond of Cassandra or some of her hair brained ideas, which lands her into trouble with him more than once. Hades, Persephone and Artemis also make an appearance.
There is also the manipulative little weasel, Ravena. If I could have, I would have reach into the book and slapped him a number of times. He does get what he has coming to him later in the book, but I won't spoil it.
This was such a fun read. I would highly recommend this book, especially if you like spunky lawyers as fantasy heroes.
Magic is back and so are the ancient gods who have a millenia old tiff. Some of the lessor gods are determined to bring down the more powerful ones and will use any means necessary, including wiping out mankind.
Cassandra Berry is a spunky Nashville prosecutor, and psychic, who gets drug into the battle between the gods by an old flame, Apollo. She has to use her wit and charm to not only outsmart the evil, Ravena, but also to keep Apollo's affections at bay. And, she has to do all of that while helping Zeus prevent the destruction of both gods and man.
Her two sidekicks, Tyler and Millie, are also lawyers. Tyler is a kickass action chick ready to jump into the fray with guns blazing. Millie is the quiet, but dangerous one who says whatever comes to mind. You never know what she's going to say.
Then there are the gods. Apollo is the sexy ex who doesn't want to continue being an ex. His father, Zeus, isn't fond of Cassandra or some of her hair brained ideas, which lands her into trouble with him more than once. Hades, Persephone and Artemis also make an appearance.
There is also the manipulative little weasel, Ravena. If I could have, I would have reach into the book and slapped him a number of times. He does get what he has coming to him later in the book, but I won't spoil it.
This was such a fun read. I would highly recommend this book, especially if you like spunky lawyers as fantasy heroes.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews