Grave Mistake

Codex Blair #1

by Izzy Shows

I am Blair Sheach. Screw up. Outcast. Wizard.

My life will never be the same. Let's just say, new found powers do not a hero make, and I've never been an exception. It was supposed to be a simple case: find the client's deadbeat, cheating husband, collect money, and finally pay my rent. Turns out the wanker is a necromancer hell bent on destroying London. Turns out necromancers are only part of the problem in a city infested by vampires and demons. And magic cops aren't any better at cleaning them up than mundane ones. Then there's me, I'm no one special. Just the last line of defense.

I'm out of luck and out of time. And to save my city, the decision I have to make is one I can't take back.

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Magic, Paranormal, Vampires, Fiction, Demons

335 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2017

Reviews

[Kira · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half was pretty good despite being fairly average UF. The characters and the banter were enough to keep me entertained. About halfway through it went downhill. Blair who had only been aware of magic for a few days became fairly proficient with it without practice. Of course she was powerful. Several magical beings were drawn to her and offered assistance. It was weird since she didn't know these people at all and they seemed too willing to assist. All of this gave her a special snowflake vibe.

Some of Blair's decisions irritated me. She didn't think things through, look for other options, or ask more questions before acquiescing. They weren't the type of things that could get her killed but could have consequences in the future.

The end felt too rushed and things happened too quickly with Blair's skill and power. For a professed loner, it didn't take long for her to gather friends. The span of the book was 3 days, and by the end she was devoted to the people she had just met. It seemed odd to me. If the book had been a little longer it may have had a more natural feel to it.

[A Voracious Reader (a.k.a. Carol) · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @68%

Book source ~ Kindle Lending Library

Blair Sheach is a loner. After reading about her I can understand why. What a whiny completely unlikeable TSTL character. I slogged through 68% hoping that this story would get better. It didn’t. Blair is a twatwaffle. The other characters are assholes. Not even a mildly interesting paranormal element could raise this up. When does magic not make things interesting? In this story. Right here. Writing sucks, plot sucks, characters suck, and there's little to no world building. Skip it. For the love of books, skip it. I’m going to pretend she dies. Yay! A HEA. The end.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not sure how to say this but the book felt underdeveloped. I felt like the first few chapters were mostly about the main character either talking about how hard her life was, or smoking another cigarette. There was a chapter that was just her and her friend talking, and that made me feel like I was reading a movie script instead of actually living in the book, and becoming a part of the book.

All in all I felt like this book was under developed. Some parts happened to slow, and some happened way too fast.

There were also a part of the book that I found confusing such as the...

Demon Summoning. There was a part where he had an influence over Blair while in a protective circle. That should not be able to happen, and when Blair was supposed to be learning magic it seemed to come out of nowhere. She never had any feeling of the magic running through her; it seemed like she never had any feelings towards anything at all. I just could not make a connection with her which made me really sad, because I really wanted to get to know her.

[meghann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a lot of fun reading this book. Blair is a girl after my own heart. I mean, there are so many similarities between us it scares me. And she can curse like a sailor. Which she does a lot. Because, you know, shit is going down. Blair is a reluctant hero, but she steps up when most people wouldn't. I enjoyed the other characters in the story as well She is a bit too trusting of some of these people out of necessity, and I'm sure there will be consequences for that later on. I hope there will be more books featuring Blair in the future. I would love to see where her story goes from here.

***I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.***

[Jeanny · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars. I'm happy this series is free through Kindle Unlimited. I like the supporting cast & world building but find I'm apathetic towards the h Blair & found the story moved slowly. I skipped some pages. I'll try book 2 hopefully the series will pick up & perhaps I'll even like the h.

[Runningrabbit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gravely Mystical

This is a refreshing look at the urban fantasy genre with a good grasp into human nature together with a firm writing style that takes the reader into the psyche of the narrator. I loved Blair as a tough female protagonist with insight into the journey of life as a single contemporary female struggling to make her lonely way navigating the waters of being technically unemployed and financially challenged.

A magical novel where action flourishes as Blair goes in kicking and screaming.

[Mal ✨ | Tales Of A Bookbug · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great new urban fantasy series to get addicted to!
I really loved the world that the author has created in this book!It is completely original and brilliant.
Blair was a kickass but relatable heroine.Things always seem to go wrong for her.Or around her.
No, really, they do!She has had quite a difficult life because of this, always drifting, not finding a fixed career or making long lasting relationships.She is quite the quirky heroine.
But, these problems don't make her whiny or a character who always her pities her self.Instead she is adaptable, takes the lemons that life gives her and does the best to make it work.She finds humor in her situations too.I loved her voice!
When she finds out that there is a reason for the things that happen around her and that she might have powers, her life is completely flipped.And she is able to see a world that was hiding in plain sight.
But, the author doesn't make our heroine extra-special like other UF books either.She has her own set of strengths and weaknesses, and tries her best to cope with her new powers and save the world if possible! ;)
The book starts off a little slow, but then the action picks up and bam, I was hooked!
The cast of supporting characters along with the world building made the book even more enjoyable.The author has put the foundation for a wonderful series and I'm pretty sure this is one that we must watch out for!Can't wait to get my hands on the next book!! :D

[Feminista · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

The second half of the book was better than the first half.

[Kristin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I honestly enjoyed the first half of this book. Blair was snarky but with reason and she saw things in a straightforward way.

Then the second half of the book... she became so stupid. Couldn't figure anything out unless told. Couldn't stop freaking out (when apparently her past had helped her become a realist nearly her words not mine) whenever anything out of the ordinary happened. Not to mention that when she was told that magic was real and she was a mage- she didn't freak out but when anything else happened she just lost it. Couldn't think past lolcat level. So freaking annoying. And then the end battle. Seriously. The bad guy was trying to do a ritual. He raises the dead- they come stampeding towards you. What should you do? Go for the cause not the symptom! What does she do? Keeps getting bloody distracted!

Ok ok. I'm done

[Melliane]

DNF

[Leiah Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quirky, with a realistic heroine

Growing up in foster care is one nasty bit of business. Hiding from sickest, fighting to protect yourself and others weaker than yourself, often hungry and in pain from the last beating. It doesn't really give one the makings of a normal life as an adult. And Blair has been through the wringer- or so she thought. But nothing like what is happening now. Now? Pain is about to be omega her best friend.

I qwas thrilled by the realistic way the author handled Blair - no magically learning how to save the world in an instant, no pretending you can be beaten to the edge of death, and over it, and walk away like it never even hurt. Nope, Blair is one real lady down to her (bruised and broken) bones.

Refreshing! Fun, and definitely worth reading more.

[Dan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The main character discovers she's a mage, and then discovers there's a plot against the city. Immediately she decides that the only way to gain enough power to avert disaster is to sign a pact with a major demon.

Is this a good idea? No. No, this is not a good idea.

Anyway I stopped reading shortly after this happened.

[Sharon Mariampillai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Sharon J for recommending this book to me. This was an amazing read. The storyline was really interesting. The story as a whole was amazing. I loved Blair. She was strange yet wonderful. She can curse like no other female character I have read. However, I understand as she is always involved with serious stuff. She is a reluctant heroine. However, I love her because she is willing to fight when no one else wants to. This is what makes her a heroine to me. It is her fierce attitude and willingness to step up when there is no one else to stand up. I really loved the action as well. This is the beginning of a fantastic series. The characters, and the writing make me and the other readers fall in love as the author brings more depth to the story. I am now a fan of Izzy Shows. I hope there will be more books with Blair. Overall, an incredible read.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was ok. The beginning was pretty slow and I had to push thru it. It did improve but it seemed rushed. Blair just found out she had powers and barely had any training before everything went down. Then all of a sudden she could perform spells without ever learning the words or how to perform them. The day before she couldn't even manage to create a shield around herself and now she is saving the day and an experienced wizard can't even protect himself. I think the book should have been longer and maybe more time spent on her learning the skills so the ending might have been a bit more natural. It was too rushed to make a lot of sense.

[Aly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blair Sheach, is a girl that does not know she has magic or can be more than a poor girl that grew up in the foster care system. She finds she has many new powers and a few new friends help along a journey she didn't know she was taking. The books has necromancers, vampires, demons, and so much more. I am excited to find this series and I do look forward to reading the next book.

[Kitkat]

I love this series! I keep rereading it!

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Verdict: A generic supernatural world discovered by a not-so-generic lady.

Blair is skint, which is why she sometimes pretends to be a PI. This time her client is nuts, thinking her husband is having an affair with a ghost. Blair investigates his disappearance as a non-believer, but stumbles across a whole world of urban supernatural magic that quickly changes her mind.

Blair has a strong voice filled with attitude, and it brings the whole story to life. She's not laugh out loud funny, but I smirked from time to time reading her references and slick word choices. She's damaged and insure, but strong too. Every so often, a line would really hit the nail on the head too, but overall, the writing style is quite relaxed and voice driven, rather than beautiful or vivid.

The world building isn't exactly innovative. You've got your Wizard/mage/witch cult, a vampire society, mention of werewolves and demons, and other general supernatural dwellers urban world. The Wizard can't be bothered to turn Blair into the cult so we have a story on our hands - a bit of a weak motive for letting her tag along on a seriously messed up supernatural case, but at least that bit is out of the way within a few pages and the story can take kick off.

This is a very easy story to get into, if you're a fan of the supernatural. Although, if you're a fan, you've probably already read/watched most of what happens elsewhere. If you're looking more of the same with a strong, female voice, then this is the book for you, but don't expect it to blow your mind.

It's just a bit of fun. A quick read packed with action. A light-hearted series with attitude. So it might not win awards for beautiful writing or original content, but it's entertaining with a well defined style to it.

Source: Bought it!
Blog: ScookieReviews

[Damian Southam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being female made twenty-four year old Blair Sheach's hustling gigs both easier, and harder, than they should be; often at the same time. After all, she never asked men to underestimate her simply because she has boobs. Although, this could change if she gets any thinner than she currently is. Add in a full deck of intelligence and wit, a life of growing up in bars and playing pool, and you have a readymade sandwich of let's scoff this sanga' down. The hardest part isn't in beating your opponent, it's in keeping the butt of your cue firmly grounded on the floor instead of between someone's legs. Most often this gets harder the longer a match takes.

Perhaps, no more so than when dopey men like her current opponent, reply to strategically timed and expressionist complaints about 'missing' your shot again. With the look of someone whose told a person a hundred times and yet they still don't get it, they offer the bigoted dumb-arse reply that often goes something like this: "of course you missed your shot sweetheart, everyone knows girls can't play pool". Did all boys, or just the stupid ones who don't know when to keep their mouths shut, attend secreted classes or meetings that girls knew nothing about. Maybe when they congregate in groups at the bar, or perhaps in guys locker rooms, where they're taught to say stupid shit they should never utter in the presence of girls; especially if they're holding a wooden cue? If they did, or you do, then they ought to be asking for a refund paid-in-full, for every occasion when said girls decide to use their sacks as punching bags.

Its usually aroundthe this point in time that the painful expressions that come from gnawing on the inside of your cheek, is promptly replaced by the sweet look of a painful defeat on said opponent's face. The stage when their under developed brains and alcohol reduced reaction times finally realise they've lost. But if not done with the requisite masquerade of luck, it becomes the stage in your day's work when you've got to start crossing your fingers. If you've promptly sunk your remaining balls in the knee-jerk reaction caused by allowing your emotions get the better of you (again), then you'd better hope that they're either too stupid or too drunk to see the forest through the trees. If the expression slowly changes like the rising sun, its likely the penny has finally dropped and the hustle is up, meaning you ain't getting paid.

Now the pained expression morphs the with the flaring redness indicative of anger. Given a lifetime's worth of being on the receiving end of bigotry and abuse at the hands of her various foster father's, say nothing of men in general, Blair often funds it difficult to to avoid getting riled up, and sticking it to a man. But this doesn't pay the bills and could also end in the sort of rep that stopped you from being able to hustle in any of the bars within reach, which ultimately meant that in the end the men still won. She guessed she ought to be grateful in some sense for the fact that London has a lot of pool halls and bars. If it didn't then this particular racket would've been finished long ago.

Given she can pretty reliably pick the ones who are likely to stiff her on their debt, it rankled more that she still wouldn't have the money to pay your rent. Her current opponent had so obviously been the type who'd fall back on bigotry and brawn, but this foreknowledge the didn't always give her the wisdom to leave her emotions at the door. Hell, as it presently stood, even knowing that she'd be sitting at her landlady's desk whilst pleading for more time, still didn't stop her from reacting as stupidly the as the guy now spitting chips and hoping to have her spitting teeth. Choosing to fight instead of paying up, often becomes the preferred option of many of the men she meets. These are the aforementioned times when it can be harder than it should. Men like this pleb believe that they can beat women into submission. The irony that the abuses of her innocence had provided painful lessons in the necessary skills to escape sticky situations, or to fight in self-defence wasn't lost on Blair.


She's now as good at being fast as she is at being able to scrap, both imperative to her survival. After a quick scrapping mo-fo number one was down and sounding like a little girl. Using a few well placed fists, knees and feet, she had him moaning and cradling his rapidly bruising balls. But unfortunately there were more mo-fo's, as indicated by the rapidly closing circle around her. She knew immediately after that they sought to prevent her getting away. The looks of ire on their faces transmitted their desire for vengeance in their taking in of his swelling balls. Their numbers meant a strategic retreat was now her only choice. It also guaranteed a sit-down at a certain lady's desk because she'd not have the time of opportunity to hustle another match. With some deft floor sliding and usage of the obstructions caused by furnishings, the front door of the bar was soon hitting her back as it closed.

Once safely ensconced at a safe distance from the bar, Blair could stop and take stock. Although it shouldn't relate to mo-fo or his mates, she could feel a familiar tension building between her shoulder blades. It usually signified that she was being watched. The first idea that popped into her head was whether she'd missed one of their group. Someone who'd possibly been outside and had seen what had taken place? She should've been at a place where no one could see her, but she could definitely identify an anxiety that said she was being watched. Deciding it was better to move on, she passed a nearby alley and experienced the greatest single scare of her night. Staring into the darkness she caught a glimpse of a pair of glowing red eyes that seemed not to be owned by an accompanying body. Then again, the darkness of the alley was absolute.

With a socio-economic status and a credit rating about as poorly rated as her diet, both lacking the same substance that made their cogs go. Getting enough money to live in a flat and to scrape by with the barest of essentials she couldn't find go without, actually took many more hours than it would if it'd just came from a regular paying job. With hustling beginning to pay more in the currencies of street fighting, bar brawls and pool shark, than it did in the necessary winnings to pay her bills, Blair was starting to look thinner every time she stared into a mirror. She was fast approaching the time when having a roof over her head and a bed in which to sleep, was becoming the regular million dollar question every month.

With only the rest of the week to find the funds to get through to repeating the the same struggle next month, Blair's biggest question about her life was often the burning quandary of why everything had to be so damn hard. You can only wear ratty and torn clothing for so long before being cold wasn't your only problem: such as getting booked for indecent exposure . Eating less than baby bear's share of the pudding was doing nothing for her curves. Whilst she'd never truly been what qualifies as being well endowed with feminine wiles, having them would make getting certain jobs easier. Even in hustling it didn't hurt to have your opponent's eyes fixed firmly on your arse and boobs,it and she hoped that if she could procure them, that men might find it harder to hit a woman they couldn't resist. Although the victims of domestic abuse and rape weren't only the ugly women of the world.

Many of the things that go wrong around Blair aren't the sort that always involve poor decisions, or any, for that matter. Despite her intelligence, even school had been hard. Unexplained breakages, appliances shorting out and sparking, even lifts stopping between floors could only ever happen so many times before they were associated with you. With electricity being close to her in any picture then the list could go on and on. Getting paid jobs is hard enough, but keeping them when your colleagues and your boss think your accident prown, or just stupid and clumsy, and it becomes exponentially harder to get and keep those jobs. The closest she's come to higher education is finding rich students who aren't interested in doing their own essays. But that wasn't regularly available work and it messed with her sensibilities, the sort that deal with potentially causing harm when respective students graduate without having the skills the're supposedly qualified for. Not to mention the increasingly shorter time span that she could sit at a computer without it frying in a cloud of smoke.

In a time of need we do the things we'd rather not and those that we shouldn't. This included dumb decisions like those that came from hearing a woman's plea to find a missing husband presumed to be having an affair with a ghost. Especially if you're not actually a PI but you can get away with billing fifty-pound a hour, plus expenses. The perils of being destitute can be extremely hard work. But they don't include the repertoire of skills suggesting how you go about finding proof of a ghost, especially if you're looking into things you don't believe exist. Best case scenario is that she'll get a glossy six-by-four of said hubby wrapped in the arms of another woman, you know, the ones with skin and bones and all the other stuff of being alive. So it is that Blair heads off with four days to get something substantial enough to submit a bill that'll keep her from being homeless, yet again.

Oh, and put some food in her fridge and cupboards, perhaps some gas in the tank, maybe her next pack of cigarettes, and some backup shells for her gun. She guesses she should be lucky she doesn't have more than one good friend who can ridicule her about this particular job for the rest of her life. Who knew being a loner could pay dividends. The pending disaster commonly known as eviction, will promptly be followed with a bounce off of her arse if it comes; as landlady 'run-out-of-giving-second-chances' metaphorically kicks Blair to the curb. But that's only if she gets to day five. When she ignores a near vomit inducing gut reaction that comes out of the blue whilst checking on a lead, along with a buzzing in her head that tells her to flee and never look back, the greatest disaster is not following what your body is trying to tell you. But then in Blair Sheach's own words, "I'm the Queen of Bad Ideas".

Blair, for reasons of her social proclusions but not her blatant sexuality reminds me a little of the girl with a dragon tattoo. Blair is definitely a quick study with the integrity and self-confidence to make her own decisions regardless of another's intent. As you might've guessed, a person with these attributes loathes most the situations when her decisions are made for her, and being forced into decisions she doesn't want to make. A person who doesn't partake of niceties in both her approach to social gatherings and with regard to herself. She respects the blatant truth as opposed to saying the right or nice things, although it must be added that saying the truth is ever only in so much as the truth from that person's perspective. Someone who feels a great deal but has forced themself to stop acknowledging feelings in order to avoid the hurt in their life.

The sort where its difficult to try and separate when their hard external shell is the product of the things that happen in their life from the things that happen as a product of the hard shell. The classic chicken and the egg conundrum. The sort who avoids close relationships of all varieties, not just platonic or romantic, but any and all. All the while she longs with every fibre of her being to belong to something external hard to herself. Unfortunately the risk therein is that in finding somewhere that you can and/do, its possible to not look deep enough into where you're trying to belong. The sheer happiness of doing so overrides doubts you might have, including the conscious ones you actually recognise.

The reluctance to be emotional in any capacity keeps a lid on a fountain that has pressure enough to be a geyser should a leak not be cut off quick enough to keep the dam from failing. Upon this stage, should be it be reached, they'd all stream out uncontrollably. Not just the ones wanted or not, but a whole maelstrom of biblical proportions until the well is dry and tapped out. In Blair's instance its possible to pick up that this situation is simmering just below the the surface. This is revealed by the burning in her eyes the moment a friend gets sentimental. By holding that back the pressure continues to climb. Needing to forever be shifted to a new location because whatever size or depth of the hole that created the first well can never be the same again. That the vein of water tapped in that region has been chewed up and any subsequent well will need to be filled by a different source of water in every sense of it's qualities, good or bad. So whilst she works hard at keeping people out, once someone breaks through, an event of epic proportions, that person becomes a lifeline; and may the gods have mercy on the betrayer's life who messes with that device, because Blair Sheach won't.

On the softer notes of the Blair portrait there's highlights of the creams and pastilles that soften the course hardness of the shading made up of greys and blacks. Therein you find the elements of a young girl being left by parents who abandoned their daughter through either choice or in death. The former create the longest held outcomes that impact directly the manifestations of ego in a person's personality traits. The latter often softens the blow but not by any significant means, its as easy for those suffering the ravishings of abandonment to blame the responsible parties irrespective of whether conscious decisions were involved. Seeking parental figures in some sense, but more so the older or elderly figures in which she can instill trust, without it being downtrodden by the selfishness of others.

People need to both trust and be trusted for healthy development of social relationships that range through the whole spectrum of characteristics such as platonic or intimate. Some are purely objective or utilitarian, and others run the gammits of subjective love to being in love. Most often is the picture of healthy relationships the outcome of when the artist uses brushes that match up external with internal environments, where in the case of ideals the external image matches the internal one. But in dysfunctional images the external contrast severely with the internal. Its considerable work to put forth the sort of person who is the knee-jerk and habituated front to the wrongs of an external environment. To save face, to show that what that person does or thinks doesn't impact on us, or to show the face that we think people want to see. These are all things that Blair is heavily involved in and yet in her own words she'll tell you that she doesn't pull punches and doesn't want them pulled against her either. We're all hypocritical in some aspects of our lives if for no other reason than because cognitions are intricately linked to emotions but they're not the same thing, and vica versa.

Whilst hardly being able to be defined as dysfunctional it is nonetheless unavoidable that Blair's portrait has a face that she shows to the world that is of a completely different model sitting for their image to be painted. Whilst the broiling emotions of the internal Blair is the model on their worst day with bed or sex hair, wearing their scruffiest clothing, after weeks of malnourished and alcohol induced hangovers and constant sleepless nights. The antecedents aren't what's important, its the difference of the painted model that matters most; and these two images aren't of the same person. So as much as Blair considers she doesn't need or want social relations she does however need them to be able to enjoy of all her expressions, even the ones she doesn't want but does need. In the final thirty to forty percent of Grave Mistake, the catastrophic potential of London's supernatural evil reflects well the maelstrom and of Blair's conflicts. She won't find and solve all of her necessary changes, solutions, or even battles, but if she can't move to a certain stage in her development of them, neither she nor London will survive it's challenges. In both cases, should Blair and London fall, then the world's future is bleak and much will be in ruins.

[Pauline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Grave Mistake strikes me as rather amateurish. It definitely needs a good edit, or at least someone to read it through and remove the inconsistencies and the repetitions (Blair is described as average height at the start of the novel, tall later on. Her relationship with Finn is 'not-quite-close' in one scene, then he's her 'brother', then their acquaintance is shallow. Make your mind up!). There are also spots of rather bad writing and several useless scenes that needed to be cut.
The heroine is a generic 'bad-ass heroine' in an Urban Fantasy : she smokes and drinks, can hustle at pool and hold her own in a fist fight. She's also sarcastic and sassy and has a tragic backstory as an unwanted foster kid. She's also clever enough to write university essays without ever having been and a brilliant PI. Oh and she never does as she told, even when she's surrounded by people who know a lot more than she does. None of which makes her likeable or anything but insufferable.
The plot is also rather generic : main character finds out they have special powers, and have to use them to save their city from a threat. Nothing wrong with such a plot, but you do have to make some effort to make it interesting. Here the villains are not uncovered due to the main character sleuthing skills (which would have made sense given she's supposed to be a PI), instead we're simply told who they are and what they are going to do. They are never developed enough to be a tangible threat.
There are many convenient shortcuts used to move the plot forwards and give Blair the tools she needs to defeat the big bad at the end. No attempts made to let Blair discover and work on her powers organically. No, she decides, based on nothing, that the wizard training her is incapable of defeated the necromancers, so she makes a pact with a demon for super powers.
There is not much world building going on. Several organisations of wizards or magical creatures are hinted at, but never developed. Instead we follow Blair as she blunders around from one convenient encounter to another and makes bad decisions.
Finally, the story is set in London, but the author doesn't seem to know much about the city (Police men do not own large expensive house. And poor girls don't own cars. For some reasons, those two elements really irritated me)
All in all, there was potential here, but it's lost in a slew of badly written, confusing scenes. I won't be bothering with the rest of the series.

[Tanya Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grave Mistake by Izzy Shows was a short and exciting listen. It seems the story is packed full with Blair running on full steam from problem to problem trying to catch the necromancer that is raising the dead to try and take over London.

I found Blair extremely hard on herself. Out on her own believing that no one cared and she didn't have any friends. Now, however, her relationship with Fin is a closer friendship than she really wants and Aedon, the man that discovered Blair's powers and wants to develop them is around. Many more people than she's used to.

For the first little bit, I thought that we were starting out with a private investigator story for Blair. But with the evidence piling up about the city being taken over, we switched to concentrating on saving the city. I'm not sure why I didn't put 2 and 2 together to realize this was going to work out to one storyline.

As the book goes along and with a little help from Aedon, Blair discovers her powers. Powers that she can't let the council know she has for fear of being killed. With the way the confrontation goes down, I really worried if Blair knew enough to save herself. Fortunately with the adrenaline rush of being attacked helps bring powers that Blair didn't realize she had.

Grave Mistake was a quick listen with some good excitement as Blair chases down the necromancer and she tries to stop the necromancer's attempts to take the city. The storyline was packed, running from problem to problem without a lot of fluff to spread the story out. I was disturbed by Blair's attitude towards herself. I hope she works on that in the future. It always made me feel bad for her, but then it got to a point that it annoyed me.

This was my first listen with all English accents, and I found it wasn't as difficult as I thought it was going to be. I think the voice for Blair was really well done portraying her attitude.

Grave Mistake is good for when you want something with some excitement but don't want to get invested in a long, drawn out storyline. There was no need for a lot of world building, etc., which I think helped keep it short.This review was originally posted on Rantings of a Reading Addict

[Bookgasms Book Blog · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blair Sheach is not having a good day. Hell, Blair is not having a good life. She's been through it all, or so she thinks. Down on her luck, down on her friends, and almost out of time to make the rent. Could it get any worse? Oh, you know it can.

“Couldn't get a 'get out of jail free' card, that would be too easy.”

That simple line sums up most of this story. Nothing can be easy for Blair, so naturally she has to save the world the hard way. Or at least the bigger part of London. This made for an addictive read. Blair is one of the most awkward heroines I have seen in a while, but that only served to make her more endearing. She doesn't make excuses or apologies, and while she often has regrets, she takes responsibility for who she is and why she is down on her luck. I loved this about her, and it made her much easier to care about, to relate to.

“My own jaw tightened and I lifted my chin. If they wanted to play with lightening, I could oblige them.”

Never one to spend unnecessary time crying woe is me, when life changes over night and she learns she is more than she ever thought possible, despite her reservations she jumps into the task wholeheartedly. The story threw a little too much at me for a book one, I'll admit. She seemed to suddenly have a task force of her own before she knew it. However the ending threw me for a few twists, and really, after seeing how alone Blair was, I couldn't begrudge her finding a team of people on her side. Her best friend Finn was such a loveable character. I can see he'll be a key player throughout the series, and I really look forward to more action including him.

“I had never done this, never worked with someone, and I was surprised to find that I enjoyed it. Even if we were hacking our way through reanimated corpses. God, what had my life become?”

Funny, but in such a self deprecating way that you almost feel guilty for chuckling. Almost. Suspenseful, because, well someone wants to blow up the city. Magical, and mysterious, with a little teasing about possible love connections in the future. Throw in a demon and an imp for good measure, and you find yourself with one hell of a start to a new series. I can't wait for more. ~George 4.5 Stars

[Naomi Carroll]

Loved it!

Great characters, great set up, I almost cried. Would read again. Apparently nine more words are required so I say this is a must read.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book for free from author in the LoP group in exchange for an honest review/

This was such a fast paced book that I had a very hard time putting it down. Aidan was a very amusing wizard and I enjoyed the banter back and forth between him and Blair. Blair had a rough childhood growing up with different foster families and it made her a stronger person. To find out she had magic was pretty cool. And when they went to go meet vampires the butler vampire was amusing. The action scenes were pretty cool and the whole time I was thinking that the missing husband was actually the main Necromancer. I kind of liked Mal, he was a nice demon lol.

Now Emily, she was an awesome addition as being a warrior for GOD and that she was there to help. The scenes with the giant zombie monster were pretty gross and I actually cringed at the description and wanted to run. I would say that Izzy did a great job with detail and making the book come to life. My favorite part of the book was actually toward the end when Finn's Doctor friend was taking care of her and said Patients are idiots. I cracked up. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and hope for a sequel.

Thank you for letting me read and review your book:)

[Darrell McCarroll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good tale

Good tale of a young woman becoming aware of her magical abilities while chasing bad guys. Fun dialog, and some well set scenes. Down to four stars because the was too much self-doubt and despair for an otherwise cocky hero. I look forward to more books in this series.

[Alina · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Breathing with a sigh of relief*
Grave Mistake is like a cross between Kalayna Price's Alex Croft series and Kim Harrison's The Hollows series. It puts all the good bits of those books and piles them all into one book. It's always refreshing to read a heroine who is strong and confident. That is usually my big complaint about books like these, with the exception of the Alex Croft series, I aforementioned, it's extremely hard to find such characters. The story goes at a steady pace and the character's are well thought out and developed. I'd highly recommend reading this book for anyone who liked paranormal urban fantasies.

[Jocelyn Erbach) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Blair is a believable and feisty character even though she is unsure of herself at times. The plot and pace maintain the reader’s interest as Blair explores the newly discovered world of supernatural creatures and magic. I liked the mystery/amateur detective aspect of this story.

I would recommend this read to those who are interested in stories about characters discovering their magic or if you like paranormal detective type of mysteries—especially if you like stories about characters who feel lost, until they figure out where they belong.

I received a copy of Grave Mistake from the author in exchange for an honest review.

[Heather Henkel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

This was a pretty cool book and I like the start to the series and can't wait to see where it goes.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little trope and yet a little different. I liked it!!!!

Give it a go! Worth the read. It's got a Paladin!!! We NEVER see those in urban fantasy. It became more meaty as I got further into the book. At the end, I immediately wanted the next book.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you can get past the flow issues, of things just happening with little to no explanation, this book isn't too bad. The randomness of things were my main problem.

[Julia Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was different. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I wouldn't necessarily say the main character is likable so much as she is relatable. Look forward to seeing what happens in book 2!