River of No Return

The Twenty-Sided Sorceress #9

by Annie Bellet

Supposedly, nature abhors a vacuum. I'm finding this is true in the worst way... 

Defeating her evil ex-boyfriend hasn't exactly been the reprieve from trouble that Jade hoped for. When Alek's mentor shows up with an injured Justice and government agents start asking questions she doesn't want to answer, Jade's problems are just beginning. Enemies new and old make their moves as a war looms on the horizon in this exciting ninth book in the Twenty-Sided Sorceress series.

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Paranormal, Shapeshifters, Romance, Audiobook, Fiction

229 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 4, 2018

About the author

Annie Bellet is a full-time speculative fiction writer. She holds a BA in English and a BA in Medieval Studies and thus can speak a smattering of useful languages such as Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Welsh.

Her books include Avarice (Pyrrh Considerable Crimes Division: Book 1), The Gryphonpike Chronicles series, and the Twenty-Sided Sorceress series.

Her interests besides writing include rock climbing, reading, horse-back riding, video games, comic books, table-top RPGs, and many other nerdy pursuits.


Want to be notified when her next book is released, receive free stories and books, and be notified about sales and other goodies? Sign up for Annie Bellet's mailing list
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Reviews

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) · Rating 4 out of 5]

🎲 A Let's Play Dice with the Slightly Awesome Crow Sorceress Buddy Read (LPDwtSACSBR™) with the MacHalos of Mischief and Mayhem (aka M³) 🎲

There’s nothing quite like eating your evil nemesis’ evil little heart, if you ask me. Ergo, Jade Crow, I 💕lurves💕 thee a whole little lot and stuff. Ergo ergo, let's celebrate and stuff.



P.S. Caldenia's cannibalistic stomach approves. Just so you know.
P.P.S. Full crappy non-review to come when my murderous children have murderous great-grandchildren. Maybe.

· Book 1: Justice Calling ★★★★
· Book 2: Murder of Crows ★★★★
· Book 3: Pack Of Lies ★★★★
· Book 4: Hunting Season ★★★★★
· Book 5: Heartache ★★★★★
· Book 6: Thicker than Blood ★★★★
· Book 7: Magic to the Bone ★★★★
· Book 7.5: Harper's Tale ★★★★
· Book 8: Dungeon Crawl ★★★
· Book 10: Balancing the Scales ★★★★



[October 2018]

It's finally been released!! Yay and stuff! Let's celebrate and stuff!

[Elena Linville-Abdo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stars: 4 out of 5.

Well, who would have thought that there would be more dangerous adversaries than Samir out there? I'm sure Jade hadn't. In this book, her decision not to eat Samir's heard comes back to bite her in the butt, because it seems like everyone wants a piece of that heart now, so it's open season on Jade and her friends. 

We are approaching end game here, and the encounter with Ethan taught Jade a couple things about love, trust and keeping secrets from her friends. She has a hard choice to make when it comes to Samir's heart, so let's hope she makes the right one.

I still think that Harper forgave Jade a little bit too quickly after the big reveal that Samir is technically not dead. Yes, the reasons behind this are sound, but he had hurt Harper deeply. Another human being wouldn't have taken more time to get to grips with what I would have considered a betrayal by her closest friend. 

Other then that, there is only one book left in the series, so it will be interesting to see how the author resolves all the tread she'd woven into the narrative.

[Suz · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

These are starting to feel all the same, I'm getting frustrated with how slowly the long arc is developing, and they are too short to be satisfying.

Otherwise, it's still a cute and enjoyable fluff piece that is turning into Mary Sue goodness.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

From when I am writing this in 2022, The Twenty-Sided Sorceress series by Annie Bellet is due to be concluded in Book 10, ‘Balancing the Scales’. This is Book 9, ‘River of No Return’ but it reads like the start of a whole new story arc and so I am confused. By now, if you have read any of the other 8 books you will know the are short, novella length books that take a couple hours to read at best. However, in ‘River of No Return’ we get 3 large subplots for Jade and yet only resolution for 1 of them. I am concerned that given the brevity of the rest of the series entries, we are not going to be able to wrap things up in a satisfactory manner before the end of the series.

However, apart from that I really enjoyed this book. It reminded me of Book 3, ‘Pack of Lies’ and Book 4, ‘Hunting Season’ which are my two favourites for this series. As I mentioned, there were 3 main plots woven throughout the story and we only got the conclusion to one. Although that also opened another issue for Jade to address. There was a lot going on to say the least.

We start with the gang attending the wedding of Ezee and Iollan around a year after the events of Book 8, ‘Dungeon Crawl’. Its lovely and I am happy to see those two get their HEA (Happily Ever After) but it did feel a bit jarring considering Iollan wasn’t even in the last book and from memory there was no mention of them getting more serious. I’m still happy for them and glad that Ms Bellet tied off their relationship before the end of the series.

Jade and Alek return from the wedding and find a stranger waiting for them.

‘I had to admit, as I got out of the truck with magic humming in my veins, I kind of hoped the guy was trouble. Just a little. Easy trouble. A small shoe.
Turned out, he was a lawyer and the show dropping fit in an envelope.’

The lawyer and his firmed were hired by Samir to deliver an envelope to Jade in the event they did not hear from him within a set time. That has obviously occurred given Jade has reduced him to a small red gem currently residing in her D20 necklace talisman after the events of Book 7, ‘Magic to the Bone’. In the envelope is a key. A key to what she doesn’t know.

Apart from Samir sending odd gifts from the grave, we also have an ex-Council of Nine member show up on the run from The First.

‘The First was the first shifter granted powers by the Fates. He had never me the Council, but he knew that the First controlled the Emissary, a powerful spirit bound to the Council to guide their visions and speak to Justices through dreams.’

After the Council was broken, The First has apparently gone made and decided that it’s the shifters right to rule over earth. Any shifter who does not join him is against him and he has mysterious and terrifying powers.

On top of this, there is a new sorcerer in town, one with some disturbing powers that could have long lasting and devastating consequences for all shifters. Plus, somehow, he knows that Jade has Samir’s heart, and he wants it for himself. He is ruthless and willing to do anything in order to get the power for himself.

Jade also must contend with visits from shadowy government agencies who suspect she has had something to do with Samir’s disappearance. The fey suddenly calling Brie and Ciaran back to Ireland. Old secrets being unburied. And just general mayhem and merriment. It’s a lot to happen in a book with only a little over 200 pages but it was very entertaining. There are also a couple of chapters from Alek’s point of view. They don’t really deviate from the main plotline, but it is interesting to read about the events from his side of things.

If you haven’t read the series, I recommend starting at Book 3, ‘Pack of Lies’ as I don’t think you could read ‘River of No Return’ as a standalone book. There is too much back story that has occurred that it would be very confusing for a newcomer. Moreover, whilst the book doesn’t end on a cliff-hanger, it absolutely leaves several major plot points in the air so recommend you have Book 10, ‘Balancing the Scales’ ready to go straight away. I really enjoyed this book, there was a lot of action that was moved through very quickly and it didn’t feel like any sections slowed down or dragged in any place.

4 out of 5 stars!

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars... Jade and her friends are battling two nemeses simultaneously... One focused on saving his "love" through nefarious means and the ability to manipulate the mind, and the other too detached from reality to understand the extent of his actions... With loss coming from all directions and her family and friends in grave peril, Jade must choose to focus on who she can battle today and save the war for tomorrow... Action sequences permeate this read and strong supernatural abilities come into play as these characters take on their most dangerous enemies yet:)

[Sara Oxton · Rating 5 out of 5]

River of No Return by Annie Bellet a five-star read that there is no return from. This is number nine in the Twenty Sided sorceress series and I would wholly recommend that you read them in order as Jade Crow has a power that sustains her over every novel of this series, I had held out reading this one until I had number ten in my hands. This series has been up and down with the emotional rollercoaster it will take you on, as Jade battles so much her nemesis as well as it seems herself at times. The thing is its not just Jade that makes this story, its all the others that play their part, they each tell a part of the story and create another level to the web that is weaved in this series. I am glad I left it until I had number ten as I don’t think I would have been able to wait to see what happens next, this is reaching an epic conclusion and I cant wait to see where this will go next.

[Jackie Bach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

I love all the main crew and the character development that they go through is amazing! I can’t wait to see what happens next!!

[Leather · Rating 3 out of 5]

After the disappointing previous volume, this one offers a more complex plot. The pace is good, with a nice suspense and good fights.
A little too much introspections, but it's still bearable.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

No Rest For The Tired And Weary?

I’m already a fan of Annie’s writing style, loving the way she weaves her plot threads, taking us into one breathtaking situation after another. The characters she creates are just as captivating, I never have any problems believing their motives and actions.

The books in the Twenty-Sided Sorceress series need to be read in order to understand the characters’ motivations and previous plotlines. River Of No Return is the 9th audiobook in the series and picks up almost a year after the events in the previous story.

Hollie Jackson is one of my favourite narrators.
Hollie has taken over the narration for the final few audiobooks in this series. I love the pace that she reads, the emotions she portrays during the various scenes and the voices she gives the characters. Hollie captured Jade’s personality to a tee and led us into each battle of this adventure.

The main series threat to our protagonist, Jade, was dealt with in book 6.
Therefore, the focus of the series has changed somewhat. Danger is still around every corner and Jade and her friends are trying to deal with each threat as it arrives. Annie is excellent at building tension and writing dynamic fight scenes. However, I also enjoyed the softer, emotional scenes in this story, especially those between Jade and her bestie Harper or Jade and super-hot shifter boyfriend Alek.

River Of No Return had it all.
I can’t wait to listen to the final audiobook in the series to find out how Annie will tie up the remaining threads.

[Vannessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jade Crow is back and is now beginning to dislike her boring life once again. She thrives for the danger and drama of dealing with other sorcerers and the bad guys, but when it does all happen, she realises that the grass is not always greener on the other side. Samir, her evil ex-boyfriend/torturer is almost dead, his heart a gem on her D20 talisman necklace. For all intents and purposes he can no longer hurt her, but he still manages to push Jade's buttons from beyond the grave as it were.

Others are hunting for him and even more are hunting for his heart. A sorcerer or sorceress's powers come from the other sorcerers they kill and their hearts that they eat. Jade didn't consume Samir's heart as she didn't want his memories floating around in her head, but others are more than willing to have them if only Jade will give his heart to them. A sorcerer hell bent on saving his precious possession will stop at nothing to get his hands on Samir's heart even if means killing those close to Jade. She now has a war on her hands, one she really doesn't want any more!

I love Jade and her willingness to do whatever it takes to get rid of the bad guys and save those she loves and even those she doesn't when the bad guys are after them. Her powers are immense and I don't honestly think she knows how far her powers can go.

My only problem with this book was it wasn't long enough! I need more Jade! Can't wait for the next one and to see what the First will do now, as that story arc wasn't completely finished.

[Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now that I am retired, I greatly enjoy escaping into books, especially mysteries, action, and adventure genres of literature. Each year I always try to read a few other kinds of books outside of my enjoyment: biography, horror, gothic, and so on. ““River of No Return” is a kind of urban fantasy or paranormal which (no pun intended) is not something I normally read. In fact, this is the ninth book in this The Twenty-Sided Sorceress series which I have enjoyed. The protagonist is Jade Crow who lives a quiet life running her comic book and game store in Wylde.

After twenty-five years fleeing from a powerful sorcerer who wants to eat her heart and take her powers, she has comfortably settled in a small quiet town with other non-humans. The story is set in the small town of Wylde, Idaho. The evil sorcerer Samir is gone, having been defeated by Jade in #7 ~ “Magic to the Bone.” Now, a new antagonist appears bringing death and destruction to Jade’s friends.

Honestly, this Urban fantasy series was much better than I expected, and it had interesting character development of Jade and so many of the other shifters. I was especially drawn to Jade, a Sorceress who is learning her powers, as well as some of her geeky friends. The characters are growing and evolving in each story as the series continues and draws near a close.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been looking forward to another installment in the Jade Crow / 20-sided-sorceress series since the last one dropped. I somehow missed this new release by nearly two weeks! Oh no! In any event, "River of No Return" is, much like its predecessors, an action-filled and emotional piece of story-telling. It only advances the overall story arc incrementally, without the big story leaps and extra-high stakes we saw in previous installments, as when Jade visited her childhood home, when she met her dad and learned about her unusual heritage, or especially when she risked everything to defeat her historical nemesis (mostly). This book builds on the events of the past two, introduces a new bad guy, features some emotional drama between Jade and her cohorts, and somehow sets up the tenth and final (according to Bellet) novella in the series, but it's a fast and not an especially demanding read. (N.B. Like all of the previous installments, this is novella-length. Unless you feel like being extra nice to the author -- which would not be a bad thing -- don't pay full novel price.) If you've read this far, you'll appreciate the tension and the evolution of Jade's thinking about life and death, so don't skip it, just don't expect any major revelations.

[Pep · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like this series but am giving it up.

This is book 9. I think it should have been maybe book 4. They are unique and I love all the characters but they are just so dreadfully SHORT, as in novella size but not priced that way.

I would prefer the author condense her books into trilogies , as in book 1-8 could easily have been The Samir Trilogy. This book could begin The First or The Circle of 9 Trilogy.

Another option, is expand each book to flesh out other character arcs. There are SO many with much potential. With the shifters, the fey, her ghosts and origin story (we still don't know much about why she is what she is), her neighbors, etc.

Instead it just felt like a long short story focused on Jade vs another evil sorcerer. We get no closure on how he did the things he did, or what those items do that were introduced in chapter TWO. Nada. That's irritating and a bit disappointing. Why? So we will spend another 5 bucks to get another 2 hr read of Jade fighting and 2 snippets of information about these new things? And I was expecting some information about Jade's new ability. (No spoiler), but yea..it's barely mentioned and was a BIG deal in the later books.

So. Yea. I'm done. Good Luck Jade.

[Don Goodrum · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like the Twenty-Sided Sorceress books. They're not War and Peace (thank god), but then again, they're not intended to be, they're just entertaining Urban Fantasy with some pretty interesting world-building and a pretty solid lead character in Jade Crow and that's enough. The stories are simple and direct with a clear antagonist and a well-established motivation for Jade to follow and the stories are fairly easy to get through in a couple days of entertaining reading. I discovered Annie Bellet's world about five books into the series and happily, she hasn't let us down. I confess, I sometimes get bored in other books when too much of the story is about the undying love of the main character and their mate/spouse/partner, or whatever, but Bellet takes it right up to the line and doesn't cross, which keeps the stories on point and not wandering off in directions I'm not interesting in following. Plus, as love interests go, Alek the were-tiger is a pretty interesting guy. All in all, I recommend these books whole-heartedly. If you're looking for a nice breezy read on a rainy afternoon, you could do much, much worse than the Twenty-Sided Sorceress.

[Robbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm rounding up to four stars. There's a lot in here – maybe a little more than fits in a novella – but, fortunately, only one of the catastrophes was resolved. I thought that particular part of the story worked well enough and had enough attention to it, but it produced a secondary story line so now there are two major issues to resolve and only one more novella left in the series. Hopefully it can settle things well enough without feeling like the characters are being dragged along by the plot. Speaking of which, Harper was just annoying in this and it made me realize that I didn't really like her portrayal in the previous novel, either. She wasn't particularly believable, and that weakened the whole world for me since, although I really like the over-powered Mary Sue fighting evil, the thing that makes me keep coming back is that the characters are likable and fun.

Oh, wait...there were three plot lines left hanging at the end. I completely forgot about one of them since the rest of the book was so busy. Hmm...

[Nico · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy crap, this might be the first series I've finished in, like, literal years. Just one more to go. I'm still having a great time with these characters, but I can't seem to hit that initial peak of "this is the best thing ever" I got from the first volume. I don't want to use the word 'repetitive', because I don't think it's accurate, but this thing with Samir has gone on for so damn long now I'm kind of glad it will (hopefully!) find its end with the next volume. It's almost been too long. We kind of have a secondary over-arching villain in our vampire ex-friend, but it doesn't have the same bite to it. And no, I will not apologize for the previous sentence, I swear it happened organically.

Anyway like I said, I love these characters to death, so I'm in 'till the end here, and I'm still enjoying the ride.

[Starfire · Rating 4 out of 5]

I *did* enjoy this instalment, but I'm not going to lie: it dragged a bit for me, as is evident by the fact it took me 10 days to read a book that's only just over 200 pages. Part of it is that everything felt like it wrapped up in Book 7, and now Jade is back to being blown around by the plot winds again, with some major plot arcs being opened up, but very little beyond the 'villain of the week' actually resolved by the end of it.

I'll keep reading to the final book in the series for completion's sake, and also because I genuinely enjoy hanging out with Jade and her nerdy crew... but I do find myself wondering if maybe the series should have stopped after she defeated Samir?

[Selaya Morton · Rating 5 out of 5]

From inaction to intense action in a couple of chapters. This is a super book. It also sets things up for an ultimate showdown with quite possibly the most psychopathic enemy that Jade has, or ever will, face. No doubt about it; this series has held my attention from Page 1 of Book #1! With the climactic book to follow hot on the heels of this one - and I can't wait BTW - the "Sorceress" series is set to be re-read over and over. There aren't many full series I will say that about. Thanks, Annie.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this story was very eye opening! It is excellent and the past does come and bite Jade in the butt. Read about the wedding of two of her friends and get into the mystery concerning the wolf lacks. There are unanswered questions but I look forward to the next book!
Jade will enlighten you about the past a bit and Harper will learn a bit about it as well. Jade put it well that when you lie it can be hard to remember what you told others. So we have a mystery and plot twists but there’s a good part about love.
I do recommend this book and hope that there is another.

[Cassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating - 4.5. I just finished binge reading this entire series, and this was my favorite one of the bunch. The books are short and fast paced, and will suck you in with a quickness. This book ends with a mild cliff hanger and I can't wait for the next one (even though this was only released a few days ago!)

[Arthur L Spain · Rating 4 out of 5]

More adventures with Jade Crow

I read this so fast I thought it must have been a novella. Everything seems to happen at breakneck speed. At least that’s the way I tend to read these books. I can’t wait to find out what happens next. I like all the characters. I even like the villains as villains. This one of my favorite urban fantasy series.

[Ron Jarrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story continues and still kicks some ass

I was resistant at first reading this, and how do you top the ending to the entire arc, without it being anticlimactic. The blurb didn’t sound like “world endangering evil, part deux.” Silly me. Multiple new bad guys, possible just as bad, just different. Shouldn’t have waited

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read.

Wow I know I say this on all my reviews but I love this series.
Jade is a badass and so is her love and friends. This series is in my top five all time favorites. A lot of action which is a big plus and I love the smart mouths they all have. Lol
So if you haven't read this series yet well what are you waiting for get to it. 😀 Happy Reading.

[Carol Schneller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for Young adults, and gamers will enjoy the humorous "references". Book 9 of 10 is a fast pace of Magic with a twist! I did want a little more though.

Great for Young adults, and gamers will enjoy the humorous "references". Book 9 of 10 is a fast pace of Magic with a twist! I did want a little more though.

[Nunya · Rating 1 out of 5]

Accidental Purchase...

I was not allowed to return. This has been a fairly new recent development with mobile app. Screen jumps, next thing you know you purchased something you didn't mean to. The difference that it was fairly simple to get it taken care of from your phone. Not anymore.

[James Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read

The story of Jade the sourcerer is still fun to read and will keep you engaged, even though she and her mate Alex just want to have peace havoc always finda them, this time by another sourcerer knowing she have Samirs heart and he is willing to kill to get it, have a fun time reading the 9th book

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty much the same as previous stories. Evil comes, Jade suffers, Jade beats it and we go on. Fortunately the characterization is well done and the story has substance. Everything ties together well and we still have an evil sorcerer and vampire to take care of. Would like to see more of Jades Dragon side. Looking forward to the next book.

[Angie Hackett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

This was a good addition to the series, it was well written and interesting.

The familiar characters were comforting and interesting. The pace was good, getting right to the action. There was enough to keep the story interesting and enjoyable.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Twenty-Sided Sorceress Book 9

Annie Bellet is probably my all time favorite author. I really like her writing style!! If I have any complaints it's only because I can't wait for the next book in any of the series to come out. Please keep up the AWESOMENESS😊

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED IT!!!!!!

OMG , that was amazing. I feel like I've been waiting forever for this book. It was well worth the wait. Now I'm hoping Harper's story is coming soon.. Thanks so much.