Heart Stings by Jennifer Estep
Elemental Assassins #19.5
Urban Fantasy
May 9, 2023- Self Published
ARC

Review by Angela

I have to say that I was worried that we had said goodbye to this world after the last book in the series, but I’m happy that the author has decided to release novellas featuring secondary characters. And I like this very, very much.

Heart Stings allows readers to catch up with Lorelei Parker and Hugh Tucker, both prominent figures in the Elemental Assassin series. Lorelei is a friend and ally of Gin Blanco and Hugh was once an enemy who helped The Circle battle the assassin known as The Spider. Lorelei has taken over a shipping yard and finds herself at odds with a local bad guy, who wants it for his own. He won’t take no for an answer, and Lorelei has told him no repeatedly, which means that a bloody confrontation is on the horizon between the two.

I loved getting back to Ashland and the beloved characters who live there. Even if Gin, Finn, and a few other favorites are off on vacation and don’t appear on the page. I enjoyed getting to know Lorelei better and seeing firsthand how tough she is in the face of adversity. I wasn’t sure Ms. Estep could redeem Hugh enough to give him an HFN with Lorelei, but this is a series chock full of anti-heroes and Hugh fits in nicely with the other sometimes bad/but for the right reasons characters.

He and Lorelei have quite the attraction and dare I say their love scene is just a bit hotter than expected. Which I really liked. I loved that he worked hard throughout the novella to protect Lorelei, but in the end, she saved herself.

The next novella in the series is a Mythos Academy/Elemental Assassin crossover and I am here for it. Spider and Frost comes out September 26th and you can bet I’ll be snatching it up on release day.

Final grade- B

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