Audio Book Review: Mirror Mage

Mirror Mage

By:  Linsey Hall

Publish Date:  May 4, 2016, Audiobook Release August 18, 2016

Format:  Audiobook - 6 hrs 35 mins
Narrated By:  Laurel Schroeder

Genre:  Urban Fantasy

Series:  2nd in Dragon's Gift: The Huntress series; Book 1 ~ Ancient Magic

First Impression:  Friendships help when pasts surface.

Synopsis:
Cass Clereaux likes her job. It’s simple—steal the magic, don’t get killed. FireSouls like her are perfect for magic treasure hunting. Their dragon soul helps them find treasure, their wicked powers help them steal it. But there’s a big freaking downside—FireSouls are hunted. If either of the magical governments figures out what she is, she can kiss her life goodbye.

When the Alpha Council comes to her with a special job, it’s a no-brainer to turn it down, no matter how much money they’re offering. Shifters who can sniff out her weird magic are the last supernaturals she needs to be around. Worse? They have a history of hunting FireSouls. But when Cass learns that a little girl’s life is at stake and Cass is her last hope, she doesn’t have a choice.

With her sisters and Aidan Merrick at her back, she’s got a chance at saving the girl and keeping her deadly secret—until she learns there’s far more to this kidnapping than meets the eye. It’s far too similar to what happened to her as a child, and everything new that she learns scares her even more.

First Sentence:
"Everyone knows you're not supposed to pick up the golden idol!"

Purchase At:
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Audible

My Thoughts and Summary:
*I requested a copy of this audiobook from the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.

Cass is working to learn to use her magic with control, with Aidan's help. She returns home with an artifact for a client, and to rebuild their magic inventory at the shop, when she's approached by Mathias. One of the organizations Cass and her deirfiur fear, Alpha Council, is looking for her. They've lost something of great value and have heard from Aidan of her Seeker skills. With the shops lack of inventory since the break-in, meaning rent will be a terrible struggle to meet, the million dollars to simply meet with the Alpha Council and hear them out is tempting, then, if she takes the job the additional million dollars... The tipper of scales is that lives are at risk, and the thought that helping the Alpha Council could help her if she ever gets caught.

Laurel returns to voice Cass and crew in this second book. Oh, when she voices Aidan in the first chapter, I just smiled. I love her accent for him. Laurel voices new characters we come across with a different accent, vocal tone, personality, and emotion for the moment. I enjoy this as it brings the story to life and shows a bit of difference among the characters we see. The audio seems seamless and no distractions in the background. It's all about the story when I'm listening to Laurel.

Something I really like about Cass, and it stuck out to me in the first book along with here too, she's not our normal find the ancient artifacts and sell them kind of gal. Cass and her sisters find the artifacts that are old, where magic is starting to decay and could become dangerous. They remove the magic from these artifacts and place it in a replica of the item, then return the original to the sacred place it has been kept for years. She tries her hardest to not ruin the secret places, though that's not always possible.

In this book Cass is learning to trust a bit further than her close circle of her two sisters. The events in this book show that others think dearly of Cass, Nix, and Del, along with doing anything to help them. The reason, the three sisters have been great friends that will do what they can for friends, and their friends know it. We even get to see Cass realizing Aidan is trustworthy, that he's not going to hurt her by turning her in. Cass's actions show she's not the dark, killing and greedy sponge that people thing FireSouls are. Though, she does realize something about her FireSoul in this book.

I do enjoy Aidan. He seems like a perfect gentleman, though that is what throws up the red flag for Cass and she tries to keep moving slow with him. Sure, they've kissed and she'd love more, but she wants to get to know him. He does help Cass to learn her magic, pushing her to the edge of her limits to learn and get control of them. He also tries to protect her, even when the ceiling is falling in, he'll throw himself between Cass and the falling rocks.

We start to learn more of Aidan and the Origins in his family past with Cass, even about shifters too. We also start to learn with Cass about her own past. Through dreams Cass learns how they escaped the cell and that monster of a man, even how she became a mirror mage.

I really like that we get more time with Nix and Del in this book too. We got some time with them in the previous book, but this one they are more involved earlier on. Of course we get our Aidan time too. ;) The time feels well balanced between friends, sisters, and growing love.

I'm enjoying this series thus far. It's fun, relaxing, and I really like the personality of Cass and Aidan. Then there are the small hints of what we learn about Cass that has me curious. Not to mention that Monster Man from her past in that terrible cell.



**If you found my thoughts helpful, please click Yes at Amazon and/or Audible. Thank you!