Bitter Bite (Elemental Assassin #14)

I’m a huge fan of this series and having stuck through 14 books, I couldn’t help but fall for these characters, and no one more than Finnegan Lane. He’s been the rock in this series and with this installment we finally see him falter a bit. I am quite okay with that, but in the context of this story, it somehow just didn’t ring true to his character so the whole manipulation felt a little forced to me, because it all hinged on Finn pulling a 180, which he plays into nicely. Overall, I’d say these characters are smarter than they play in this particular story so I had to further suspend disbelief to fall into it.

This installment is a true continuation from the last where we find out that Finnegan Lane’s mother is alive and well, and according to Fletcher, evil to the bone. As Finn is reunited with his mother, Finn’s friends and family are forced to sit back and watch while Finn continues to grow a relationship with his mother, all the while waiting in the wings to protect him if their suspicions that she’s not all she says she is comes true.

The writing for this series has come a long way and we don’t find the repetitive and arrogant writing from the perspective of our favorite assassin, The Spider. On the down side, we still find that Gin is as insecure as ever and she continues to get her a$$ handed to her over and over again. Since Gin is prophesized to be the most powerful elemental alive, even beating the incomparable Mab Monroe, I don’t understand how elementals keep showing up on her doorstep who are more powerful than her and don’t break a sweat using their powers, while Gin is always drained. That gripe aside, the pace is fast, the danger is constant, and the book sets up nicely for future installments. Unfortunately, it looks like the next book will be fraught with angst and insecurity. I hope Gin manages to channel her inner diva because I’d rather see the smack talking confident Gin over the mopey insecure one any day.

Just from reading the synopsis I knew this one was gonna be a tough one to go through. Salina levels tough. Finns not-so-dead mother is back in town and her intentions with Finn… well, theyre questionable at best. Gin is cautious around her, but my poor Finn is ecstatic as you can imagine. So yeah, reading this was difficult emotionally. Especially because I love Finn so much! But Gin always has his backalways watching out for her brother.

—
“How do you go about rocking the foundation of his world to its very core? Changing everything he thought he knew about his parents? All that would have been bad enough if this was a stranger. But this was Finn. The guy Id been raised with. The guy I had been through so much with. The man who was my brother in all the ways that truly mattered.”
—

And Gin is fiercely protective of her friends and family, including Finn, and I love her for it!

—
You should know this, I said in a cold, hard voice. When you hurt Finn, I will kill you.
—

Yeah, you tell her Gin! One of the many things I love about this series is the characters and their relationships. Especially the relationship between Finn and Gin. And Deirdre coming in and just turning things upside down for everyone… Ooof! In the last book we find out that Finn always thought his mother was dead, so yeah, I totally understand why Finn would be so excited to learn that she actually wasnt. Its his mother after all. But unlike Owen in Widows Web (Im sorry Owen! I love you but this is true), Finn was actually pretty cautious around her as well. He was suspicions and he wasnt a complete idiot when it came to Deirdre. In fact, Owen actually tried to help out Finn by talking to him since he went through a similar situation quite recently. He is so sweet and I love him (even though he was a total idiot when it came to Salina!)

Lets talk about Deirdre because I just…

(spoiler omitted)

Anyway, Gin is the best! Not only do I love how protective she is of her brother, but I love that she in general just cares about others. She always says that shes a cold-hearted killer, but shes not. Well, only if youre one of her targets Gin tries to avoid collateral damage at all times and I love that about her. I also love how snarky and sassy she can be. This whole situation that they went through with Deirdre was awful. But one thing that always puts Gin in a good mood is killing some bad guys! Lol. No, Im serious. One day late at night after work Gin walking to her car when some idiot tries to mug her. Her mood immediately brightened cause she got to beat up a guy. Lol.

—
“Still smiling, I got back up onto my feet, cracked my neck and swung my arms a few times. Nothing like an attempted mugging to get the blood flowing.”
—

I love her! Shes so funny! And these amazing action scenes are actually one of my favorite things about this series! Gin is so badass and it is always exciting when she kicks ass. This book I feel like was particularly violent, and I absolutely loved it!

One thing I dont care for are sex scenes. Adult books have them, its just a fact. But Im pretty indifferent when it comes to them. However, the one in this book…

So much yes! I mean I already love Gin and Owen as a couple, so this scene was just the best! Gin and Owen actually had a pillow fight and it was the cutest freaking thing ever! I loved it! And then Owen fell off the bed and it was just the funniest thing ever!

Another thing I love is the relationship between Gin and her fairly new assistant, Silvio!

—
Silvio blinked. Youre actually going? Just like that? Without me having to nag you?
When do you ever have to nag me about anything?
When dont I have to nag you? he muttered.
—

Hes always mothering her and I love it!

So yeah, this book was amazing and heartbreaking and this is just one of my favorite series! It had amazing action, great characters, and also your usual Easter Eggs that are always fun to find. At the end of the book Gin is presented with more trouble. There are some new revelations that hint at some bigger things at play. Im very interested to find out where this is all going in.

And now I will leave you with a little something fun from one of Gins flashbacks:

—
“Finn had his elbow propped up on the mantel and the collar of his black polo shirt propped up, like he was supercool. I rolled my eyes. Superidiot was more like it.”
—

I had been powering through the series and realised that rather than enjoy, the books were aggravating me so I switched to Eizabeth Hunter and the elemental series – if you haven’t read those do. As I’m coming towards the end of those I thought I would come back and revisit the elemental assassin. Due to the break I enjoyed it. They have become formulaic which is a shame as Gin is a good character. They just get a bit samey so reading them one after the other is probably not wise. It has to be said these were must reads but they have lost their dazzle. Enjoyable but not brilliant.

thank you

Great book! Love this series and author

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