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The first three books in this series concerned themselves with the title character: Gunnie Lizbeth Rose. Gunnie being both her title and her profession…a professional gunman. In this world, magic exists and professionals in one of four “types” of magic strengths hire themselves out. But not everyone appreciates or even trusts a Grigori. The types include water, air, fire and earth; with death as an adjunct skill. The U.S.A. fractured when President Franklin Roosevelt was assassinated and the country ravaged by the Spanish flu; leaving it unprotected. In Russia, the Tsar was ousted and after wandering the globe looking for a new home, the family and other aristocrats landed on the west coast and created The Holy Russian Empire out of California and Oregon. Mexico encroached and took back land from both New Mexico and Texas. In the aftermath, Oklahoma and Texas banded together, creating Texoma. Canada claimed the Great Lakes area and Britain moved in on the east coast creating Britannia. The southern states came together to form Dixie, leaving the rest of the continental U.S.A. as New America. The 4th book had her half-sister, Felicia, as the main character.
This story picks up soon after the last one with Felicia and her maybe-sweetheart, Peter, traveling to Segundo Mexia where Lizbeth and her husband, Eli, live. Peter and Eli are brothers. Lizbeth and Eli are both thrilled and excited to have their siblings visit even though Lizbeth is still suffering after a miscarriage.
Meanwhile, Texoma seems to have been invaded by military troops of an uncertain loyalty. When a platoon of these troops descends on Segundo Mexia, Felicia and Lizbeth are separated from their men and decide their priority is to protect Lizbeth’s mother. The two men decide to follow the departing troops, who didn’t seem to have achieved an objective, in order to discover who they are and what they are up to. The women end up following after and eventually catching-up to the troops in their garrison. Eli and Peter are prisoners. Once the women have looked over the situation, Felicia decides the thing to do is kill everyone; which she then does. Every single trooper except their leader; who has some questions to answer.
No sooner than the two couples get home to lick their wounds then Eli gets a mysterious telegram and takes off without a word of explanation to his wife. And he takes his little brother with him, leaving Felicia without a word of explanation, either. If circumstances had been a little different, Lizbeth might not have jumped to the conclusion that Eli didn’t like living in a small town with her, didn’t care about the lost baby, and maybe didn’t even love her anymore. This sets up the main storyline as both young women ruminate over their respective relationships.
When Felicia left San Diego in the Holy Russian Empire, she became a person-of-interest to just about every single magical family in the world. While at the Grigori school, she was protected from outside influences including marriage offers but away from that protection, she’s fair game. Being young, pretty and one of the most powerful Grigori ever, she’s catnip. And most of the interested parties don’t exactly have parlor manners; one kidnapped her, another helped and then tried to kill her sister. And then we learn there is something called The Wizard’s Ball which occurs periodically where magical families barter and trade their eligible young people. And it actually sounds rather interesting and possibly fun to young Felicia. Potentially, they will be better mannered than the prospects she’s met recently.
Eventually, the troops return and Felicia and Lizbeth find a most unlikely ally during a brutal attack on Lizbeth’s stepfather’s hotel. Shockingly, Eli and Peter arrive just ahead of the little army. Even after the smoke cleared, they were no more knowledgeable about the source of the troops or their intentions; and the death toll in the town was unfortunately high – affecting both Lizbeth and Felicia.
Frankly, this book wasn’t near as exciting or interesting as the previous one. The locale was familiar as were most of the characters. The author tried to add interest in the form of Felicia’s suitors and how they practiced magic; leaving a door open to explore other types of magic – but it felt a little forced. The events that impacted our protagonists the most seem almost minor, in tone. Some family secrets were unveiled but only to other characters, the reader already knew. Much was made of the upcoming Wizard’s Ball so one can safely assume it will be the focus of the next book or two. We did get glimpses of other magical workers (not everyone calls them Grigori) but not enough to get an understanding of other cultures.
It was, as usual, a fast read but not as much fun as the preceding books; the implied conflict within Lizbeth’s and Eli’s marriage was all of her making. Eli never intended to leave her, he was just bad at communication. I know that’s a spoiler but, seriously…even the reader knew that at the beginning. And Felicia is only fifteen-years-old but acts like a more mature woman. I know an argument exists that she’s been thrust into live-and-death situations more than once but I would still expect behaviors consistent with a teenager. It’s an ‘okay’ book so I’ll stay onboard for new stories. ~~ Catherine Book
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