The Assassin's Blade (TOG novellas)

You're a damned idiot.
You're a moron and an ass and a damned idiot.

Available at Amazon.com

The Assassin's Blade
Sarah J. Maas
TOG, novellas
Kindle edition, 451 pages
Published February 14, 2023 (reprint)
ISBN 9781619632219
ASIN B01865MIFK


Celaena Sardothien is her kingdom’s most feared assassin. Though she works for the powerful and ruthless Assassin’s Guild, Celaena yields to no one and trusts only her fellow killer for hire, Sam.

When Celaena's scheming master, Arobynn Hamel, dispatches her on missions that take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, she finds herself acting independently of his wishes—and questioning her own allegiance. Along the way, she makes friends and enemies alike, and discovers that she feels far more for Sam than just friendship. But by defying Arobynn’s orders, Celaena risks unimaginable punishment, and with Sam by her side, he is in danger, too. They will have to risk it all if they hope to escape Arobynn’s clutches—and if they fail, they’ll lose not just a chance at freedom, but their lives...

A prequel to Throne of Glass, this collection of five novellas offers readers a deeper look into the history of this cunning assassin and her enthralling—and deadly—world.

Included in this volume:
The Assassin and the Pirate Lord
The Assassin and the Healer
The Assassin and the Desert
The Assassin and the Underworld
The Assassin and the Empire

Read it fourth. Read it third. No, fourth. No, third. Read it first. Fourth! Third!

I almost didn't read this book because, godsbedamned, if everybody and their mother didn't have an opinion on what order to read the TOG series. But here we are. Here is where I ended up.

The Assassin and the Pirate Lord

Calaena sighed through her nose. This was why she’d been awakened? She tapped a slippered foot on the marble floor. “Then kill him,” she said.

Well damn, Calaena. As they say, did we just become best friends?

Sixteen year old, Calaena Sardothien, and her fellow assassin, Sam Cortland, are sent to deliver a letter to Rolfe, Lord of the Pirates, that, unbenownst to them, negotiates the purchase of a hundred slaves.

Things take a turn when Calaena and Sam decide to free the slaves instead.

The Assassin and the Healer

Calaena took a beating from her master, Arobynn, for her actions in the first novella and has been sent to the Red Desert for further training as additional punishment.

As part of her journey, Calaena stays a few days at the White Pig where she meets Yrene, a barmaid who longs to be a healer but whose powers have deserted her.

I imagine Yrene will reappear later in the series.

The Assassin and the Desert

This story... grated. Calaena needed to achieve in one month what Ansel has not achieved in eight years of trying. Do what I do and maybe it'll prove you worthy. Like, fool, why tf would she want to copy what you're doing? It's obviously not working for you, so...

Yeahno. Not a fan of Ansel.

Throughout though, Calaena's mind wanders back to her beating and Sam's cries as he screamed threats against their master while it took three men to keep him restrained.

Zero surprise that Ansel ended up the villain. Very surprised that Calaena didn't gut her with her father's blade. I hate that shit. When women kill men but spare women. Seriously hate that shit.

You were willing to end Gregory for getting caught but this bitch betrays her master and entire guild and you hand her her sword and send her on her way. What the actual fuck, Calaena?!

The Assassin and the Underworld

Calaena finally returns home. Sam is well. Alive, and with Lysandra's hand on his arm.

Oh, I do like a jealous Calaena. And this was easily the best of the five novellas.

The Assassin and the Empire

In saving the life of the Lord of the Silent Assassins, Calaena has earned enough gold to settle her debt with Arobynn. Hers and Sam's.

Free at last, they leave the Keep and settle into their own home atop a warehouse where all they seem to do is argue as if bickering is Calaena's love language.

I knew Sam was going to die. I expected it to happen, though, in book one. So, no, I was not prepared and I cried and I was sad because... why was she not with him? Why'd he die alone at the hands of a sadist??

So...

I do like Calaena. In certain situations. Such as when she's fighting or shopping. How can one truly hate a woman who invests just as much energy and coin into her cloaks and fighting leathers as she does into her heels and delicate undergarments. She seriously needs to chill tf out though sometimes.

4 out of 5 stars.

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Previously in the series:

Dance With the Devil (Mercenary Librarians #3)

See a problem. Stab a problem.

Available at Amazon.com

Dance With the Devil
Kit Rocha
Mercenary Librarians, book three
Kindle Edition, 352 pages
Published August 16, 2022
ISBN 9781250209399
ASIN B09C4FBKTB


POWER IS NEVER GIVEN, ONLY TAKEN

Tobias Richter, the fearsome VP of Security of the TechCorps is dead. The puppetmaster is gone and the organization is scrambling to maintain control by ruthlessly limiting Atlanta's access to resources, hoping to quell rebellion. Our band of mercenary librarians have decided that the time for revolution has come.

Maya uses her wealth of secrets to weaken the TechCorps from within. Dani strikes from the shadows, picking off the chain of command one ambush at a time. And Nina is organizing their community—not just to survive, but to fight back. When Maya needs to make contact with a sympathetic insider, Dani and Rafe are the only ones with the skill-set and experience to infiltrate the highest levels of the TechCorps. They'll go deep undercover in the decadent, luxury-soaked penthouses on the Hill.

Bringing Dani face-to-face with the man who turned her into a killer. And forcing Rafe to decide how far he'll go to protect both of his families—the one he was born to, and the one he made for himself.

Victory will break the back of Power. Failure will destroy Atlanta.

The long awaited culmination of Dani and Rafe's constant flirting and heated tensions... and it did not disappoint!

When Dani and Rafe have to go undercover in order to infiltrate the elite's most exclusive parties with the intent of making contact with someone from Maya's past, the two are forced to confront the feelings they've been long evading.

And they do so beautifully. With maturity and a sensible conversation. They actually talk. And from there, the job comes first. Their safety and the success of their mission.

I absolutely loved how this played out for these two characters. And I loved how whenever they gravitated to one another, the result was an embrace. Not lust. Not mindless passion. But they clung to eachother as if they'd finally connected to their lost halves.

3 out of 5 stars.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook

Previously in the series:

Betrayer (Cursed Bloodstone #1)

Neither of us trust each other. When we do—everything will change.

Available at Amazon.com

Betrayer
LiAnne Kay
Cursed Bloodstone, book one
Kindle Edition, 344 pages
Published January 31, 2023
ASIN B09ZRR6CP1


She marries him for revenge.

He marries her for her serpent mark.

On the eve of her twentieth birthday, Sol is kidnapped by a barbarian. He wants her to use the magic she doesn’t have to heal someone. She wants to avenge her mother by killing his chieftain.

Desperate to get close to their leader, she marries one of their warriors. Her husband vows to never bed her. She vows to win his favor.

When she’s plunged into his city, she realizes the depth of his people’s prejudices. They will never accept her if she doesn’t become like them. Even then, it may not be enough to obtain the vengeance she craves.

Author note: From the same world as Tattered. Betrayer is an enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance with plenty of tension and steam. It’s suitable for 18+. It’s the first in a series, ending with a cliffhanger.

I appreciate a book that hits the ground running and Betrayer does just that.

Sol is a Kyanite that has abandoned her people for a quest of vengeance against the Bloodstone, a fierce race of warriors that attacked her village years ago and slaughtered her Mother. Specifically she's after their chieftain, Roland.

But to get close enough, she has to infiltrate their tribe and as luck would have it, such an opportunity comes when Luc bribes a barmaid where Sol also works to abduct the seemingly powerful Kyanite in order to save his sister, Leah.

As a Kyanite, Sol should possess the magic of healing that her people are renowned for. And yet, while she may have the knowledge, she lacks the ability. Fortunately, her education in medicinal herbs allow her to treat Leah and earn her a chance at joining the Bloodstone.

A chance Gabriel is determined to block.

But Gabriel is a man of his beliefs. And the Seer has divulged that the mark of a serpent is tied to his future.

It is a mark that Sol bears on her wrist since the time when the gods cursed the Bloodstone and took away their powers.

When Sol offers herself as a wife to any of the Bloodstone in order to stay among them, it falls to Gabriel to bind with her.

I could go on and on with retelling this story because I was that invested in it. And after my last read (Avidian) it was nice to have a lead female with an actual focus on her mission. Gabriel, I adored. Things were simple for him. "I have no intention of bedding you." "I don't trust you." "Everything you say is a lie."

That's right. Fight the good fight, Gabriel.

He won't bed her, but he'll sure as hell help her get rid of a dead body when the need arises.

He doesn't trust her, but he forges her a dagger easy to conceal.

Yeah, I'm going to side eye you with that call.

The secrets swirling around Sol and Gabriel feed into the tension between them. Not just her secrets, but his. This book very much needed a POV chapter from Gabriel. His suspicions. His inner battles. I didn't have any expectations for the ending but even if I had, it wouldn't have included the Hector spin. It didn't make sense to me. Had the people never seen Hector? It was not an ending I predicted. It was not an ending I particularly liked. Nor was it the ending I wanted.

3 out of 5 stars. That ending just sank it.

Available in ebook | paperback | audiobook

Also in this series:

Avidian (Demon & the Savior #1)

You think you've won? You haven't even seen the board yet.

Available at Amazon.com

Avidian
Ashley R. Odonovan
Demon & the Savior, book one
Kindle Edition, 358 pages
Published March 25, 2025
ASIN B0DBM2XLYL4
Free Read from Amazon

If Shatter Me and Divergent had a morally gray baby raised by ghosts—it would be Avidian.

This is a spicy, binge-worthy romantasy set in a dystopian world where she’s forced to solve a murder using her rare ability to see the dead—and the man offering her a way out might be hiding the most dangerous secret of all.

I can see the dead. They tell me their secrets. But this time, their secrets might get me killed.

My name is Kat Sinclair, and the Volkov family owns me. People like me, born with special abilities, are called Avids. But my gift doesn’t spare me from the demands of Marco Volkov, the ruthless family patriarch who keeps me in line with the ever-present threat of violence.

When a grisly double murder involving a family nephew and a cook shakes the household, I’m forced to uncover the truth. The whispers of the dead reveal more than I bargained for, unearthing secrets that could destroy the Volkovs—and me.

But I met a charming stranger who might be able to help. Except he doesn’t know about my gift, my scars, or the dark past I can’t escape. But in his eyes, I see something I thought I’d lost long ago—hope.

If I want to escape, I’ll have to play along. But this murder might be hiding something even more dangerous. If I’m not careful, I’ll be the next one the dead are whispering about.

We're going to just dive right into this one...

Malachi is annoying. A complete nuisance. His personality is like that of a trickster god but without any redeeming charm to his words.

Until Kat decides that her best plan to secure information is to play the whore route and Malachi has to start slicing throats to get her out of it. Yes. Do that. Talk less, Malachi. More blade action.

Meanwhile, Kat... talk more. Ask more questions. What does he mean he has people. Who are these people? Who's the guy with the slanting head?

Eventually the unasked questions get answered and my, what a shift. We have an entire undercover, underground, operation making moves. The Sindicate, whose base is in a silo miles deep into the earth with layers of scientists, combatants, and more gearing up to overthrow the ruling families.

And damn, I found myself longing for new episodes of Silo on AppleTV.

Anyway, Malachi's mouth is finally providing useful intel and the story begins to pick up about midway. Before that, it was basically a murder mystery wherein Kat is tasked with identifying the unsub in the murder of her master's nephew. Despite the fact that she can talk to the dead, the nephew is an arse and totally uninterested in communicating anything helpful to the situation.

He's not dead.

In one ear and out the other. I can't even begin to try to understand why the character would ignore something like this. Not even a second thought. Not a fraction of a fraction of a second thought. But hey, makes for a great time to go on a winter wonderland date and ride the ferris wheel. What is happening?! Who's not dead? Because the only person that's not suppose to be alive and yet, we've seen no evidence of their death is...

I have never wanted to slap some sense into a character so hard before. Kat has the attention span of a fruit fly. Good gods, woman, when someone hands you the journal of a murder victim, you don't just tuck it into your waist band and you sure af don't start at the beginning when you finally crack it open!

Without it, I would have come to the same conclusion, but it did speed up the process.

Chiiild! You didn't solve a damn thing. They didn't even need you had they just read the journal in the first place. This is some bs right here.

3 out 5 stars.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook