Blood & Ash: A Snarky Urban Fantasy Detective Series

The Jezebel Files, Book One

By: Deborah Wilde

Narrated by: Hollie Jackson

Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's Summary

Cold-blooded kidnappers. Long-lost magic. When things get serious, she goes full Sherlock.

Ashira Cohen takes pride in being the only female private investigator in Vancouver. With her skills, her missing persons case should be a piece of cake.

She wasn't counting on getting bashed in the skull, revealing a hidden tattoo and supernatural powers she shouldn't possess.

Or the bitter icing on top: a spree of abductions and terrifying ghostly creatures on a deadly bender.

And don't even get her started on the golems.

Reluctantly partnered with her long-time nemesis Levi, the infuriating leader of the magic community, Ash resolves to keep her focus on the clue trail and off their sexual tension because WTF is up with that?

But with a mastermind organization pulling strings from the shadows and Levi's arrogance driving her to pick out his body bag, can Ash rescue the captives and uncover the truth or will the next blood spilled be her own?

Blood & Ash is the epic first novel in The Jezebel Files. If you like headstrong heroines, complex mysteries, and a dash of red-hot romance, you'll love Deborah Wilde's laugh out loud tale.

Get it now!

©2020 Deborah Wilde (P)2020 Deborah Wilde

Filler book

I chose this book because I am waiting for the new Dresden book (Jim Butcher) and the new Guild Codex (Annette Marie) book to drop. it was a nice quick book and satisfied my detective urban fantasy craving. Narration was good, no page shuffling or background noise. Story could be smoother....but it is the first book of the series....so it will most likely improve.

Explicit mind candy

The story is entertaining as long as the listener realizes this is pure mind candy. Be aware that it is very explicit regarding language and sex; listener must be willing to accept constant F-bombs and sex descriptions.

Same Story Different Names

The main character, Ash, is constantly telling us what her personality is like. It works better when the reader is able to make those determinations based on the character's behavior. An example is when Ash describes herself as being closed off because she has issues with abandonment. And then she keeps reminding us.

The world building is minimal but I think for the mood of the book it doesn't hinder anything. As the story continues and things get more complicated, they'll need to be some more details added.

To be honest, I started this review at the beginning of the week and hot distracted... its Wednesday now and I cant even remember what this book was about 😬 soooo, I'll listen to it again and get back to you.

Ok, I listened to the first two chapters and it all came back to me.

I found this series much better than the Unlikeable Demon Slayer by this author, but the plots are very very similar. In both books the lead female randomly learns of her magic. The lead guy is a famous magic user. The two leads don't get along but secretly love each other. The only difference in the books are the type of jobs the characters have. Like I said, very similar.

Predictable

Predictable and trite. Don’t bother. No character development. Shallow characters. Heroine is a mundane detective. She gets an injury during a fight and a tattoo hidden under her hair is marred, this releasing magic she never knew she had. Not just any magic, but blood magic. She knows it’s blood magic even though no one has ever heard of blood magic because ? Who knows? Suddenly she can expertly wield her magic, creating weapons and armor made of blood. Oh, and if ripping off that idea of Ilona Andrews’ wasn’t bad enough, she also takes on golems. Somehow she Intuits that if she erases the e from the word emet written onto the golems’ forehead, that will kill the golem. (Sound familiar readers of Ilona Andrews?) Bland, predictable, and done a million times over by better writers. Don’t waste your money.

LOVED!

The story was awesome. It had moments of seriousness but buffered with humor. I didn't want to stop listening to the story because I wanted to know what was going to happen.

Hollie Jackson did an amazing job narrating the story. She did the different voices well and even at the fast pace I listen to books didn't sound weird.

Will definitely pick up more by this author and narrator.

Sensational & Snarky

I loved theis first in series. The female lead is sensationally snarky & flawed but strong. The way magic is portrayed in this world is quite original. The narrator was fantastic at bringing the story and characters to life. I look forward to more from this author and in this series

Entertaining and Sexy

This is my first book by this author and narrator and I wasn't disappointed. The storyline was intriguing and the sarcasm was fun. The narrator did a great job of conveying the snarky attitude of Ash.

There was never a boring moment in the book and the character development made me become invested in their lives.

There's definitely some steamy scenes in this book, but it wasn't overdone or distracting from the story. I think I'll give the next book a listen.

Snarky Heroine

Blood and Ash by Deborah Wilde, the first book in The Jezebel Files series took me on a journey to a world filled with magic, adventure, mystery and romance. The story took place in Vancouver and it introduced me to Ashira Cohen, a private investigator who investigates cases which don’t involve magic. She is a Mundane, someone who doesn’t possess magic, hence the reason for investigating non-magical cases. So, imagine her surprise upon discovering her current case involved magic. The surprises, however, did not end there, as in the aftermath of solving the case, she discovered she possessed magical abilities. A Star of David tattoo placed on the back of her neck was responsible for the suppression of her abilities. Who placed it there and why were questions she vowed to find answers for? Meanwhile, a mysterious and evil entity is on the loose in the city, murdering users of magic and Levi, her nemesis and leader of the magic community hired to investigate. Her quest for answers would have to take a back seat as she sets out to find out who is behind the villainous magical creature and stop them.

I loved Ashira, smart, independent, determined, caring and a no-nonsense private investigator. Her association with Levi stemmed from their times together at summer camp. They never seen eye to eye then, and it has not changed. Their back-and-forth banter sprinkled with witty comments and snarky comebacks had me laughing throughout the story. The thing that amused me about these two were their lame attempts to deny their chemistry. Seriously, anyone worth their salt could see that they had the hots for each other.

I loved how the case developed throughout the story. It allowed Ashira to use her magical skills, which proved powerful, unique and dangerous if not kept under control.

Blood and Ash offered a fast-paced, action-packed and magical story with the romance being served as a delicious dessert. All these combined made for an entertaining read.

The author created an intriguing world, but it could have been better developed. I guess as the series progress, we will see an improvement in this area.

I enjoyed Holly Jackson’s narration. She did a fantastic job of bringing each of the characters to life. Her distinct voices made it easy to distinguish between each character.

Conclusion/Recommendation
Blood and Ash provided a pleasant escape and I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

Loved it!!

I absolutely loved this story!! The characters are spunky and the heroine is great.. she isn’t whiny, she’s a problem solver and she’s awesome!! Great listen and book!!

Do it

I loved the Unlikable Demon Hunter series so I decided to give this a try, and I have to say I wasn't disappointed. If you're looking for something different, with a snarky main character who seems to stumble her way into and out of trouble, I would definitely recommend this book. I loved the narrator and will definitely get the next book once the audiobook is out.

Great start to a new series

Having purchased the kindle version of this book I was offered the opportunity to try the audible version for free - it didn’t disappoint! Great start to the new series and with a narrator the British ears can listen to without trouble (not always the case with UF set in NA). Skipped straight to the audible version for book 2 and anticipating the 3rd in the series coming soon.

fantastic first book in series

totally loved it, the action the magic the emotional journey and the romance filled with snark...I will be buying the whole series

laugh out loud

I totally loved this book and can't wait for any more in the series.
the humor is spot on and the characters are interesting and engaging.
the best book I've had in ages

Full of sass and snark!

Enjoyable storyline and nice characters. The story gets fun and exciting from the start and is not lagging anytime. It's fun production. I enjoyed the variety of ethnicity in the characters.

Good job narrator.

It's fun

Enjoyed this book. It was funny and interesting, there is plenty of action and highly entertaining.

Awesome

First book for me by DW and really enjoyed it!! Have down loaded book 2.

An even better candidat for a serie here

The narrator is ok, good for main character, iffy for second characters. The story is really good. Rich world of it's own. Am looking forward to the second book.

Cracking start to a new series

This is a fantastic start to a new series, with well thought out plot lines and captivating characters. This book is really fast paced and hard to put down, I devoured it in one sitting. I especially enjoyed the interplay between Ashira and her nemesis, Levi. She's a great character who's clever and funny, with just enough to snark to keep her likeable and not abrasive. The secondary characters are well developed, interesting and really add to the story.

The narrator is the perfect fit for this series, she really brings the story alive.

Great Story

I really enjoyed the story and the performance. I like the main character with nice mix of snark and morals. It was a fun and exciting story to listen to.

Fantastic!!

Brilliant story and fantastic fantasy world created by and for the characters and story. Can't wait for the next books in the series. The audio version was perfect - cleverly narrated so to being all the characters to life.