Book Review: Smoke and Mirrors

Smoke and Mirrors
Jess Haines

Genre: Fantasy Romance

Description
A girl who uses her illusions to fool the world into thinking she's just like all the other magi.

A dragon who sees through her lies. 

Together they just might survive a world that wants to control or destroy them both.  

Kimberly may wield ultimate cosmic power, but even a mage has to pay the rent. No one will hire her for her magic talents until she's got the credentials, so she’s stuck in a crappy rent controlled apartment with her mother, yearning for treats she can't afford at her part time job in a café, counting down the days until she graduates the secret Blackhollow Academy school for magi. Only then will she have the certificate she needs to land her dream job in a coven. 

The problem? She needs a familiar to graduate. 

As an illusionist, she doesn't have the ability to summon or create a familiar of her own. Her only option is to convince a supernatural creature to let her bind it instead. Since having a powerful Other at her beck and call would guarantee her a place in a coven after she graduates—and legendary treasure hoards are an added bonus—she thinks binding a dragon as her familiar will solve all her problems... 

Because sometimes a girl needs a dragon, not a knight.

Maggie's Review: 5 Stars
I really enjoyed this book. Part of having a successful book or series that deals with magic or fantastical things is creating a believable world, and the author did just that. There are the obvious things like whether magical creatures are out in the open or hidden, and who the different beings are (from vampire to dragons to your average magical human), but the book went beyond those details and dealt with discrimination, slavery, powerful leaders that could misuse their influence, and the taboo-ness of magical and non-magical co-mingling. This was a well developed world and I loved to soak in all the details of it.

What I also really enjoyed about this book was the main character, Kimberly. She oozes pride and standing up for what is right and honorable, and yet she has this streak of unsureness and shame brought on by her circumstances in life. My favorite parts of the book were when she had this deep well of pain when people would look down on her, and then she would rise up and stand tall, over-coming great obstacles.

I can't wait to see what happens in book two once it's out!

Please Note: I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author for sharing their work!

Grab your own copy of this book right now on Amazon!

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