Review: Blood and Ash by Deborah Wilde

In a world where there are those with magic and those without, Ashira Cohen works hard as a private detective without magic. She picks up a missing person's case and begins to work it using her prodigious skills. Along the way, after being hit hard on the head, she sees a ghostly being leave one person and jump into another. This complicates matters as it is evidence that Ashira has somehow developed magical abilities when she has never shown any inkling of magical talent up until now and most magic users show their talent by puberty.

Ashira ends up partnering with Levi, the head of the regional magic community. She's known him a long time and they have somewhat of an adversarial relationship. Levi wants to be the boss of her. And Ashira is fiercely independent.

As Ashira investigates, she runs across a mysterious organization, a hidden realm, and golems among other things. Ashira struggles to work with Levi. He brings out the snark in her and drives her up a wall. Will she find the missing girl before her own blood is spilled?

I really enjoyed this book. It's urban fantasy which I do enjoy. I liked the magic system. The way that the magic users are registered and under a regional leader reminded me a little of the X-Men. The way it's set up, it has the potential for conflict between magic users and the mundane people who don't all trust them.

Ashira is a likable character. She is stubborn almost to a fault. And she is loaded with snark. She makes for a good strong female lead. Levi is a little bossy, but he comes by it honestly being the regional director of the magic users. He is handsome too. The scenes where they work together have good dialog.

What else did I like? The book is fast-paced and full of action. Golems are just one example of what they encounter.

There are a couple of racy sex scenes. They are well-written, but definitely on the hot side.

Overall I give this book 5 stars. It's a good start to a new series. I look forward to more adventures with Ashira and Levi.

Blood and Ash by Deborah Wilde was published January 14th, 2020 by Te Da Media.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. This did not affect my opinion.