Magic Bound (The Hybrid Trilogy #1) by G.K. DeRosa
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#Coming_of_Age, #Fantasy, #Paranormal
Dying isn’t the worst thing that could happen at seventeen, right?
Growing up on the streets of New York City, I imagined my death probably about a thousand times. Getting hit by a stray bullet, ticking off an angry drunk, or even stepping off the sidewalk too quickly and getting run over by a yellow cab. But this… this was something I would never have imagined, not in a million years.
I’m Aria Negrescu, and my name is pretty much the only thing in my life that turned out to be true. I was the poor little orphan girl who grew up bouncing around from foster home to foster home, each worse than the one before.
But all of that changed one night when I met him.
Now an unstoppable hunter wants to kill me, and if I’m going to survive I have to discover who I really am. And that means trusting a mysterious stranger I know nothing about. A whole supernatural world exists right under my nose, and I’m about to become a part of it. Whether I like it or not.
Heavy footfalls sounded behind us. I spun my head around like the girl from The Exorcist. “Oh crap!” I dropped Ricky’s arm and turned toward the giant dagger-wielding man in the leather coat about a block back and racing toward us.
Ricky turned around and his jaw dropped. “Aw, hell no!”
“Run!”
I yanked Ricky’s hand and we sprinted up the quiet streets of Amsterdam with the raging lunatic close behind. The roar of my pounding heart drowned out the sound of my stilettos hitting the sidewalk as I ran. I pumped my arms like a madwoman hoping to make up for the heels that were totally slowing me down. Ricky was a few paces in front of me, and I knew I was holding him back. I glanced behind me, my short hair whipping across my face. The Venator was gaining on us. “Ricky just go!” I yelled.
“No way! I’m not leaving you.”
My breath rasped out hard and fast, my lungs burning from the exertion. I opened my mouth to yell something back, but I was too winded. I was so not a runner.
I cursed under my breath. The blur of the 98th Street sign was still five blocks away, and I could almost feel the Venator panting at the back of my neck. I hazarded a quick glance back. He was only a few yards behind me, his white teeth glowing against his charcoal skin and the inky night.
His footsteps smacked against the cement, louder and louder.
I summoned every ounce of strength I had left to keep running. Ricky was a half a block ahead of me now, and I hoped he would keep going and never look back.
Then the pounding footfalls stopped. I twisted my head around as I sprinted. What? The Venator was gone.
A strange whooshing assaulted my ears. I looked up. The hunter dropped down from the sky. I dove out of the way just in time as the monster crashed to the pavement, only inches away.
I hit the cement hard, my hands and knees skidding across rough asphalt. Son of a B! Shooting pain ran up my bones, making my teeth chatter.
The Venator stomped toward me with a dagger in each hand. I kicked off my heels and jumped to my feet. I was definitely not going down without a fight. His gaze honed in on mine as he stepped forward, his black eyes inspecting me cautiously.
“Stregiri,” he mumbled, his breath a disgusting mix of rotten eggs and old man farts.
It was the same word he’d uttered last time. I tried to commit it to memory so I could tell Damian—assuming, of course, that I survived this encounter, which at the moment seemed highly unlikely. He lunged at me with one dagger raised high, his three hundred-plus pound body hurtling toward me, and I did the only thing I could think of. I threw my hand forward and pointed the mace directly into his black soulless eyes and sprayed. He let out a thunderous growl as he clapped his meaty hands over his face. The daggers clattered to the ground.
4 out of 5 (very good)
Magic Bound is the first book of The Hybrid Trilogy and features some characters from the Wilder series. In this story, Aria is working on getting her GED, has a job as a barista, and a dead-end boyfriend that borders on the abusive. One night, she meets Damian but tells him straight up that she is with someone. In an unknown turn of events, she is accepted into a college that she can't even remember applying for. And then it turns out that it is too good to turn down as she has somewhere to live and all expenses paid. Things move swiftly on as Aria's life changes in ways she would never have imagined.
This is a fast-paced story that is full of humour and sass. Aria is a good female lead, although she does seem deliberately dense at times! More in the way that if she doesn't acknowledge what is going on/what everyone else says/gut instinct etc, then it's not really happening. I wasn't sure about the whole Nico and Damian situation, as love triangles really aren't my thing. I don't mind if it's a relationship with three ;) but not a triangle.
This is very well written, with no editing or grammatical errors that disrupted my reading flow. I found it to be a nice touch having some crossover characters, but also that Aria still gets her own story. A fun, enjoyable book that is definitely recommended by me.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
G.K. De Rosa has been an avid reader from a very young age. In fact, before she could even read, she tried fooling everyone into thinking that she could. At the precocious age of two, while living in Italy, she had memorized an entire children’s book in Italian and expertly turned the pages at the exact right moments of the story. As she grew up, she always enjoyed literature, no doubt having been instilled with a love of story telling from her early years in Catholic school where she was greatly influenced by exemplary teachers who taught her the value of English and Literature. Though she did not pursue writing in college and instead went for the more traditional route of International Business inspired by her love for travel and all things foreign, after a move to New York City, she found her creative writing side calling once again. She began writing a restaurant review blog, City Lights and Tasty Bites, detailing her other passion – food! The hectic hustle and bustle of the city, combined with long commuting times gave her the opportunity to spend more time reading and rekindled a lost love. After reading countless books in many diverse genres over the two years in New York City, and returning to her home state of Florida, she felt compelled to write something for herself. She had always felt particularly drawn to Young Adult novels and having been an eternal romantic at heart, a fantasy romance was a natural choice. She currently lives in South Florida with her real life Prince Charming and their fur baby, Nico the German Shepherd.
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