[Book Review] Cold Blooded by Amanda Carlson & Community Coffee and Chicory New Orleans Blend

Title: Cold Blooded
Series: Jessica McClain, #3
Author: Amanda Carlson
Publisher: Orbit/Hachette Book Group
Publication date: October 8th 2013
Page Count: 323 pages
Age Rating: Adult (explicit sexual scene, violence)
How I got my hot little hands on it: Received a free ARC to review

Magic, mayhem and madness explode in this third installment in the Jessica McClain series.

Jessica McClain is on the run… again.

Finally reunited with Rourke, Jessica arrives home to find that her best friend has been kidnapped, her father has vanished, and the supernatural Sects — witches, demons, and sorcerers — don’t even have the courtesy to wait until she is unpacked to attack.

Now, mastering her powers as the sole female werewolf might not be enough to save them. Thrown together in a shaky truce with the Vampire Queen, Jessica must show all the different Sects what the true meaning of “the enemy of my enemy” is or her father will die…

My Review

Cold Blooded is the third book in the Jessica McClain series and it’s the best one yet! This book continues in the same vein as the first two – action packed and full of twists and turns and plot lines braided together in an ongoing, richly detailed tapestry.

Jessica McClain, only female werewolf in existence and reincarnation of something important as foretold by ancient prophecy, is targeted by supernatural sects who all want a piece of her power – and they’re willing to go through her friends and family to get it. In this installment of the series, we spend a lot of time with the Vampire Sect and their queen Eudoxia, whom seek to entrap Jessica through trickery while she’s trying to save her father. Witches, Sorcerers, Werewolves, and Underworld baddies all make important appearances. Alliances are struck across Sect lines and the supernatural world as they know it is thrown into turmoil and war.

My favorite part of this book was finally getting some interaction (and action) between Jessica and Rourke and seeing how well they play off each other. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of them together in future books, but I doubt I will since romance plays second fiddle (or even last fiddle) to action in the series – completely understandable since these are urban fantasy books and not paranormal romance – still, a girl can dream.

As old plots thicken, new plot lines are added, and the stakes get higher and higher, this series just continues to get better and better. Can’t wait for the next one.

The majority of Cold Blooded takes place at the Vampire Queen’s mansion in New Orleans, a city which has its very own style of coffee – a dark roast with chicory added in a tradition stemming from old world times when chicory was added as filler to make coffee stores last, a tradition still carried out today for its unique flavor. To get that real, authentic New Orleans coffee feel, I recommend Community Coffee and Chicory New Orleans Blend.