Elemental Assassin Goodness

I reviewed Spider's Bite by Jennifer Estep back in February (read here), and loved the book, and the main character Gin Blanco. I'm excited that the second and third books in the series will BOTH be released in 2010, and the author has written TWO more short stories that she is sharing for free on her website.

Web of Lies, the sec­ond book in the Ele­men­tal Assas­sin series, will be released on May 25. Below is the summary for Web of Lies:

You might know me as the Spider, the most feared assassin in the South. I’m retired now, but trouble still has a way of finding me. Like the other day when two punks tried to rob my popular barbecue joint, the Pork Pit. Then there was the barrage of gunfire on the restaurant. Only, for once, those kill shots weren’t aimed at me. They were meant for Violet Fox. Ever since I agreed to help Violet and her grandfather protect their property from an evil coalmining tycoon, I’m beginning to wonder if I’m really retired. So is Detective Donovan Caine. The only honest cop in Ashland is having a real hard time reconciling his attraction to me with his Boy Scout mentality. And I can barely keep my hands off his sexy body. What can I say? I’m a Stone elemental with a little Ice magic thrown in, but my heart isn’t made of solid rock. Luckily, Gin Blanco always gets her man . . . dead or alive.

Venom, the third book in the series, will be out on Sept. 28, 2010.

Here is the summary (From the Amazon site):

It's hard to be a badass assassin when a giant is beating the crap out of you. Luckily, I never let pride get in the way of my work. My current mission is personal: annihilate Mab Monroe, the Fire elemental who murdered my family. Which means protecting my identity, even if I have to conceal my powerful Stone and Ice magic when I need it most. To the public, I'm Gin Blanco, owner of Ashland's best barbecue joint. To my friends, I'm the Spider, retired assassin. I still do favors on the side. Like ridding a vampire friend of her oversized stalker—Mab's right-hand goon who almost got me dead with his massive fists. At least irresistible Owen Grayson is on my side. The man knows too much about me, but I'll take my chances. Then there's Detective Bria Coolidge, one of Ashland's finest. Until recently, I thought my baby sister was dead. She probably thinks the same about me. Little does she know, I'm a cold-blooded killer . . . who is about to save her life.

THE FREE SHORT STORIES
The descriptions below for the short stories are from the author's newsletter:

The first story is Web of Death and takes place in between the events of Spider’s Bite and Web of Lies. Read Here.

The sec­ond story, Web of Deceit, takes place when Gin is in her teens and focuses on her first solo mis­sion as the Spi­der. It’s told from Fletcher Lane’s point of view.
Read here.

I love when authors give us these fun shorts for free. By the way, aren't the covers kick-ass?

~Moonsanity