Review – Dead Drop (My Immortals) by Carolyn Jewel

Publisher: Self
Publish Date: Jun 15th
How I got this book: ARC from the author

Wallace Jackson has so little magic she expects to be kicked out of her group of street witches being trained to use their gifts and work with demons. No one is more shocked than she is when a powerful demon proves her wrong. And then asks a favor of her.

The demon Palla is a warlord’s enforcer, a stone cold killer. Wallace Jackson is a pacifist witch with a dangerous power. He wants nothing to do with humans until he needs Wallace to help him free his former lover from a living death and release her spirit from unimaginable suffering.
This blurb came from the author’s website.

I was preparing to pick my additions to The Bookpushers’ June edition of “Must Haves” by browsing author websites when I noticed that Jewel had a new release coming up. Upon further investigation it was a novella in her My Immortals series included in an anthology Alphas Unleashed coming out later this month. I am a huge fan of her paranormal works so I read the blurb and first chapter excerpt of her novella and couldn’t wait to find out more information. Jewel was nice enough to send me a copy of her novella, which I think I sat down and promptly read as soon as it arrived on my ereader.

Wallace Jackson spent her life being bullied by other magic users because she had a vast amount of potential but no ability to manifest that potential into action. She coped with being a target by mentally calming herself and trying to diffuse the situation by calming others. While she enjoyed interacting with some of the other street witches, weeks of failure and escalating bullying by one of the other trainees were taking their toll on her happiness. Wallace was sure she would be asked to leave the group because she was not fitting in or showing any signs of progress. Then Palla asked for her help because she was the only one who could accomplish what he needed.

Palla hated humans and especially witches so he did not have any regrets or doubts when it came to carrying out the type of enforcement that resulted in dead people. He made no attempt to hide his extreme dislike of those involved in the training sessions but when he discovered what Wallace was capable of, all of a sudden, he had to deal with knowing that maybe he was wrong.

I really enjoyed the interaction between Palla and Wallace. Their mixture of animosity and reluctant attraction was very enjoyable as their emotions swayed back and forth. The two of them argued, struck sparks off of each other, and learned how to trust while preparing for something neither expected to survive. Dead Drop certainly shook some things up in the world of demons. All of the magic displayed or used to this point has been of the offensive outwardly facing type, active instead of passive. I am now wondering how many other untrained witches with a variety of abilities exist because no one was looking for the right signs. I thought the journey Palla and Wallace took along with the potential impacts really widened Jewel’s world. I am looking forward to seeing where she goes from here.

I give Dead Drop an A-

For more information about the anthology to include blurbs for the rest of the stories please visit Carolyn Jewel’s book page. Buy links will also be posted there when they are available.