Widow’s Web by Jennifer Estep
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received an e-Arc of Widow's Web before it was released. But, I made the mistake of catching a whiff of something that made me a bit wary to jump right into the story. Then the audiobook was released and I bought that on the day of the release because I love Lauren Fortgang's narration of the series. Finally, I decided to take the leap because I wanted to honor my promise to review the book and now Deadly Sting is being released on March 26, 2013. Time to suck it up and catch up.

I have to admit that I love this series. I am always looking for great, woman assassin books, and Gin Blanco is that and more. She has the kick-butt elemental powers as well as some great fighting skills. I have to admit that there was one pet peeve for this book. The use of the word "lover" drove me nuts. I guess I'm not overly fond of it anyway so there was a bias to start. For me, there was this love of Owen who was a bit of a disappointment in this book. Even Eva was disappointed and she is his sister. But, I have to admit that Gin has had so much loss and pain in her life I was kind of hoping that her personal life could be one area that she could have a break while she helps right wrongs or protect the innocent. But, I did have a bit of an epiphany or maybe I noticed this in previous books but put words to the thoughts this time. Gin starts out fighting the battles of others then for the most part the victim has to step in and help protect her and themselves before the problem is fixed. Maybe there is a lesson that was always there but I missed it because I was always so engrossed in the fight sequences and cool powers to see it before now. Maybe I saw it when Gin fought the vampire and tried to help his wife. That one was really more evident though I didn't take note.

This story was about how the past comes back to haunt you. For Owen he learned that a prolific set of circumstances that shaped a large portion of his life were misinterpreted. But, he still allowed that mistake to shape a lot of his decisions in Widow's Web. It was the one time I wanted to slap him and yell wake up, even after he woke up, he seemed to act weak. It was a disappointment because I really loved him as a love interest for Gin. But, I'm not quite sure he deserves her. I don't think that Gin's run-in with Donovan in the last book was anywhere near the same annoying circumstances as what happened with Owen and his former fiancée. She did not show any weakness for him and even took a stand to protect the feelings of Donovan's fiancée.

There were some decent fight scenes though not quite to level of previous books. I hope Deadly Sting steps them up again. Widow's Web read more like it was about personal issues than fighting the bad guy, though the bad guy existed. I'm ready for Deadly Sting and cannot wait for the audiobook to be released!

Review can also be seen on LadyTechie's Book Musing http://LadyTechiesBookMusings.blogspo...