Mindgames (Cassie Scot #3) by Christine Amsden
Age Group: New Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Release Date: May 15, 2014
Book Description:
Evan broke Cassie’s heart two months ago, and she still doesn’t know why. She throws herself into family, friends and her new job at the sheriff’s department, but nothing helps.
The only thing that finally allows her heal and move on is the love of a new man, mind mage Matthew Blair. Cassie finds him... irresistible
Matthew may also be the only one who can help keep the nonmagical residents of Eagle Rock from going crazy over the murder of a beloved pastor’s wife.
It looks like a sorcerer is to blame, but while Cassie tries to figure out who, others take matters into their own hands. With tensions running so hot, a single spark might set Eagle Rock ablaze.
I was really excited when I was asked if I wanted to review Mind Games by Christine Amsden. I had already read the first two books in her "Cassie Scot" series, and couldn't wait to get my hands on this third installation. And I'm happy to say that Amsden did not disappoint.
For those of you who have also followed along on the Cassie Scot journey with me, I'll let you know this right away – there isn't a lot of Cassie and Evan interaction to cling on to. As someone who definitely shipped these two (regardless of the many problems they have to work out), I was a little disappointed that I didn't get many scenes between them. I missed their back and forth banter and the bond that they obviously have, but I was still able to enjoy the book.
Evan is still dealing with a secret that he learned in the last book (that I won't spoil for you, you'll just have to catch up on this series!), and is trying to keep his distance from Cassie. Of course, Cassie doesn't take too kindly to this forced separation, and is trying to figure out what went wrong and when. Since Cassie Scot is nothing if she's not a detective, she slowly starts to piece together the clues toward Evan's behavior and tries to come up with the reason why he left.
While the town Eagle Rock where Cassie lives has always been home to sorcerers, and the non-magical folk have more or less come to terms with magic among them, that isn't so much the case in this story. Tensions between magic users and non-users are at an all time high here, and things are geared to explode at the slightest provocation. This level of tension was great for the book. It made sure that the reader was always on the edge of his or her seat, because we never know what's going to happen. The thing with mob mentality is that it's chaotic, and you never know what actions the mob will take next.
A lot of this book deals with Cassie's internal struggle. I think we get a lot more of her thoughts than we did in the first two, as she has so many personal problems that she is trying to sort out. Not only does she have to deal with all of the regular drama, but she's also dating a new sorcerer, Matthew, who brings concerns all of his own to the table.
As always, I highly recommend the Cassie Scot books. If you haven't started reading this series yet and you like mystery as well as paranormal, you should really start. The characters are well thought out and all have their own personalities and quirks, and the stories are interesting from beginning to end.
Christine Amsden has been writing science fiction and fantasy for as long as she can remember. She loves to write and it is her dream that others will be inspired by this love and by her stories. Speculative fiction is fun, magical, and imaginative but great speculative fiction is about real people defining themselves through extraordinary situations. Christine writes primarily about people and it is in this way that she strives to make science fiction and fantasy meaningful for everyone.
Christine currently lives in the Kansas City area with her husband, Austin, who has been her biggest fan and the key to her success. They have two beautiful children.
Thank you so much for being part of my tour and for your wonderful review!
ReplyDeleteSomeone asked me yesterday which book in this series was the hardest to write. The answer is a bit complicated, but Mind Games was by far the hardest first draft to write, largely because the relationship between Cassie and Evan is my favorite part of the story and they had to take a necessary step backwards in this book. Stolen Dreams (book 4) is the final volume and I'm excited to see what my loyal followers will think of how I resolved things.