Review: A Fistful of Frost - Rebecca Chastain

Madison’s job—and soul—are on thin ice.

Madison Fox is determined to reform Jamie, her half-evil pooka, but the bond linking her to Jamie works both ways. Already, it has manipulated her into bending the rules. If she continues down this path, she could doom her soul. Since her judgment can’t be trusted, a high-ranking inspector now dictates Madison’s every interaction with Jamie, and each directive drives them further apart.

Unfortunately, Madison has bigger issues than the potential degradation of her soul. Winter has struck with a vengeance. Frost moths plague the entire state, reinforcing the artificially frigid temperature. Worse, cold-blooded, soul-stealing enemies are flocking into her region from the north—creatures Madison has little defense against.

With the inspector scrutinizing her every misstep, Madison is in for the battle of her life. If she hopes to survive, she must make an impossible choice: save herself and her region or save Jamie.

An imaginative urban fantasy filled with heart, humor, and plenty of butt-kicking action—A Fistful of Frost is a book you won’t want to miss!

Madison Fox Series:
A Fistful of Evil
A Fistful of Fire
A Fistful of Flirtation (Free Novella)
A Fistful of Frost

Visit Rebecca Chastain's website for more information

Review:
A Fistful of Frost is the third book in the Madison Fox series and there was a huge gap (over two years) between this and the last book published so I'm glad I reread the earlier books before diving back into this one. I think you'd probably be fine to dive straight into this one as Rebecca Chastain does remind us who characters are and some of the history between them but I'd forgotten so much that I really enjoyed my rereads anyway. It's really hard to review this book without giving major spoilers for something that happens in A Fistful of Fire so please bear that in mind before reading this review, it'll be spoiler free for Frost but I'd recommend reading Fire first.

So this book picks up Madison's story shortly after the end of Fire, she's working on strengthening the bond between her and her pooka Jamie but she has an inspector breathing down her neck to make sure she doesn't end up getting tainted by Jamie's evil half. Jamie has gone from newborn to difficult teenager in a flash and it was really hard to see how inspector Pamela's advice to Madison just kept making things so much worse. It was frustrating seeing Madison go against her instincts to follow instructions so I was really glad when she finally figured out where she was going wrong and put her foot down.

This series continues to be a really fun one to read, you have lots of light hearted moments thanks to characters like Jamie, Val and Mr. Bond, there are new evil creatures in town terrorising local residents and causing chaos for Madison on a work front, she's still trying to find time to do basic training and try to get Jamie on the right track and her love life isn't exactly simple either. Madison finally managed to go on a date with hunky vet Alex but as lovely as he is Madison has to keep so many things secret from him that it puts a lot of pressure on her. Then you have her co-worker Niko who is definitely showing an interest and the added advantage there is that he knows exactly what her life is like and she doesn't have to hide anything from him. I'm not really a love triangle fan so I'm hoping this one is resolved soon rather than drag on forever, it's rare that I like both guys but as of now I don't really mind which way things pan out. My only issue would be if she chooses Alex then I think she needs to find a way to let him in on her real life, I don't see how a longterm relationship could work between otherwise.

A Fistful of Frost is a fab instalment of this fun, light-hearted urban fantasy series and I'm already looking forward to the next one!

Source: Received from Rebecca Chastain in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
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Review: A Fistful of Flirtation - Rebecca Chastain

Order your copy of A Fistful of Frost between now on the release date on May 8, and you can receive a copy of the Madison Fox novelette, A Fistful of Flirtation.

Madison finally gets her date with Dr. Love—and if they had picked any other restaurant, she might have had a chance to enjoy it, too . . .

Receive your free gift with purchase here: https://www.rebeccachastain.com/current-giveaways/

Madison Fox Series:
A Fistful of Evil
A Fistful of Fire
A Fistful of Flirtation (Free Novella)
A Fistful of Frost

Visit Rebecca Chastain's website for more information

Review:
If you're familiar with the Madison Fox series you'll know that poor Madison is rather unlucky in love, mainly because things outside of her control keep preventing her from even going on a date with the handsome vet Dr Love. Well the big day is FINALLY happening and Madison is determined not to let anything stand in her way. Things get off to a great start but nothing is ever easy and the last person she wants to see across a crowded restaurant is fellow illuminant enforcer Niko. Now she just has to work out how to rid the restaurant from evil while not letting Alex in on the secret so she can get back to enjoying her date!

This was such a fun read (just like the rest of the series!) and I'm glad we got to see Madison and Alex FINALLY go on their date. Alex must really like Madison considering how many times he's let her postpone things!

In case you want to get your own copy of A Fistful of Flirtation here's how to grab your free copy:

Order your copy of A Fistful of Frost between now on the release date on May 8, and you can receive a copy of the Madison Fox novelette, A Fistful of Flirtation.

Madison finally gets her date with Dr. Love—and if they had picked any other restaurant, she might have had a chance to enjoy it, too . . .

Receive your free gift with purchase here: https://www.rebeccachastain.com/current-giveaways/

Source: Received from Rebecca Chastain for free as part of the preorder giveaway for A Fistful of Frost

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Review: A Fistful of Fire - Rebecca Chastain

Madison Fox is back in hot water.

Madison Fox survived her first week as California’s newest illuminant enforcer, but if her grumpy boss, Mr. Pitt, was impressed, he hasn’t told Madison. In fact, there’s a lot her boss has been closemouthed about, including the dark secret haunting his past.

But Madison’s problems are just igniting. Neighboring regions report an uncharacteristic flare-up of evil, fire-breathing salamanders blaze unchecked across the city, and Black Friday looms. Trapped doing cleanup amid mobs of holiday shoppers, Madison watches from the sidelines as dubious allies insinuate themselves in her region.

As suspicions kindle and the mysterious evil gains strength, Madison must determine who she can trust—and whose rules to follow—before her region and career go up in flames.

Sizzling with adventure and sparking with magic, A Fistful of Fire is fused with Rebecca Chastain’s trademark blend of humor and butt-kicking action.

Madison Fox Series:
A Fistful of Evil
A Fistful of Fire
A Fistful of Flirtation (Free Novella)
A Fistful of Frost

Visit Rebecca Chastain's website for more information

Review:
Although I enjoyed A Fistful of Evil I had a few issues with it, I felt that the series had huge potential though and I'm so glad I gave it a second chance. A Fistful of Fire was everything I'd hoped for and then some, this series has definitely found it's legs now and I'm really excited to see where things go from here.

Madison is still learning what being an Illuminant Enforcer is all about, she doesn't have much experience with the creatures that she might come across and still has a lot to learn about fighting evil but she's hard working and she uses her brain. There were times early on that I started to get really frustrated with her boss for keeping her so in the dark, there was obviously something major going on yet he refused to answer any of her questions and left her bumbling around having to try and figure things out on her own. There was a very good reason behind his actions though and once things started to fall into place I found myself applauding Mr Pitt for being so sneaky. Things definitely worked out for the best even if it did make for a very frustrating experience for Madison. It was interesting to get to meet some of the other Enforcers and Wardens in the surrounding area and hopefully Madison will be able to start training fully now that one particular hurdle has been cleared.

Madison is a fun character to spend time with, she's still a bit of a klutz and is always guaranteed to find any trouble in her immediate vicinity but she's also kind hearted and very warm. She makes mistakes but her heart is in the right place and it's not really her fault for going off and trying things on her own when the people who should be helping her are deliberately keeping her in the dark. I don't even mind that there is a potential love triangle here, what with the sexy vet Alex who has finally asked her out on a date and then her gorgeous co-worker Niko who definitely seems like he might be interested, we have plenty of eye candy going on and I'm not actually sure which of the two guys I want her to pick.

Of course I love Madison's feline sidekick Mr Bond but we had a couple of new additions to the series here and I absolutely loved both Val and Jamie. They both added plenty of humour and I love it when author's come up with different types of supernatural creatures in their books. This series is really coming along nicely, it's fun and light hearted but has some great characters, a lot of humour and some really interesting world building starting to develop. I'm very much looking forward to seeing where things go from here and I'll definitely be looking out for more from Rebecca Chastain in the future.

Source: Received from Rebecca Chastain in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Original Cover

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Review: A Fistful of Evil - Rebecca Chastain

Madison’s new job would be perfect, if not for all the creatures trying to eat her soul…

Madison Fox just learned that her ability to see souls is more than a sight: It’s a weapon for fighting evil. The only problem is she doesn’t have a clue what she’s doing.

On the positive side, her money problems are over and her coworker is smoking hot. On the negative side, evil creatures now actively hunt her, and deadly experiences are becoming the norm.

When she thinks it couldn’t get worse, a powerful evil sets up shop at a local hotel’s video game convention, and it’s got its eye on more than the gaming geeks—it's hungry for Madison’s soul. Madison needs to become an expert illuminant enforcer overnight to save her job, her region...and her life.

For a wildly imaginative story packed full of supernatural horrors, kick-butt action, and laugh-out-loud moments, you won’t want to miss this series starter.

Madison Fox Series:
A Fistful of Evil
A Fistful of Fire
A Fistful of Flirtation (Free Novella)
A Fistful of Frost

Visit Rebecca Chastain's website for more information

Review:
Madison has always been able to see people's souls but it's something she tries very hard not to think about since it's only ever caused her trouble. After losing her job she applies for a position at a bumper sticker company, she knows she's woefully under qualified but she's getting desperate and something about the ad makes her take a chance. What she didn't realise is that her soul-sight comes with some much more useful abilities and now she suddenly finds herself working as the area's Illuminant Enforcer. Madison has no idea what she's doing but the pay is fantastic and she likes the idea of ridding the world of evil so surely she can pick things up as she goes along?

A Fistful of Evil is a promising start to a new fun and light hearted urban fantasy series. The blurb likens Madison to Stephanie Plum and I think that's a really suitable comparison because the series has a very similar feel to it even though it has supernatural elements. Madison manages to get herself into the same kind of crazy situations that Stephanie does and I laughed a lot while I was reading this book. I'm not going to focus on the similarities because I do think this series more than stands out on it's own merits but I do think if you enjoy the Stephanie Plum books and you're a fan of the paranormal then it would definitely be worth giving these books a try too.

Madison is a likeable main character, she's a bit of a klutz and she's hopelessly unprepared for her new job but that isn't entirely her own fault since her predecessor was so eager to get out the door that he willingly dropped her in at the deep end without even warning her colleagues she had no prior training. She may be inexperienced but her heart is in the right place and even when she makes a few silly decisions you could always understand why everything played out the way it did. Madison wants to learn, she wants to be good at her job and she's willing to work hard to learn how to use her abilities so I have every confidence that she'll improve as she starts to gain confidence and experience.

The one place that the story fell down for me was when Madison had to go undercover at a convention. I really didn't like the way all the characters at the convention were so stereotypical, especially the way the only women there were all "booth babes" in tiny outfits just there to be ogled at by the nerdy guys. This whole section just made me uncomfortable and I didn't like the way Madison was so judgemental of everyone around her. It left a bit of a nasty after taste in my mouth so unfortunately the book lost a star for that.

I don't want to focus on the negative though because it was far outweighed by the positives. I enjoyed the humour surrounding Madison's incredible ability to find trouble and the amusing bumper stickers that kicked off each chapter, I liked what I've seen of her work colleagues, I enjoyed the plot and the range of interesting supernatural creatures and I loved Madison's feline sidekick Mr. Bond! I definitely have high hopes for this series and I'm looking forward to reading the next book A Fistful of Fire.

Source: Received from Rebecca Chastain in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Original Cover

Paperback / Kindle: