I need to read Midnight Thief now!
What a great and exciting story. This girl is on the hunt for revenge. She needs to learn to become a deadly assassin. There's not much more I need to tell you to pull you in, right?!
I am so happy I read this book. The characters had me drawn in like a magnet pulled me. The plot of the story had me on the edge of my seat through the whole thing. 
It was just a fantastic intro into this series!

Boy this book was pretty good and it really kept my attention throughout the whole book. I loved both of the main characters, which were Zivah, and Dineas, both of them have a sad history. Zivah has a incurable disease called rosemarked, but she won't let that get her down. Dineas was captured and tortured, I believe he said for a year. And of course due to that he has his walls up. So Zivah is a healer and with this disease or actually with is more of a sickness, some people recover and is fine, while others get the rosemarked and that means they can get the sickness again. This guy named Arka, I am not going to tell you much about him but he is important in the book. Well anyways he was at Zivah's camp and got the sickness but wasn't rosemarked. Zivah was the one that saved his life, and he invited her to come to his hometown to learn more about medicine, etc. I know I am not explaining this very well, so I am sorry. But if you read this book you'll understand were I am going with this.

So Zivah and Dineas meet up and for reasons I am not going to mention, decide to go were Arka is from, but to do this Dineas can't go as he is now, for reasons again I am not going to mention. For these two totally different people to do this Zivah makes a type of potion that will make Dineas forget who he is at times. Zivah also makes another one that will make him remember at times when she gives it to him. Plus she makes one more that will give him his memory back permanently.

It's very interesting how different Dineas is without his memories, when his this way, his just so carefree, and really has feelings for Zivah. And you can tell that she has feelings for him as well, but since she has a death sentence on her, she doesn't want him to have these feelings. And of course she doesn't want to have them for him either.

So really no romance in at least this book, but who knows about the next book.

I know I am not doing a really great job reviewing this book but it's really an interesting book, and I finished it in a day so it really kept me interested in what was going to happen and how the book was going to end. Which was in a cliffhanger but yet satisfying place for right now. And I will definitely be reading the next one in this series, to see what is going to happen next. Because I really hope good things are going to happen to these two characters, who I hope windup with one another, if Zivah can get cured somehow.

I am so glad that I requested and was approved for this book, from Netgalley. 

Until September 13th, The Midnight Thief ebook is only 99 cents!

To celebrate the sale and the release of the second book in the series, Daughter of Dusk, I am hosting a giveaway for some great goodies!

Go to the original post to enter the giveaway!

Started 4/07/2015
Finished 4/08/2015

Kyra - is not the typical helpless heroine I am used to seeing. I like that she has a skill set suited to her backstory (no amazing unexplainable skills). She is a valuable contributor to the people around her, not just a pretty face that needs constant saving. I do feel that she is somewhat naive about the politics of her world and the people she is dealing with but that is not unusual for a character of her age.

Tristam - he seems to be the atypical knight in shining armor. He is heroic, noble, honorable, and puts duty before self, yada, yada, yada. I am not truly impressed with the character as of yet. I do like that he is not an automaton, he feels true emotions about the loss of Jack and makes, what seems to be, a legitimate decision as a result. His behavior toward Kyra seems a bit forced. It may be that I have not seen enough of his perspective to connect with him but it all seems a little bland.

Malikel - here is a character I am interested in. It is unfortunate that he is a side character that is used to move the plot for Tristam. I find myself wanting to know more about his history and activities than I do for Tristam. I am hopeful that his character will be flushed out more as the story flows.

Willem - this guy is as slimy as they come. A true politician, which is not a compliment. He is not an active character and only pops up when needed to move the plot but when he does it is instant tension.

Demon Riders - and here is the main reason for this book. These guys are awesome. This character set is the reason I kept reading this. I actually wish there was more of them in the book, especially the kittens, but I suppose that will come later.

The Assassin’s Guild - James is a rather typical bad guy for me. He is, naturally, handsome and charming and everything a bad guy needs to be to get the heroine to trust him. Of course there are googly eyes between Kyra and James, though thankfully they are brief and, I feel, more a result of proximity than insta-love. She begins to see through him rather quickly which spares me the annoyance of this little romance.
The remaining characters are murky for me. None seem to really stand out, not even Rand, though Bacchus makes an effort to be big and brooding. I don’t have a clear picture of any of them as they are all secondary to James. He is the Guild, not them.

Plot - The plot is compelling but not totally immersive. I was aware of how far I was moving through the book rather than being lost in the world. I like the action throughout. It is well paced and doesn’t bog down in the minor details. I have lost track of the amount of time that is supposed to have elapsed occasionally but it is not a huge detriment to the book. The connection between the Guild and the Demon Riders was intriguing and played well throughout the plot. Kyra’s connection to the demon riders seemed obvious after her first encounter. But I still enjoyed the interaction between her and Pashla. I am hoping for more interaction between the clan and Kyra as the series continues.

I like the writing. It isn’t over the top or too flowerly. Blackburne doesn’t nitpick the details too much which can slow books down and begin to feel like a textbook. The pacing is well done with enough quiet moments to learn about the characters while not becoming an introspective journey through anyone’s mind. The world is solid. There isn’t much beyond Forge, but this isn’t high fantasy or sci-fi that would require massive world building. The “magic” elements in this fantasy are very subtle which makes them more believable for the world. For all the talk of Griffins and such the only real oddity is the demon riders. The world doesn’t seem suited to outright wizardry so the choice to limit the magic to such a level was smart on Blackburne’s part.