Justice Calling (The Twenty-Sided Sorceress Book 1)

This first book if the series was a little short, but a great start to a series. Although someone needs to watch the kindle editing- lots if typos and missing words. Still, it didn't take away from the fast-paced story line.

I read this book in a matter of hours, it's a lot shorter than I realized when I bought it. The concept is very interesting, and it has a lot of potential. I enjoyed the science of the main character's powers. The humor is witty and nerdy, the kind of stuff that has me sporting a smirk and a want to quote it in a tweet.
However, the whole thing felt very rushed with little character development. The love story between Jade (main character) and Alek (main love interest) is rushed, silly, predictable, uninteresting, boring, unoriginal, and just plain cheesy. The love story is what's stopping me from reading the sequels. The characters themselves have potential to be deep, thought out characters, but the author seems to just not care about that at all. All Jade seems to care about whenever she sees Alek, no matter how dire the situation, is his chiseled jaw and tight thighs. I constantly found myself rolling my eyes. No matter how handsome a character is, if he's as dull as an android, it turns it into a lame story.

Basically, the story and its characters have potential, but the way the romance unfolds is just stupid and lame. That's honestly the best way I can describe it. I regret to insult any writer's work, but it really is just a surface level attraction.

As I said before, I will not be buying the sequels.

It was good. Made for a good introduction of the characters and outlined a future for the characters to grow in. First person perspective of the main character. Great Book. Will see where the series leads.

The author obviously has a good imagination, and although there is nothing outright new presented (such is the problem with this genre) she does a nice job of re-imagining existing supernatural ideas into her own particular idiom. What I did not enjoy was the feeling that after the first couple of chapters the book was neglected until a deadline was coming up or something, and the rest of the book felt like they took their outline and rushed through it. Upon finishing the book, I actually felt tempted to rewrite the damn thing myself, because the ideas are all there but the writing is lazy and disappointing. I don't know if this is usual for this author or just a lapse in ability, so if someone can recommend a better book, I'd be willing to give her another chance, but this book is a definite dud in my opinion.

I thought the author did a great job with this book, creating an interesting character that you can like and empathize with. The story was good, and kept my attention. Looking forward to reading more of Ms. Bellet's work in this series!

This book hits the ground running and doesn't stop. I love that the author is so obviously a geek in a lot of respects, not just gaming. And I love that Jades talismans a 20 sides die!
She doesn't take long stretches of exposition to acclimate you to the world, drops you straight into it and weaves the world building in quite well.
Love Jade and her friends, very three dimensional. The only quibble I have is that I didn't buy the romantic relationship starting at the end of the book, wouldve liked more time taken, another book maybe, seemed rushed because there wasn't enough interaction between them. Other than that, it was a very fun, fast read.

While there is nothing new here, it's entertaining enough. I think I'd have preferred to see it bulked into a full novel, instead a novella, in order to allow for more plot and character development. But it was at least a full story arc, with a beginning, middle and end. Yay and thank bloody god for that. I liked what I knew of the characters and, though the plot wasn't really given the time to deepen, it's not so rush as to be unenjoyable. I'd read more of the series.

This was a fun little story. I really enjoyed the author's references to video games and other pop culture/nerdom. I wish that the story had been fleshed out a little more. I definitely wanted to learn more about the characters that Jade was friends with.

I'm definitely going to continue reading the series as I'm curious to learn more about the lore and the world that the author has created. I'm interested in learning more about the other supernatural beings that inhabit this interesting universe.

My biggest complaint is that the story was definitely on the short side. But thanks to the world that the author has created, I'll definitely be returning for the next book in the series.

In the tradition of Patricia Briggs and Jim Butcher, Bellet's characters are interesting, well drawn, and well matched to an excellent story. I look forward to future installments of what I hope will be an extended and frequently updated series.

The ideas are nice. The book is way too short. the store says it has 154 pages. They're also accounting for 2 chapters of the next book in that page count so you're under 150 pages for just the first book. (edit: I just looked at my ebook and there are 120 pages of actual story)

I'm hoping the author fleshes out the characters more and the subsequent books are longer. It only took me a couple hours to read this book which was more of an outline for future works.

edit: I looked at the other books and they are just as short. I'd consider the series a bunch of short stories.

I really enjoyed reading this book. The characters were believable. The storyline was familiar with other stories about sorcery and shape shifting. But, the plot has a nice twist from other fantasy books I've read in this genre.

One of the hallmarks for a good book, for me, is that, instead of getting to sleep at a decent hour I find myself sucked into the story until I've either finished at some time in the wee hours or because exhaustion overtakes me. Another hallmark is that I feel compelled to pick up the next book in the series immediately. Justice Calling met both of those criteria for a good book.

I found the world intriguing, and I want to learn more about the history of Jade Crow, the main character. I found the information given enough to whet my appetite to learn more about her in subsequent stories, while providing enough to have the story make sense.

The only reason I'm not giving this novel 5 stars is because the author's writing style, at times, pulled me out of the story with modern colloquial language (this is the first book I've enjoyed where the character uses the phrase 'awesomesauce', as an example). For me, it was a little disruptive as this is not a style of writing I read. However, as this story is set in a modern Idaho town, it makes sense within the setting, and I'm willing to put my personal distraction aside in enjoyment of the story that the author tells. It also didn't keep me from immediately jumping the 2nd book in the series to the top of my to-be-read pile.

I heartily recommend this book to anyone who enjoys urban fantasy, or even sci-fi/fantasy in general. You won't be disappointed.

Nice! This was my first read from this author and I loved it. The main female character is not a new type of paranormal character, but I did find it interesting that the author made her somewhat good. There's still a little bit of darkness in some of her actions because of her nature, but it's the first time I've read about a non evil sorceress. The series has promise and I can't wait for more.

The story was enjoyable, but it happened so quickly and without any time spent on any aspect of it, it didn't feel like you had enough time to understand anything before it was over. This was not exactly a groundbreaking new concept, especially in urban fantasy, but if you can get it for cheap, it's worth reading if you want someone like Harry Dresden or Ree Reyes, but haven't found anything else.

I'd go with Geekomancy or Dresden Files first, though.

Not bad, mostly a quick set up of plot and intro to the players. Heavy handed nerd references aside it's a fairly superficial girl hero fights the baddies. The fact that her friends are animal shifters is almost incidental. They change into animals aaaaand stand there.

I read the whole thing in less time than it takes my coffeemaker to turn off. Overall I would say if Kate Daniels or Mercy Thompson are an all you can eat buffet where you can return again and again for satisfying goodness, this story was a funsize Kit Kat.

Justice calling wasn't a bad book persay but it also has nothing to set it apart from the rest in the genre. There's a decent premise for the plot with some development but I was able to put the book down. I didn't get back to reading it again until I'd run out of other books to read. The relationship between the main character and her tiger shifter beau leaves something to be desired in the build up of tension (there was none) and it lacks 'zing'. Some of these faults may be a result of it being a novella length piece. In the end though, life and death scenarios alone don't make for a good plot and this book is an example of that.

I don't run into a lot of compulsively page-turning books. That great thing about this book is that it's *fun.* From the very beginning, the ante's being raised and the tensions are building, which is great, but never in a ponderous, grimdark kind of way. The characters are bright and vivid, full of sass and snark in the face of certain doom. I never left the edge of my seat, but I also never stopped cheering them on.

Jade is a sorceress in hiding. She spends her days running a comic shop and gaming with her friends. All is normal until a Justice shows up believing that she is a key to several shifter deaths and her friend Harper, a fox shifter, discovers her mother immobilized as a fox. In order to help her friends, Jade has to come out of hiding. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to the next. It is a stand alone novel-no cliffhanger.

Justice Calling gets 5 stars for a great female main character with a terrible past. Her friends are funny, although I am not a gamer, so some of the references went over my head. Justice Calling is very short, but it was free. If the rest of the books are this short, I will not buy them. I prefer to spend my money on a book that takes longer than an hour to read.

The protagonist is a sorceress with shifter friends in a small Idaho town. This short novella has a lively plot and engaging characters. I've only read a little of paranormal, but this is the best of what I've seen. It's well written, typo free. This is the first of a series of novellas. The overall story arc is driven by the sorceress fear for her ex and mentor, a very powerful sorcer. Problem. If you eat the heart of another sorcer, you get their powers. Makes you wonder how there are any sorcers left.

I decided to get this book because it seemed interesting and it was free. Now I'm really glad I did. Jade is a very likable, if conflicted character. Trying to lay low to avoid her ex-boyfriend, Jasper, an extremely dangerous sorcerer, Jade ends up in the crosshairs of Alec. Alex is a Justice for the shifters who comes as seeking Jade to execute her. Chaos, confusion, and dire calamity ensue and a good book is born. I can't wait for the next story in this series.

So first things first, I did like this book. I liked the idea of a sorceress hiding from a crazy ex-boyfriend, but I have a few hang-ups with this book as well, which is why I do not feel I can rate it any higher than 3 stars. First off, it was ridiculously short. It was 120 pages long on my Kindle and I literally read it in 45 minutes to an hour. Also, because it was so short, the story didn't develop so much as everything just happened at once. There was no opportunity to really develop the characters, explore the main protagonist's Jade's background more than just as a cursory glance-over, or even fully flesh out the relationships between characters. Something else that just kind of bugged me was the fact that all of the preternatural individuals in this story seemed immortal, even though Jade said they weren't. For instance, shifters live for a really long time, but it seemed like they never die either; same thing went for the sorcerer ex-boyfriend. If the sorcerer ex-boyfriend is immortal, does that mean Jade, as a sorceress, is also immortal by default? It just bothered me a bit that everyone seemed to be immortal and no one only lived the "human" lifespan. The romance in the book also seemed very much like an afterthought. Like the author realized that she could categorize her novel as a paranormal romance if she just threw in a hot guy and typical hot guy comments, like Jade wanted him to grope her; it didn't sit well with me and I would have liked to have seen a romance fully blossom over the course of the entire book, rather than as an afterthought. Lastly, there were a few minor punctuation errors, but for people who aren't grammar freaks and look for things like that (like I do), then they are easy enough to overlook. They do not detract from understanding the story. Like I said, I did enjoy this book, and will probably purchase the next book in the series, but if the next book doesn't provide more in the way of a fully developed storyline and character development, then I probably won't be revisiting it if a third novel comes out.

I thoroughly enjoyed this quick read, I love the fact that our heroine is a nerd. I love the fact that she isn't all powerful. There is a lot to this story that needs polishing, there is a lot that will improve with more writing. I'm happy with my purchase and I will be buying the second one in the series.

I like the storyline. I like the writing style. Dont much care for the teenaged angst B.S. , but I'm 62 yrs old and not the best judge. Do Not care for the length! This was not a novel. This was not a short story. This was a pamplet. Read it in less than 45 min, and started on second CHAPTER of story. Am I going to buy and read them all? Yes. Am I gonna feel taken? Yes. Does it bother me that I am reduced to reading Young Adult stories because my favorite authors write at a glacial pace? Yes.

It made me snicker repeatedly with it's "Our heroine is a HUGE GEEK" shtick and ended in a way that was conclusive enough to be satisfying but left enough hanging to make me want to read the next book.
Despite some rather dark plots material, the story is light and fun reading. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing depends entirely on your perspective.
I will probably read the second book one of these days.

Short books should come with a warning. This book felt rushed. The main character was just getting interesting when I realized that the book was finished. For a moment I thought that I had inadvertently skipped ahead somehow. Everyone, heroine, love interest and spunky sidekicks all show up quickly. The plot is simple and resolves rapidly. It isn't terrible but felt more like an appetizer than a main course.

Jade is owns a gaming/comic book shop,and hides her magic from a psychotic ex lover.Until her friend are trapped in spells that suspend their life force and let a human use them like a psychic battery.If she helps them,her ex will come and destroy her ,if she does not her friends die.

The story had potential, as did the characters but both were vastly underdeveloped. There entire story feels rushed and the gaming/nerd references felt contrived. They didn't feel natural; more like a literary gimmick.

The attraction between Jade and Alek also came across as very forced and simply there to satisfy some sort of "romance quota". It seemed very crammed in as an afterthought.

It's not likely I'll read the other books as this one simply didn't capture my interest in the world she's tried to create.

Another find in the the store book lists! This is a story well worth reading! If you enjoy urban fantasy this is a well constructed story with good characters and a decent plot that is all too quickly read. If I have any complaints about the book it is that it's too short. Read and enjoy!

It is sad to see the "modern" eBook trend of publishing something that is barely novella-length as a full book. But I guess we can blame the magic $0.99 price point for producing this behavior.

Unfortunately, in hitting this short length, the author provides a very quick a light read that lacks subtleties, plot twists, and the care and detail that would also result in a longer story.

A fun read, but definitely snack-food quality, it finishes in less than an afternoon.

The story was well-written, and the lead characters are well defined and appealing. The only criticism I have is that the book almost seems like an abridgment. I think there're areas that could have been fleshed out to make the story even more enjoyable. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel.

A quick paranormal mystery. An ok read. A good plot that was finished to quickly. I would have liked to learn more about everyone, but especially Jade and Alek. We are just told a bare bones story, could use more depth. But, even though sparse, it does capture your attention. Will try the next.

A unique magical universe that brings elements from Native American mythology into the present day, as well as a kick-ass heroine. My favorite line was, "What idiot brings a gun to a Mage fight?" Geeks, gamers, magic, and romance. Who could ask for anything more?

The "Twenty Sided Sorceress" novellas are fairly ok, and would have been good as a part of an anthology, or sold as a set. However, the writing, while fairly decent, is not worth the charged price. I've read the first two, and I'll stop there. If they ever go on sale for $1, maybe I'll buy more.

All in all, a good effort, but short.

A wonderful urban fantasy tale. My only complaints were that it was far too short. I want full length novels of Jade! Full! 400 pages of mad crazy gamer sorceress. Overall the story was fun, if a bit rushed.

I look forward to reading more (many more! I hope) of this series.

This was a quick read. It's not awful but it could have been better. I wanted more character development and more interaction between Jade and Alek since he's supposed to be a love interest for her, but sadly, I just didn't get any. Don't know if I'll pick up any of the other books in this series or not. Maybe if they go for the $0.99 I paid for this one, I might consider it.

I enjoyed the pretext of the story, however it needs some fleshing out. Some more character development and plot explanations. I felt that the author has an excellent story to write but shortened it for some unexplainable reason.

I haven't decided whether or not to continue the series.

Thank you for the story anyway.

I wanted to like this book, and get into the series, but it beat me over the head with the "I'm a nerd! A NERD, I tell you!!" so much that in spite of being a card-carrying nerd myself, I couldn't take it anymore. Great to write a nerdy character, but stick with showing me the nerdiness, don't tell me over and over.

I did not enjoy this book, everything about this book give a "tryhard" vibe at trying to be hip, cool or overly nerdy. Then the "animalistic" attraction between her and her love interesting seemed forced. Not to mentire the low amount of magic and general action or suspense or feel of danger for the MC

Well written quick read with a strong female protagonist.First book leaves room for character growth but starts setting up relationships and developing a basic consistent magic system. Series has potential.

Like the back story and it is fast paced but nothing seems to reach out and grab you. I have been a gamer and hung at a couple comic shops. So the feel of that was not right and her neighboring store owner should have had his own magic why use her. Still debating on getting the second book.

I thought the world building worked in this story. I liked the characters. But, I did feel as if the pace was rushed, the 'romance' was sadly forced (in part, I suspect, due to the short format), and the story was so short I hesitate to call Justice Calling a book. I think I read this in about 75 minutes. Yes, I read fast but... it was more like a canape than a meal, if the metaphor works for you!

On the store Justice Calling is listed as 152 pages - if I was paying the list price (as listed on the store) of 8.99 I'd feel really ripped off, but considering the reduced price point I'm not horribly frustrated by the short format/quick read it provided.

Considering the price point for the electronic version I would definitely read the second book in this series, but I will go in with the expectation of a very short read as Murder of Crows is listed as 162 pages. I'm making special note of/harping on the length of these books as the short format is my biggest takeaway from Justice Calling and I'd hate for anyone else to go in expecting a normal length read. Expect a good female UF hero, developed as best as she can be in a short story, with a strong and interesting supporting cast and enough impending threat to drive story forward and you'll be contented with the... ahem... book.

I rated it a three because it seemed a little short, like there could have been a little more details to the characters and story. I liked it enough that I will read the next book. I like jade and the idea of her being a sorceress.

I promised myself that I would not be sucked in to this series. After all, the short length of each book makes them more like slightly over-length novellas and it really irks me. But, I got sucked in after all. It seems the author has mastered the art of getting readers to pay $20+ for 2 and a half books.

The story is very interesting but it is way too short. It is more of a novella than a novel. There was very little character and relationship development. And it felt like the story just abruptly came to an end. Suddenly the bad guy just showed up and acted weird.

The author had some great ideas, but, she failed over and over again at actually using them. The book is very short--mainly because she did not expand on her very good ideas. For example, the comic book store gets barely mentioned and the same with the Leprechaun's antique store next door. Frankly, the book reads like an outline with a few paragraphs for each bullet point. She needed to write chapters rather than mere paragraphs.

I am undecided as to whether or not I will read the next book. If the length looks too short, I will give it a pass.

I honestly believe this author has real potential and I hope she lets us see more of this world rather than zipping us through it at record speed.

I think it's an okay book, but it could have been way better!!! In my opinion, it was missing a lot of background settings. I needed more information about this Nine Justice and more about the main characters. I liked the video gamers idea way too much!!!!

Jade the nerd sorceress was captivating, she just pulled me in with her vulnerability and loyalty to her friends in the face of certain discovery by her crazy ex -boyfriend and heart eating sorcer. Can't wait for the next book!!

I really enjoyed getting to know Jade and her friends. The tie ins to gaming were great. The story has some action and romance. The town is filled with all kinds of supes. Too short I will be getting bk 2.

Too short! This could be great if the author took this first-draft and sat down and took those great ideas she presents and expanded on them. Everything that was thought-provoking was left at the conceptual stage. Why? That would be the books strength. Maybe the series gets better as it goes, but your first volume should be your best, not present what COULD BE and then fall flat.

The promise did not add up with the final product.

I'll admit it- most of the reason I downloaded this book was because it was free. I was extremely surprised to enjoy it as much as I did. I'm now on the fifth book of the series, and looking forward to reading more of them, and more from this author! I'm a fan of Tanya Huff, and the heroine in this series remind me of one of hers. The modern references are also a lot of fun. My only complaint is that the books are too short... But at least I can just download the next one!

What a great first novel! Jade Crow is a wonderful character with plenty of friends but one evil ex who does his best to chase her everywhere. Some heart stopping action. I can't wait to read the next book.

This book was never going to get a very good rating from me. In the first few chapters, I thought for sure it had to be Bellet’s first novel, but it isn’t. Putting aside the unimpressive prose, I muscled through to the end to give the story a chance. Minor spoilers to follow.

There were a lot of really cringey things in this book, from the fact that our Crow Indian protagonist is LITERALLY NAMED JADE CROW to the fact that she hasn’t cried “in a couple of decades” to give her more “tough girl cred.” Shifters and sorcerers age differently in this world, so even though Jade presents as a young twenty-something, she’s actually a lot closer to fifty years old; I found this jarring when she mentions that she graduated high school twenty years ago. She has a Tragic Past™ that includes her ex-boyfriend/ex-mentor blowing up her nerdy found family with a bomb. She has a spirit guide/Undying/special magical animal familiar that shows up as a huge wolf, and is uncreatively named “Wolf.”

We improve marginally during the last few chapters of the book, when we get to tap into the earlier stated sorcerer lore about how they eat hearts to gain their victims knowledge/power, and it was pretty badass. Unfortunately that is in chapter ten of eleven, and then in the next chapter we wrap up the book and do our dumb kiss with the hot Russian Justice guy, Alek (is it ever explained how Jade knows Russian? No. She just does. Because Reasons.)

The book was short which I wasn't expecting. I think if it had been longer, more character development would have happened. As it is, I don't feel a connection to the characters and I'm not really interested in buying the next book.

The main character appears to be complex and troubled. I like the supporting cast of characters and the different personalities they bring to the story. I was so involved I read the story in one sitting.

I really enjoyed this book. The world offers a lot of possibilities, the characters feel real and the story developed nicely.

This SHOULD'VE BEEN a 5 star review, sadly, it's not. This book feels like a prequel novella rather than a first novel in a series. The characters seem interesting but the author barely scratched the surface of them. The story, and the plot, quite simply needed more time to develop. This should've been a great first in a series with a minimum length of 300 pages. Sadly is just a somewhat entertaining fast read perfect for a waiting room. You won't feel you've wasted your money but you won't run to get the next installment either. I wish the author had had an editor who believed in the story and what it could've been.

Not a bad novel. I like the twist of the characters so far and the plot seems interesting. My only concern though was the shortness of the novel and i would love to see the emotions of main character expressed more. I can't feel Jade, I don't feel her emotions.

The geeky references are great.
But grammar and plot details really need a little more checking. This individual doesn't have the time to go help save her friend's life that night because she needs to leave town ASAP, yet she decides she does have time to vacuum her place out first since she's breaking her lease?

I got this book after I started playing Dungeon and Dragons for the first time and I’m glad that I did because I know that I would have been so lost. I was a little excited when I got it and got around to reading it.

I was a little disappointed in this book. I figured the author wanted to make it sound like Jade was actually telling the story but it didn’t really work out, it kind of took away from the story.

It was short so I didn’t really get to feel any kind of connection between Jade and her love interest, they didn’t spend any time together that wasn’t work related. So when they kissed, it just seemed forced and unnecessary. Maybe it would have been better to have the relationship in the next book? Or to have it more prominent in this one.

The ending wasn’t what I expected either, I was hoping that the big bad would make an appearance but the audience never got to see him. Jade and her love interest just start their relationship, even though there didn’t seem like there should be one right now.

The writing was alright, it kept me slightly interested and the plot was an okay idea. I liked it but it wouldn’t be on my list of recommending books to anyone.

It was an easy read but when the book started to make pop culture references, I could not help but to think the author was a little lazy. I really was hoping for more and thought that maybe this was meant for people in their early teens. I'm sorry, but I can't really see me reading the rest of the series.

I am reminded of one of my favorite urban fantasy authors, when they started off because they were new they were limited (by their publisher) to 240 pages and the story seemed abridged because of it. I mention this because I felt the same with this book, at only 120 pages of story; there was not enough time to flesh out the relationships between characters, back story was limited to a random sentence here or there and what could have been a great book, and the start of an engaging series, ended up being just good. I really think the author should take this novella flesh it out have some more scenes happen before and during the action add some character interaction, and perhaps leave the forced romance subtheme to develop in the second book.

This book was well done. It has great characters and an interesting main plot. But there just wasn't enough character developing sub plots to back it up. I will definitely continue with the series, though.

One pet peeve: the heroine falling immediately for the hunky dude minute one? Their relationship could really use more depth and development.

I didn't get past the first paragraph of chapter 3. That's probably because I can't stand main female characters constantly mindlessly lusting after guys. So, let's consider chapter 1. Main character in her shop. Big dude obviously packing a gun comes in. Of course, she must start checking him out and thinking about his yumminess. Turns out he's some kind of shifter cop who has a very negative attitude towards her and starts grilling her. What is her reaction? When she looks at him make sure not to look at his "too kissable" lips. Seriously? After the beginning of chapter 3 and the fourteenth or so comment about this guys big muscles, etc. I couldn't take it. Maybe there's a plot in there somewhere for those who can stand the hopelessly horny main character. If that works for you, go for it.

Jade Crow has escaped to an ordinary life running a comic book/gaming store in Idaho. There she has been laying low, not using her sorceress powers, making friends (some of them in the supernatural community) and leading a nice, quiet life without magic. You see, Jade is running from an old boyfriend who befriended her and trained her in her considerable powers. The only problem is that he helped her get more powerful, so he could kill her, eat her heart and absorb those powers as his own. By not using her powers, Jade is impossible for him to find.

Enter the current situation...Jade's friends are being threatened by dark powers, and Alek, an enforcer from the shifter world, shows up. Initially Alek is not sure that Jade herself isn't the enemy, but after spending time around her, Alek realizes she is much more than she seems and she genuinely cares for her friends. In fact, Jade cares enough that she begins to use her powers...

I mainly bought this book out of desperation for something to read. I normally won't buy books that are so short, nor lead into other books in order for you to find a resolution. Seems a lot of new authors are using that trick today to hook you into buying novella after novella. Eventually you find you have actually just bought a book, but it cost a whole lot more. That said, I knew what I was getting into so I have no complaint about the length, and there were some positives and negatives to this story, so my money wasn't wasted.

The positive - The author has a great idea here, and Ms. Bellet made your curious about the extent of Jade's powers, and how she would resolve her life and her relationship with Alek.

The negatives - Pay attention to the 3 star reviews on this book. Because what I am about to say was said over and over again by different reviewers. The book has a very rushed feel. The author didn't have the patience to actually flesh out the characters, give them REAL emotions or give some additional background into Jade's powers.

The author uses "gamer" language. Despite the fact that I am an older reader, I love games and definitely understood the slang and terminology, i.e., OP, DnD, etc., but wonder how many others will and how much it will interfere with their enjoyment of the book.

The scene where they discover Rosie (the mother fox) was already done - and much better - by Shelley Laurenston in one of her books. In Shelley's novel, I was shocked and horrified mainly because the scene was so well written that I felt the heroine's emotions. In this book, that scene didn't have the same shock value, the same emotions by the heroine and her friends, and it should have. Regardless if it was done before or not, it was a pivotal moment, where the author could really shine. It came off flat.

Jade bounced in her emotions too quickly. Part of this was owing to the length of the novella, and part was owing to the author's impatient writing style. I never really connected with Jade, who seemed scattered and indecisive. Thank God Jade had that big hero Alek to set her on the right path (sarcasm here)!

The plot and the idea of it were really good enough to make me curious about Jade's powers and her future. However, I will have to think carefully before spending anymore money on this author.

OMG! BUY THIS NOW! It might be short, but its extremely satisfying. The main character Jade Crow is NOT a police officer or private investigator. She owns a freaking gaming and comic book shop. She's every nerds dream girl. 1 shes a girl, 2 shes hot, 3 shes a gamer and 4 she can throw a freaking fireball!!! The book is littered with all kinds of gamer references. You cant go wrong picking this one up. DO IT! DO IT NOW!

I really liked Jade and Annie's explanation of how her magic works. I did enjoy the story but felt there wasn't enough there to form a bond or impression on the world she is trying to build. Jade was semi fleshed out, was hoping for some more backstory that pulled more out of the character. I think this could be a series I could get into and read if the books weren't so short, rushed, and more fleshed out. I'd like a little more story, character, and more show as you build this world.

I liked this book, but I thought it was too short. The characters weren't fleshed out very well so I felt little connection to them. Also, there were quite a few references to comics and video games that didn't connect with me. I will probably pick up the next book in the series because the ideas and world she introduced are a new spin on the same ideas in urban fantasy. The story arc that was introduced will hopefully be developed and moved forward in the next book along side the characters.

This is a short book that was definitely worth reading if you are into Patricia Briggs` Mercy Thomas or Alpha & Omega series. There are elements that will appeal to Kevin Hearne`s Iron Druid series as well. I love the gaming referrals, and it is a great exploration of the use of D&D manuals as sorcerer training manuals. Try it, I think you will like it.

Pet Peeve - authors that deliberately sell smaller books for less money to hook you and keep you buying book after book just to get the full story. If it wasn't for this tactic, increasingly being employed by self-published authors, I would give this book a strong 4. But, I find this to be a turn off and hate to support, and thus encourage, the practice. This first book is only 152 pages. Before leaving this review, I went to see the length of #2 trying to give the benefit of the doubt that maybe book 1 was a one-off and the rest of the "series" would be normal length. Nope, book 2 is 160-something pages - about half the size of a normal book. Sorry, but I think this sucks.

This was a very big disappointment.

Like some of the others I was looking for something along the veins of Kate Daniels and boy did this fall flat.

Leaping straight into the story is fine if you can build characters while developing a story, but I never really got to know our characters very well and that made my empathy for them almost non existent. The world building was almost nil. I wasn't sure what kind of world I was suppose to be immersed in. Generally, the story lacked any really depth. The whole gamer angle wasn't properly developed as a selling point. Making some nerdy references does not a gamer story make.

It was a ok read,love the characters could have built them stronger,too many *f- bombs* to speak of. Being with YA readers could have wrote a tad bit cleaner. I think you were writing with yourself in mind not your readers. You kept novels very short so you reeled us in with cheap to free on 1st novel, then Next more money even though Book 1 & 2 should have been written into one making a better sized novel and you could have better prices if larger

It was a fast read, but left a lot to be desired. I wanted to know more about the characters. This is the first book in the series but I really wanted to know more about the past. I don't think I will buy the second book.

I was very pleased with this book. Very well-written with a wonderfully conflicted, but tough, protagonist. I had to run out and download the 2nd one for tonight! A great new author to try!

I didn't know anyone used 20-sided dice anymore.

I enjoyed the story, though it seems a little derivative. I guess it's getting hard to be original in this genre. I liked the American Indian angle, though again, I seem to be running into that a lot lately. The writing is not brilliant, but adequate.

This is half of a good book. The main character is interesting and has a good back story. The plot is ok, but this is barely more then a short story. Little character developement, and no clear reason for the actions of the characters. It is all too easy. It lacks the dramatic tension of a complete story. The romantic interest is nonexistent which makes the ending ridiculous. Two characters with little relationship are now in love. The book needs a hundred pages of work to become a complete story.

This is an enjoyable story with engaging characters. However, Christians would do well to avoid it. Unnecessarily vulgar language was a turn off. Obvious Wiccan world view makes it problematic. The human cannibalism was disgusting. In this made up world, I am sure there is another way the author could have found to close the story.

The first couple of pages were really good and I was starting to get into the book, then it seemed like there were pages missing. I tried to pick up the train of thought again and then there were more jumps. So I gave up. I'm not sure if I just got a bad copy of the book on my Kindle or what, but don't feel that I can give a positive review without being able to follow the train of thought and have it feel like pages are missing.

Bleh... I only got about half way through before I stopped.

1) I like nerd things, I got literally all the nerdy references that were thrown around in here, but it was jarring. Hearing her go on about Pokemon and Magic The Gathering cards, Starcraft and how nerdy her DnD players are pulled me out of the world the author was trying to create and put me back in mine.
2) The 1st person narrator is a bit much. I can only have her talk directly too me so many times before the story sounds ridiculous.
3) There don't seem to be any actual rules about the world, or at least they author doesn't go into them. Example: Twin boys, one is a coyote shifter, the other(who is "as gay as Neil Patrick Harris") is a wolverine shifter.

It was only $.99, so it's not that big of a loss, but be prepared to have a pretty "meh" experience.

It was a good read. I did not realize it was so short. At this point I am not sure I am going to read any more in the series. It just did not grab me in a way that makes me want to continue in the series.

I grabbed this one on a bit of a punt and I'm glad I did as I've enjoyed reading it. To be honest it hasn't arrested my attention like my favourite five star books but I think that is due to my personal preference for a bit more world building and partially due to the slightly too predictable nature of the plot.
I've bought book 2 so it obviously grabbed my interest enough to keep going. Congrats to the author for certainly doing what I couldn't - writing an engaging novel!

There is a living out of the box. It seems interesting, but feels the heart wrenching. Intense emotions run rampant and killing sprees go on, and so forth. Ancient powers lurking in the shadow seem to still hold effect on people, whether it may be a fantasy or not.

I didn't get past chapter one. The author had two characters make an exchange in "Irish". I'm so used to hearing this called Gaelic, or Irish-Gaelic, that it turned me off the writer. Was the author ignorant of the term Gaelic? Did the author know the term and thought the reader would be? It seemed a dark portent and I stopped writing there.

I'm into the urban fantasy genre and this was recommended by Robert Crane (Girl in the Box series) so I thought, why not, it's only 99 cents.

It wasn't terrible, in fact, I would have appreciated it more if it was an actual book instead of a little novella thing. The characters deserved more, and I didn't like the jump the main character took with her leading man; it felt forced for the sake of timeliness.

First, this book is a short short short read. Keep that in mind.
You will easily finish it in part of an afternoon. So it's really more of a short story than a novel.
While the story itself is good and kind of derivative of the Mercy Thompson series (which is much better), it has flaws.
Mostly it lacks depth by not developing the characters and keeping things shallow.
Because of this lack of detail the story naturally moves along at a lightning pace.
So if you want a very quick read that doesn't worry about the details.. this is it.

Workmanlike writing, but a little stiff in places. Enjoyable plot, with a nice sequel hook. Relies a little overmuch on nerd pop culture references. The sample chapters for the next novel show a big improvement.

Awesome book! I am a huge fan of urban fantasy and Justice Calling is a great new addition to my 'check for new releases' list. I love the main character, Jade, and her back-story. The writing is very fast paced with lots of action and the perfect amount of interpersonal relationship mixed in. The book is pretty short, I read it in about 3 hours without stopping, but then immediately went looking for the next one in the series.

This book fell short in pretty much every way, not just overall length. While the primary character had a lot of potential, I never really felt that she actually developed a personality, and ALL of the secondary characters were flat as paper. This is a big problem because when the main character lacks personality and the plot isn't that interesting (both of which are the case here), you need a really good supporting cast to keep reader interest. The villain was a complete non-entity, just thrown into the book because books need villains. Again, there was no real personality there, no real excitement or tension to the big confrontation, and there was no mystery in figuring out who it was because the good guys for the most part stumble on the antagonist by accident. There is of course a romantic interest who is introduced with all the subtlety of a jackhammer outside your window at two o'clock in the morning, and there is no attempt to develop any chemistry between he and Jade. Instead, we're treated to the typical, "They don't like each other but he's hot so they must be attracted to each other" nonsense. If this entire thing were condensed to ten pages and turned into an epilogue for a book about Jade an her evil ex (who seems to be a more interesting adversary than the one that we saw here), then I might not be so annoyed, but instead the reader is given a fairly lackluster heroine with boring sidekicks and generic romantic interest facing an utterly uninteresting villain.

It didn't really keep me entertained. The world building was nondescript. The writing was good enough but it hadn't enraptured me. The plot was sort of a regurgitated one of many of the other books I've read. The male interest wasn't really all that interesting. To top it off it felt like the author was trying so hard to make jade a gamer nerd that she didn't realize her readers may not understand a lot of the terminology.
Basically, jade is a sorceress. And a gamer. She has been hiding out in a small town near ley lines w the hopes that a psycho sorcerer wouldn't find her and kill her. To sum up, she kept saying she couldn't use her power or he would find her. She uses the power. He finds her. Second book has her training to fight him.

But the lore in it was mix matched, she is a "sorceress" but is really just an amalgam of magical casters. Also the magic was mostly used as a plot device with no real attention to mechanics. That all being said the book was enjoyable and had fun nerd references.

First off, this is much shorter than I was expecting. Perhaps it would have been better as a full length novel, as the entire story seemed rushed and the characters incredibly flat. It had a good premise but just terrible execution.

This book is 150 pages, which isn't horribly short, so I figured it'd be worth 99 cents (and I like urban fantasy with strong female characters). This ended up being such a waste of time. I figured it was the short length that was a problem but then I looked at another Kindle book that I just love and that's only 74 pages (but feels longer due to the great writing). This book feels shorter because, as other reviewers have commented, there is no depth of characters. It reminds me of a TV show -- just glosses over the story and no character development. It also ends at the 80% mark so that the author can hock her next book in the series (and, be aware that the bad guy pursuing our heroine doesn't even make an appearance).