#Review – The Bloodless Assassin: Quirky Steampunk Fantasy (The Viper and the Urchin Book 1) by Celine Jeanjean

Blackmail an assassin? Who would do such a thing?

Someone pretty desperate, that’s who. Which is exactly the position Rory finds herself in.

As a scrawny, dreadlocked pickpocket who grew up on the street, life hasn’t given her a ton of options. On top of which, her partner in crime has screwed her over for all her money, so she can no longer pay for the sword master who was supposed to train her—her ticket to a new life.

She’s not prepared to give up on her dream of becoming a great sword fighter, though. Which is why when she stumbles across an assassin’s secret, she immediately sniffs an opportunity. Blackmail can be a pretty effective strategy, after all. If he trains her, she’ll keep her mouth shut.

The risks in blackmailing an assassin are pretty high, but if she can pull it off, she might finally be able to realise her dream.
That is until she realises that the assassin’s she’s blackmailing is nothing like what she thought, and she’s landed herself into far more trouble than she bargained for.

Delve into The Bloodless Assassin, book 1 of a complete 9 book series that’s packed with adventure, banter, and quirky characters, all set in a richly imagined tropical world.

Other books in the series:

#1 The Bloodless Assassin
#2 The Black Orchid
#3 The Slave City
#4 The Doll Maker
#5 The White Hornet
#6 The Shadow Palace
#7 The Opium Smuggler
#8 The Veiled War
#9 The Rising Rooks

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Amazon

Review by Twinsie Kelly

This was nothing like what I expected…at all. Rory is a street urchin who has lead a tough life, but lifting purses and pillaging for coins is how she gets by. Her partner in crime, ends up turning on her and she is left to her own devices. Longinus, aka The Viper, is an assassin that ultimately is afraid of blood. He doesn’t care to actually fight for a kill but would rather it be an elaborate thing using poison. Longinus is an alchemist and longs for notoriety. I understood Rory’s character completely. However, Longinus took me longer as we had to really get to know him. The chemistry between the characters is very dynamic and I truly enjoyed them, and their stories. The story had some curvy plot twists and nothing was predictable, which I very much appreciated! I don’t think that I would characterize the book as “steampunk” but definitely more along the lines of sci-fi. Even though it wasn’t what I expected, I enjoyed the story. This is a good book if you are looking for something different to read that can be read as a standalone OR with the series. It wrapped up quite nicely!

Celine Jeanjean profile image

Celine is a nomadic writer who roams the world laptop in hand, having adventures and then telling stories inspired by those adventures. Kind of like a digital storytelling wanderer.

Her stories feature complex but flawed characters, lots of quirkiness, snappy banter, and richly imagined worlds.

If you’re ready to escape to new worlds and make new book friends, go to http://celinejeanjean.com/freebook/ to grab yourself some exclusive, free novellas.

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