Thanks for checking out my stop on the tour for Mind Games by Christine Amsden!
I’m reviewing Mind Games: The Cassie Scot Series, Book 3.
I’ve also got the first and second books in this exciting series and there’s all kinds of links for fun content.
There’s a huge giveaway too.
So check it out, click on some links, read my reviews of the all three books, and don’t forget to enter the giveaway!
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Mind Games (Cassie Scot Book 3)
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MY REVIEW
It’s now two months later and Cassie is still nursing a broken heart. The one Evan broke so callously. Moving in together with Madison and Kaitlin and going back to work at the Sherriff’s Office have kept her mind busy, but it isn’t until she’s wooed by the irresistable Mathew Blair that she feels her heart stirring to life again.
There’s one problem with Mathew. He’s a mind mage and you can’t ever be sure he isn’t putting thoughts and feelings into your mind. On his word, Cassie takes a chance.
When the pastor’s wife dies in a suspicious fire, Cassie does her own investigating, trying to find out who’s behind it before someone else dies.
The first thing that struck me was Cassie and Mathew. I always thought Evan would win her heart. The dumb jerk broke it instead. As I read further into the book, I kept waiting for them to get back together, waiting for Evan to explain himself, and waiting for Cassie to forgive him.
That gets put on the back burner while I follow Cassie, sniffing out clues, following false trails, questioning magical residents, which could be dangerous, and ending up clueless as to who was behind the fires. Me, not Cassie.
Once I had my list of suspects I continued to follow Cassie’s lead and had a pretty good idea who might be behind it. Or so I thought. Nothing was obvious in this third book.
The author wrote a darker story in Mind Games. At least, I felt it was. No one was safe and characters died. But, she added lighter notes with fun dialogue, and Cassie trying to go incognito was hilarious. Magic can only hide so much when everyone around her is magical and she isn’t. She tries though.
Christine showed her talent with her characters. They changed. They learned. They matured. That made them feel real, ring true for me. If the characters didn’t learn from past experiences and reflect that in each story, they would be flat like paper dolls. These characters breathe, speak, suffer, and rejoice in equal parts, making them friends. Making me care about them.
There’s mystery, romance, and more magic to keep you racing to the end. And that’s where I must say this. I don’t want it to end. Stolen Dreams, the final book in this series, is coming soon and I’ll have to say goodbye to my new friends. But I plan on revisiting them again. It’s always fun to reread books that I love. It feels like coming home and I always get more out of the second reading, like when watching a movie again.
I highly recommend Christine’s Cassie Scot Series and Mind Games is an exciting, action packed, next installment you won’t want to miss.
5 STARS
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Synopsis
Beware your heart and soul…
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 non-magical 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.
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First Chapter (Warning! Contains series spoilers. New readers to the series would be better off reading the preview of book one here.)
Buy Links : Amazon ~ Barnes and Noble
Coming to print June 15, 2014. Audiobook release TBA.
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Other Books in the Cassie Scot Series
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Cassie Scot: ParaNormal Detective
Go HERE for my review
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Cassie Scot is the ungifted daughter of powerful sorcerers, born between worlds but belonging to neither. At 21, all she wants is to find a place for herself, but earning a living as a private investigator in the shadow of her family’s reputation isn’t easy. When she is pulled into a paranormal investigation, and tempted by a powerful and handsome sorcerer, she will have to decide where she truly belongs.
First Chapter
Buy Links for Cassie Scot: ParaNormal Detecitve
Amazon ~ Barnes and Noble ~ Audible (audiobook)
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Secrets and Lies (Cassie Scot Book 2)
Go HERE for my review
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Cassie Scot, still stinging from her parents’ betrayal, wants out of the magical world. But it isn’t letting her go. Her family is falling apart and despite everything, it looks like she may be the only one who can save them.
To complicate matters, Cassie owes Evan her life, making it difficult for her to deny him anything he really wants. And he wants her. Sparks fly when they team up to find two girls missing from summer camp, but long-buried secrets may ruin their hopes for happiness.
Buy Links for Secrets and Lies (Cassie Scot Book 2)
Amazon ~ Barnes and Noble ~ Audible (Audiobook)
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Author Christine Amsden
Christine Amsden has been writing fantasy and science fiction 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 relationships, and it is in this way that she strives to make science fiction and fantasy meaningful for everyone.
At the age of 16, Christine was diagnosed with Stargardt’s Disease, a condition that effects the retina and causes a loss of central vision. She is now legally blind, but has not let this slow her down or get in the way of her dreams.
In addition to writing, Christine teaches workshops on writing at Savvy Authors. She also does some freelance editing work.
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.
Social Media Links:
Web site ~ Newsletter ~ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~Goodreads
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Praise for the Cassie Scot Series
“Amsden continues the story of the only mundane member of a supernaturally-gifted family in this middling sequel to Cassie Scot: ParaNormal Detective. Cassie, stubborn and proud, is bravely trying to live on her own after her family disowns her. Struggling to make ends meet, she accepts a case involving a pair of magical girls who disappeared from summer camp. With the aid of the handsome Evan Blackwood, to whom Cassie is attracted despite her family’s disapproval and her own better judgment, she follows the trail of the missing girls. What she finds is a dark side of the magical world, and the hidden depths of her family’s past force her to reconsider long-held assumptions. The growing complexity of Cassie’s world makes this an entertaining installment, focusing as much on the will-they, won’t-they romantic chemistry between Cassie and Evan as on the primary mystery. An inconclusive ending is clearly intended to feed into the next volume.” — Publisher’s Weekly
“When sorcerers call the shots, what’s a girl without powers to do? Get ready for a ripper of a murder mystery full of romance and intrigue, where magic potions bubble, passions spark and vampires are definitely not your friend. Cassie Scot: ParaNormal Detective grabs you by the heart and won’t let go until the very last page. Well written, immersive and unputdownable. This is urban fantasy at its best. More please!” – Kim Falconer, bestselling author of The Spell of Rosette, Quantum Enchantment Series
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