Academy of Assassins

Academy of Assassins, Book #1

By Stacey Brutger

ISBN# 9781979060561

Author’s Website:  https://www.staceybrutger.com/

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi

Morgan Moran was found when she was ten years old, with no memories of her life before that.  She was taken in by the Maine Coven and raised by the MacGregor.  As a mutt, she has no magic to speak of, she was raised to be a hunter.  A person that fights the paranormal creatures that come through the rifts between realms.  Their job is to protect the humans.

However, Morgan has magic that she hides.  The torque she wears protects her and dampens her magic.  She worries for the day that the torque will fail, and her dark magic will be unleashed.

Morgan is summoned to the Academy of Assassins.  The school is a sentient being and has been summoning her for years, unbeknownst to her.  MacGregor has decided that he can’t keep her from the Academy any longer.  He sends her with a mission though.  Someone is murdering girls and he wants her to find the killer.  The girls have the same runes on their back that she wears and it starts to become obvious that someone is hunting her.

At the school, she is placed into an elite team with four very different men.  She quickly grows attached to the guys.   However, they would prefer to keep her in bubble wrap than let her fight.  They have trained in expectation of getting claimed by a witch, who they will then spend their lives protecting.  This tradition seems like an archaic form of slavery to Morgan.  So, imagine her horror when she inadvertently mates.

When it comes time to face down a killer, it may cost them all their lives.

I wasn’t sure if I would like this book or not.  And, it took me awhile to get into it, but the further I went into it, the more I liked it.

There was a group of mean girl witches that seemed to rule the school.  Of course, our heroine is not a fan.

I really enjoyed Morgan’s group of guys.  My favorite was probably Draven.  Although Ryder was a close second.  And then there was Ascher.  It broke my heart when he fell into the void.

Morgan did get mated in this book, but it didn’t focus much on the romance at all.  And there was no hanky panky.  Which is a little strange considering it’s labeled as a reverse harem book.  They were too busy trying to protect Morgan for any of that.  Although I hope, and expect to see more of the relationships in this next book.

There were plenty of paranormal creatures in this novel, if you like that sort of thing.  I thought the world-building was interesting.  I found this was a good set-up book for the series and I look forward to reading more.