SMOKE AND MIRRORS is the first book in the new Blackhollow Academy young adult/new adult contemporary fantasy series by Jess Haines. I'm excited for more books in the series, because I freaking loved SMOKE AND MIRRORS. I've been a long term fan of Haines' H&W Investigations, a kooky paranormal series with werewolves and magic. SMOKE AND MIRRORS has a very similar vibe, with magic users, dragons, and Others (like werewolves, centaurs, and vampires).

Kimberly is a girl in her last year at Blackhollow Academy learning magic. Kimberly is a rare illusionist, not a regular mage like all the others in her class. She and her mother are living in a crappy apartment and working as many hours as they each can to get by while Kimberly goes to school as well. Kimberly's dream is to graduate and get a decent paying job in a coven so she can support her mother. But Kimberly can't pass her finals and graduate unless she can get a familiar as part of her final exams. As an illusionist, she can't create her own familiar the way the rest of the other students can, so she must find an Other who will let her bind them as her familiar. Her professor suggests that Kimberly find a dragon to bind, to protect her from all the abuse that Kimberly is receiving at school as a hated illusionist.

I'm not going to tell you too much of the rest of the story, because the true joy of the story is in the slow revelations. But I love just about each and every character in this book (except for the mean kids, which, let's be honest, probably aren't even liked by their own parents). Kimberly is young and unseasoned, but not stupid. She's so good of heart, and so earnest, and so noble, and I adore her! Cormac Hunter is an antiquarian bookseller who Kimberly's professor sends Kimberly to for help in finding a dragon. Kimberly is positively desperate to find a familiar, and she sets off with Cormac to track down access to a dragon who might be able to help her. The quest is utterly compelling. I love the insights of how Cormac thinks, and how stymied he is by the uncomplicated and ungreedy nature of Kimberly. Cormac gradually becomes an earnest fan of dear Kimberly, and it's beautiful to watch their relationship deepen.

Fans of Rachel Aaron, Sierra Dean, and Michelle Sagara will enjoy this wonderful UF tale. The insights of Cormac even feel like those of Simon in The Others series by Anne Bishop (a definite indicator of how much I like this book, because I LOVE Anne Bishop's books!). Haines' SMOKE AND MIRRORS has all the right elements to keep me coming back for more- a plucky heroine, a grumpy yet noble hero, and a dab of suspense and a lot of kickass paranormal action.

Book Summary

A girl who uses her illusions to fool the world into thinking she's just like all the other magi.

A dragon who sees through her lies.

Together they just might survive a world that wants to control or destroy them both.

Kimberly may wield ultimate cosmic power, but even a mage has to pay the rent. No one will hire her for her magic talents until she's got the credentials, so she’s stuck in a crappy rent controlled apartment with her mother, yearning for treats she can't afford at her part time job in a café, counting down the days until she graduates the secret Blackhollow Academy school for magi. Only then will she have the certificate she needs to land her dream job in a coven.

The problem? She needs a familiar to graduate.

As an illusionist, she doesn't have the ability to summon or create a familiar of her own. Her only option is to convince a supernatural creature to let her bind it instead. Since having a powerful Other at her beck and call would guarantee her a place in a coven after she graduates—and legendary treasure hoards are an added bonus—she thinks binding a dragon as her familiar will solve all her problems...

Because sometimes a girl needs a dragon, not a knight.

Read an Excerpt