Review: Hammered by Lindsay Buroker

Hammered (Legacy of Magic #1)
by Lindsay Buroker
narrated by Vivienne Leheny

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: MF

Blurb:
Seattle native Matti Puletasi has the strength of a bear, the stamina of an ox, and a magical hammer inherited from her dwarven mother.

She’s happy renovating homes and occasionally thumping bad guys until she learns of a mysterious artifact hidden under the house she’s working on. Everybody from humans to orcs to werewolves wants it, and they’re willing to kill to get it. Things go from bad to worse when someone frames her for murder.

The only person interested in helping her is a haughty elf assassin from another realm. He’s handsome, powerful, and deadly, but he’s got an agenda of his own. She dare not trust him—or be attracted to him.

But if she can’t clear her name, the assassin will be the least of her worries.

~

Set in the same world as Death Before Dragons, the Legacy of Magic series is perfect for urban fantasy fans who enjoy adventure, snarky humor, and slow-burn romance with badass elves who should not be trusted. Pick up Book 1, Hammered, today!

My Review

I really enjoyed the Death Before Dragons series and while I was sad to see that series end, I was excited knowing there is a whole spin-off series available already. Not long after finishing the last Death Before Dragons book I picked up Hammered, the start of the spin-off series. I got this one in audio as Vivienne Leheny’s narration is such a perfect fit for Lindsay Buroker’s books and I enjoy listening to them.

Hammered was awesome. I quickly got pulled into the story and enjoyed getting to know Matti, who is a half dwarf, which I thought was quite interesting. There are some fun new side characters as well as recurring characters from the Death Before Dragons series. The plot was engaging and I liked how there’s this clear thread that runs throughout the book with Matti trying to figure out what’s hidden underneath the house she’s flipping that’s attracting magical creatures. I liked the mystery surrounding the mysterious artifact and was curious to find out more and the reveal is quite interesting. There are also some interesting plot points and reveals that tie into Matti’s past. It all made for an engaging read and I really enjoyed listening to this book.

I liked the set-up for the slow burn romance. Matti and Sarlevi sure make for an interesting duo. For now they’re trading a lot of banter back and forth and I enjoyed reading about it. Matti is clearly attracted to Sarlevi, but he doesn’t seem interested in her and more interested in what she can do for him, but I am sure there’s more to him than is obvious by now. I look forward to seeing their relationship deepen in future books.

I feel like this book had the perfect balance of being different from the Death Before Dragons series as well as being similar enough that if you enjoy the first series you’ll likely enjoy this one too. It has the same snark, humor and style as the first series. Matti is quite different from Val and feels like her own character, but they do both share their love for snark and banter. I think this book is enjoyed best if you read the Death Before Dragons series first. There are a lot of references to the Death Before Dragons series and whole parts of the book where Matti interacts with characters from that series, which I thought was super fun. I enjoyed seeing Matti meet Val, Zav, Willard and Sindari and seeing how they interact.

To summarize: I was excited to start this series and was quickly hooked. I felt it was a very solid and exciting start to this new series. I liked reading about Matti, she was a likable and interesting character and I liked learning more about her personality and her past as the book progresses. I like the set-up for the romance, which is mostly a lot of banter at this point, which is fun to read. I am interested to see where things go next. The story kept my attention and it was such a fun read. I was excited to find out more about the mysterious artifact that’s below the house Matti’s flipping and attracting magical creatures, the reveal is quite well done and interesting. I would recommend reading the Death Before Dragons series as this spin-off series has quite a lot of references to the first series and recurring characters play a large role in this book. I thought it was fun to see characters like Val, Zav, Sindari and Willard make an appearance and interact with Matti. I got this book in audio and narrator is awesome, I liked how she did Matti’s voice differently from Val’s voice and has plenty of variety when it comes to voices for characters. All in all I had a great time listening to this book and look forward to the rest of the series.

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– Audible
– B&N
– Kobo

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.