Raine Benares - Bewitched & Betrayed by Lisa Shearin

I just finished re-reading an excellent book and thought I would share the series with you.

Blurb from amazon.com:

New from the national bestselling author of "The Trouble with Demons" Raine Benares is a seeker. She finds lost things and missing people- usually alive. But now she's been bonde with the Saghred, a soul- stealing stone of unlimited power, and must hunt down its escapees. Especially since one of them is also hunting her...
(I know, not very detailed)

This is book 4 in one of my all-time-favourite fantasy series. Raine is an elf and lives in a world where magic is the norm. But don't think 'Lord of the Rings', these elves know how to have fun. Another species Lisa has reinvented are the goblins. Usually, when you hear goblin, you think short, ugly, big nose (or maybe that's just me). Oh no, one of the main characters is a goblin and he is sexy as hell, with long dark hair, a body to die for and venomous fangs that can have all sorts of interesting side-effects...

Just to give you a little bit of context, Raine is a Seeker, meaning she finds and returns things, people, lost puppies; whatever she gets paid for. Unfortunately, in book 1 she linked with the Saghred, a stone that sucks the magic and the soul right out of people. Because the Saghred also gives immense power to its bond-partner, Raine now has everybody and their dog after her in an attempt to use her (or kill her) and dominate the world with the Saghred.

Assisting Raine are Mychael (team Mychael, team Mychael), an elf and Paladin of the mage-city Mid, and Tam, goblin and former dark mage to the goblin queen. The chemistry and the dialogue between these three alone make the books worth buying for, but Lisa Shearin has created a fantastic world with characters that jump right off the page. Everyone, be it hero or villain, is well developed and so believable. In each book the reader gets a chance to learn a little bit more about the characters' history and motivation.

Raine's adventures are swashbuckling (the family business is piracy), action-packed adventures, with twists and turns that keep you guessing until the last page. I won'y give anything away, but more than once I gaped at B&B and nearly screamed at the characters;).

Book 1 is Magic Lost, Trouble Found, book 2 is Armed & Magical and book 3 is The Trouble with Demons. Lisa's website is here. If you are looking for something new and different, a story that will suck you in from page 1 and not let go until you've finished the ride, Raine Benares is for you.

The only negative is that Lisa writes one book a year. The wait can be very lloooonnggg...