Jenn Stark’s Immortal Vegas Series, follows Tarot Card reader, Sara Wilde as she joins the Vegas Connected community. Her personal goal is to save the children who are the victims of the illegal sell of their magic, but to save them, she needs resources; a whole lot of money. She is hired by the Arcane Council, to find magical items, and more often then not, a whole lot of trouble. The series follows Sara as she searches for magical items and learns about the darkness that is also a part of her world. Where she makes allies and enemies in her search to create a safe place for the innocent and to stop the evil festering wound in her world.
I was trying to remember when I found this series, and cannot. All I remember is reading Book 1: Getting Wilde and loving the fresh take on urban fantasy. The idea the Arcane Council and members of the Connect, (magical), community were situated in Las Vegas made total sense to me. Where else could they all perform magic and be themselves without being called out for appearing different? Where else could there be a second level of fantastical housing above the already magical Vegas buildings, that only those who are a part of the Connected community could see?
The Immortal Vegas series is a series I want to read when I am in the mood for a darker adventure. When I yearn to feel disquiet brought on my a magical tale where magical children are hunted so others can abuse and use their magic. Over a decade ago, I was at a fundraiser where a child in our world was used and abused by the adults around her. She shared her story and how the new people in her life, lawyers who were fighting for the rights of the underaged and abused, removed her from the dark and poisonous world she had been brought up in. How it was the few people who made the difference and gave her a chance to have a life where her basic needs, including safety and trust, were met. These books bring me to a lighter version of that memory. It is an imagined story and imagined victims, but after meeting a true victim with real heroes in her life, I connected with it.
There is also a lot of snark, action, and at the time I found the series, the new world of Tarot Card reading. And I loved how well Jenn Stark put it all together. If you want to learn more about Tarot Card reading, learn more on Ms. Starks page here.
I also need to mention, there is a slow burn romance that occurs between Sara and the Magician. Slow burn romances are my favourite. The frustration and challenges of new romances in desperate times. Sara has had enough pain in her past to be extra careful, and to some extent, look for magical support in fighting off the feelings she is having. All smart plans when the one focused on you has immense power. There are also other delectable characters and a spin off series with Demon Enforcers, fallen angels, who are released to this world and are left to find their place, and maybe love, along the way.
I have yet to start Wilde Justice, the newer series staring Sara Wilde. I have the first book, The Red King, but with so many books coming out at that time, I bought it, but did not read it. The good news is, there are now six books available in the series when I have time to binge read them all. And I will! I think it will be the perfect series to enjoy as the autumn air turns crisp outside and I hide under a blanket on my couch.
The Red King, reading on my couch shortly!