The Emperor's Edge by Lindsay Buroker - a Gifed Up Review

The Emperor's Edge by Lindsay Buroker
Series: The Emperor's Edge #1
Source: Free Kindle Copy
(still free at the time of writing this review!)
Publisher: Indie
Publication Date: Jan 1st, 2010
Age Genre: Adult (no sex)
Check out my reading process here!

Imperial law enforcer Amaranthe Lokdon is good at her job: she can deter thieves and pacify thugs, if not with a blade, then by toppling an eight-foot pile of coffee canisters onto their heads. But when ravaged bodies show up on the waterfront, an arson covers up human sacrifices, and a powerful business coalition plots to kill the emperor, she feels a tad overwhelmed.
Worse, Sicarius, the empire’s most notorious assassin is in town. He’s tied in with the chaos somehow, but Amaranthe would be a fool to cross his path. Unfortunately, her superiors order her to hunt him down. Either they have an unprecedented belief in her skills… or someone wants her dead.

You guys, let me tell you of this little hidden gem. According to Amazon, I one clicked The Emperor's Edge on September 28th, 2012. That was before I had any form of e-reader. All I had was the free PC kindle app, and a trigger happy finger for freebies because I was so stoked by the idea of getting to read a book legally for free.

'Course, I am still trigger happy for that, but I am a little more reserved - only getting books I truly think I'm going to enjoy. Thing is, I didn't do this filtering process back at 2012. And so I ended up with a TON of books that I just... left hanging. This was one of those, until I saw some very strong recommendation for this book (and series) by my friends Ellen and Sierra (you should follow them, they're totally awesome).

So, I read it. And guess what? I LOVED it! 

The best thing about this book is hands down the characters, though hell if I know how to pronounce their names!

In a militaristic empire in an unknown world, lives Amaranthe, a young female enforcer where women warriors are highly unusual. But no matter how much people may look down at her, Amaranthe knows what she wants - and it's not to be a business woman or a housewife. She's a protector, through and through. And possibly an adrenaline junkie... *shrug*
She's a stickler for details (actually, kind of verges on OCD), she's serious and.... how did Sicarius coin it?... focused. In other words,

Seriously, the girl isn't even a great warrior or anything, but she's just so badass she's Queen! And she managed to remain  female despite that! 

Then there's Sicarius - aloof, poker faced Sicarius... a deadly assassin who moves like a shadow. You never see him strike, and he is cold and emotionless. For the most part. Naturally, there's more to the ruthless killer, and anyways, my strong opinion on Sicarius could be summed pretty neatly by the following gif: 

Yep. 

As for these two together... 

Oh yeah, you guys. I ship it... I ship it bad. If you're a fan of slow-burn romances, of these couples that drive you crazy and make you shake the book and chant "just kiss!" at it, those couples you know will be just so EPIC if they would just kindly decide to smooch, get married and have beautiful children please because IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR!?.

Then you'll love this series, for sure. 

Aside for these perfect two, we've got an occasionally functional gang with tendencies toward violence that consists of a hilarious ex-heir turned male escort, a drunk professor, and a magical punk. All lovable, all added to the story, all deserving of hugs and love.

Truly, this book is just so much fun. It's epic adventure, with dire mission and high stakes, and death (though, I admit, the reason this book is not a 5 star is that I felt death was handled a bit too offhandedly) but it's has such a light comedic tone to it that makes it so readable. It doesn't depress you, like a lot of epic adventure stories do. 

I truly recommend you go get and read this one, you guys. It will literally cost you nothing!

   Nitzan★