Netgalley is spoiling me. In three books I have had two wonderful, kick ass, female protagonists with first Winter Dark and now Blood & Ash. If this is the start of a new trend then I, for one, am all for it.

Blood & Ash is a very welcome addition to urban fantasy. Despite the epitome of urban fantasy - Buffy Summers, all too often urban fantasy is a male arena with the female characters generally failing the Bechdel test. Not here.

Ash Cohen is a VI Warshawski for the magical world. Less concerned with her Ferragamo shoes, perhaps, but she is definitely in the same neo-noir mold. On the fantasy side, while you might pick up the book expecting the usual hidden supernatural world, Deborah Wilde has gone in a strikingly different direction: the magic is out there, everyone knows it, and all the obvious resulting social issues are front and center.t

This is not your usual urban fantasy. Ash is a strong, exciting female protagonist, the setting is original, and Harry Dresden can get back in his box... there's a new girl in town.

Ash and Levi arguing and fussing until finally they kiss and kiss and fall in love. This paranormal romance full of magic, blocked magic, some misunderstanding and the 12 Tribes of Israel!!! I have not read a paranormal romance that included elements of Judaism until now and I am glad I did. Monsters that can be conjured to protect or kill and discovering you are a powerful mage can be daunting but Ash holds her own. I am looking forward to more of her adventures.

The tagline on the cover is "A snarky urban fantasy detective series". Well, I freaking love snark. Snark's my favorite. And UF detectives are decidedly a weak spot for me so off I went requesting!

Set in Vancouver, Canada, Ashira Cohen is a mundane; that is, she has no magical powers. In a world where you are classified as Nefesh(magic) or mundane, being an ordinary PI is unquestionably a handicap. When she gets a head injury on a case, she discovers a tattoo hidden in her hair — a tattoo that has apparently been putting the kibosh on magical abilities she didn't know she had. Between hunting down who was behind her unconsented ink and investigating the disappearances of both mundane and Nefesh teens, she has her work cut out for her.

Blood & Ash was usually culturally inclusive. It's rare to see urban fantasy with a foothold in Jewish spiritualism. The author went past the typical Golem mythology and incorporated the Lost Tribes of Israel into her world-building and magical backstory. She also created diverse characters, including Ash's friends: Priya, an amazing hacker of Indian ethnicity and Arkady, a Korean-Canadian martial artist representing LGTBQ+. None of these elements felt like an afterthought as they sometimes will in the name of heterogeneity in urban fantasy either. The secondary characters were well rounded, likable, and were central in furthering the plot.

The characters are strong and the alternate urban universe was without objection. There's no shirking of action and while some things with the magical world weren't defined as strongly as I hoped, it did make for a swift read. I didn't find it as snarky as advertised but that could simply be that I'm used to a higher quality of snark. As for the romance, I didn't find it very organic. Maybe it's supposed to be one of those friends to lovers tropes that I'm not overly fond of. Either way, I see a lot of opportunity for future character growth. I would say that instead of straight UF, I would say Blood & Ash borders on paranormal romance instead. Overall, it's a decent start to a new series!

I really liked this. The world building was great, the characters were well fleshed out and the dialogue was snarky but not overly so. Ash is a PI trying to help the mundane by exposing scammers and cheaters. She is hired to find out what a woman’s errant daughter is up to when she exposes the daughter and friend as unregistered magic users but not before she is knocked hard on the head and suddenly finds she has powers of her own. There is a strange smudge inhabiting and killing people with magic and the girl’s friend goes missing. Ash promises to find the missing girl and eradicate the smudge. Her new powers are detected by the Head of House Pacifica, Levi Montefiore, and he insists on her cooperation in finding the perpetrators. They’ve been antagonistic with each other since they were children so they have an uneasy relationship. I liked this book and intend to read the next books in this series. I will also see what other books this author has written and will probably read those, too. I like it when I find a new fun author to read. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I am totally in love with this author and this new series! Great characters, storyline and world-building kept me on my toes throughout the entire book. Highly recommended!

This is the first book in a new urban fantasy series by an author that never fails to entertain me. This time her protagonist is a most decidedly human private investigator working in a world where magic exists until she finds out that actually no she’s not just a mundane human but actually has powerful magic herself ! Ashira finds herself working alongside Levi the ever infuriating head honcho in the local supernatural community. So now she’s solving a missing persons case and trying to discover just why someone previously bound her magic and all whilst fighting her mother, her daddy issues and that insane feeling she gets when Levi removes that stick from you know where ! Yep Ashira has an awful lot to deal with and it’s only about to get even more complicated because she’s the only one who seems able to see the dark mysterious shadows that are killing people !
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

Ashira Cohen works as a PI in Vancouver believing she is a “mundane,” a non-magical person until a blow to the head breaks a ward unleashing a powerful magic within her. Ashira finds herself thrust into a magical world that she previously only dealt with from the sidelines. Her childhood adversary, Levi Montefiore, heads up the most powerful magic House in the magic community. When Ashira is forced to work with him, all kind of sparks fly…some of the intense attraction kind.

Ashira has some deep emotional abandonment baggage as her magically talented father abandoned the family. Her mother is very anti-magic in an intensely political way. Ashira likes to present a strong, snarky, and tough-girl front; however, she has a lot of compassion for those in need. Levi and Ashira partner together under the constant tension of squabbling, each trying to lead the charge to find some missing people whose magical talents are being ripped from them, and Ashira trying to reign in some of the deadly aspects of her newly found abilities.

Ms. Wilde has created a fast paced, entertaining magical world of adventure, wry humor, and some awkward, on Ashira’s part, romance of a sort. Readers will go on quite a tilt-a-whirl ride through Ashira and Levi’s adventures and their push me, pull me relationship. Some issues are resolved but mysteries remain about Ashira’s particular magical talents and who is behind some of the nefarious activities. Fans of Ms. Wilde and Women’s Fantasy Fiction will enjoy this story and be excited to see what is next for Ashira and company.

Blood & Ash plays true to its name as a Snarky Urban Fantasy Detective series. Ash is full of sass and sarcasm as she tackles cases as a mundane detective in a magical world. One unfortunate fight later and Ash's life is turned on its head and the tension with her frenemy is off the charts. Missing kids, evil golems, and an evil queen of hearts what more can you ask for in an original story that is full of action and humor. The story builds quick and catches the imagination and leaves you guessing and wanting more with a smile on your face. This is a promising beginning to a new addictive series as Ash quickly becomes a favorite. My voluntary, unbiased review is base upon a review copy form Netgalley.

Amazing book. I can't wait for the next book in this series. I am on pins and needles. I love the comedy and the snarky banter between the two main characters. The magical powers are intriguing. There is a bit of mystery to the book because the reader doesn't know what is coming next. This is a must read.

A fun start to a new series. Interesting world and I enjoyed that it was set in Vancouver, Canada. That doesn’t happen that often.
Ash is a fab character who reminds me at times of Kate Daniels. I enjoyed very much as well as her best friend. Her nemesis aka love interest is hot and mysterious. The romance was a okay but I got a little bored with the constant back and forth. I hope things are explained a little more in the next book.
Fast-paced, action-packet, and with great dialogue, I enjoyed the book and read it in one sitting. Solid 3.5
It’s a shame the author’s backlist is only available on kindle. I would have liked to read more by her.

I LOVE THIS BOOK!!! Ash is an awesome lead character- I love how tough she is, not afraid to put her hair up in a bun and get her hands dirty. The chemistry between her and Levi is just what I like for “romance” in a story- not too fluffy like some books that make me want to punch a wall. The whole magic theme is super fun. Who has powers, what they are and what non-magic mundanes think about them. All I have to say is MORE MORE MORE!!! I will be watching and waiting.

First in a new urban fanatsy mystery paranormal romance.
Good interesting story with action,drama,mystery and romance.
Great witty snarky dialogue.
Ashira and Levi are great characters.
Kept my interest looking forward to the next.
Really enjoyed.
Voluntarily Reviewed.

I loved this book. The characters are entertaining with lots of witty banter, the story is interesting, and I can see this be the beginning of a good series. My main complaint, and the reason I'm giving it four stars instead of five, is that the setting and scenes are often not described very well, to the point that it's sometimes hard to understand what exactly is going on. On the same theme, sometimes something would happen but it's not told to the reader that it happened until later. It all adds some unnecessary confusion in my opinion but I still really enjoyed the story.

This was my first book by Deborah Wilde and I must say I quite liked it.
It was exactly what expected it to be in the best way possible. When I read the blurb I was intrigued and I'm happy to say the book didn't disappoint at all. Everything I hoped for when I started reading this book I got: magic & kick ass heroine, the action, sparks filled relationship between Ashira and Levi, fabulous secondary characters, interesting mythology... There are also some great relationship dynamics that I'm hoping get explored more in the following books. The book was thoroughly enjoyable, the story itself was interesting and engaging.
My only complaint is that the story sometime felt a little choppy, like some scenes that explained why or how something came to be were missing. But overall, I enjoyed the book very much. I'm looking forward to reading more books by this author and especially to reading the next instalment in The Jezebel Files. I'll definitely be on the look out for it when it comes out.

I feel that this is a solid series starter. The characters were well-written and interesting and the storyline was engaging enough that it kept my attention throughout. I'm looking forward to reading more in this series to see how the MC develops.

*I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by NetGalley*

While I usually like snarky paranormal types of books, this one ticked off some wrong boxes for me, and I couldn't get the rest of the way through it.

**I was provided an electronic ARC by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for honest review.**

In Deborah Wilde's Blood & Ash, we follow private investigator Ashira Cohen. Ashira is a Mundane, which means she doesn't have magical abilities. When Ashira gets a concussion on a case, she finds out about a tattoo she didn't know she had along with a bit more than she bargained for. Along with mysterious smudges appearing and causing heart attacks in magic users, Ashira teams up with the head of House Pacifica, Levi Montefiore, to investigate the newest case.

It was refreshing to have an urban fantasy that had strong basis in Jewish mythology and legend, which Wilde incorporated smoothly and well. I definitely am interested in pursuing more books that incorporate lore from various cultures. I also enjoyed that Ashira's friends, Priya and Arkady, were decently developed side characters with representation for women in STEM, POC, and LGBTQ.

I think I didn't really connect with this one, and I'm not entirely sure why. The pacing did come across as a little slow for me, but I could objectively tell that the story was solid and characters were good. My personal enjoyment just was pretty average rather than being great. That being said, I'm pretty sure it was more a me issue than the book itself.

I would recommend this book to people seeking mythological influence on their urban fantasy, and look forward to future works by Wilde.

This was a decent book while it have quite a few things going for a good series I felt as though there were things it could improve, it was vague in a lot of things. There was hints of a second book but when I got to the last page it said end of book 1 never seen that in books I have read.

Ash is a private investigator within a magical community. Having no magical abilities, she is limited to taking mundane investigations. When a mysterious tattoo is found after an injury, everything she has known is turned on end. Loved the snarky dialog, the superiority complex of the "hero", and the mystery was great. I was sad when Nava's series ended by this author, but this will do just fine!

I found the heroine to be barely likeable, a whiny person who thought she had no magic. While on a PI investigation, she is injured and discovers a hidden tattoo on her skull that has suppressed her magic for years. She is surprised and appalled and of course would like to find out what happened. Cue in Levi, a magic user since birth, goody two shoes and my toe-the-liner. So many stick up the butt mistakes, so rigid with decisions that benefitted noone. Makes it a mystery how two people to seemingly disliked each other immensely. end of sleeping together. Not believeable.
I do like that the world building is vastly different, this is based in Jewish culture, which I found interesting, similar to the world building of "Trail of Lightening" which is based in Native American culture. Refreshing.
3.5 stars