Book Review - Scent of Magic

Title: Scent of Magic
Author: Maria V Snyder
Series: Healer (book 2)
Publisher: Mira Books
Release Date: 18 Dec 2012
ISBN-13: 978-1848452046

Synopsis
As the last Healer in the Fifteen Realms, Avery of Kazan is in a unique position: in the minds of her friends and foes alike, she no longer exists. Despite her need to prevent the megalomanical King Tohon from winning control of the Realms, Avery is also determined to find her sister and repair their estrangement. And she must do it alone, as Kerrick, her partner and sole confident, returns to Alga to summon his country into battle.

Though she should be in hiding, Avery will do whatever she can to support Tohon’s opponents. Including infiltrating a holy army, evading magic sniffers, teaching forest skills to soldiers and figuring out how to stop Tohon’s most horrible creations yet; an army of the walking dead—human and animal alike and nearly impossible to defeat.

War is coming and Avery is alone. Unless she figures out how to do the impossible ... again. 

My Review
I was lucky enough to get a free copy of this book through NetGalley. This in no way affects my review.
OMG, I read 'Touch of Power' (book 1) last year and fell in love with it, I reviewed it as part of a competition which I ended up winning and the prize was my ipad. :O 
I'm so glad I loved that book as it made my review enthusiastic and just well, a winner! So when I saw that NetGalley was offering advanced copies of this book, I of course had to apply. I never imagined I would actually be lucky enough to get a copy but here we are. After finishing book 1 last year I have been desperate to know what would happen to Avry and Kerrick and her team, it's one of those books that stay with you, and sure enough jumping into this one didn't cause me any problems. Everything came back to me and I was instantly transported into that world once more.

Everyone believes Avry is dead, a powerful position to be in, but instead of hiding away she is determined to do all she can to bring down Tohon's army.
Kerrick sets off on his own Quest, trying to rally his Kingdom to fight and coming across lots of obstacles.
There are a lot of returning characters and some new ones too. I was sooo excited and happy to see one character back. My heart literally jumped for joy and swelled with happiness. Thank you Maria, you don't know how much that meant to your fans!!! 
I really liked the return of the two children Danny and Zila. Danny in particular plays a bigger part and I really grew to like him, he will make a great future player.
Once again you are thrust into a world of magic, mystery, adventure, fighting and romance. There isn't quite as much romance in this one in some ways as Avry and Kerrick spend quite a bit of time apart, but they think of each other and in many ways you can feel their connection stretching over the pages, keeping them together.
There are a lot of twists and turns to keep you turning the pages, I laughed, I cried and I was shocked throughout, this story really takes hold of you and draws you in. I feel like I know the place and people. I step into their land, become a part of the group.
If you haven't read book 1 yet, I strongly recommend you do, get it now and read it before this one is released. Also check out her other series 'Study' series and 'Opal Cowan' series.
You won't regret it!!!

My Rating