Armed & Magical by Lisa Shearin

I'm a sucker for funny books. Any type of humorous book will do, but after stumbling upon Lisa Shearin's Magic Lost, Trouble Found earlier this year, I knew I had found a kindred spirit in one Raine Beranes. She's an elf, a seeker (someone who can find things with magic), and comes from a long line of pirates and criminals. Just how she found herself on the opposite side of the law still baffles Raine but she's good at what she does and is happy doing it.

As a seeker, Raine has always possessed a respectable amount of magic but after finding (and bonding) with a magical stone called the Saghred a few weeks prior, she's now got more dark magic at her fingertips than she knows what to do with. Raine's new goal in life? Find a way to get rid of the stone without it killing her in the process. Hoping for an answer, she's traveled with Paladin Mychael Eiliesor to the Island of Mid (home to most mages per capita) along with Piaras, her pseudo younger brother, an aspiring young spellsinger who's hoping to get some much-needed training in Mid. Getting rid of the stone is easier said than done however, since her new found skills seem to be a red-hot beacon - attracting every crazy, power-hungry mage in existence who would like their very own catastrophe-causing stone at their beck-and-call.

If that not enough to give a girl stress: Piaras' awesome spellsinging abilities have garnered no little interest and when several other talented spellsingers go missing, Raine is determined to get her loved ones out of dodge before the sparks really fly. But the Saghred is not about to let Raine off that easy, what with the stone's power becoming harder to resist daily since the arrival of some truly nasty goblins who would like nothing better than to take back what they see is rightfully theirs. Throw in Raine's oh-so-inciting temptation to get a little closer to Tam (goblin aristocrat turned nightclub owner in possession of some seriously sexy eyes) which have begun to have incendiary results - and things just take off from there.

Stepping back into Raine's life was like taking a deep breath and then trying to run flat-out for the next 5 to 10 days. It's non-stop action, full of Raine's hilarious quips and her trademark no-nonsense approach to any situation: get in, get out, don't get killed. Simple enough. I'm still laughing over the things that come out of that girl's mouth, for example:

My family's big on denial. And if we denied something long enough, we thought it'd go away. I know that's not how it works, but we're in denial about that, too.

Blunt and upfront - my kind of girl. Also one of the most loyal characters I've ever met, Raine would go through fire (or at least a roomful of nasty goblins) for those she loves with both knives drawn and not even think twice about it. Raine does have her faults, but she's the first to admit to them and never tries to be more than she appears. Armed & Magical is an original, laugh out loud funny book and I can't wait to see where Raine will end up next. That is, as long as Tam is coming along too.

series reading order:
~ Magic Lost, Trouble Found - my review
~ Armed & Magical
~ The Trouble with Demons

Because Everyone Likes a Second Opinion:
A Bookaholics' Review review
Angieville review
The Book Smugglers review
Dear Author review
The Toasted Scimitar review

book source: borrowed from a friend