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I’m thrilled to deliver this post on Assassin’s Honor by Monica Burns.

Not only is it a unique and excellently crafted paranormal romance novel – it’s set in Chicago (well, part of the time) and Chicago is one of my favorite cities.

Read an excerpt of Assassins Honor here

Burns has found a fresh angle in the paranormal romance and her world building for this paranormal romance novel is top notch. Lead characters Emma and Ares have a contemporary place to play that’s fraught with powerful enemies with unique talents.

Three things that made Burn’s world building for this paranormal romance novel (and series) so effective:

Location, location, location: Using real locations, Burns doesn’t gloss over the realities of each one. She makes the Sicari lair on Wacker street in Chicago easy to imagine – the lair, the access and why the Sicari chose that spot.

This isn’t a place tourists or innocent bystanders would travel, and the criminal element works to the secretive advantage and purpose of the group.

The opener: Burns opens with Emma on an archaeology dig, uncovering an ancient symbol. Burns uses this symbol throughout the adventure as it’s significant to all the primary characters and their back stories.

Even though the locations change, the purpose of both Emma’s job and her discovery set a mood and tone within the world Burns built for this paranormal romance novel.

It isn’t an easy world. However Burns’ imagination works, I’m a grateful reader and fan! Her attention to detail in the world building for this paranormal romance novel makes for an impressively delightful and smooth read.

Ares’ Sicari world and honor system are so very different from what Emma has known and both hero and heroine have a wonderfully emotional journey that knits seamlessly with the adventure of their circumstances.

It’s never cliched, no pacing is lost, nothing is introduced that doesn’t have a purpose or solid foundation beneath it. In a word: Believable!

Thank you Monica Burns for successful world building for your paranormal romance novel series.

Live the adventure!

For excerpts, and details about how Assassin’s Honor came to be, visit Monica’s site now. Or better yet, go buy Assassin’s Honor in your fave format from your fave retailer so you’ll be ready for the next installment, Assassin’s Heart coming soon!