Bea's Book Nook: Steph Reviews Free Agent By J.C. Nelson

Publisher: Ace
Series: Grimm Agency #1
Format Read: Paperback
Source: From the publisher for an honest review
Release Date: July 29, 2014
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | ARe*/OmniLit | Barnes & Noble |
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Blurb from goodreads:

When it comes to crafting happily-ever-afters, the Agency is the best in the land of Kingdom. The Fairy Godfather Grimm can solve any problem—from eliminating imps to finding prince charming—as long as you can pay the price…

Working for Grimm isn’t Marissa Locks’s dream job. But when your parents trade you to a Fairy Godfather for a miracle, you don’t have many career options. To pay off her parents’ debt and earn her freedom, Marissa must do whatever Grimm asks, no matter what fairy-tale fiasco she’s called on to deal with.

Setting up a second-rate princess with a first-class prince is just another day at the office. But when the matchmaking goes wrong, Marissa and Grimm find themselves in a bigger magical muddle than ever before. Not only has the prince gone missing, but the Fae are gearing up to attack Kingdom, and a new Fairy Godmother is sniffing around Grimm’s turf, threatening Marissa with the one thing she can’t resist: her heart’s wishes.

Now Marissa will have to take on Fairies, Fae, dragons, and princesses to save the realm—or give up any hope of ever getting her happy ending…

Steph's Thoughts:

I grabbed this book because it looked different and interesting. I was thinking it maybe was along the same lines as Grimm, the TV show. I LOVED this book! I can remember sitting down and reading the original Grimm’s fairy tales (no not the Disney versions) and being shocked at how dark they were. "Free Agent" did not disappoint me. The Princess is not a cute skinny girl. She has a few extra pounds and Marissa does not really like her.

Marissa is an entertaining character. She is snarky, cynical, a pain in the butt to her employer but a pretty darn good agent for a human. The reader is slowly introduced to the world of Marissa. There are fairies, fae (two different entities), werewolves, mail delivering gnomes (omg the gnomes HATE her!), Djinn and magic. Grimm is one mysterious creature. He is a Fairy Godfather. He inhabits mirrors (magic mirror anybody?) and you will both love him and hate him. I have never heard of a Fairy Godfather, so that one is pretty new to be but he was fun. It is obvious that he cares for Marissa but does not always show it.

Ari, our princess, is stuck with Marissa who hates her but gradually they become friends. She is not a perfect Disney princess, which is refreshing. She learns to shoot and refuses to take a little handgun because if she shoots something, she wants to make sure it is dead.

There is a lot of violence in "Free Agent" and some disturbing scenes but they work for the story. As a mom, I have a difficult time reading about kids dying. I had a hard time putting this book down. It was a great escape from the craziness that has been my life the past few weeks. What I loved most was the darkness when it came to touching on fairy tales. Little Red Riding Hood is not a sweet innocent girl that finds a wolf in grandma’s bed. Her cloak is red because she used the blood of werewolves she slaughtered to dye it. See, no Disney here.

Overall, I loved "Free Agent". It has action, adventure, interesting characters and dark fairy tales. It will find a permanent home on my book shelf and I cannot wait for the next book in the series.