Title: Mercenary Magic (Dragon Born Serafina #1)
Author: Ella Summers
Release Date: October 13, 2015
Publisher: Ella Summers
Pages: 226
Source: Bought
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Overall: 5 STARS

SUMMARY

Long ago, the Dragon Born were hailed as the most powerful mages in the world. Today, they are condemned as abominations and have been hunted to near extinction.

Sera Dering has spent her entire life hiding her forbidden magic from the supernatural council who would kill her for the crime of being born. After years of drifting, she’s finally found a new life working as a low-grade mercenary for San Francisco’s oldest monster cleanup guild. She’s safe—as long as she pretends to be human.

But a dark and mysterious power is taking control of mages’ minds, and Sera’s guild sends her in to investigate. To save her city from a magical apocalypse, she must work together with a sexy and deadly mage who represents the very council that sentenced the Dragon Born to death. And if he finds out what she is, she’ll be next…

Mercenary Magic is the first book in the Dragon Born Serafina urban fantasy series.  

MY THOUGHTS  
It took me by surprise just how much I absolutely enjoyed Ella Summers' Mercenary Magic. What a thrilling introduction to the Dragon Born Serafina series! Crazy addictive, entertaining, suspenseful, and brimming with magic—what's not to love? I only wish the book had been longer!

Sera Dering has spent her life pretending to be something she's not: a human. She works as a mercenary for a monster cleanup guild in San Francisco, and while the paycheck may be terrible, she couldn't imagine being anything else. From stopping vampires causing bar fights to intervening in disputes between centaurs, Sera's work days are never the same. 

But her latest assignment is her most dangerous one yet. Someone is taking control of mages' minds and wreaking havoc on the city by hijacking and amplifying their powers. Sera must reluctantly work with Kai Drachenburg, a powerful and deadly mage shifter, to investigate the mystery and catch the culprits before it's too late.

Sarah is used to being underestimated as a human... and she's fine with that. If the Magic Council, the organization ruling over the entire magical/supernatural community, ever discovered she was actually a Dragon Born, her life would be forfeit. The Dragon Born are considered abominations, greatly feared by the Magic Council, although she has never really learned why. Sera only knows that her father died trying to protect her and her sister when they children so they could remain in hiding.

And now Kai is determined to discover Sera's secrets, despite all her efforts to keep a tight reign on the magical abilities she's never had a chance to fully explore. Sera and Kai may have insanely hot chemistry together, but that doesn't mean she can fully trust him, not when she barely knows him. Yet the teasing and sexual tension between them had me shipping them pretty hard!

Fans of Ilona Andrews and Thea Harrison will fall in love with Ella Summers' Mercenary Magic! I'm now highly anticipating the sequel Magic Games, and hope it answers some unsolved questions about the Dragon Born and why they're so feared in the supernatural community. If you're looking for a NA/adult urban fantasy novel to read, you don't want to miss Mercenary Magic.