First and Last by Stacey Kennedy
The Magical Sword, Book 4
Liquid Silver Books
Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Magic, Paranormal
ISBN: 978-1-59578-765-1
Reviewed by Jo




If she didn’t have enough to responsibilities as a Guardian and a witch, now Nexi Jones is the Lady of the Underworld.  As it’s a world of dark magic, Nexi decides to change the rules just a bit for the residents who live there.  But not everyone likes these changes and are more than ready to express their discontent.  Nexi, with her new soulmate Kyden by her side, learns of this discontentment the hard way.  People are being killed by witches and then disappearing – literally, the bodies are just gone.

It takes not only the help of her friends but also of the few residents of the Underworld who back Nexi in order to discover just what is going on.  With a huge bulls eye on her back, Nexi has to dig into her past, and even farther, to find out why she has her gifts and hopefully the power to end the threat to all the worlds.  The answers almost don’t come in time, but just when it appears that all will be lost to the extreme darkness, Nexi discovers the knowledge of how to end this fight once and for all.  Peace is going to be a nice change for everyone involved.

Darkness has never been so evil as when ancient demons come out to play.  First and Last has Nexi, Kyden, and everyone else at battle stations.  I thought the last book in the series was heart stopping but I soon found out it was only a warm up for this one.  Nexi is now the Lady of the Underworld and mated with her Guardian Kyden.  Those two facts really don’t sit well with the demons of the Underworld.  I expected the nastiness but I was totally not expecting the twists and turns that happened as Nexi tries to end the killing on Earthside again.  I have had many questions about Nexi through this entire series and they were more than answered.  I would never have guessed why or how Nexi became who she is.  Reading the final battle scene had me ignoring absolutely everything around me until it was done.  And how Nexi settled the Underworld problems, well I can’t tell you but it will amaze you like it did me I’m sure.  First and Last brings the saga of Nexi Jones to a full circle in a spectacular way.

Not only do I have to Joyfully Recommend First and Last, but I give that same recommendation to the entire Magical Sword series.  It is a must read and keeper so you can go back and read it again.  I will say that to get the full impact of the characters and Nexi’s journey, you need to read them in order.