I've read the first three books of this series and dropped the fourth.
While there are no direct spoilers I will talk about general things which are necessary to express my frustration. So if you intend to go into this series blind you should probably avoid this review.

The first book in this series was actually pretty enjoyable. It wasn't great but it felt like a setup book despite the fast pace so I expected the following books to build on that. But while I could see the attempt, the worldbuilding was actually very good, personal things around the MC got really bad.

Before I start to complain I probably should mention all the things this series did very well to not sound like I am just ripping it apart but I always have a hard time doing so without it sounding weird. So just keep in mind there are other aspects of the series that are from pretty good to great. The fact that I am so riled up and frustrated about the flaws is a surefire sign that there is something worthwhile that was ruined by its flaws for me.

Let's get to chopping.

The first annoyance that kept coming up was the MCs financial situation.
She earns a decent wage with her job and throws around money like it's nobody's business but at the same time constantly worries about money. We are constantly reminded how a lot of things drain her savings she puts aside to escape her terrible job and exploitive boss. This got old very quickly. I can't scrape together any empathy for a person that constantly complains about money but at the same time does nothing about it. If she had a reason like social anxiety or something, I could maybe understand it but it's like she lights her Cuban cigars with Benjamins while crying about how she doesn't make enough money to survive. Maybe the author just has no experience whatsoever with how it feels to actually be poor? Or maybe it's intentional and it's supposed to show how the MC doesn't understand it? Either way, it was very off-putting.

The second complaint I have is pretty broad and is also something that shows up off and on throughout the series.
Sometimes the MC just freezes up in dangerous situations like a deer in headlights and at other times she suddenly pulls off some ultra-ninja matrix level shit in the middle of extremely stressful life or death situations.
I am not talking about the premonition stuff where she suddenly has an intuition to act in a certain way to save her life. I actually really like these. I mean the "I can suddenly macgyver stuff on the spot with my magic training" type of moments. I would be less annoyed by those if this was a core part of the character but it isn't. While she isn't the helpless damsel in distress, she isn't the battle-hardened, able to think on her feet in tight spots, type either. Some of the things she does are kind of cool but it all seems to come out of nowhere.
Something similar is happening with her public speaking anxiety. A lot of effort went into making it believable but it's only an issue if the plot needs it to be. It's something that just ceases to matter as soon as it would hinder the plot. Maybe there is a throwaway sentence here and there about how she is breathing properly to justify it but you can be sure that she will be unable to do so again as soon as it is convenient.

By far the worst part of this entire series is the romance.
To its credit, there is no insta-love and the book takes great pains to develop the romance slowly.
I can see what the author was going for. It's the following pattern.
The dark brooding and incredibly powerful male that initially tries to exploit the MC for personal gain but in the process starts to fall in love with her. At the same time, while she experiences strong physical attraction, she tries to stay away from the guy because she recognizes how dangerous he is.
He then starts to invade her life in an unconscious effort to get closer to her and is in self-denial about his motivation. Then, because she is surrounded by him and deeply involved in his dealings, she starts to recognize the merits and the redeeming aspects of his personality. She starts to reluctantly appreciate him for more than just his body and on it goes. You've probably read this one (or a slight variation) before countless times.

But it just doesn't make sense how she could possibly develop any kind of feelings towards her boss without ever even being in contact with him beyond very short and entirely business-oriented meetings which seem to be neutral at best but are mostly negative.
It's plausible that someone might have secret fantasies about a CEO-type like him even though he is scary and intimidating in real life but they would obviously not be acted upon. But it's not portrayed that way anyhow. Of course, she lusts a bit but the kind of attraction she displays goes way deeper. This is completely baffling to me. She doesn't know that guy at all. She doesn't spend enough time to develop any kind of understanding of him at all. The only connection she has to him is her job that she herself describes as bland and happiness-draining.
How the hell do you get deeply emotionally attached in that scenario?
If I was in her shoes I would despise him and be terrified of him. He is a nightmare, not tentative blooming romance material. Especially as it turns out through later books that he secretly invaded her life far deeper than expected. It reaches levels that are so bad that many actual psychological horror stories don't go that far, all the while trying to portray it as romantic somehow.

The MC is kind, meek, and shy with low self-esteem. She is the kind of person everyone exploits, including her boss. She isn't the type that could stand up to him and his machinations. The entire thing screams unhealthy relationship to me and it's never remedied either.
If she was the typical confrontational UF MC type with a backbone that gives lip and refuses to be pushed around this could've worked really well but she just isn't.
And then there just isn't a single redeeming quality about the guy even late into the fourth book.
There just isn't anything good, anything likable about him. I've read very few books where the male love interest needed redeeming qualities that desperately. The entire attraction thing appears to be pathological if anything.

The disturbing nature of the developing relationship isn't helped by the spineless MC. I initially hoped that she would just have slow character development and indeed that is probably what the author was going for but he failed miserably in that regard as well. While she gets stronger physically and with her abilities, her personality doesn't grow with them. She is mad and grumbles when she is being pushed around and starts to become a little bit mouthier in rare cases but she never actually fights back beyond a token effort. She gives in easily every time and lets everyone, and him in particular, mistreat her constantly.

Maybe I am too impatient but I haven't learned anything about the love interest that redeems him in any way or justifies his behavior in the slightest throughout 4 books.
The authors obviously planned to let his MC grow but just got way too comfortable with the character they already had and ended up never actually developing her properly. The same is true for the development of the romance. The authors are comfortable with the status quo so they just kept stalling it.

In conclusion. The first book is a pretty good start to a new series I would rate it very high 3 or even 4 stars but the rest of the series sadly just doesn't deliver.
There are really great aspects to the series and it is obvious that a lot of effort went into it.
This is not a case for the typical lazy writing in later books. I think the authors genuinely failed to recognize how fucked up the core relationship of the story really is and how little character development actually happens.

I don't recommend this series but I will definitively try out other, newer works by the author because I see potential as well as passion in his writing. ( )

A surprisingly delightful and fun read ( )

The Girl Who Sees
Sasha Urban Series, Book 1
By: Dima Zales, Anna Zaires
Narrated by: Emily Durante
I had never read anything by these authors and was happy to find I enjoyed them. A fast paced, action packed book with surprises, likable characters, supernatural creatures and abilities. What more is there to like? The narration was great too! Going on to the next book! ( )