OBSIDIAN MAGIC
Obsidian Magic by McKenzie Hunter
Book 2 of the Legacy series
Narrated by Stacey Glemboski
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook 
About Obsidian Magic:
The only thing standing between me and death is my secret.
I’m a Legacy — a secret I’d planned on taking to my grave. Gareth, the enigmatic leader of the Supernatural Guild, knows it, but can I trust him to keep it? When mysterious deaths occur as a result of magic that mimics my own, I no longer have to worry about Gareth exposing me — it will be one of my own that does. Another Legacy is causing the chaos, and I’m forced to hunt my own kind. It seems simple, but we’ve existed for as long as we have because we’re better hunters than prey.
I’m forced to work with Gareth to clear my name and find the Legacy responsible. Not only is my secret about to be revealed — so is his. Gareth is much more dangerous than I expected. Is he my friend or my enemy?
Source: Info in the About Obsidian Magic was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35658025-obsidian-magic on 01/10/2019.
Buy Link(s):
My Thoughts:
This book has no beginning and no end. The story started with Double-Sided Magic and ended in a whooping big cliffhanger. So anyone reading this book on it’s own, I imagine the reader to get royally confused. If not pissed off, too. Because the entire book is just a middle chapter of a bigger book. I am so not a fan of that kind of book. At all! And also, not really sure how the title relates to the story… Which is a pity because I really like the way this author tells a story. Her author’s voice is easy to sink into. I also like th premise of the story, even though it is not very original. I wanted this book (this series) to work… On the bright side, the cover art kick-ass!! It is one of the things that made me buy this book to begin with. Additionally, I still like the way Stacey Glemboski reads. Kudos to the narrator!
Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 4
Story itself = 2
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 2
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 4.5
Originality = 2
Pace = (8 hrs and 20 mins listening time)
Plot = 2
Narration = 4.5
Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 cherries
Books In The Legacy Series:
About McKenzie Hunter:
McKenzie, in her childhood, discovered that her life could be a whirlwind of adventures by simply opening a book. To this day, reading is still her favorite activity. She has a fondness for fantasy and mystery, which is probably why she writes urban fantasy.
When McKenzie isn’t working on her next book she is usually binge-watching paranormal and comedy shows, maintaining her title as “favorite auntie”, or trying to create a tasty low-calorie pizza.
About Stacey Glemboski:
Stacey is an accomplished audiobook narrator and voice actor who has recorded books for many best selling authors. Though her favorite books have been for kids and teens, many other genres of narration appeal to her.
Her acting experience has been largely experiential and has been honed through singing, plays, life, choir solos, Barbies, and eventually teaching middle school. For Stacey, narration is about having fun breathing life into characters and getting as lost as possible in the story she’s telling. Outside the studio, Stacey is compulsively addicted to tennis but is not seeking any treatment for this condition.
An experienced copy editor, proofreader, and English teacher, Stacey is adept at understanding complex texts and subtleties of plot and character.
Her home studio is a WhisperRoom sound-resistant booth, and she uses a Neumann TLM103, MBox Mini 2, and a MacBook Air.
The different formats of this book were purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.
WATER’S EDGE
Book 1 in the Highlands & Islands Detective series
Narrated by John McNab
Genre: crime fiction
Format: ebook & audiobook
A body discovered by the rocks. A broken detective returns to a scene of past tragedy. Will the pain of the past prevent him from seeing the present?
Detective Inspector Macleod returns to his island home twenty years after the painful loss of his wife. With a disposition forged in strong religious conservatism, he must bond with his new partner, the free spirited and upcoming female star of the force, to seek the killer of a young woman and shine a light on the evil beneath the surface. To do so, he must once again stand in the place where he lost everything. Only at the water’s edge, will everything be made new.
The rising tide brings all things to the surface.
This is my first G R Jordan read and I would probably continue reading this author… Probably. I want to know how Macleod and McGrath‘s relationship would develop, but I am not sure I have the patience to read through any more books in this series. We’ll see…
I presume that DI Macleod is near retiring because his views is hopelessly outdated. I first imagined him as a tall, well sculptured bloke only to read later on that he is shorter than Hope. Well, that was a bit of a downer!
I chapter 21, Hope was having difficulty coping with McKinney letting go of the life preserver ring and essentially committing suicide by drowning and that she saw him smiling before he let go. Then Macleod confessing, back at the station, that his wife “smiled too”. Well, I understood them smiling…
This is my first John McNab audiobook and I would listen to him again.
Character development = 4
Story itself = 4
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 4
World building = 4
Cover art = 3.5
Pace = (6 hrs and 12 mins listening time)
Plot = 4
Narration = 4.5
GR Jordan is a self-published author who finally decided at forty that in order to have an enjoyable lifestyle, his creative beast within would have to be unleashed. His books mirror that conflict in life where acts of decency contend with self-promotion, goodness stares in horror at evil and kindness blind-sides us when we are at our worst. Corrupting our world with his parade of wondrous and horrific characters, he highlights everyday tensions with fresh eyes whilst taking his methodical, intelligent mainstays on a roller-coaster ride of dilemmas, all the while suffering the banter of their provocative sidekicks.
A graduate of Loughborough University where he masqueraded as a chemical engineer but ultimately played American football, GR Jordan worked at changing the shape of cereal flakes and pulled a pallet truck for a living. Watching vegetables freeze at -40’C was another career highlight and he was also one of the Scottish Highlands’ “blind” air traffic controllers. Having flirted with most places in the UK, he is now based in the Isle of Lewis in Scotland where his free time is spent between raising a young family with his wife, writing, figuring out how to work a loom and caring for a small flock of chickens. Luckily his writing is influenced by his varied work and life experience as the chickens have not been the poetical inspiration he had hoped for!
Audiobook narrator / voice-over artist
The ebook and audiobook were bought with private funds.
No money received for this review.
HAVEN
Haven by Karen Lynch
Book 5 of the Relentless series
Read by Caitlin Greer and Zachary Webber
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook
About Haven:
Things are going well for Roland Greene. High school is behind him, he has a sweet new ride, a good job, and he’s making plans for his future. At eighteen, he’s one of the strongest werewolves in his pack, and he already has more vampire kills than most wolves have in a lifetime. Life is good. Almost.
It’s time for the annual pack gathering. Wolves from all over Maine come to take care of pack business and socialize — and to find mates. Everywhere Roland turns there are unmated females, and as the Alpha’s nephew, he’s prime mate material. The last thing he wants right now is a mate, and he’ll do all he can to stay a free wolf.
Until he meets her.
Source: Info in the About Haven was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33547031-haven on 09/08/2019.
Buy Link(s):
My Thoughts:
I’ve listened to audiobooks with multiple narrators before but these two complimented each other in the book so well, they’re like a mated pair! Kudos to the narrators!
This series’ books has two cover arts. The old ones are mostly faces of the characters and the new ones are more of an abstract art. The new cover art for this book has some sort of chocolate-kisses egg-like things in it… Got nothing to do with the story what-so-f****ng-ever! Like the publisher just randomly picked urban fantasy cover arts that looked good heedless whether or not it is appropriate for the book… what is that all about??! The old cover art though, nailed it! The faces fits the characters like a glove!
Despite the convenience of the audiobook, this is still not a very fast read/listen. I find myself needing breaks from the book and stop listening to it from time to time. No, not a very fast read at all.
This book has no plot at all. It’s all about boy meets girl, and full of young love angst, the end. Still this book was an enjoyable read… hopefully the next book is better…
Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 4
Story itself = 3
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 4
World building = 4
Cover art = 3
Pace = 3
Plot = 2
Narration = 4.5
Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 cherries
About Karen Lynch:
Karen Lynch is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author.
She grew up in Newfoundland, Canada – a place rich in colorful people and folklore to which she attributes her love of the supernatural and her vivid imagination. She moved to Charlotte, North Carolina years ago and was immediately charmed by the southern people but she says she will always be a newfie.
Though she loves supernatural fiction, she has a soft spot for Charlotte Brontë and Jane Austin. She is a fan of classic rock, country and classical music but her favorite music is the sound of a good thunderstorm or a howling blizzard. Two of her favorite past times are baking artisan breads for her friends and spending quality time with her two German Shepherds.
The ebook and audiobook copies of the book were purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.
MAGIC BITE
Magic Bite by Leia Stone and Lucía Ashta
Book 1 of the Supernatural Bounty Hunter series
Narrated by Kate Marcin
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook
About Magic Bite:
Evie Black and her demon imp partner, Cass, are two of the most fearsome supernatural bounty hunters on the West Coast. But when Evie’s beloved grandmother dies, her world shatters.
After finding the bottom of a bottle of tequila, Evie breaks the one rule she knows better than to ignore: Never hook up with a werewolf.
Especially when he’s the local alpha who, oh by the way, happens to be her gran’s sworn enemy.
Yeah, complicated doesn’t even begin to cover what happens next.
On top of it all, she’ll have to navigate the consequences of her actions while hunting a dangerous siren who’s on the most wanted mark list, the one whose secrets are as dangerous as her own.
Source: Info in the About Magic Bite was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43130378-magic-bite on 19/06/2019.
Buy Link(s):
My Thoughts:
Promising start to a new-to-me series.
This book ended in a big whooping cliffhanger and that is one of the main resasons that this book is never going to be a 5 out of 5 when the story telling quality is good.
This is a coming of age book where the heroine embarks on a journey of self-discovery. Not much of a plot. But then again, this is an urban fantasy book and not a thriller nor crime fiction, so I wasn’t really looking for one.
Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 3.5
Story itself = 3
Writing Style = 3.5
Ending = 1
World building = 4
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = 3
Plot = 2
Narration = 4
Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 cherries
Books In The Supernatural Bounty Hunter Series:
About Leia Stone:
Leia Stone is the USA TODAY bestselling author of the Matefinder series which is optioned for flim, and the Hive Trilogy. She lives in Arizona with her husband, two kids and her dog. When she is not chasing around her twin son and daughter, or writing, she has her nose shoved in a book. She wrote her first book when she was 23 years old. Keep reading and live with purpose.
About Lucía Ashta:
I’m Lucía Ashta, creator of alternate realities and the kind of stories I like to get lost in as a reader. I love magical adventures (the more magical, the better!) that fascinate me with their twists, turns, and wild characters, both human and otherwise, so that’s what I write. Fresh stories that move beyond the ordinary to explore what’s possible when we suspend disbelief.
A former architect and attorney, I now get to dedicate myself full-time to bringing life to worlds I wish existed. Since I get to live in these other worlds through my writing much of the time, i consider myself pretty lucky.
Sign up for my newsletter to find out about new releases, giveaways, and sales and to receive a free book at: http://luciaashta.com/newsletter.
About Kate Marcin:
I do voiceover so that I can help bring my client’s projects to life with a voice that sounds real and relatable. I absolutely love it. Since I was a kid, I’ve been fascinated with the performing arts. Now working for clients like Google, Dell and Skechers, I feel most comfortable embodying that relaxed, conversational, down-to-earth millennial spirit. Why am I telling you all this? Because I want to make your choice of who you hire as easy as possible so that your boss gives you the keys to her brand new Tesla and let’s you take over her corner office on the same day she’s come down with measles and has almost been pecked to death by a pigeon. Seriously, I’m here to help.
The different formats of this book were purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.
WOLF CLAIMED
Wolf Claimed by Kellie McAllen
Book 1 of the Supernatural Sancturay series
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook
About Wolf Claimed:
He’s forbidden fruit with a supernatural secret. She’s a prize he’s compelled to claim.
For as long as she can remember, Luna has been warned by her father to stay away from Nikko, his family, and his sinister gang of friends. But with her father away, Luna can’t resist temptation any longer.
The most thrilling night of her life becomes the most horrifying when Luna turns into a werewolf, and Nikko does, too. Nikko knows the first she-wolf in generations is a prize that will guarantee his position in the pack, so he claims Luna as his mate against her will.
When Luna is thrust into the middle of a pack war that puts everyone she loves at risk, can she find a way to save her family and her pack without sacrificing her freedom?
Source: Info in the About Wolf Claimed was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44076066-wolf-claimed on 24/08/2019.
My Thoughts:
This book got picked up because I am apparently a newsletter subscriber of this author. I must have entered a giveaway. Anyway, the cover art in my inbox intrigued me and I followed links. At first I just downloaded a sample. Then I bought the book. Now I have also bought the second book in the series. This is my first Kellie McAllen read and I like the way she tells a story. However, I did not like the way the main character acts just a hair this side of stupid. But this is an urban fantasy book with werewolves and magic in it, so the fantasy geek in me puts up with it and hopes that it gets better with the next book in the series. Being the first book, this is also the introduction to the Supernatural Sancturay series at the same time a story of self-discovery and emerging powers.
Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 3.5
Story itself = 3.5
Writing Style = 3.5
Ending = 4
World building = 4
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = 3.5
Plot = 3.5
Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 cherries
Books In The Supernatural Sancturay Series:
About Kellie McAllen:
Kellie McAllen is a USA Today Bestselling author who has her nose in a book whenever she can. When she’s not reading or writing, she’s usually hanging out at the beach, guest judging on DWTS (from her living room), or watching cute cat videos. She lives in North Carolina.
THE MERGING
The Merging by John P. Logsdon and Christopher P. Young
Book 1 of the Las Vegas Paranormal Police Department Series
Narrated by the author John P. Logsdon
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook
About The Merging:
Las Vegas is getting rampaged by ubernaturals, and only one team has the guts to step in.
Ian Dex is the captain of the Las Vegas Paranormal Police Department (PPD), the crew responsible for kicking the crap out of any supernatural stupid enough to mess with the Strip. He’s a cop, a millionaire, an amalgamite, and a horndog.
Sin City is always running amok with disturbances and glitter, but sometimes those two items merge and the nightlife gets out of hand. Kind of like mixing Hell and…well, more Hell.
When an ubermage appears on the Strip, strutting around in his Chippendales-style outfit and sending out other ubernaturals to kick up dust and unleash destruction, it’s up to Ian Dex and his team to do what they do best: bust heads and shred souls.
Casinos are clamoring for help, cops are fighting tooth and nail just to survive, and tourists think it’s all part of the Vegas experience.
The weather forecast for tonight on the Strip is dark. Very damn dark…and bloody.
Source: Info in the About The Merging was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36196599-the-merging on 02/07/2019.
Buy Link(s):
My Thoughts:
This book got bought because it got mentioned in Silver Clouds Dirty Sky by Orlando Sanchez. Me, being an urban fantasy geek, took the bait.
Ian Dex, our main protagonist is kind of a TSTL (too stupid to live). Not a very desirable trait in any character, never mind the main protagonist! Surprisingly, everybody else seems to be a well developed character except Ian Dex. That can wear a reader down. On the up side, the author reads the story with a gusto! That perked things up a bit. Plus there is the fact that this is an urban fantasy story with vampires and demons and magic that my geek side really like! I recon I would be reading the next book in this series, seeing that I already bought the first four books.
Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 3.5
Character development = 3.5
Story itself = 3
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 3
World building = 4
Cover art = 3.5
Pace = 2
Plot = 2
Narration = 4
Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 cherries
About John P. Logsdon:
I was born in Takoma Park, MD, in the U.S.A. I’ve worked in the online games industry as a producer, a product manager, a director of content development, and an executive producer. I’ve also worked in several positions as a software engineer.
I’m now a full-time author who writes in way too many series. I just can’t seem to help myself. More accurately, I can’t shut up all the characters who float around in my head telling me their stories.
About Christopher P. Young:
I spent the majority of my childhood reading and writing science fiction while learning the craft of storytelling. As I got older, I found myself working in the video games industry, which helped me to understand the concept of design, structure, and layout. One of the key components of my style is humor. I can certainly create serious stories, and have plans to do just that, but I can’t help but admit that working in comedy is a lot more fun.
Here are the worlds that I’m currently working in:
* Tales from the Land of Ononokin – comedic fantasy
* The Intergalactic Research Bureau – comedic s.f.All of my books are published through Crimson Myth Press ( www.crimsonmyth.com ).
I live in Southern California (U.S.A.) with my wife and an ever-growing population of critters.
The different formats of this book were purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.
TEMPT THE STARS
Tempt The Stars by Karen Chance
Book 6 of the Cassandra Palmer series
Narrated by Tara Sands and Allyson Ryan
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: paperback & audiobook
About Tempt The Stars:
Being a goddess is a lot less fun than you might think. Especially when you’re only a half goddess, and you only found out about it recently, and you still don’t know what you’re doing half the time. And when you’ve just used your not-so-reliable powers to burglarize the booby-trapped office of a vampire mob boss.
Yeah, that part sucks.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg for Cassandra Palmer, aka the Pythia, the freshly minted chief seer of the supernatural world. After all, Cassie still has to save a friend from a fate worse than death, deal with an increasingly possessive master vampire, and prevent a party of her own acolytes from unleashing a storm of fury upon the world. Totally just your average day at the office, right?
Source: Info in the About Tempt The Stars was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12528745-tempt-the-stars on 29/11/2018.
My Thoughts:
It was hard getting into this book. I am an old fan of this series but my following of this series stopped with this book. Well, not really stopped but hit a considerable snag. So much so that it’d been donkeys’ years since I read the book preceding this one and I have forgotten what happened in the story already. However I did remember that Pritkin got sucked back home. The force of that premise alone was the reason that this book got read at all! I wanted to know if there would still be a Pritkin in the subsequent books in this series. If not, I don’t think I would be following this series still… Which is sad because some books in this series that I have read so far did gave me some laugh-out-loud moments. A rare thing in a lot of books I read. The pace did pick up about three quarters into the book, which is something. The plot is quite straightforward. Heroine is going from A to B, and that is exactly what happened. How she got there is the interesting part. Still, not much of a plot. The world building just got a little bit crazier. Opened up new angles into the story never before hitherto heard of and interesting possibilities blooms… And the ending while it closed the current story, it is also a cliffhanger and a titillation for the next book.
Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 4
Story itself = 3.5
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 3
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 4
Pace = 1.5
Plot = 2
Narration = 4.5
Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 cherries
TRINA
Trina by Sherry Foster
Book 2 in the Safe Haven Wolves series
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook
About Trina:
Trina is done hiding.
Jaden is done hunting.
Desperate to find a mate, but longing to track down her sister, Trina’s journey begins. She had no idea the turn her life would take once her twin left home. The events that led up to her family going into hiding haven’t changed. Because female shifters are rare, to be procured at all cost, Trina and her family remain on the run from those who would detain her. However, she is determined that her freedom is her own. She belongs to no one until she and her wolf both agree upon a mate. But the list of people after her has just gotten larger.
Jaden has no doubt the woman in saw in the dojo that day is his mate. For months now his wolf has been tearing up his insides in a need to claim her. The problem is, all traces of the girl disappeared the day they met. After exhausting every possible resource he has to find her, a glimmer of hope appears in the news in the form of wedding photos. Enraged to find his mate married to another he vows to make her a widow.
Will Jaden cross the wrong people in his journey to get his mate?
Can Trina stay free long enough to find Gabby?
Will their journeys bring them together or destroy any chance of them finding each other?
Pick up your copy and find out.
Source: Info in the About Trina was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40859421-trina on 03/11/2019.
My Thoughts:
I imagine Trina as someone like the Black Widow, only bristling with more weapons…
I don’t like it when authors break their own magic rules. It destroys the “believability” factor in the story. It creates a “disconnect” to the rhythm or flow of the story. This book made me abandon this series for a long while. Which is sad because this book should have been the best in the series yet, because the heroine is bad-ass! She decided she is done with being hunted and started hunting the hunters! Really bad-ass!
I probably have said much of what I have to say about this book with my review of the previous book. However, it bears repeating that the story telling quality of this book is quite good! Good enough that I finished reading this book, despite my ire. Plus, I really like the premise of this series! Gammon gotta be my favourite bad-ass!
Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 3.5
Story itself = 3.5
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 3.5
World building = 4
Cover art = 3
Pace = 2.5
Plot = 3.5
Narration = 4.5
Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 cherries
About Sherry Foster:
Sherry fell in love with reading when she was young and never lost her love of words on a page. She enjoys fantasy and science fiction along with a few other genres. She has two grown children and eight grandchildren who keep her on her toes.
She writes fantasy but has plans to branch out into other genres eventually.
The different formats of this book were purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.
Review: ALL THE LITTLE LIARS
All The Little Liars by Charlaine Harris
Book 9 of the Aurora Teagarden mysteries
Read by Therese Plummer
Format: ebook & audiobook
Genre: murder mystery
About All The Little Liars:
#1 New York Times bestseller Charlaine Harris returns to her Aurora Teagarden mystery series with a fabulous new book featuring the small-town Southern librarian.
Aurora Teagarden is basking in the news of her pregnancy when disaster strikes her small Georgia town: four kids vanish from the school soccer field in an afternoon. Aurora’s 15-year-old brother Phillip is one of them. Also gone are two of his friends, and an 11-year-old girl who was just hoping to get a ride home from soccer practice. And then there’s an even worse discovery — at the kids’ last known destination, a dead body.
While the local police and sheriff’s department comb the county for the missing kids and interview everyone even remotely involved, Aurora and her new husband, true crime writer Robin Crusoe, begin their own investigation. Could the death and kidnappings have anything to do with a group of bullies at the middle school? Is Phillip’s disappearance related to Aurora’s father’s gambling debts? Or is Phillip himself, new to town and an unknown quantity, responsible for taking the other children? But regardless of the reason, as the days go by, the most important questions remain. Are the kids still alive? Who could be concealing them? Where could they be?
With Christmas approaching, Aurora is determined to find her brother…if he’s still alive.
After more than a decade, #1 New York Times bestseller Charlaine Harris finally returns to her fan-favorite Aurora Teagarden series with All the Little Liars, a fabulously fun new mystery.
Source: Info in the About All The Little Liars was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28220808-all-the-little-liars on 15/05/2017.
My Thoughts:
I read this series, like, donkey’s years ago! Then all of a sudden I come across another book in this series more than ten years later! Whoa! That is a long hiatus!! And only Charlaine Harris can revive back to life a series that long dead. I wonder why she decided to write again in the Aurora Teagarden‘s world, after all this time… Speaking of which, I find the story flow a little bit sluggish… Sluggish?! …heck! It’s a little bit under crawling pace… at less than a snail’s pace!!… The main reason being that I have already forgotten a lot of the characters and events from previous books. So I had to stop and think, who was who? And did Roe got married before?? Yeah, that was how long ago I’ve read this series… But I remember Therese Plummer‘s sleepy voice! And am very happy to be listening to it again! But after a while, it all comes back more easily this time… after an annoyingly interminable time…. *sigh* … did I say it was a long time ago??…
Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 3.5
Story itself = 3
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 3
World building = 3
Cover art = 1
Pace = (7 hrs and 51 mins listening time)
Plot = 4
Narration = 4.5
Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 cherries
Books In Aurora Teagarden Mysteries:
| About Charlaine Harris | |
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| The Narrator | |
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KEYSTONE
Keystone by Dannika Dark
Book 1 of the Crossbreed Series
Read by Nicole Poole
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook
About Keystone:
Raven Black hunts evildoers for fun, but her vigilante justice isn’t the only reason she’s hiding from the law. Half Vampire, half Mage, she’s spent years living as a rogue to stay alive. When a Russian Shifter offers her a job in his covert organization hunting outlaws, dignity and a respectable career are finally within her grasp. The catch? Her new partner is Christian Poe – a smug, handsome Vampire whom she’d rather stake than go on a stakeout with.
They’re hot on the trail of a human killer who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. One misstep during her probationary period could jeopardize Raven’s chance at redemption, and her partner would love nothing more than to see her fail. Will Raven find the courage to succeed, or will she give in to her dark nature?
Dark secrets, unexpected twists, and a blurred line between good and evil will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Source: Info in the About Keystone was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33869571-keystone on 07/08/2018.
My Thoughts:
This is a new-to-me series, and I was excited to discover a “possibly” another great read(s)… This is also my first Dannika Dark book so I am not familiar with this author’s voice before I started reading this book.
I like the way Nicole Poole reads. It’s not aggravating to the ears.
The promise of possibilities in the world building is exciting. There are vampires and shifters and magic. It started with good narrative and believable scenes. Then it was kind of downhill from there.
I do not like inconsistent magic rules. All along the narrative it says that clothes don’t change with the shifter. Then all of a sudden Blue flies off as a peregrine and her clothes magically disappear… WTF! If you make up the rules, stick with them! Inconsistency destroys the believability in the story!
After all that moaning, the book wasn’t all that bad. It has its moments. However, I do not think I would be buying anymore books in this series.
Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 3.5
Story itself = 3
Writing Style = 3
Ending = 3.5
World building = 3.5
Cover art = 4
Pace = (10hrs & 15mins listening time)
Plot = 3
Narration = 5
Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 cherries
The ebook and audiobook copies of the book were purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.
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This blog is a sister site of www.cherrymischievous.com. Content on both sites is more or less the same.
ABOUT US
Cherry Mischievous (CM) started out as a personal blog of Cherry. It still is, sort of, among other things. But now, we have evolved into a kind of blog where friends who share the same love of books also blog… to know more about us, click on our names to go to our profiles:
Please note that not all reviews here are positive, but then we do not expect the entire wide world to agree and have the same tastes as us. It would be an incredibly boring and monotonous world! Besides, even among ourselves we don’t agree! One would rate a book 4.5 while the other would rate the same exact book with only 3 or less… So have a look and see, especially if it is your genre of books, even though it garnered a low rating with us, you might find it interesting 🙂
Now, let me tell you about Cherry… I am an avid reader of SciFi/Fantasy/Romance books and always on the look out for a good book to read. I dabble in the black arts of light and shadow… err mmm… photography, I mean. I am also in great excess of 18 years old. I am a nurse and constantly getting in trouble because I refuse to live in a box of preconceptions of other people of how things are suppose to be. And let me tell you, nursing is dominated with “tradition” and “sacred cows“, as any nurse and nursing student will tell you. I love spaghetti, chocolate ice cream, coffee and of course, books! I positively abhor stories with cliffhanger endings and driving in London! I am slightly insane, sometimes sarcastic, can be obnoxious, and totally honest. And oh yeah, people call me tactless too 🙂 Welcome to my corner of the world!
CONTACT US
You can contact us at: cherrymischif-contactcmwp2 [at] yahoo [dot] com
or CONNECT WITH US:
Please go to the Review Requests page for review requests.
Cherry Mischievous
www.cherrymischievous.com
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Cherry Mischievous 