HOPELESS
Hopeless by Melissa Haag
Book 1 of the Judgement of the Six series
Narrated by Julie McKay
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook
About Hopeless:
Gabby’s brain is like a human fish finder. It comes in handy when she wants to avoid people. Mostly men. They seem to like her a bit too much. It’s lonely being different, but she’s adapted to it. Really. She just wishes she knew why she is different, though.
In her search for answers, she discovers a hidden community of werewolves. She immerses herself in their culture, learning about their world until she meets Clay. He’s unkempt, prone to mood swings, intense without saying a word, and he thinks Gabby is his.
It’s going to take every trick she knows to convince Clay to go away, and every bit of willpower not to fall for him when she discovers the man beneath the rough exterior.
Judgement has begun…
Source: Info in the About Hopeless was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20985371-hope-less on 19/08/2019.
My Thoughts:
I first met this author with the Of Fates and Furies series and I liked the way she tells a story. So I thought I’d seek out her other works… Thus this book got bought and read. Like the other series, the books in this one also has multiple cover arts. For this particular book, the cover arts are apropos to the story but not high up in the “grab-me-now-and buy-me” scale.
I like the way Julie McKay reads. She sounds so much like Therese Plummer, another favourite narrator. Kudos to the narration! However, even with the convenience of the audiobook format, I would still say that this book is not a fast “read”. I find myself needing breaks from it from time to time. I contribute this to the tstl (too stupid to live) and whiny-ness of the heroine which I find royally annoying! However, the premise of the story is intriguing enough to keep me reading until the next book.
Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 3.5
Character development = 3.5
Story itself = 3
Writing Style = 3.5
Ending = 4
World building = 4
Cover art = 3.5
Pace = (10 hrs and 55 mins)
Plot = 2
Narration = 4.5
Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 cherries
Books In The Judgement of the Six Series:
About Melissa Haag:
I love to write! Sharing the worlds I’ve created is beyond amazing . Want to read a book for free? Check out my website at:
http://melissahaag.com/free-ebookConnect with me on:
https://www.facebook.com/author.MelissaHaag
I also write adult books under the pen name M.J. Haag. Happy reading!
About Julie McKay:
Julie is an Audie-nominated audiobook narrator of nearly 300 audiobooks. Her work has also been favorably reviewed in the industry magazine Audiofile.
The ebook and audiobook copies of the book were purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.
MAGIC SIGHT
Magic Sight by Leia Stone and Lucía Ashta
Book 2 of the Supernatural Bounty Hunter series
Narrated by Kate Marcin
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook
About Magic Sight:
When Evie found out she was knocked up with the alpha’s baby and a rare Kitsune with untold power, she thought life couldn’t get anymore complicated.
Then she was told she was also the guardian of the gate to the underworld and that her dad was still alive. Now she has 48 hours to bring in the Siren who started this whole fiasco in the first place.
What could go wrong?
*18 and up recommended reading age. Sexy times and cussing are sure to be found in this series.
Source: Info in the About Magic Sight was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43384275-magic-sight on 14/08/2019.
Buy Link(s):
My Thoughts:
The story started right where the first book left off and ended right in the middle of the story. So this one is more like a chapter of a bigger book. The start was began in Maigc Bite and the continuation will be in the subsequent installments in the series. Therefore, plot-wise this book hasn’t got much. In fact, if one reads Magic Sight on its own, the reader will be mightily confused because a lot of the explanations are in the previous book. I really like the premise of this book so the poor plot building and the cliffhanger ending is really a downer! And I don’t like cliffhangers, so I probably wouldn’t be reading further into this series…
Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 3.5
Character development = 3.5
Story itself = 1.5
Writing Style = 3
Ending = 1
World building = 4
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = 2
Plot = 1
Narration = 4
Overall Rating: 2.5 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.
THE ELEVENTH HOUR
The Eleventh Hour by Mark Hayden
Book 3 in The King’s Watch series
Narrated by Ciaran Saward
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook
Another Day, Another Scar…
Conrad needs a rest, and so does Vicky, his partner in fighting magickal crimes. The universe has other ideas.
Conrad had planned the perfect weekend in the English Lake District – tie up some loose ends before spending the night with his girlfriend. Simple. What could possibly go wrong?
Everything is the answer. An innocent man is murdered to cover up magickal misdeeds, and before they can draw breath, Conrad and Vicky are on the trail of a Mage who hides behind dark magick to kill at a distance.
In the third book of Mark Hayden’s highly praised King’s Watch sequence, Conrad and Vicky have to unlock doors and penetrate the ancient families of the Lakeland Particular to unmask a killer with an agenda of vengeance who doesn’t care who dies on the way.
Source: Info in the About The Eleventh Hour was taken from Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41036780-the-eleventh-hour on 02/06/2022.
When I bought this book I was thinking, “what the fluff is that duck doing in the cover art?!?”… it made sense in the end.
What I wanted to know is, what did His Worship left Conrad? Other than the Badge of Office itself. There were a few things in that chip… Yeah, curiousity killed the cat. Good thing I am not a cat! That was not answered in this book though, but I am hoping that it will be in subsequent books.
Tounela quillIf it was Lt. Eve Dallas of the In Death series by JD Robb, Augusta would be charged with accessory to murder. I know the Cloister Court is the magickal court and their rules could be different. But, howay, man! Augusta and everybody involved in the killing is not “did not do anything wrong”!
As usual, the story telling quality is superb! Not as much holes in the plot this time! Kudos to the author! And that I am now a firm rabid fan!
Character development = 4
Story itself = 4.5
Writing Style = 4.5
Ending = 4.5
World building = 4
Cover art = 3
Pace = (11 hours and 25 minutes listening time)
Plot = 4
Narration = 4.5
Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries
About Mark Hayden:
Mark Hayden is the nom de guerre of Adrian Attwood. He lives in Westmorland with his wife, Anne.
Adrian has had a varied career working for a brewery, teaching English and being the Town Clerk in Carnforth. He is now a part-time writer and part-time assistant in Anne’s craft projects.
He is also proud to be the Mad Unky to his Great Nieces & Great Nephew.
His current writing project is the King’s Watch series of urban fantasy novels, from 13th Witch all the way down to Zero Hour. If he can keep it up.
I’m a London-based voiceover artist who loves discovering new things.
From small businesses and indie video games, to big publishers like William Collins and big authors like Wilbur Smith, I’ve worked with a range of clients to get their stories heard.
If you need a flexible & enthusiastic voice to bring your project to life, you’ve come to the right place.
Please have a listen to my voicereels, read some testimonials and see how I could help you!
No money received for this review.
ANY WITCH WAY
Any Witch Way by Lindsay Buroker
Book 3 in the Witch In Wolf Wood series
Narrated by Vivienne Leheny
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook
About Any Witch Way:
Morgen Keller’s life has been chaotic since she inherited her grandmother’s old house — and her legacy as a witch.
Werewolves regularly attack her, familiars spy on her, and enemies she didn’t ask for keep lighting her property on fire.
Through everything, she’s been fortunate to have one steadfast ally: Amar.
The lone werewolf is a fearsome fighter, a loyal protector, and he’s sexy in nothing but a magical talisman.
Just as Morgen and Amar overcome most of her problems and officially start dating, trouble from his past arrives in town. The powerful enemy who long ago slew his parents has come to finish off the family.
As strong as Amar is, he may not be able to handle his old nemesis alone. But will he let Morgen help? And is it within her fledgling power as a witch to do so?
Source: Info in the “About Any Witch Way“ was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59023699-any-witch-way on 19/04/2022.
Buy Link(s):
My Thoughts:
Morgen‘s enemies are creating trouble for her and of course she bumbled her way through it and survived. Even that sounds not very complimentary, in the world of urban fantasy that is actually not really bad. Especially that our heroine has her heart in the right place and that the story telling quality is very good indeed! So much so that this is the best book yet in the series!
Lucky is still his goofy self. But this time around he is ferocious and intelligent as well. How about that? However, I don’t think I approve of Zorro‘s name changing to Zephyr. Zorro works just fine!
Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 4.5
Writing Style = 4.5
Ending = 4
World building = 5
Cover art = 5
Pace = (7 hrs and 50 mins listening time)
Plot = 3
Narration = 5
Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries
Books In The Witch In Wolf Wood Series:
About Lindsay Buroker:
Full-time indie fantasy/scifi author who loves hiking, tennis, and vizslas.
About Vivienne Leheny:
For over two decades, Vivienne Leheny has worked professionally in New York City and Los Angeles as an actor, voiceover artist and writer. She’s appeared on Off-Broadway and regional theatre stages, been screened at numerous film festivals (including Sundance in the 2019 opening night film: AFTER THE WEDDING), toured the northeast doing stand-up, and her writing has been published in national publications.
Vivienne has built a successful audiobook narration business, reading under her own name as well as under the pseudonyms, “Nola Zandry” and “Lily Collingwood.” She has a home studio and records using punch & roll software. Currently narrating six ongoing series, she also has numerous stand-alone book narrations, all of which are doing brisk sales on Audible, Amazon and iTunes. She’s narrated titles for Harper Collins, Macmillan, Recorded Books, and Simon & Schuster, among other audiobook publishers.
Vivienne will soon be recording her 150th audiobook narration.
Her audiobook narration course, The Voice in their Ear, has been a sell-out Maine Media Workshops+College, where she’s also taught her Putting Your Voice to Work: Building a Career in Voiceover curriculum, while her Breaking Into Audiobooks seminar for the SAG Foundation fills up quickly and with long wait lists. She’s also taught audiobook narration at the Caymichael Patten Studio.
She’s recorded over a thousand promotions for NBC programming (Saturday Night Live, Nightly News, Days of our Lives, Late Night with Conan O’Brien), including over a decade with The Today Show. She’s also done promotional spots for HBO, Showtime, and Bravo. Vivienne has voiced numerous national commercial campaigns, including Coca Cola, Fruit of the Loom, Florida Orange Juice, Bristol Meyers Squibb, Maxwell House and Revlon.
Her narration work has run the gamut, from Chain Gang Girls on Oxygen to Charles and Di: Once Upon a Time on TLC, from Fine Living’s Esquire’s Man at His Best to the six-part series Killer Outbreaks on Animal Planet, where she was the voice of the Bubonic Plague and West Nile Virus. She’s also the voice for the mysterious and disturbing “Phoenix Project” in the popular video game Assassin’s Creed, Unity.
The ebook and audiobook were bought with private funds.
No money received for this review.
THE 12 DRAGONS OF ALBION
The 12 Dragons Of Albion by Mark Hayden
Book 2 in The King’s Watch series
Narrated by Ciaran Saward
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook
My name is Conrad Clarke and I claim my reward…
You’d think that staying alive and saving the girl would be enough for now.
After proving himself in a desperate magickal battle, Conrad is admitted to the King’s Watch.
And what does the world of magick do? It laughs in his face.
At least Conrad now has a partner with some serious magickal firepower.
Vicky Robson joins him on a mission to investigate rumours of a Dragon’s egg, and to get him through his entry test for the Invisible College.
But the Invisible College won’t play ball, and that Dragon’s egg is all too real.
Conrad grits his teeth and reminds the magickal world that he who laughs loudest laughs last…
Source: Info in the About The 12 Dragons Of Albion was taken from Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36533404-the-12-dragons-of-albion on 31/05/2022.
I’ve been looking forward to this book because, hey… dragons!
In book 1, The 13th Witch, there was a mention of the Invisible College. In this book, we are taken inside Hogwarts. But, the Dean is a highfalutin Oracle. Definitely not Dumbledore. At all!
Here also I can see the distinct British culture of delineating people between a naff and somebody posh. I wonder if the author is racist?… I don’t mean that in a bad way. Some people are just brought up in certain ways. I am not going to take that against them. It’s what they decide to do about it that makes the difference.
I’m not white, just in case you are wondering.
So, in this story we encounter one egg. The title, as well as the narrative along the way, indicated more eggs, i.e., 11 more dragon eggs. So, the question is, where are they?? Would we see more dragons in this series?
I like Ciaran Saward‘s attempts at Welsh accents! Especially at the start of Harry Evans‘ first few lines. It almost sound authentic! I don’t speak Welsh, but I live in Wales.
Empirical Evaluation:
Character development = 4
Story itself = 4.5
Writing Style = 5
Ending = 4
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 4
Pace = (13 hours and 28 minutes listening time)
Plot = 3
Narration = 4.5
Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries
Books In The King’s Watch Series:
About Mark Hayden:
Mark Hayden is the nom de guerre of Adrian Attwood. He lives in Westmorland with his wife, Anne.
Adrian has had a varied career working for a brewery, teaching English and being the Town Clerk in Carnforth. He is now a part-time writer and part-time assistant in Anne’s craft projects.
He is also proud to be the Mad Unky to his Great Nieces & Great Nephew.
His current writing project is the King’s Watch series of urban fantasy novels, from 13th Witch all the way down to Zero Hour. If he can keep it up.
About Ciaran Saward:
I’m a London-based voiceover artist who loves discovering new things.
From small businesses and indie video games, to big publishers like William Collins and big authors like Wilbur Smith, I’ve worked with a range of clients to get their stories heard.
If you need a flexible & enthusiastic voice to bring your project to life, you’ve come to the right place.
Please have a listen to my voicereels, read some testimonials and see how I could help you!
The ebook and audiobook were bought with private funds.
No money received for this review.
SPELL HOUND
Spell Hound by Lindsay Buroker
Book 2 in the Witch In Wolf Wood series
Narrated by Vivienne Leheny
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook
About Spell Hound:
Since Morgen Keller arrived in the small town of Bellrock, she’s learned that magic is real, fought battles with werewolves, and managed to turn the local witches into enemies. As an introverted database programmer, she’s not equipped to handle any of this.
Fortunately, she has an ally: the fearsome werewolf Amar.
Unfortunately, one of the witches branded him and can take control of him whenever she wishes.
To have a chance of freeing her werewolf ally, Morgen must learn to harness the power she inherited from her grandmother. She may also have to find a familiar, confront a powerful witch, and admit that she has feelings for Amar. What could go wrong?
Source: Info in the “About Spell Hound“ was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58985740-spell-hound on 18/04/2022.
Buy Link(s):
[Image Credit:
Peter Walkden
Accessed: 19/04/2022]
My Thoughts:
It is only while reading book 2 that the thought occurred to me… why did grandma not warded her property? Maybe because she thought she was too strong or at least strong enough to combat enemies in her own grounds? It did not seem to stop poachers from stealing the glowing mushrooms in her property… Or was grandma happy to share with others what was growing in her property? That does not seem to be the case judging by what Amar is saying about him being a protector of Wolf Wood… Things don’t add up here. But these inconsistencies are very easy to willfully ignore, seeing that the book is giving me enjoyable reading time.
The ending is still a cliffhanger but also closed the dilemma in the book quite nicely. I appreciated that given this author’s fondness for leaving threads hanging for endings.
Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 4
Story itself = 4
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 4
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 5
Pace = (7 hrs and 50 mins listening time)
Plot = 3
Narration = 5
Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries
Books In The Witch In Wolf Wood Series:
About Lindsay Buroker:
Full-time indie fantasy/scifi author who loves hiking, tennis, and vizslas.
About Vivienne Leheny:
For over two decades, Vivienne Leheny has worked professionally in New York City and Los Angeles as an actor, voiceover artist and writer. She’s appeared on Off-Broadway and regional theatre stages, been screened at numerous film festivals (including Sundance in the 2019 opening night film: AFTER THE WEDDING), toured the northeast doing stand-up, and her writing has been published in national publications.
Vivienne has built a successful audiobook narration business, reading under her own name as well as under the pseudonyms, “Nola Zandry” and “Lily Collingwood.” She has a home studio and records using punch & roll software. Currently narrating six ongoing series, she also has numerous stand-alone book narrations, all of which are doing brisk sales on Audible, Amazon and iTunes. She’s narrated titles for Harper Collins, Macmillan, Recorded Books, and Simon & Schuster, among other audiobook publishers.
Vivienne will soon be recording her 150th audiobook narration.
Her audiobook narration course, The Voice in their Ear, has been a sell-out Maine Media Workshops+College, where she’s also taught her Putting Your Voice to Work: Building a Career in Voiceover curriculum, while her Breaking Into Audiobooks seminar for the SAG Foundation fills up quickly and with long wait lists. She’s also taught audiobook narration at the Caymichael Patten Studio.
She’s recorded over a thousand promotions for NBC programming (Saturday Night Live, Nightly News, Days of our Lives, Late Night with Conan O’Brien), including over a decade with The Today Show. She’s also done promotional spots for HBO, Showtime, and Bravo. Vivienne has voiced numerous national commercial campaigns, including Coca Cola, Fruit of the Loom, Florida Orange Juice, Bristol Meyers Squibb, Maxwell House and Revlon.
Her narration work has run the gamut, from Chain Gang Girls on Oxygen to Charles and Di: Once Upon a Time on TLC, from Fine Living’s Esquire’s Man at His Best to the six-part series Killer Outbreaks on Animal Planet, where she was the voice of the Bubonic Plague and West Nile Virus. She’s also the voice for the mysterious and disturbing “Phoenix Project” in the popular video game Assassin’s Creed, Unity.
The ebook and audiobook were bought with private funds.
No money received for this review.
DATING TERRORS
Dating Terrors by Patricia Briggs in the anthology Heroic Hearts
Book 18.5 in the Mercy Thompson series
Narrated by Holter Graham
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook, paperback, & audiobook
The werewolf Asil finds a blind date might just turn into something more – if the woman can escape the dark magic binding her.
Asil is an old, old wolf and just biding his time until the Marrok kills him and finally give him relief of this world. However, he also have pack mates who are mischievous who set him up with three blind dates with good intentions. The first blind date was a novella titled Asil and the Not-Date (book number 17.5 in the Mercy Thompson series) in the anthology Fantastic Hope. Asil, for the lack of nothing better to do, went along with it. And for the heck of it! This is the second blind date. For a very short story, this novella managed to have a tiny plot and gave a wonderful reading time! Too short a reading time!
Character development = 5
Story itself = 4.5
Writing Style = 5
Ending = 4.5
World building = 5
Cover art = 5
Pace = 5
Plot = 5
Narration = 5
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About Patricia Briggs
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Holter Graham, winner of AudioFile’s 2008 Best Voice in Science Fiction & Fantasy for Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Acheron, is a stage, television, and screen actor.
The different formats of this book were purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.
MIND OVER MAGIC
Mind Over Magic by Lindsay Buroker
Book 1 in the Witch In Wolf Wood series
Narrated by Vivienne Leheny
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook
About Mind Over Magic:
As a bookish, introverted database programmer, Morgen Keller never thought she was a candidate for a midlife crisis. That was before her husband divorced her, her boss let her go, and her grandmother died. Forty wasn’t supposed to look like this.
When Morgen heads up to the small town of Bellrock, Washington, to settle the estate, she looks forward to taking a peaceful break from life and figuring out what she’s going to do next.
But peace isn’t to be had. The old farmhouse is full of witch paraphernalia, a fearsome werewolf has claimed the property, and contrary to what the family was told, Grandma didn’t die of natural causes.
Embroiled in a mystery, and heir to powers she knew nothing about, Morgen must turn to the only person who might be able to help: the werewolf who threatened to rip her throat out for trespassing.
This isn’t the fresh start on life that Morgen had in mind
Source: Info in the “About Mind Over Magic“ was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58933375-mind-over-magic on 17/04/2022.
Buy Link(s):
My Thoughts:
This is my second series by Lindsay Buroker and Vivienne Leheny so I am kind of familiar with these two’s work. But after two books into the Death Before Dragons series,my following stalled. For several years. And I am not sure if I am going to be picking it up again. The series did not have a staying power. This book however, looks very promising. So, buying the second book in the Witch In Wolf Wood series and fingers crossed.
This book wasn’t that easy to get into. It took a lot perseverance to get to the halfway point. However, it did pick up towards the end.
The plot was a bit thin on the graound. But this is urban fantasy, not crime fiction, so I was not looking for plot twists. I was looking for a rollicking magical adventure in this modern world that is realistic. This book has it!
The ending was a cliffhanger of course but at least it sort of resolved the main dilemma in the book.
Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 4
Story itself = 4
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 3
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 5
Pace = (7 hrs and 25 mins listening time)
Plot = 2.5
Narration = 5
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries
Books In The Witch In Wolf Wood Series:
About Lindsay Buroker:
Full-time indie fantasy/scifi author who loves hiking, tennis, and vizslas.
About Vivienne Leheny:
For over two decades, Vivienne Leheny has worked professionally in New York City and Los Angeles as an actor, voiceover artist and writer. She’s appeared on Off-Broadway and regional theatre stages, been screened at numerous film festivals (including Sundance in the 2019 opening night film: AFTER THE WEDDING), toured the northeast doing stand-up, and her writing has been published in national publications.
Vivienne has built a successful audiobook narration business, reading under her own name as well as under the pseudonyms, “Nola Zandry” and “Lily Collingwood.” She has a home studio and records using punch & roll software. Currently narrating six ongoing series, she also has numerous stand-alone book narrations, all of which are doing brisk sales on Audible, Amazon and iTunes. She’s narrated titles for Harper Collins, Macmillan, Recorded Books, and Simon & Schuster, among other audiobook publishers.
Vivienne will soon be recording her 150th audiobook narration.
Her audiobook narration course, The Voice in their Ear, has been a sell-out Maine Media Workshops+College, where she’s also taught her Putting Your Voice to Work: Building a Career in Voiceover curriculum, while her Breaking Into Audiobooks seminar for the SAG Foundation fills up quickly and with long wait lists. She’s also taught audiobook narration at the Caymichael Patten Studio.
She’s recorded over a thousand promotions for NBC programming (Saturday Night Live, Nightly News, Days of our Lives, Late Night with Conan O’Brien), including over a decade with The Today Show. She’s also done promotional spots for HBO, Showtime, and Bravo. Vivienne has voiced numerous national commercial campaigns, including Coca Cola, Fruit of the Loom, Florida Orange Juice, Bristol Meyers Squibb, Maxwell House and Revlon.
Her narration work has run the gamut, from Chain Gang Girls on Oxygen to Charles and Di: Once Upon a Time on TLC, from Fine Living’s Esquire’s Man at His Best to the six-part series Killer Outbreaks on Animal Planet, where she was the voice of the Bubonic Plague and West Nile Virus. She’s also the voice for the mysterious and disturbing “Phoenix Project” in the popular video game Assassin’s Creed, Unity.
The ebook and audiobook were bought with private funds.
No money received for this review.
DAMAGED GODS
Damaged Gods by K.C. Cross
Book 1 in the Monsters of St. Mark’s series
Narrated by Jason Clarke and Hathaway Lee
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook
About Damaged Gods:
If you’ve gotta be stuck in a curse with monsters — they might as well be sexy monsters.
When I answered an ad for a caretaker at Saint Mark’s Sanctuary I thought I’d be dusting chandeliers and polishing floors. I didn’t expect to be tricked into a curse, going in debt to a monster, and being forced to take a self-paced “Let’s Learn Magic” course so I can fix a two-thousand-year-old problem.
And that monster?
Not your ordinary, everyday beast.
He has hooves, and horns, and fur on his legs.
But ya know where he doesn’t have fur?
Yeah. There.
Which is fine.
Except he doesn’t wear pants.
Nothing at Saint Mark’s is exactly what it seems.
The entire inside is magic, the hallways upstairs are nothing but parties from the past, and the super-hot guy who lives in the dungeon?
Yeah.
Not human.
My name is Pie and all I want is to be a normal girl with an average life.
I refuse to get stuck in this curse.
I refuse to learn magic to break it.
And there is no way in hell I will fall in love with a monster.
Famous.
Last.
Words.
Source: Info in the About Damaged Gods was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58314046-damaged-gods on 30/04/2022.
Buy Link(s):
[Image Source: Audubon]
My Thoughts:
A Beauty And The Beast retelling with Alice In Wonderland tardis-like cathedral in tow.
And of course it ended in a cliffhanger. However, it did close the story dilemma in the book. And I would love to see Pia talk again in subsequent books! I also want to know how Sheriff Russ Roth‘s story line pan out. I did not want him hurt. He seems like a good Sheriff. It’s not his fault that he was born in the eros line…
There are a few plot holes like how could Tarq send that caretaker advert that Pie answered when he could not make gates? He is stuck in Vinca! But I can willfully overlook those for the enjoyable reading time that this book gives me!
Promising new-to-me series!
Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 4.5
Writing Style = 4.5
Ending = 3.5
World building = 5
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = (11 hrs and 51 mins listening time)
Plot = 3.5
Narration = 5
Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries
Books In Monsters of St. Mark’s Series:
About K.C. Cross:
KC Cross is a pseudonym for JA Huss.
JA Huss is the New York Times Bestselling author of 321 and has been on the USA Today Bestseller’s list 21 times in the past five years. She writes characters with heart, plots with twists, and perfect endings.
Her new sexy sci-fi romance and paranormal romance pen name is KC Cross and she writes novels and teleplays collaboratively with actor and screenwriter, Johnathan McClain.
Her books have sold millions of copies all over the world, the audio version of her semi-autobiographical book, Eighteen, was nominated for a Voice Arts Award and an Audie Award in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Her audiobook, Mr. Perfect, was nominated for a Voice Arts Award in 2017. Her audiobook, Taking Turns, was nominated for an Audie Award in 2018. Five of her book were optioned for a TV series by MGM television in 2018. And her book, Total Exposure, was nominated for a RITA Award in 2019.
She lives on a ranch in Central Colorado with her family.
JA Huss is an Indie Author but does publish audiobooks with Podium Publishing under their romance imprint, Oh My! Audiobooks. She designs all her own covers, websites, promotional graphics, and book trailer videos. Her editor is RJ Locksley and she works with The Bookcase Literary Agency for foreign rights translations.
About Jason Clarke:
Romance narrator, in the palm of your hand 🐉
Hathaway Lee:
The ebook and audiobook were bought with private funds.
No money received for this review.
COUNTING CROWS: ONE FOR MURDER
Counting Crows: One For Murder by Joe Talon
Book 1 in the Lorne Turner Supernatural Thrillers
Narrated by Edmund Bloxam
Genre: supernatural thriller
Format: ebook & audiobook
About Counting Crows: One For Murder:
The moor is darkening.
Lorne Turner’s army days are over, but his haunting memories never rest. One fog — bound morning he stumbles across a murder. The crows feasting on a sacrifice.
Detective Inspector Tony Shaw tries to tell him the occult symbols on the dead man are nothing but faked staging. Lorne’s honed instincts scream in warning. There is darkness and it’s spreading.
The first person he turns to for help is the only friend he has, Ella Morgan, vicar of his parish. Together they reach out to the pagan Willow Hunter and they begin to unravel the crime.
Corruption, greed and the abuse of occult mysteries lead Lorne into a world he never thought existed in Somerset. Trained to stand strong against terrorists, now he must fight the ghosts of his mind and the darkness of a madman.
An old soldier once more goes into battle. What will break first, his mind, or his enemies?
Source: Info in the “About Counting Crows: One For Murder“ was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58167577-counting-crows on 28/06/2022.
Buy Link(s):
My Thoughts:
Another white mundane male protagonist with military background, just like The 13th Witch (book 1 of The King’s Watch series) and the Blue Moon Investigations Series. This theme is getting popular. I wonder if this is going to be the new vampire now?…
Why is this book not whispersynced?!! ** sigh**
Edmund Bloxam‘s scratchy voice match the old grizzled curmudgeon of a retired soldier that Lorne is in my head. However, the words are not distinct like some of the narrators I am used to. There is a slurry quality to it which is not helped by the lack of whispersync feature of kindle/audible. However, the slurry quality also adds character to Lorne who is supposed to be narrating the story to the readers.
On top of not being whispersync, the audiobook version skips lines like: “The body in the moor, the one in the papers, he found it.” (page 46 of 234 of the kindle ebook) — That line would have made the following next few lines make sense! As it is, I had to stop listening and read the ebook because the conversation no longer make sense. This made the going really slow. It is obvious that the script that Edmund Bloxam is reading is not the same to the ebook that I bought. As an audiobook listener, this drives me up the wall. It tends to stop me buying from producers of this kind of audiobooks, i.e., Sarah Luddington. Anyway, I ended up reading the ebook on the first round of reading. I listened to the audiobook on subsequent re-reads. Because, yes, this book is good enough for re-reads.
I recommend the book to any supernatural thriller reader! However, I do not recommend the audiobook format. It has a lot to be desired.
Empirical Evaluation:
Character development = 5
Story itself = 5
Writing Style = 4.5
Ending = 4.5
World building = 5
Cover art = 3.5
Pace = (7 hrs and 9 mins listening time)
Plot = 4
Narration = 3.5
Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries
Books In The Lorne Turner Supernatural Thrillers:
About Joe Talon:
Joe Talon is an author used to walking on the wild and darker side of life. A place where you’re never quite certain if the world is full of rainbows or shadows.
Having grown up on Exmoor, Joe has been fascinated by the mysterious and spooky places that dwell in the dark woodlands and quiet combes. Joe has created a world just a little sideways from ours in this new series. It is full of shapes moving on the edge of our vision when they shouldn’t and cold spots in warm places. For Joe, there is always the question, ‘what would I do if’?
The creaking door isn’t just a draught.
The footfalls not friends but foes.
The scream is not a crying fox it is…
What spare time Joe has is spent with six dogs, lots of walks and exploring the strange worlds just the other side what we think we know to be real.
You can find Joe via joe@joetalon.com or www.joetalon.com
If you’d like to try Joe’s first novella for free then please visit the website and download Forgotten Homeland.
About Edmund Bloxam:
I can offer expert audio proofing, editing and mastering. I specialize in audio book creation, having made ten audiobooks for Audible.com. I have done plenty of other audio production work too. Look up www.edmundbloxamaudio.com for projects, as well as https://soundcloud.com/g1hkk9pkpteg and
https://www.audible.co.uk/search?keywords=edmund+bloxam&ref=a_hp_t1_header_search.I have been a professional editor and writer for seven years, principal clients being Enago, Richie’s English and Oxbridge Consulting, the latter of which I still work with. I have edited the widest possible range of documents; from textbooks, novels, articles, essays, white papers and many more. I have experience of preparing papers for publication.
I write fiction. See my website for details. I am available for any project related to that, including ghostwriting.
The ebook and audiobook were bought with private funds.
No money received for this review.
About
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!
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