mlsimmons

Review originally posted at RabidReads.com.

This is the second book in The Order series by A.C. Donaubauer. I really enjoyed the first book and was excited to get the second. This series has really long stories, but I really enjoy them, so it doesn’t bother me that they are 900 to 1,000 pages long. That being said, it took me a long time actually start this book. That’s because I’ve been in a bit of a slump, so I knew that trying to tackle such a long story would be difficult in that frame of mind. When I went on vacation earlier this month, I thought that was the perfect time to get started. I had several days to do nothing but read, and this was the first book I picked up.

This story picks up right where The Order left off. Eryn is working on her healing practice. She is trying to get some of the other magicians to learn the craft. She is still inept at politics (she reminds me a lot of myself in this respect). She just wants to do her job and talk straight. She says what’s on her mind and doesn’t tend to think about all the ways others could try to play it. There are people who are desperately trying to help teach her the world of politics, but it is something that she isn’t a fan of (I really don’t blame her at all).

She does leave the castle walls with some of the herb gatherers to show them how to find and properly preserve the herbs that she needs. Here, she brings along a few familiar faces. Plia, the servant girl, and Vern, Eryn’s first friend in the kingdom and son of her trainer, Orrin, both go along with her on this excursion. She gets young Vern permission to go because he’s going to draw all the plants to be put in a book for later training and the plants need to be documented. Plia goes as a servant and finds that she’s really good with the herbs and has a lot to learn. We also get to meet several of the guards that go with her for her and the team’s protection. She is still able to get herself into trouble.

While on the trip, she comes across a wild cat. During a large storm, a tree falls on the cat’s mom, leaving behind a cub. She couldn’t bare letting one of the guards kill the cub, so she decides that she will keep it as a pet (no recommended at all in real life, by the way). She does worry what her husband, and second-in-command wizard, will think of this new addition. She is quite surprised when she comes back and learns that he already knew about the addition. She figured out two of the spies on her own and who they reported to, but while she knew the other two guards she knew were spies, she didn’t know which person they were giving their information to.

After they get back, the king calls Eryn into his presence. He has taken upon himself to help teach her the fine art of politics. He also manipulates her into a diplomatic trip back to her original homeland. She doesn’t want to go, because she wants to work on her new health care center, but king convinces her that she could learn a lot from the healers in her old world, not to mention books. The girl loves books (another thing we have in common LOL). So her and Enric make the trip.

Once they arrive back in Takhan, that is when things really start to get interesting. Eryn meets some of her family that she didn’t even realize she had. Her family is pretty interesting and things get even more political. We also learn more about Ram’an (the diplomat that we met in book one) and his interest in Eryn. I won’t go into too much detail because this is where I think the story has the most interesting parts that I don’t want to spoil. I will mention how much I loved Eryn’s Uncle Valrad and her cousin Vran’el. Vran’el is gay, but has daughter. In this world, offspring is very important because everyone wants heirs. Marriages are also generally arranged, but both parties do have to agree. In Vran’el’s case, he had an arrangement with the mother. She didn’t want to get married and he wanted to pursue a relationship with a man. Once he conceived a child he was free to do whatever he wanted. He has a wonderful relationship with another man. The story did not go into whether Vran’el’s lover had a child or not.

Once again, this book was another great addition to the series. The story is very well told, but also very long. There were parts that were a little slow and things that I thought could’ve been edited down some, but still a wonderful story. It is really the characters that make the story for me. I loved my time with the old favorites from book one, but I also really enjoyed the addition of new characters. I’m excited to see what goes on in book three, which was released earlier this year. With a title like, Schemes, I’m expecting even more politics in the future.

This quote is between young Vern (a teenager) and Eryn about her dislike of political games, but using them too.

“Well done. he complemented her. “So the woman who ants to show that we can all work together without tricks and dishonesty just tricked a bunch of her gatherers into teaching her about the weather. Nice move.”
“You should have stopped after Well done.” She sighed.
He pretended to think for a moment, then shook his head. “No. Where is the fun in that?”

This quote is about Urban, the large cat that Eryn adopted on her herb gathering trip. Enric took her with him for a hunt.

Her gaze fell on Urban and the mess of bloody smears on the ground before her. “She has been successful as well, hasn’t she?”
Enric followed her gaze, still frowning. “Yes. Three small animals. Not bad for her first hunting outing, not at all. It seems that gutting our throw cushions served as sufficient preparation for the real world.” he added dryly.

My last quote is about Obal, Vran’el four-year-old daughter, who loves Urban.

“Cat!” Obal screamed when Urban strolled into the room. “Come here! Here!”
The mountain cat froze in mid-step, then turned around in a liquid movement quickly to slink back into the corridor she had emerged from.
“Another one who will be glad when she can return to the peace and quite of Anyueel tomorrow, I imagine,” Valrad laughed. “The might beast, put to flight by a four-year-old girl.”

**Book was provided to me by the author. This review is my opinion and was not requested or provoked in anyway by the author.

The Order Series
My Review

Review originally posted at RabidReads.com.

As a fan of the Grayslake series, this was a fun, little addition to the series. I features the couple from the original book, No Ifs, Ands, or Bears About It, Mia and her alpha werebear husband Ty. There are also some of the others that we meet from the series. This isn’t a long story and I don’t recommend it for people who haven’t read the series. I just don’t think there is enough to this story for new readers. It is more of a little gift to people who’ve enjoyed the series.

If you’re not familiar with this series, I highly recommend you check it out. Celia Kyle has some really interesting stories wrapped around this group of werebears, werehyenas and werewolves in Grayslake, Georgia. It is a fun series that has some humor to them along with the suspense that you generally see in a PNR novel. One thing that really impresses me is how Kyle tackles tough subjects in these books. There is everything from an orphan who is supposed to live with his abusive uncle, a fight against racism (again werehyenas), attempted rape and more. I love how she brings these issues out in her stories, without them being to overpowering.

In this short, about Mia, Ty, adopted Parker and a new addition in little Sophia. Mia is throwing a barbecue for the whole clan. Mia has something she needs to tell Ty. Family interferes (as they do). When they go off on their own for a bit, things get a little crazy with the rest of the clan.

Like I said, this is a very short story. I enjoyed it, because I liked spending time with the characters that I fell in love with in the earlier books. I wish the story had been a little bit longer with a little more substance, but it was a nice day in Grayslake. If you hadn’t read the series, you’re probably not going to enjoy the series as much. I highly recommend you pick up No Ifs, Ands, or Bears About It and give this series a try.

“Weeky-peed-ee-ah and it said stupid-head isn’t a curse word”

“And Google,” Parker whisptered again.

“And Googles!” Her daugther sounded so proud as Mia could imagine Sophia standing tall in the middle of the balcony, balled hands on her narrow hips and spine straigh–just like her daddy when he thought he was right.

Oh, how wrong they both were. Often.

“Wikipedia and Google don’t put a roof over your head, young lady.”

“Mommy, listen. Listen, listen. I’m outside. There is no roof.”

**I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.

Grayslake Series
My Review	My Review	My Review
My Review	My Review

Review originally posted at RabidReads.com.

Oria’s Gambit picks up where Lonen’s War ends. Oria is a Bara, a magical race and part of the royal family. She is also very delicate, in that other people overwhelm her in that their magic is overwhelming. It is really hard to describe. She has spent most of her life in a tower with few visitors to help with this. Lonen is a Destrye. They are more of a barbarian race with no magic. They have been at war with the Bara. We learn why in the first book.

With the deaths of both kings in the first book (I’m not calling that a spoiler since the blurb mentions that Lonen is king and Oria is trying to become queen), Lonen and Oria come together to try to solve the problems of both kingdoms. Oria’s brother is also trying to become king. He is drowning in power and it has gone to his head. Oria decides that she must wed Lonen before her brother finds marriage in order to become queen. She is very scared of how it will run the country with his thirst for more power.

While the first book in this series is mostly war. This book is mostly politics. That doesn’t make it any less exciting. The high priestess (which has a lot of political power) has her own plans for how things should work in the kingdom. Add in monsters, and you have a very powerful fantasy story. The romance has built on the first book, but it is not yet what I would call a romance book at this point. While Lonen is trying his best to make this marriage more than just a political one, Oria is keeping her walls as high and confining as she can make them. I’m sure the fact that she feels pain every time she touches someone has something to do with that.

“It’s not fair, Oria, that you judge me based on fleeting thoughts and emotions. People think and feel many things they don’t act on. That’s part of learning to be a decent human being—knowing that there are dark yearnings in your heart and being strong enough to recognize them as such and exert control. Maybe your mind is perfect, serene place and you don’t understand the human struggle to be a better person, but I’m only a man and a flawed one at that.”

“We might be marrying for political reason, but that doesn’t mean we can’t bring something bright to each other’s lives.”

My favorite character in this series continues to be the dragonlet, Chuffta. This isn’t a huge surprise, as I love secondary characters. He is the rock that Oria needs. While she is an adult in the physical sense, she is very much still a child emotionally. The fact that she hasn’t had the socialization that most people have had, really makes this hard for her. She wants to do right by her people, but she is also scared to open herself up to someone else. Chuffta I think is the linchpin to help her open up. He really likes Lonen, though he can’t talk to him directly, only Oria, but he does nod to him and other things to try to communicate. I think he would like to see them together in the real sense.

If you’re looking for a fantasy book with amazing characters and a very interesting world, I highly recommend the Sorcerous Moons series. I don’t know how many books are slated for this series, but so far, they have been a ton of fun.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how wonderful great these covers are. They are so amazing.

**I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.

The Sorcerous Moons Series
My Review

Review originally posted at RabidReads.com.

In this series, we’ve been following the members of the DCO (Department of Covert Operations), a secret organization within Department Homeland Security. This organization takes a human and pairs them with a EVA, extremely valuable asset or shifter. However, some people within the organization would like to see it shut down. They feel that the shifters are dangerous and shouldn’t be trusted.

This is the first book in the series that the neither member of the couple is a member of DCO. This story revolves around Angelo, who is a member of the military team that our first hero original ran. Angelo is part of a special ops team that is currently stationed in Tajikistan. He stumbles upon a group of men attempting to rape a woman. Angelo, being not a douche, follows with every intention to stop the rape. Only to learn that she can take care of herself. Since he knows what she is, he calls the only people he knows that can help her, Landon, his old boss who is now with DCO.

Minka has been working with the US military in Tajikistan when she was captured and her life changed. She has been experimented on and tortured until she finally escaped. These people who tested her have turned her into a monster. She has no idea what is going on and has been stumbling through towns trying to hide. She’s been in the same clothes for a really long time and eating out of dumpsters. That is until a man shows up. He seems to calm the beast inside her.

This is another great installment in the X-Ops series. Angelo is a character that has been a really fun secondary character. I love that he finally gets his own story. Angelo has his reasons for not wanting a wife/girlfriend. Buy when Minka shows up in his life, he can’t help but be protective of her. Minka is a new character that we meet for the first time in this book, but she is a very solid character. She has had a lot to live through, but has made her way through life anyway.

This series is a really fun. It is full of suspense. I loved watching as the team search out and try to solve who is running the lab that created Minka. She’s a hybrid, which is a created shifter, not one who was born like most of the agents in DCO. There is also the fact that their is someone in DCO who isn’t on the side of the team. The romance is also high as we watch Minka and Angelo come together. There is an insta-love aspect to the story, but the pair do take a while to come together completely.

Even though there are many paranormal romances that can be read out of order. This is not one that I would recommend with that. Each story builds on the previous, so I would read these books in order. With this book, I would recommend you read the prequel, Her Secret Agent, before reading this one. It is free and quick read. Thanks to Sophia at Delighted Reader for the heads up. I’m really excited for the next book, Her Rogue Alpha.

The X-Ops Series
My Review	My Review	My Review

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

This is a favorite series of mine. I just love it. It is a cross between a paranormal romance and an urban fantasy. The reason I say that is because the first few books all follow a single couple, Elena and Raphael. Then it starts having a different couple with each book, but still goes back to Elena and Raphael every now and then. In this book, we are back with our “main” couple of Elena and Raphael. They spend very little time in New York in this story, so we don’t see many of the other favorites from the book, but we do get some time with Blue Bell and Dimtri.

If you’re not familiar with this series, it features angels, archangels and vampires. There are usually 10 archangels that are alive and awake at any given time, but right now, there are 11 because of the Cascade which is increasing the power of angels and wreaking havoc. These archangels each have their own territory that they rule. Raphael is the archangel of New York and his territory is North America. There are angels underneath the archangel. Angels and Archangels can turn humans into vampires. These vampires have to sign a contract to serve their angel for at least 100 years. The Guild, for which this series is named, will track down vampires who try to skip out on their contract. They also help with rogue vampires and even angels if needed. They are humans. Some are “hunter born” which gives them extra senses to make them extraordinary trackers. Elena was in the Guild, but is now the consort to Raphael, but she still does some stuff with them.

In this story, Raphael and the Cadre, the group of archangels, have been summoned to meet by the only group that can summon the Cadre, the Luminata. Everyone is required to attend or they could lose their territory. Raphael is permitted to bring his consort and a guard. Aodhan, aka Sparkle for his beautifully sparkling wings, is the guard that is chosen to go with them.

This is the first time we’ve heard about the Luminata. They are a very secretive group. They were robes most of the time that even hide their wings. They are seeking perfect luminesces. From the description, they remind me of a group of monks. They are also the collector of the art for the angels. They have an extensive library and art gallery, but because they are so recluse, no one gets to appreciate these treasures.

This was a great addition to the series. I loved the story about Lumia (the stronghold of the Luminata that is located in Morocco). There is also a town outside of Lumia that had a great story with it. I love that we got to learn more about Elena’s ancestors, which we know little about until this point. We also learn more about Aodhan. There’s a reason that he is the way he is (I really hope that he might be the next story *pretty please*). This story was full of suspense, more than we are used to in this series, and lots of politics, which is more common. If I had read the book, I would call it a “page-turner”, but since I listened, I will just say that I was finding reasons to keep listening. I wanted to glue the earbuds into my ears.

I don’t know that I would say that this book had a cliffhanger, but I will say that it left you wanting more. There are some plot threads that are not wrapped up. It does make me wonder if the next book will be another Raphael/Elena book or where the story will go from here. No matter what comes next, I’m really excited to see where the series goes. I love Nalini Singh and the Guild Hunter series (Psy-Changeling too for that matter). If you haven’t tried this series, I highly recommend it.

Narration

This is a series that I started off reading and the eventually changed over to listening. Now, I’m a listener only. I just love Justine Eyre’s narration. She does a great job with all the voices. There are so many different personalities in this series and she nails all of them. I love the men and women’s voices, and there are a lot of men’s voices in this series. She does a great job with her pacing, speeding up or slowing down depending on what the scene needs. If you haven’t tried Justine Eyre, I highly recommend her.

**I like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

This is a very hard review to write. There are SOOOO many spoilers from book one. I will do my best to keep it spoiler free. So, in book one, Into the Light, we meet Sara. She has just woken up from a horrible injury. Her eyes are bandaged and she is badly bruised, but remembers nothing. She is told that she is a member of The Light. She lives in a remote Alaskan village where everyone else that lives there is part of The Light too. She also learns that she is married to Jacob. Now, because this series is told from multiple POVs, the reader learns very quickly that Sara is a new initiate and that she is being forced into this new life. Many brides are “acquired” this way and brought into The Light. We learn this from Jacob’s POV.

There is also a third POV, Stella. She is an investigative reported. She’s also looking for her best friend who’s gone missing. Stella lives in Detroit. She’s dating a cop and has a fish named Fred.

Now, this story picks up right where Into the Light ends. It ended with a big cliffhanger end to it. We start to get answers right from the beginning of this book. Many of the questions that come up in book one are answered relatively quickly, but there are also new questions. Jacob has know from the beginning what he was a part of. However, things to take a turn for the worse, not just for Jacob, but also Sara and others in this cult.

In the first book, everything takes place at the Northern Light, the Alaska camp. In this book, we get to see more of the Eastern Light, that is located in Detroit. It is also the place where The Light does a lot of it’s “recruitment”. Some people do join willingly, though most of those are men. We also learn a lot more about the leader of this sect, Father Gabriel.

I know that I haven’t given much detail on this book. I really can’t without giving HUGE spoilers of book one. Just know that this series is a twisted tale of a cult and the people within it and some people who aren’t in it at all. This entire series is full of suspense with several twists and turns. Things seem to go in a completely different direction that you think they will go.

This is a duology, so this is the last book in this series. While most things are answered, there are a few strings left open. Not so much that it feels unfinished or unsatisfied. More like, there is an opening for a spin off. Aleatha Roming could also be allowing readers to come to their own conclusions about a few things. Whether or not there is another book set in this world, I’m happy with how this series played out. I loved the entire journey.

Narration

This book did have a change in one of the male narrators. That didn’t hurt the narration of this story at all. We did get different POVs in this story, so the second male narrator got more page time than in the first book. I think the trio did a great job with the entire story. I loved the voices, pacing and tone. All fit well with the current scene. I would highly recommend this series on audio.

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

Once again, we are back in the world of Fred, the Vampire Accountant. This series continues to be a lot of fun as Fred and his gang of friends go through his utterly interesting and adventurous tales. In this series, each book has five shorter stories that all come together to tell a larger story about Fred.

A Hunter in the Streets
In this story, Fred meets up with a vampire hunter and the first vampire, besides his creator, that Fred has ever met. He learns that he is quite infamous amongst the other vampires.

A Sheriff in the Country
In this story, Fred and the gang travel outside of Winslow, Colorado to Boarback, Texas. Borback is a small town that isn’t well known to humans. In this town, paranormals live out in the open. Many live there because they can’t live anywhere else without exposing themselves. It was really interesting seeing all of these other creatures of legend.

A Lawyer in the Mansion
Here, Fred is invited by an old friend, which we met in an earlier book, who needs help settling a dispute between two siblings. Their father had died and the estate was to be divided amongst the two. However, figuring out the even distribution was difficult. The siblings couldn’t get along, so Fred was called in to do his accountant thing to assess the value of everything, including the business.

A Spy in the Company
There are new vampires in town and they offer one of their clan to Fred as a “gift”. She works as his intern for a while. Fred doesn’t want her to like the job, so he takes her on what he thinks will be very boring cases, but nothing around Fred is ever boring.

An Accountant in the City
This one was my favorite. The new vampires want to takeover the city. Fred, being a single vampire and not involved with a vampire family, is at a disadvantage. I loved watching Fred flex his muscles as on he can.

This series continues to be a very fun series. I love spending time with Fred. He is such a nice guy and doesn’t want to hurt anyone. Just wants to live his life and keep himself and his friends safe. Oh, and he wants to grow his business. Business is very important to Fred, but not in a greedy way. Fred would never be so rude as to be greedy. To learn more about this series and the author, check out this great interview with Drew Hayes from The Reading Frenzy.

Narration

Kirby Heyborne continues to do a great job with narration of the series. He has a very calm voice that really portrays Fred to a tea. When I listened to book one, I wasn’t in love with his women’s voices, but I think they have gotten a lot better or I’ve gotten used to them. I can’t imagine anyone else being the voice of Fred or anyone else in the gang.

**I like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

This series is a spinoff of the Cut & Run series. It is also the last book of the spinoff (the main series has already ended :-(). This is a series that really should be read in order. Both the main series and the spinoff are a M/M Romantic Suspense series that follow the main couple of each across several books, 9 for the main series with Ty and Zane and 3 for the spin off with Nick and Kelly. Truthfully, you need to read both of these in chronological order to really get the most from both series. RedHotBooks did a reading order for both series, I recommend you check it out if you’re just starting the series.

This final book is different from the previous books in both series. Both series are a true Romantic Suspense series, in the suspense aspect. This book doesn’t not have the Sidewinder gang getting into nearly as much trouble as they have in previous books. That didn’t make it any less interesting. The characters in these series are so well developed, that I enjoyed traveling on this journey set to them by a fallen comrade, Elias Sanchez.

Sanchez died and at his funeral (not in this book but died several years ago), Nick’s mother gave him a package of stuff that Sanchez wanted Nick to have. Nick was very much in grief and put the package away to look at later. Now, Nick is dealing with his dad’s death (a man that Nick hated and for good reason). Nick is also dealing with his relationship with Kelly. Nick is also dealing with the fact that Kelly has been treating him more like a patient than a boyfriend (if you’re not familiar with this series, Kelly also goes by Doc because he was the medical guy on their team. He was also the only one from the Navy, versus the others who were all Marines). Nick decides to take a look into this box from Sanchez.

The letter to Nick from Sanchez is a pretty emotional one. He talks about “if you’re reading this, then I must be dead.” Sanchez wants Nick to get the entire team together and to go on a roadtrip. There are several letters with different tasks and they weren’t allowed to read the next letter until they had completed the previous task. Oh, and Sanchez declared no sex while on this trip. For several of the guys, that was not a huge problem, but for Nick, Kelly, Ty and Zane (yes Zane is on this pilgrimage, even though he was not part of Sidewinder), it was tough.

This was a fun listen, even it if was so different from the other books in the series. I loved seeing the softer side to all the guys. I think Zane really liked learning so much about his lover and friends through this process too. This book doesn’t have the disasters and action that the all the others do, but that didn’t make it any less fun.

If you’re a fan of Ty and Zane and the Sidewinder gang, this is a must read. I really enjoyed my time back with all of them. The story now does feel like it has been brought to a close, which the final Cut & Run book, Crash & Burn, didn’t have. There are some things that are brought up at the end. Huge spoilery type issues. Makes me wonder why these things were brought up at the end of the series. Things I didn’t expect to come. I don’t know if she is going to write anything more about these guys (I didn’t think so, but the ending has me wondering).

Narration

This is my first time listening to Brock Thompson. This series is now on it’s forth narrator (if you include the Cut & Run series). The first narrator Sawyer Allerde was a narrator that I didn’t like. It was one of the first books I’ve ever returned to Audible. He does the first two books. Sean Crisden then does the next three (which I listened to and really loved.). Then there is J. F. Harding who does the rest of the Cut & Run books (I read these books, because it appeared that they weren’t coming out on audio. They didn’t until the series was complete). Brock Thompson does all the Sidewinder books. I thought he did a great job. I read the first two Sidewinder books and listened to this one, since it was only one I hadn’t read yet when the audios came out. This isn’t a series that I will tout as a “must-listen”. I think the many changes in narrator make it one that some might enjoy more reading. I didn’t dislike the two narrators I listened to, (and I’ve heard good things about J. F. Harding narrating this series), but I know I’m less connected with the number of changes. I always disappointed when publishers change out narrators frequently.

I enjoyed Brock Thompson’s narration. I thought he did a good job with all the guys. I can’t remember if there were any women at all in this book. If there were, the parts were really minor, so I can’t comment on his voices for women. I liked the pace and tone he used. I thought he did a good job with the mannerisms for the guys.

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com

I started listening to Mira Grant’s Newsflesh trilogy last year, so I was very late to the party. That’s really good news for me, I didn’t have to wait for her to decide to tackle the other side of the campaign.

The first three books in this series follow Sean and Georgia Mason as they follow Senator Ryman’s presidential campaign. There are three books and an anthology devoted to the characters. In the continuation of the series (this could’ve also been marketed as a spinoff series), we follow Aislinn (“Ash”), Ben, Mat, and Audrey as they follow Governor Susan Kilburn’s bid for the same presidential campaign. This book’s timeline is the same as book one, Feed.

So, this world is set about 20 years after “The Rising” when the dead decided to get up and keep walking. While things with zombies are bad, there is government, technology and systems in place to help keep the outbreaks down. Zombies still exist, but they aren’t the problems you’re used to seeing in most zombie books/movies/TV shows. People have learned how to live with them. The other interesting thing about this world, animals turn into zombies. People had to give up their dogs or risk them “amplifying” and attacking you. The same is true of livestock. Very little meat is eaten anymore, aside from eggs, chicken and fish, as larger animals can amplify and contaminate the meat.

So, this story is narrated by Ash. She is an Irish woman who fled Ireland, which isn’t as easy as it sounds. To do so, she married Ben, who is nothing more than a friend and now a co-worker as they work on the same blogging team. Ash is the Irwin (Irwins are named for Steve Irwin because they never saw a zombie they didn’t want to poke with a stick). Ben is a Newsie. Newies tell the factual truth and basically replaced journalists of our day because they lied to the public about the zombies during The Rising. Then there is Audrey. She is the team’s Fictional, which is exactly as it sounds. She is also Ash’s girlfriend, remember how I said Ash just married Ben for the greencard. She is a lesbian. Ben is okay with this infidelity because they were married in the legal sense only. There is a love between Ben and Ash, but it is the love of two really close friends. Last, but certainly not least, is Mat. Mat is genderfluid and the team’s techie. Mat also has a great following as a makeup artist. Mat prefers pronouns of “them” and “they”.

This team of bloggers isn’t in the big leagues of the Mason’s, whose parents started the whole blogger as journalist thing. They just want to be able to make their way in the world. Ben really wants to fix up the house that was left to him and protect his sister. When they get asked to go on the campaign trail following Governor Kilburn, they had no idea what was in store for them. This story is filled with as much plotting and political intrigue as Feed, as we watch our bloggers try to stay alive while also reporting on the news of the political campaign.

This story has diversity in spades. I applaud Grant for creating a diverse book. Ben is black, married to a lesbian Irish white girl, who’s dating an Asian woman. Add in Mat, and that is an extremely diverse group of bloggers all working together on this campaign. There is also meetup with another candidate on the trail who worked as a stripper at one point and used her beauty to win over the people of Nevada. She worked hard to legitimize the sex worker trade and to get them better working conditions.

I loved this story. I was so glad to get back into the Newsflesh world. The characters that Grant has created as just wonderful. Those characters, paired with a very unique zombie world, that has made this series so great in my mind. If you’re a fan of The Walking Dead or zombies in general, I can’t recommend this series enough. You can start with this book if you want, but you must know, that because this book takes place during the same time as Feed, you will learn some spoilers about Feed if you choose to go back and read it later.

Narration

If there is anything I could fault in this series, it is the fact that each book has different narrators. The original trilogy has both male and female narrators for each book, which is not the case here. We have only one narrator for this story, Georgia Dolenz. I started this book not having any idea who the narrator would be. I will say that they picked a great choice for this book. Since Ash is our main storyteller and is from Ireland, this narrator must be really good as Irish accents. I can say that she nailed it. She did a great job with not only Ash’s voice, but with all the voices of this story. There are a lot of voices, both male and female, and she did a great job with all of them. I will be on the lookout for more books by Dolenz.

**I like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

I started listening to both Rebecca Zanetti and Karen White with the Sin Brothers series. I quickly fell in love with the Dean brothers, also known as the Grey Brothers because they all have grey eyes. It was a series about four brothers who were raised in a military style school. They had enhanced abilities and were taught to kill at a young age. The four books follow these boys as grown adults as they continue to fight the group that raised them and find the women of their dreams along the way. It was a great story. Imagine my excitement when I learn that there is going to be a spinoff series.

While the Sin Brothers followed the boys raised in a military school, Blood Brothers follows three boys who were raised in a foster home. They are not related and each came to the boys home in a different way. They quickly form a bond. They decide to become blood brothers, as their love is just as much as those brothers who are biologically related. They are now adults and running an investigation agency. They mostly find lost people. Since they are on the search for the sheriff that treated them so poorly as children, they thought it sounds like a business that will allow them to search without raising red flags.

Zara Remington is a paralegal for a legal firm in Cisco, Wyoming. She’s on a tough case. A good friend of hers is getting a divorce and it is an ugly one. Add to the fact that the man she is divorcing is the mayor of the town and things get tricky. Zara breaks her legal ethics to help her friend and things go from bad to worse.

Ryker Jones has been seeing Zara for a while at the start of this book. It isn’t really dating, more like just the occasional sex thing, when he is in town. They both like it that way. But as things around Zara get more dicey, Ryker and The Lost Bastards Investigative Agency step into help her out and to keep her safe. Ryker, along with his blood brothers Heath and Denver, have great abilities to help keep Zara safe.

There is also Greg, another kid that was raised at the compound. He’s looking for his brothers and wants The Lost Bastards Investigative Agency to help him find them. He wants them to find the good doctor from the Sin Brother books. Oh, and the Dean brothers make an appearance. It was great to see them again.

This story takes place chronologically after the Sin Brothers books. You could start here if you want. This is a new story, so everything is explained to you. Here’s the thing though, there are some spoilers if you start here, so you have to know that if you go back to read the Sin Brothers, you will have extra information. Also, you will figure things out quicker if you have the information from the original series. I don’t think that would lower the enjoyment of this series at all.

If you like romantic suspense, this is a very fun series, along with Sin Brothers. There are some paranormal aspects in that the men in this book are genetically enhanced and have abilities that are not available to the rest of us. Enhanced hearing, increased intelligence and other extra senses. I can’t wait for the next book. I just love the world that Zanetti has built here.

Narration

I’m so glad that they got Karen White to do this series. After listening to her narrate the Sin Brothers, it was great to have her back to take us on this journey with Blood Brothers. I like her ability to voice alpha male characters and women characters. The real unique voice in this series is the voice of the “good doctor”. She sounds exactly how I would expect a person like this woman would sound. If you haven’t tried Karen White, I highly recommend her.

**I like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Review originally posted at RabidReads.com.

I’ve been struggling with reading books lately. My attention span is very low for some reason. I can’t really sit down and read for more than an hour before I start finding something to distract myself. So, I decided to try the last book in the Age of Legends series on audio instead of reading, like I did with the previous two books. This worked out really great. I was able to finally finish this trilogy without having to sit down and read in little bits.

If you’re not familiar with this series, it is a fun one. It is set in a world that does have magics and spirits, among other things. The stories are told from the point of view of sixteen-year-old twin sisters, Moria and Ashen. They have the abilities to calm spirits and even banish them. Moria is known as the Keeper. She helps protect the empire from angry spirits. She also has a bond-beast that is a wildcat named Daigo. Bond-beasts are warriors that have died and come back to help the Seeker and the Keeper. Ashen is the Seeker. He has a hound for her bond-beast, named Tova. Moria is the one that has always been more outgoing and popular with the people. Ashen has always been a little more introverted. The two girls have been separated for a long time now as they try to solve the issue of Shadowstalkers and find the missing children from their town.

There are also three guys who’ve been part of the story from the beginning, or almost the beginning. The first one that we met in the first book is Ronan. He is a fugitive from the empire. He is also castless, which is very important in this world. It also makes him keep his distance from Ashen, even though he has quite the crush on her. He doesn’t feel that he’s good enough. He also uses little brother and sister as an excuse to keep his distance. He is responsible for them, since they have no one else. But at the same time, he feels he needs to protect Ashen.

There is also Gavril. He is quite the magician, though not as strong as his father. He has also been branded a traitor. His father is not a good man has done many horrible things (I won’t go into details to avoid spoilers). There are several times where you can’t tell which side Gavril is on. He and Moria have become very close friends. She has even been branded a traitor because of her ties to him in friendship.

Lastly, there is Tyrus. He is the emperor’s bastard son. He is also the emperor’s favorite child. He has also been branded a traitor because of events that happened in the second book (once again, I won’t give further details). He has been traveling with Gavril and Moria.

This story continues where the second book left off. We go back and forth between Ashen and Moria telling their tale. Both are witness to horrors along the way. You can really see the two girls, and also the boys, all grow up and leave childhood behind as they face things that even humans shouldn’t have to face. There is betrayal from family members, witnessing the aftermath of horrible murders (truly, these murders were awful. The kids didn’t witness it, but they came across the bodies and even that was bad enough), dealing with the zombie-like shadowstalkers. They even had to deal with the idea of raising dragons from a magical induced sleep. Yep, you read that right, dragons have made an appearance (and no, neither of the girls went into a bonfire with eggs LOL).

I’m a huge fan of Kelley Armstrong. I think she writes amazing characters. Now this series is one that isn’t as fast paced as some of her other stories, but the characters and the world she has built is still pretty great. I like how she kept me intrigued with trying to figure out who is betraying whom and never knowing what type of horrors the girls would come to next. I will say that end the end, I enjoyed the overall series, more than I enjoyed each book. I think part of that is that Armstrong ended the first two books with cliffhangers (grrr), but this being the final book, that didn’t happen here. I thought the story wrapped up pretty well. I liked how the people whose names were cleared were able to convince the emperor of their loyalty without having the emperor lose face. I will say that there is a bit of a love triangle, but not a strong one. Moria had always knew the choice she wanted, though she did second guess herself from time to time. If you like high-fantasy YA stories, this was a fun trilogy.

Narration
I think this was my first time listening to Therese Plummer. I know I recognized her name. I would’ve sworn I had listened to her before, but I can’t find anything that could’ve been the book. Anyway, I thought she did a great job with narration. I loved how she was able to make the kids sound like the teenagers they were and the adults sound like adults. I thought she did a great job with the male and female voices and that you could really feel the horror some of the kids experienced through their voices. If you haven’t tried Therese Plummer, I highly recommend her. I will looking for more books by her.

The Age of Legends Trilogy
	My Review

Review originally posted at RabidReads.com.

This is a very fun story with a new look at favorite fairy tale characters, “the Big, Bad Wolf” and “Little Red Riding Hood”. The wolf is Liam MacTire, He’s a werewolf, but his family has quite the curse. If he doesn’t find his family’s sword in the next 28 days, he will stop being a werewolf and just be a plain old wolf. He goes to Granny’s Pub in Dublin, New York to see if the owner, Red, knows anything. While in the front, Red is just a bar owner and bartender. In the back, though, she has quite a lucrative business in selling stolen, magical merchandise. While Red has the sword, it is stolen again, but not before it wreaks havoc. So, Red and Liam have to go on the hunt to get the sword back and they are on a deadline.

This is a really fun and quick read. It is a story that I wish was longer for two reasons. 1) I loved the characters and wanted to spend more time with them. 2) I thought the ending was rushed and that there were things left unanswered. If nothing else, I would’ve liked to have had an epilogue. I’ve really enjoyed the two books in this series. I wish Ms. Flynn would write more of them. They are short, but complete stories. And so much fun. If you’re looking for something really fun and just want a quick read, the two books in this series are for you.

“Who’s going to fuck with a six-foot-six ripped dude in black leather pants, tats covering both arms and a perma-snarl?”

“If you don’t hear from me in a few days, send a team down here to sniff out the body.”
“What are best friends for if not to pick up your mangled remains?” Max asked.
“Exactly.”

He hadn’t been looking for forever when he’d walked into Granny’s Pub, but he’d found it anyway. He sure as hell wasn’t going to let it go now.

 

Fairy True Series

Review originally posted at RabidReads.com.

This is the first of a new fantasy series by Jeffe Kennedy. I’ve been reading her Twelve Kingdoms series, which I love, so I was very excited to have the chance to try this new series. In this book, we have two different groups of people who are at war.

Destrye are a more barbarian group of people. They have no magical ability. The story starts off with them attacking one of the Bara cities.

The Bara are a magical group that has a society based on magic. They go through young life to achieve hwil, it is kinda like a state of zen (or that is the best I can describe it). Once you achieve hwil, you can then rise in the ranks as a sorcerer/sorceress. Once they are the sorceress, they can get their masks (really creepy golden masks that don’t have holes for the eyes). They also look for their perfect partner. Their relationships are symbiotic. The sorceresses are able to help fuel more magic to the sorcerers.

So, this story is told from the POV’s of Lonen, third son of the king of the Destrye, and Oria, young princess, not yet sorceress, of the Barrans. I love that we get both sides of the story, so we know more than the other half o the characters know. That being said, that doesn’t mean we know everything. We only know what those two characters know, and seeing as they are both not yet in positions of real power, they are missing a lot. This is especially true of Oria. She has not yet achieved hwil, and so a lot of information is not given until this goal is complete.

Oria is a very interesting character. She lives in a tower, mostly secluded from other people in her walled city. Most of her company is her mother, Queen Rhianna and her familiar, a small dragon-like creature, named Chuffta. He rides on her arm or shoulder. His touch helps her to deal with excess emotions that she picked up from other people. He is also a great guide for her. He has a good head, even though he is very young too.

“You’re right. I apologize to both of you,”she added to her mother.
“What is Chuffta right about?” her mother asked.
“That I’m afraid of the Destrys without knowing any, so my logic is bad. Though there are plenty of stories and illustrations to inform that opinion.”

This is a very fun start to a series. Jeffe Kennedy did a great job worldbuilding and I love the characters. There are some characters, I didn’t like, but they weren’t supposed to be likable. This is also a great start to a story. I see a lot in store for Oria and Lonen. I’m very interested into diving into the second book in this series, Oria’s Gambit. If you haven’t tried Jeffe Kennedy, this is a great time to start.

The Sorcerous Moons Series

**Book was provided to me by the author. This review is my opinion and was not requested or provoked in anyway by the author.

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

I listened to the Mageri series when it was first released on audio back in 2014. I really enjoyed it. Simon was one of my favorite characters in that series, so when I heard Simon was getting his own book, I was really excited. So now I get to learn more about Simon Hunt, who is part of the Mageri Halo organization and a great strategist. He has always been a ladies’ man. I should point out at this series is UF, so the main character in the original five books takes a while to find her love. Here, Simon does it in one book.

So a council member asks Simon for a favor. It’s a big one. Novis, the council member, asks Simon to train a Learner of another council member. One that Simon can’t stand named Hannah. So, Simon shows up to talk to Hannah about it, he learns that Ella is deaf. She was at a party that was attacked and the injury isn’t able to healed because of something that was used during the battle. Hannah is embarrassed that her learner is “defective”. She isn’t progressing like she should be. Hannah will either have to live with the fact that she will have to take care of Ella for the rest of her life or “put her down”.

Simon agrees to help Hannah. One, Hannah is paying him a lot money. Two, a very powerful council member, in Novis, would own him a favor. He quickly learns that Ella isn’t nearly as “defective” as Hannah thinks she is. Once Simon starts to train her, her progress grows really quickly. Hannah is very protective of Ella and there is a reason for that (I won’t say why, so no spoilers). She has kept her sheltered since the accident and Ella is feeling suffocated. Once Simon is around, he takes her outside and out into the world.

Both Simon and Ella have a pretty brutal past. That past has both taken them to where they are now and it has brought plenty of baggage with it. This past has helped to bring Simon and Ella together. While training, Simon learns that someone is following them. He works with someone from the Chitah race to help track down who is following them. Chitah are a species that have animalistic qualities, but they aren’t shifters. They will grow claws and teeth, but that’s it.

This story is a nice paranormal romance with a ton of suspense. If you haven’t tried this series, I highly recommend it. I really enjoyed it. You can read this book without having read the Mageri series, but there are spoilers in this book for the previous five books, so it is really best if you read/listen to them first.

Narration

Nicole Poole narrated the first five books in the Mageri series, and continues to do well with this book. I really enjoyed her narration. She does a great job with both male and female voices. Also, Simon is British, so she had to do his accent, which I thought was pretty good. I really thought she added to the story.

**I like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

Hunting Season has been on my TBR list for a long time. Needless to say that books that aren’t on audio tend to take me longer to get to. I have so much more time to listen than read. So, when I saw that this was coming out on audio, I jumped at the chance to review it. This book was written in 2009 and there doesn’t appear to be any more book in this series coming. In my opinion, it is because she chose to take this world to Call of the Crows. Now, the author says this is not the case, you can check out her FAQ to read more.

This book is full of Norse mythology. It has a group of humans, who’ve died and been resurrected by Skuld. They become crows, and though they don’t completely shapeshift, they do have wings that they can use at will. All crows are women that Skuld deem worthy. Then there’s the ravens. They are all male. They are born ravens and are loyal to Odin. The crows are quite the party animals. The ravens being much more tame. They also look down on the crows because of their human side. Ravens also have their own wings that they can use when needed.

Neecy Lawrence is the second-in-command of the crows. She had a pretty hard life as a human. She grew up in foster homes, then she join a gang. Needless to say, she did some things she really isn’t proud of while in the gang. She was killed when she tried to leave and that is when Skuld came to her and offered her to be reborn of sorts as a crow. Neecy lives for being a crow. She is trying so hard to make up for past wrongs. She’s also a history professor with a PhD in history. Neecy also has the ability to call crows to her. That does have some funny moments.

Two more crows dived at Mike, freaking the poor kid out.
Then six more.
“Then what the…”
Tye sipped his coffee as Mike did his best to keep the birds away from him. “It’s not Neecy,” he offered casually. “It’s that meat and bird seed I put in his pockets.”
Delia covered her mouth in surprise, but she couldn’t stifle the laughter. Yager shook his head.
“Why?”
They watched as Mike ran to the doors, trying to get in. But, apparently, Tye locked them and seemed in no rush to unlock them.
“He knows why.”
Mike slammed his fist against the thick glass and pointed at Tye while the growing number of birds steadily attacked his coat and therefore him.
“You motherfucker!”
“See?” Tye took another sip of his coffee. “Told you he knows why.”

Wilhelm Yager is the leader of the New York-New Jersey Ravens. He’s also a computer geek (definitely can’t fault him for that. I love a computer geek.). He’s had a thing for Neecy for a while, but she doesn’t give him the time of day. That is until he convinces her to spend 24 hours with him.

While, I really enjoyed the characters in this book, I wasn’t a huge fan of the plot. I liked the crows and ravens. I wasn’t real big on the “hunting season” where a pack of wolf-shifters try to kill all the crows. It just wasn’t the best plot. They weren’t a good villain.

Trying to write the review for this book is difficult for me. Part of me is wanted to just compare it to the Call of the Crows books, but I know not everyone has read them. There is also part of me who is very disappointed in this book. I’ll admit that I went into this book without having read the blurb. I do that frequently with favorite authors. I like to go into books blind. I find that I enjoy them more most of the time because I’m surprised about everything. That was not the case here. I was very disappointed with this story being so similar to a series I’ve already two book in. It was a good book, just not up the standards that I’m used to by Shelly Laurenston (or her other pen name, G.A. Aiken).

Narration

I didn’t think I had listened to anything by Alexandra Shawnee before I started this book. It didn’t take 2 minutes in and I knew that I head listened to a book by her, just under a different name. She is a narrator that I’ve really enjoyed with those other books that I listened to. That being said, I don’t think she was the best choice for this book. She doesn’t bring out the humor that Shelly Laurenston has in her books. I just don’t think she brought out that snark that Laurenston is known for. I will say she does a great job with male and female voices. Not to mention the sex and fight scenes were wonderfully done. If you happen across something by her, I would recommend it.

**I like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

I’ve been a huge fan of Stacia Kane for several years now. I started off reading her Megan Chase series and then really fell in love with her after starting theDownside Ghosts series (Downside is especially good on audio). It has been since since 2012 that I’ve gotten a full length book from Ms. Kane. Needless to say, I was pretty excited.

Made for Sin is a story that, of course, is set in Sin City itself, Las Vegas. The story is told by E. L. Speare (don’t ask him his first name), a PI with a dark side. He has a demon inside him. He must commit a sin everyday or the demon takes over, only to leave Speare waking up to carnage. It can be any of the mortal sins, but the bigger, the longer the demon will let him go before he has to commit the next sin. Shoplifting is one of the smaller sins we see him commit to pacify his demon.

When a body start to turn up with a piece missing, as in a whole arm taken from the shoulder, Speare is on the case to help look for what is going on. Then even more bodies with missing pieces start to turn up. There is also a demon sword involved. Speare decides the best place to start looking is for someone who just got their hands on the demon sword. He recruits a thief, in Ardeth Coyle, who also dealer in occult artifacts.

This was a good story. It has all the things you expect from a solid Urban Fantasy book. The world that Kane built in Vegas does it proud. Add in the magic and it is a solid location that any UF fan would enjoy. Speare is a great tortured hero, who is working hard to be “good”. Ardeth is a solid heroine who isn’t trying nearly as hard to be good. The suspense and action are all there. All in all, this is a solid story. That being said, I didn’t love it as much as I expected to. I think this book might have suffered from “too high of expectations” and “over anticipation”. As much as I loved Kane’s first two series, I think I expected this one to blow me out of the water and it just didn’t do that. Kane mentions on her blog, that this book could be a stand alone or possibly a start to a new series. If there is a book two, I will definitely give it a go. I know that it is often that the first book of a series is okay, but get way better with more stories. I’m sure Kane could do that, as I’ve loved her other series. I really hope that there is a book two.

Narration

This is my first book with Aiden Snow as narrator. I really liked him. I thought he did a great job with our tortured hero. I also liked his women’s voices. The pace was great. I thought he really brought the darker side to the story. He is definitely a narrator that I will be on the look out for in the future.

**I like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.