Kimberly

Nice

Reviewed: 04-26-24

Setting: China 15th Century
Genre: Historical drama

This is the story of Tan Yunxian who, after her mother died, was raised by her grandparents, both of who were doctors. It is written in first person present tense and has the slice-of-life timber of a memoir.
The narration by Jennifer Lim and Justin Chien is well done and pleasant.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Yeah… maybe

Reviewed: 10-09-23

Setting: NYC Contemporary
Genre: Paranormal rom-com

Violet Maxwell, age 30, is the eldest of a set of triplets and should have been the heir to her grandmother’s position as the Prima on the supernatural council. But that isn’t how things turned out. Because she is the Magic-less Maxwell, the dud. She has not a spark of magic (until a chance meeting with her nemesis caused it to “wake up”) She works at a bar and volunteers at the children’s center and is really quite happy with her life. Then she is called before the council and told that, despite not being the Prima Apparent, the rules is the rules, and as the oldest of a triad she must form a witch’s bond with someone. If she doesn’t have one, one will be given to her. Bad news, because even though she has dated off and on, none of those relationships “took”. She has been unable to trust anyone with her heart since Lincoln Thorne broke it in high school. Fortunately she wrangles a 3 month reprieve. Meanwhile, Lincoln - now Alpha of his wolf pack, as well as all shifters across North America — is laboring under the obligation of finding a mate by his 32nd. If he hasn’t found one by then, he will have the choice of accepting someone of the council’s choosing or stepping down from his position. He has always vowed to wait for his fated mate, but now he has 3 months. So, despite Violet’s hatred and his regret, they enter an “arrangement” to fake-date to give themselves time to find solutions to their problems. What follows is a story with enemies to lovers/second chance love tropes.

The book which I would give a PG-16 rating, is average. The plot is interesting, and the characterizations are on point. The characters you’re supposed to like are nice, and the villain of the piece is appropriately slimy. It pulled out a gamut of emotions for me, laughter to tears, but also irritation.

So what irritated me? Snortle. Yeah, the liberal use of this internet slang word. According to the dictionary of slang it means a hearty laugh with a snort on the inhale. Kind of the sound you make when you’re laughing uncontrollably, yet there wasn’t any dialogue or situation that should have evinced that sort of reaction from the characters unless the author means to portray them as loons. Also, being slang, it’s likely to soon be passé, if it isn’t already. Plus, Ms. Asher could have used a thesaurus to mix it up a little.

So, the narration. Not stellar, to be honest. Average. Maybe. Zura Johnson didn’t differentiate voices very well, especially the men, and her accents (Australian, French, Spanish) weren’t good. Sometimes it isn’t even clear where the character is from except in the context of the name. And most irritating for me was that at no point did she pronounce “hell’s bells” (which the female protagonist uses often) correctly. She was fine with other words, plural or possessive, that end with S. I don’t know what her deal was, but she pronounced the aforementioned phrase as “hell’sss bellsss”. Like, why would she make both possessive and plural in that phrase end with an extended “ssss” rather than with a Z sound? But maybe I’m wrong. Maybe for just that phrase the words are supposed to end with a hiss.

If you’re not worried about the things that bothered me, you might find it in your local library. Many others have given it 4 and 5 stars, so maybe take their word for it. As for me… This is the first book in what will apparently be a series (two have been published, with the next slated for 2024). But I don’t think I can tolerate more snortles in the text or “hell’sss bellsss” from Zura Johnson in the audio.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Not the same ol’, same ol

Reviewed: 10-02-23

Setting: Toronto Contemporary
Genre: paranormal romance

Back with the Argeneau family, but not overwhelmed with the standard: no growly Lucien interfering, no huge cast of previously introduced characters, not (much) violence. The standard amount of sex.
Sophie works at the insurance agency owned by her father despite the position not being in the field she trained. But she feels obligated since they were family friends and they rescued her from the group home she was sent to after her parents’ tragic deaths.
One evening she leaves a bad blind date and the creeper follows her into the parking lot with bad intent. However, she is saved by Tybo and Alasdair, Tybo asks her to be his date to a cousin’s wedding and she ends up spending almost all the time with Alasdair because Tybo is the best man and involved in doing wedding stuff. Alasdair recognizes her as his life mate and the story involves him courting her and having hot monkey sex. There is also a mystery around who is trying to kill him.
This is on the good end of the Lynsay Sands vampire books. It is a character driven story, and those characters are strong. The violence is minimal and the mystery is interesting.
The narration adds to the story. Great pacing and the accents were spot-on. I can recommend this if you’re an Argeneau fan.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Soooo…. Couldn’t finish

Reviewed: 08-20-23

It has been a while since I’ve read a Jayne Castle novel. I’ve got a few of the Rainshadow/Ghost Hunters series, including the first of the latter. I kind of skipped around depending on how interesting the blurb was. I think I picked up a couple of them just because Barbara Rosenblatt performed them — not that Joyce Bean is terrible, just that her reading doesn’t make a connection. Frankly, a lot of the time she makes the heroine sound like she’s about to do something stupid. I don’t remember any of them being this painfully boring. So this goes into the DNF category. I’ll have to see how reviews of the newest Ghost Hunters is before I decide to buy it or not. Though Barbara Rosenblatt is the narrator… Anyway, I think I’ll go listen to an old Amanda Quick to remind myself that JAK can write a fun book.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

It’s okay. Average.

Reviewed: 12-16-22

Setting: Port Agnes, Cornwall Contemporary
Genre: sweet romance

After being publicly dumped in London, midwife Ella takes a temp job at the obstetrics clinic in the town where she grew up. The work is fulfilling, and temporarily sleeping in her old room isn’t so bad. But there’s the matter of Dan. He broke her heart when he kept putting off joining her in London when she went to university. She hurt him when she Dear John’d him without even asking him what was keeping him in Port Agnes. Aside from Ella’s public embarrassment, most of her mental anguish is totally self-inflicted and boring. However, the bits about the actual midwifery were interesting and the book could have used more of that.
This is a second-chance romance trope. The plot is okay, but not riveting. It was easy to turn it off and just not turn it back on for a couple of days. Part of that is due to the “romance” being so incredibly boring. I mean kissing was fade-to-black! So to say this is a “sweet” romance is a bit understated.
The story, if you are okay with bland romance, is fine. Average.
The narrator is okay, but I had a bit of difficulty telling the men apart except for Ella’s dad.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Pretty good listen

Reviewed: 11-15-22

Setting: NYC and Mairmont, South Carolina Contemporary
Genre: paranormal, rom-com

Florence Day is a writer whose first (and only) published novel’s failure (likely due to lack of publicity by the publisher) led to her accepting a job as the ghostwriter for critically acclaimed romance author Anne Nichols. She has a 4-book contract, three of which have been published to glowing reviews. It’s the fourth one she’s having problems with. Actually, it’s just the climax, the reconciliation, the grand gesture she can’t seem to put together. Every time she tries to write it, the male MC is struck by lightning, verbally eviscerates the heroine, or something equally horrific happens, rather than the expected Happily Ever After. Because she doesn’t believe in love anymore. Not since that nasty breakup last year. Now, after almost a year of extensions, her hunky new editor, Ben, has given her one day to turn it in.
Then, in the middle of that dark night, she gets a call she never wanted to. Her father, the owner/director of the funeral home in Mairmont, SC, who consistently put off going to the doctor because he was busy with clients (his term for the recently deceased in need of a funeral), has died. She has to return to the town she’d gladly left 10 years before and swore never to return to again. That was related to a blessing/curse (depending on which one you asked) she shared with her dad. She could see and speak to the ghosts of troubled people. So as she and her family are going over everything that needs to be done before her dad’s funeral, the doorbell rings and it’s the ghost of her new editor. She definitely doesn’t want anything to do with him, with figuring out his unfinished business, but he keeps following her around as she is trying to carry out all the weird instructions her father had for his funeral. But then she and Ben figure her unfinished novel is his unfinished business. So while she’s running around taking care of Dad’s business with Ben in tow, she’s trying to get the book done. And falling in love with a ghost.
So… what did I like about this book? Well, it’s the first rom-com haunting I’ve ever read, so that was interesting. And the plot hanging on the premise wasn’t bad. There was pathos and happiness. There was some closure to issues some of the character had. And I liked most of the characters, including Ben, the Day family, and the townspeople Florence interacted with. Ben is the best kind of book boyfriend - sensitive, caring, fun. Too bad he’s kinda transparent. I even liked Lee in his villainy-ness (That’s a word. I just made it up, but still…). He’s such a snot, and he’s the kind of guy you want comeuppance to hit really hard. And I adored the wordplay in this book. The death jokes. The puns. I laughed so much. The dialogue is, overall, well written.
What did I not like? Well frankly, I didn’t really like Florence. There were many places in the book where I wanted to smack the sh…tuffing out of her. Her allowing her ex to live rent-free in her head and to destroy her career was not an attractive personality trait. There should at least have been a few references to therapy. Her other hang-ups are juvenile. Sure, she had a reputation in her little town as an attention-seeker, a weirdo, or both. This was related to an incident that occurred when she was a kid (11? 13?). But you know what? It’s pretty dang weak that she allows that to keep her from going home. In fact, her family having to go to NY to see her just proves she’s an attention seeker. And then there’s Florence’s insistence that only she can arrange all the off-the-wall instructions her dad left for his celebration of life. She refuses help whenever it is offered. It’s like she is consciously building a wall between herself and her family, then she gets mad at them for the distance. Frankly, it read as poor character development to me. I should have liked her more than I did. I also didn’t like all the literary name dropping at the beginning, though I know it was a form of accolades to the romance novel as an art in general, and the actual works mentioned in particular. I don’t know. I’ve heard of some of the books, but I haven’t read them, but I don’t think that really matters.
And then there’s the doorbell. How was Ben able to ring the doorbell but unable otherwise to interact with the corporeal world? I know, it’s nit-picky, but my brain wouldn’t let it go. Every time he failed to to touch something, or her hand passed through him, there was the doorbell.
Overall, this is a good read. There’s no great mystery of how it will turn out, but the laughs and tears along the way are what make it good. Ben is the best character, and the fact that he is invested in the action keeps the reader engaged. Also, Florence got less whiny toward the end, so there’s that.

Eileen Stevens’ narration isn’t bad. She differentiates characters well, though it took getting used to the way she performed the male characters.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

What a great deal!

Reviewed: 11-07-22

Setting: Buckinghamshire, London and Liverpool, England Contemporary
Genre: Urban Fantasy

Jinx (née Jessica) Sharp is a 25 year old private investigator. It’s a vocation she took up mainly to find out who murdered her parents seven years ago. So far, she has found nothing. Not one clue in the grisly crime scene photos, nothing from questioning the neighbors. Nada from her regular inquiries with the police. No help at all, even with this handy gift that helps her succeed in her other investigations — she can tell truth from lie. Unbeknownst to her, that gift is connected to the Other Realm — a different dimension that occupies the same space as the Common (real life) Realm, but where magic is real. And so are monsters.
The first book in the series provides excellent world-building, including differences in the environment, and how events in the Other Realm are perceived in the Common (i.e. a woman riding a huge dog in the Other Realm would appear in the Common as a woman on a horse, a herd of unicorns running through the countryside would look like a pack of slavering dogs, property destroyed by monsters would be explained as ruptures in the gas line, etc.). How people present in the Other Realm is also different. Magic people occupying space in the Other Realm can identify people in Common as magical or not (though they cannot do the opposite — if a magic user is in the Common Realm, they have no idea whether the people around them are magical or not). I did have a problem with time travel thing, but I’ve always had issues with the paradoxes involved. The nice thing about this series though is that the following books reinforce the built world, so you won’t get lost when you get to a point in the plot where you need to understand.
The characters are well developed, be they friend or foe (or something ambiguous in between). There’s also growth in some characters, devolution in others, and nothing overly dramatic occurs in the process. Sure, some of the characters learn shocking things, but they don’t react in an over-the-top manner, or do stupid stuff. The relationships between the characters are relatively organic too. Nice to have a heroine identify her reaction to a male character as lust rather than insta-love at first meeting. In fact, although Jinx has no problem admiring the good-looking guys she meets, there isn’t a lot of gratuitous sex. The main character’s internal monologues as well as the dialogue between the characters is often witty, which actually adds to the story.
Alyse Gibbs, the narrator, does a pretty good job with accents, and her male characters are passing fair. Her pacing is great so lines are appropriately delivered — witty, sad, energetic, etc. It was nice that she narrated the entire series since it is in the first person from Jinx’s point of view.
Overall, this is not only a great deal, it is a great listen. You could binge it right through, or break it up with other listens between the books.
Enjoy!

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Another visit to Shadowvale

Reviewed: 01-05-22

Setting: Shadowvale, North Carolina and a magical valleys where the Dragon Census takes pace. No Contemporary (2021)
Genre: Paranormal romance

Nasha Black, the only child of one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (specifically Famine) owns Black Horse Bakery where she gives away the bread, cakes, and pies she bakes every day. She does this because she feels like her abundance balances out the devastation of her father’s (and her’s at some point) job. That job is why she stays in Shadowvale. Well that, and her horrible, terrible, secret curse. I can tell you that neither her written-in-stone future job nor her “curse” require her to sequester herself in an enchanted town. She could go out in the world and live a normal life until her dad retires. As for the curse, people all over the world live with the handicap (about 2% are born with it, while about a quarter of the population will contract some form of it over the course of their lifetime) but they manage near normal lives. I found Nasha’s backstory a bit…over dramatic.
Charlie Ashborne has been living in Shadowvale for about 5 years. He is a dragon shifter whose curse really is horrible and terrible, and needs to be kept secret for his own safety. And it technically isn’t a curse, but a birth defect that leaves him vulnerable to attack, so living among his people would be dangerous. He is estranged from his family (especially his father) because they blame him for not finding a cure. Charlie is a chocolatier who makes the most wonderful chocolate candy in his shop. His premier creation is the dragon egg, which is a beautifully decorated chocolate shell filled with a variety of other chocolates.
Charlie has received a summons from the Dragon Council to attend the semi-regular census. It has, in the past, presented dragons an opportunity to step outside of their largely solitary or family-centered lives to politick, socialize, and perhaps find love. But the council has come to be dominated by younger dragons who, alarmed at falling birth rates among their people, has decided that all unmated dragons will compete in a series of games with the top 10 in males and females allowed to select their mate. All others will have one chosen for them. Charlie doesn’t want to go because dragon-specific contests will reveal his curse. This will embarrass him, but worse, it will bring shame to his family. But the explicit threat from the council is that if he doesn’t show, they will come for him.
Meanwhile, after receiving a gift of one of Charlie’s premier chocolate eggs, Nasha has developed a serious addiction. So serious that she shows up at his door to beg for his recipe - for personal use, not for the bakery. He tells her no, she begs some more, and finally they come to a deal. He is about to leave for the Dragon Census, and he needs to be in a committed relationship to avoid having a mate forced on him, and she volunteers carry out a charade.
So the rest of the story is about the census games, which Charlie and Nasha end up having to compete in. They make a couple of enemies, but also friends. And they work toward a hopeful ending for all of them, even if it means burning some bridges along the way.
So if you think my synopsis was a little slow, it’s got nothing on the beginning of this book. The first four chapters or so are a slow build, with lots of dread and lamenting, to a plateau. Well, some things happen, but
nothing very suspenseful or exciting except maybe the last contest Nasha competes in. They make a couple of mean girls enemies, and some worthy alliances with people who become friends. Then they go back to Shadowvale
The technical aspects of the writing - grammar and usage - are pretty good. The dialogue is good when the book gets to the action. Character development is slow, but there may be some exposition for the two protagonists in previous books in the series, but I haven’t read 2-4.
The narration and production are great. B. J. Harrison performs all the characters well, and does a good job of differentiating between them. I especially like that he gave Charlie one voice in his human form and a different, deeper one for his dragon form.
Overall, this is a middle average book. Something you can listen to while you do chores.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Ghostly, in a funny way

Reviewed: 01-04-22

Setting: Sugarland, Tennessee Contemporary to 2016
Genre: paranormal cozy mystery

Ever since accidentally dumping the ashes of her ex-fiancé’s gangster ancestor into her garden, Verity Long has been able to see ghosts. Well, she sees Frankie (and other strong spirits) with no problem, but borrowing his power she can see and converse with weaker ghosts. She just needs to carry his urn, which contain the vestiges of his ashes, wherever she needs his help. That’s the gist of the series.
In this novella, Matthew Jackson, the ghost of a Union officer, needs Verity to retrieve the ghost of a necklace his ghost mother is wearing as she haunts the family estate. She had promised him the necklace to give to his wife when he married, and he has fallen in love with the ghost he wants to spend eternity with. He won’t go for it himself because his mother disowned him when he enlisted with the Yankees. So Verity agrees to assist her friend who is catering the Jackson’s annual Christmas party so she can speak to (the dead) Mrs. Jackson. Of course, she has to take Frankie’s urn, which one of the other servers decides will make a nice centerpiece for the tray of hors d’oeuvres she is circulating. Which makes Verity worry and yadda yadda yadda.
This isn’t a bad listen. The story is pretty good. It is helpful to read at least the first book of this series before reading this, but it isn’t absolutely necessary. The characters are interesting and the dialogue is often amusing. The humor leans toward situation comedy. I enjoyed the narration.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

It averages out

Reviewed: 12-18-21

The first two novellas kept my interest. The plots are interesting and the writing is good. The third I read with many stops, often for a day or two at a time. The third I started and stopped a couple of times until chapter 5 which I listened to for a few minutes, then skipped to 6. Then I decided and skipped to the epilogue.
I don’t know if the first two novellas are worth a credit. But hey, if you can slog your way through the 3rd & 4th, it might’ve worth getting — from the library.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!