Tuesday, 5 July 2022

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 & audiobookAudiobook



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):
  Audible Books


Pia

[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:
Book 1: DAMAGED GODS Book 2: SAVAGE SAINTS Book 3: ROYAL BEASTS

 
Meet The Author

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.


The Narrators

About Jason Clarke:
Romance narrator, in the palm of your hand 🐉



Hathaway Lee:



FTC Disclosure:
The ebook and audiobook were bought with private funds.
No money received for this review.

Monday, 4 July 2022

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 & audiobookAudiobook


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):
  Audible Books


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:
Story telling quality = 4
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:
Book 1: COUNTING CROWS Book 2: MONEY FOR OLD BONES Book 3: DEAD OF THE WINTER SUN Book 4: SALT FOR THE DEVIL'S EYE Book 5: BAD WATERS RUN DEEP


 
Meet The Author

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.


The Narrator

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.



FTC Disclosure:
The ebook and audiobook were bought with private funds.
No money received for this review.