Cherry Mischievous

Saturday, 5 April 2025

ENDLESS KNIGHT

Endless Knight by Annabel Chase
Book 1 in the Midnight Empire: The Restoration series
Narrated by Jill Smith
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook

About Endless Knight:

Return to the world of the Midnight Empire where darkness reigns and vampires rule.
New York is my prison.

Once a sought-after assassin, a single error in judgment landed me in servitude to House August, the most powerful vampire family in North America. Now I use my special brand of magic as a member of their security team, fighting monsters in the city and keeping the royal family’s many enemies at bay.

When the queen summons me for an assignment and offers my freedom in return, I want to jump at the chance — until she tells me what the assignment is.

Like a valiant knight, I am to escort her son from the family’s stronghold in Florida back to New York, which would be difficult enough without my messy romantic history with the rogue prince.

I accept the job because my freedom means more than my wounded pride.

Darkness and monsters stand between us and our destination. Thankfully I’ve never been afraid of either one.

I soon discover there’s more at stake than the return of the prodigal son. Even if we survive our enemies, I’m not sure I’ll survive the journey with the vampire who broke my heart.

Endless Knight, Midnight Empire: The Restoration, is the first book in a new urban fantasy trilogy set in the same world as Wild Knight, Midnight Empire: The Tower.

Source: Info in the About Endless Knight was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60434851-endless-knight on 09/05/2022.

Buy Link(s):

My Thoughts:

This is my first Annabel Chase read and at first it was hardgoing to get into the story! I first read the kindle ebook sample and that sample stewed in my knidle for like a couple of months before it got finally read. I just keep putting it down. Then when I was in the GP (General Practitioner or doctor's office) waiting room for like an hour and a half before I was seen, this book got dredged up and read little bit more. Then I decided to buy the audiobook version in the hopes that this book might go quicker with a narration. By that time I was past chapter one and the story has started to pick up.

There isn't much of a plot. But then again this is not a crime fiction book, so I can forgive that.

My first Jill Smith listen and I like he way she reads.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 4
Story itself = 3
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 4
World building = 4
Cover art = 4
Pace = (6 hrs and 57 mins listening time)
Plot = 2.5
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries

Books In The Midnight Empire: The Restoration Series:

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Meet The Author

About Annabel Chase:

Annabel Chase is the author of urban fantasy and cozy mystery novels. She would love to live in a magical town where she can shop at Ready-to-Were for the the perfect outfit, flirt with hot angels and vampires, and cook gourmet meals without exerting any effort.

The Narrator

About Jill Smith:

Hi! I’m Jill Smith, an Ohio-based voice actor specializing in audiobook work. I have a background in theater and creative writing, so I value collaboration and understand how exciting and important it is as an author to hear your project come to life in audio. I work with you to make sure you get the results you want! Please feel free to reach out with any questions or for more information at jillsmith.voice@gmail.com.

jillsmithvoice.com | goodreads

FTC Disclosure:
The ebook and audiobook copies of the book were purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.

Monday, 31 March 2025

FOLLOW THE CROW

Follow The Crow by B. B. Griffith
Book 1 in the Vanished series
Narrated by Paul L. Coffey, Kirsten Leigh, Ryan Jordan McCarthy, and Stina Nielsen
Genre: paranormal crime fiction
Format: ebook & audiobook

About Follow The Crow:

Ben Dejooli is a Navajo cop who can't escape his past. Six years ago his little sister Ana vanished without a trace. His best friend saw what happened, but he refuses to speak of what he knows, and so was banished from the Navajo tribe. That was the day the crows started following Ben.

Caroline Adams is a nurse with a special talent: She sees things others can’t see. She knows that Ben is more than he seems, and that the crows are trying to tell him something.

What the crows know will shed new light on the mystery of Ana’s disappearance, and throw Ben and Caroline into a race against time to find out what happened before they end up vanishing just like she did.

Source: Info in the "About Follow The Crow" was taken from amazon on 02/03/2024.

Buy Link(s):

My Thoughts:

The build-up is so slow that I had to force myself into persevering with this book. It doesn't pick up until after the half-way mark and picking up slowly at that. The narration is good, for the most part.

It seems like I am reading a few too many Native American Indian stories of late. The Sorrow Hand by Dwight Holing. Wild Sign by Patricia Briggs...

This is only the beginning of the plot. The continuation and ending is presumably in subsequent books in this series.

What I wanted to know is, why didn't Caroline nor Ben picked up the totems? When Joey specifically warned Ben about it? And Ben could "feel" the truth in Joey's words? Because the author needs the characters to act "too stupid to live" (tstl) to create a dilemma and/or tension in the story? I tend to avoid this kind of authors.

I like the theme. I like the story. But I do not like this author's writing style. Nor the tstl.

This is my first Paul L. Coffey, Kirsten Leigh, Ryan Jordan McCarthy, and Stina Nielsen audiobook listen. For all of them. And I couldn't really tell which is who in the audiobook so couldn't give any of the narrators an individualised review. I can only evaluate the audiobook as a whole.

Quantitative Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 3.5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 4
Writing Style = 1
Ending = 3.5
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 4
Pace = (24 hrs and 43 mins listening time)
Plot = 2
Narration = 5

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 cherries

Books In The Vanished Series:

Meet The Author

About B. B. Griffith:

B. B. Griffith is the best selling author of the Vanished series, an epic story of life, death, love, magic and mystery set in the American Southwest. His novels have been called “rare and imaginative,” “full of lovable, memorable characters,” and his personal favorite: “A literary breath of fresh air.” He lives with his family in Denver, Colorado, where he can often be found sitting on the porch, notebook in hand, working on his next story.

bbgriffith.com | twitter | facebook | amazon | goodreads

The Narrators

About Paul L. Coffey:

Paul L. Coffey is an actor, musician, audiobook narrator and Fiasco Company Member.

goodreads

About Kirsten Leigh:

All her life, Kirsten Leigh was told that she had a sexy voice. After attending acting school, she put that voice to work and has enjoyed narrating over 100 romance and erotica books. In her free time she enjoys cooking, going to wine tastings, and walking her pooch. She is currently writing a romance series of her own — stay tuned!

Voice: casual, warm, welcoming, un-intimidating, unique, cool.

The perfect non-announcer announcer who makes people to want to listen. A voice that draws people in.

10 years of stand-up comedy experience. Ability to improvise, add humor and personality to a script.

goodreads

About Ryan Jordan McCarthy:

Actor and Audiobook Narrator in NYC!

instagram | goodreads

About Stina Nielsen:

New York based actor & audiobook narrator.

Stina made her Broadway debut in THE JUDAS KISS with Liam Neeson, a show they also performed in London’s West End. Her other Broadway credits include WAITING IN THE WINGS with Lauren Bacall; WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? with Kathleen Turner and Bill Irwin; and THE LITTLE FOXES with Stockard Channing.

Stina’s regional theatre credits include Tennessee Williams’ 'The Notebook of Trigorin' with Lynn Redgrave at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park; 'Crumbs from the Table of Joy' at Capital Repertory Theatre; '1933' at the Denver Center Theatre Company; Pericles at the Mint Theatre in New York City; and 'A Month in the Country', 'The Odyssey', 'Dirty Work', and 'Babes in Boyland' at Arena Stage in Washington DC.

Her TV credits include "Law & Order–SVU", "Another World", "The City", and "All My Children". She also works with DeValk Associates interactive diversity training.

She has narrated over 250 audiobooks, is a multiple Audie Award finalist, has earned multiple Earphones Awards, and was named one of the “Best Voices of 2011” by AudioFile magazine. A short film she narrated for Metabook Films, YOURS SINCERELY, LOIS WEBER was an Official Selection for the 2017 Cannes Film Festival and the Huesca Film Festival and won Best Documentary at the LA Shorts International Film Festival.

stinanielsen.com | facebook | instagram | soundcloud | goodreads

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

Saturday, 29 March 2025

PAPER GIRLS

Paper Girls by Alex Smith
Book 1 in the DCI Kett series
Narrated by Tim Bruce
Genre: crime fiction
Format: ebook & audiobook

About Paper Girls:

The one case he couldn't crack was the one that finally broke him.

Haunted by his inability to track down and save his missing wife, DCI Robert Kett leaves the Metropolitan Police behind and moves to Norwich with his three young children, hoping to heal their broken family.

But his newfound peace doesn’t last. Two newspaper delivery girls have gone missing in the city, and the clues point to a serial kidnapper.

Kett is dragged into the centre of one of the darkest cases of his career — a case that pits him head to head against a horrifying evil.

And a case that might uncover the terrible truth of what happened to his wife.

Source: Info in the "About Paper Girls" was taken from amazon on 28/04/2024.

Buy Link(s):

My Thoughts:

What JD Kirk and David J. Gatward said about this book is true. It is gripping and it is brilliant!

And this kinda worries me because when one starts in a high note, it is usually downhill from there... I hope not! Anyway already bought the second book.

The plot is not that twisty. But twisty enough!

The ending is as good as can be. But it is good!

I thought that the fight scenes there in the end is not quite believable but I am wilfully ignoring that for the lovely reading time that this book gave me.

This is my first Tim Bruce audiobook and I would listen to him again.

Quantitative Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 5
Story itself = 4.5
Writing Style = 5
Ending = 4.5
World building = 5
Cover art = 4
Pace = (7 hrs and 59 mins listening time)
Plot = 4.5
Narration = 5

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 cherries

Books In The DCI Kett Series:

Meet The Author

About Alex Smith:

Hi there, and welcome to my Amazon author page! Thanks for stopping by and checking out my books. If you want to be the first to know about new releases then feel free to follow me by clicking on the follow button on my book pages or on my author page.

I've been a writer for almost all my life. I wrote my first book when I was six, and even though it wasn't very good it did have monsters in it. It was a sign of things to come, as I spent most of my twenties and thirties writing horror books for children and teenagers under my full name, Alexander Gordon Smith, including the award-winning series Escape From Furnace. It was only after I had my three daughters that I thought about writing a series of thrillers about a detective with young children, and DCI Robbie Kett was born.

I live in Norwich with my family, where I spend half of my time writing and the other half trying to keep up with my three girls.

The Narrator

About Tim Bruce:

Essentially a British RP actor-narrator, Tim was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the North East of England (native Geordie), but spent most of his life (when not on tour!) in London. He currently stars alongside comedian Phill Jupitus in CITV’s popular children’s comedy series ‘Bottom Knocker Street’, in which he plays 21 different on-screen characters! Tim’s other work includes the BBC’s BAFTA award winning drama series ‘Bleak House’; long-running TV soaps such as ‘Hollyoaks’, ‘Family Affairs’ and ‘Byker Grove’; the West End production of ‘Blood Brothers’; films such as the BAFTA award winning ‘Supertramp’, Stephen Fry’s ‘Bright Young Things’ and the RTS award winning opera film ‘Boheme’; voice-overs and cartoons. Audiobook authors include Peter James, Mark Billingham, Terry Brooks, Lisa Jewell, William Blake and the Oxford Book of War Poetry. Comfortable with all kinds of accents and languages, Tim can even be heard singing Hindi, Urdu, Marathi and Sanskrit!

Described by AudioFile™ Magazine as ‘a chameleon with language… who keeps listeners on the edge of their seats…a great storyteller who can really deliver’, Tim Bruce is an Earphones Award-winning British actor with over 25 years experience narrating best-selling audiobooks for publishers all over the world.