WAKING MAGIC

Waking Magic by Martha Carr and Michael Anderle
Book 1 in The Leira Chronicles series
Narrated by Carly Robins
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook

About Waking Magic:

Solve a murder, save her mother, and stop the apocalypse?

No problem.

She has a foul-mouthed troll on her side.

For Austin homicide detective Leira Berens, happy is running down bad guys and solving crimes.

And she’s damn good at it.

Which is why when the Light Elf prince is murdered, the king breaks a centuries old treaty and crosses between worlds to seek her help.

Wait a minute. An Elf? Like from Lord of the Rings or something?

Yeah, Leira has a hard time accepting that.

But it doesn’t matter what she believes.

Magic is real, and it’s coming back with a literal bang.

The prince’s death was only the beginning. Tracking down his killer is about more than just justice.

It’s saving the world.

If you’re looking for a heroine who prefers fighting to flirting, this book is for you.

Source: Info in the "About Waking Magic" was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43525837-waking-magic on 21/01/2024.

Buy Link(s):

 

My Thoughts:

The first chapter of a bigger book. Cliffhanger ending. Though it did end the current dilemma in the book in which the investigation of the murder of the prince came to an end. I am still not fond of cliffhangers!

I would still read the second book because, one, I already bought it. Two, I want to know what happens after. How long I would be following this series, though, remains to be seen...

There wasn't much of a plot. It is basically from point A to point B with not a lot of twists on the way. But this is urban fantasy, not a crime fiction book so I am not expecting any fancy turns in the plot.

Yumfuck

Having said that, I am worried about the good guys because it seems that the bad guys are very clever indeed!

I love Yumfuck, though! Great sidekick!

According to Audible, this audiobook is narrated by Eva Wilhelm. According to the audible cover of this book in my phone app, this book is narrated by Carly Robins. The audiobook said that it is narrated by Carly Robins. So, I guess the narrator is Carly Robins. At least with the one I listened to.

Quantitative Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 3.5
Character development = 4
Story itself = 2.5
Writing Style = 3
Ending = 2.5
World building = 5
Cover art = 4
Pace = (8 hrs and 16 mins listening time)
Plot = 1
Narration = 4

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 cherries

Books In The Leira Chronicles Series:

 

Meet The Authors

About Martha Carr:

Okay, I'm a late bloomer who's a big DC comics fan and spent my childhood summers on the Jersey shore in the U.S. but have had a weird wanderlust to live in different parts of America ever since. That's enough about me. Need to feel inspired today? Looking for something to make you root for an ordinary hero? I'm all about that in everything I write.

I love a good tale that makes me wonder about things and I love a story even more that leaves me feeling inspired or like I'm capable of doing more than I realized. That's my goal with everything I've ever written. Some of the stories I tell involve twisting, turning thrillers and others have a lot of magic.

There's something to be said for getting lost in another world and coming out the other side feeling a little better about yourself or the possibilities in front of you. That's basically the best part of life in a nutshell, no matter what kind of story I'm setting out to tell.

www.marthacarr.com | facebook | instagram | pinterest | youtube | audible | amazon | goodreads

About Michael Anderle:

Michael Anderle (ok, weird talking about myself in the 3rd person) (1967-Hopefully a long time from NOW) was born in Houston, Tx. A very curious child, he got into trouble — a lot. What to do with an inquisitive mind when he was grounded? Read!

Ok, done with all of that 3rd person stuff.

In the first 20 years, I mostly read Science Fiction and Fantasy. In the last 10 years I have enjoyed Urban Fantasy and Military Fiction. With this background, I've been blessed with creating The Kurtherian Gambit series, a well-selling, and fan loved, collection of stories.

The fans have propelled these stories beyond my wildest imagination and they should get all of the credit for sharing with friends, family and occasionally the random person on the street. They are fantastic!

website | twitter | facebook | instagram | bookbub | linkedin | amazon | goodreads

The Narrator

About Carly Robins:

Carly Robins is an actress and voice-over artist. She can be heard on commercials, video games, and promos. Carly comes to narration with a passion for performance along with the capability to span several genres, from romance to children's literature and thrillers.

www.carlyrobins.com | twitter | facebook | instagram | tiktok | linkedin | goodreads

Meet Some Characters

Yumfuck Tiberius Troll :

Oriceran troll who bonded with Leira who escaped to Earth with her and is now "dog guarding" her.

twitter | facebook

Willen:

A willen is an Oriceran giant silver talking rat.

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

THE TAKEN ONES

The Taken Ones by Jess Lourey
Book 1 in the Steinbeck and Reed series
Narrated by Carly Robins
Genre: crime fiction
Format: paperback, ebook & audiobook

About The Taken Ones:

Two girls vanished. A woman buried alive. Between two crimes — decades of secrets yet to be unearthed in a pulse-pounding novel by the Edgar Award–nominated author of Unspeakable Things.

Summer 1980: With no fear of a local superstition, three girls go into a Minnesota wood. Only one comes out. Dead silent. Memory gone. No trace of her friends. The mystery of the Taken Ones captures the nation.

Summer 2022: Cold case detective Van Reed and forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck are assigned a disturbing homicide — a woman buried alive, clutching a heart charm necklace belonging to one of the vanished girls. Van follows her gut. Harry trusts in facts. Their common ground is the need to catch a killer before he kills again. They have something else in common: each has ties to the original case in ways they’re reluctant to share.

As Van and Harry connect the crimes of the past and the present, Van struggles with memories of her own nightmarish childhood — and the fear that uncovering the truth of the Taken Ones will lead her down a path from which she, too, may never return.

Source: Info in the "About The Taken Ones" was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62726715-the-taken-ones on 07/10/2023.

Buy Link(s):

 

My Thoughts:

The story is not just crime fiction. It has an element of the paranormal in it. Van's instincts are so bang on that it borders on the supernatural.

I love the premise of this book! Paranormal hunches that are always correct! Catching the bad guys! Wonderful! What is not so wonderful is the way the author makes the heroine so masochistically subservient, it is royally pissing me off!

I think the author wrote it so that the readers would hate Detective Dave Comstock. And I do! Specially when he did not shake Van's hand and said "you never belonged". No decent human being does that!! But, that's the key word: "decent" human being, isn't it?...

I got so annoyed with Comstock that I stopped reading this book and picked up another. Then when I forgot my annoyance, I picked this book up again. So, no, this book was not a fast-paced read for me.

Police outright harassing other officers of the law? Like, what century are these people living in?! I thought that was what the Bureau of Internal Affairs are for!...

I am also not very agreeable with vigilante justice. Not in fiction books anyway. So, I am in a dilemma here...

And what's up with Van taking out garbage bags to the chute?...

At the start of the book, Van was kind of a weak character. She lets people run rough shod over her. She takes her frustrations out on her poor subordinates. Then at the end, she all of a sudden speaks out to Comstock? That character inconsistency there brought the character development down a notch.

This is my first Carly Robins audiobook and I would listen to her again.

Now we have to wait a year for the next Steinbeck and Reed book to come out!

Quantitative Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 3.5
Character development = 3
Story itself = 3
Writing Style = 3
Ending = 4
World building = 4
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = (10 hrs and 31 mins listening time)
Plot = 3
Narration = 5

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 cherries

Books In The Steinbeck and Reed Series:

 

Meet The Author

About Jess Lourey:

Jess Lourey writes about secrets.

She's the Amazon Charts bestselling, Edgar-nominated, ITW Thriller, Anthony, and Minnesota Book Award-winning author of young adult, magical realism, crime fiction, nonfiction, and children's books. She's a retired professor of writing and sociology, a recipient of The Loft's Excellence in Teaching fellowship, and a TEDx presenter (check out her TEDx Talk to discover the surprising inspiration behind MAY DAY, her first published novel).

She lives in Minneapolis with a rotating batch of foster kittens (and occasional foster puppies, but man are those goobers a lot of work). Drop by jessicalourey.com to find out more.

jessicalourey.com | twitter | facebook | pinterest | instagram | tiktok | amazon | goodreads

The Narrator

About Carly Robins:

Carly Robins is an actress and voice-over artist. She can be heard on commercials, video games, and promos. Carly comes to narration with a passion for performance along with the capability to span several genres, from romance to children's literature and thrillers.

www.carlyrobins.com | twitter | facebook | instagram | tiktok | linkedin | goodreads

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