CURSED FAE

Cursed Fae by Brogan Thomas
Book 5 in the Creatures of the Otherworld series
Format: ebook

About Cursed Fae:

She’s got green skin, twisted tusks, and a ferocious love of canned pineapple. And her high-stakes day job just landed her a do-or-die mission…

Pepper Sterling relies on her gifts to hide and stay safe. Born with the ability to manipulate stone with ease and disappear at will, the young troll left her unwelcoming clan and found work running messages between Earth and Faerie. But after fleeing a nasty band of elves who slapped a slave rune on her arm, she’s left with a broken wrist and a testily ungrateful tiger-shifter guest in her hidden lair.

Confused by powers that are inexplicably growing after the confrontation, she’s stunned when the snarly cat accuses her of illegal magic use and knocks her out with a spell. With rising tensions attracting the attention of the Lord of Winter and news of a dryad in danger only Pepper can rescue, she’s staggered by a shocking revelation about her true nature…

Will she have to confront Death himself to save the day?

Source: Info in the "About Cursed Fae" was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59680609-cursed-fae on 02/02/2024.

Buy Link(s):

My Thoughts:

Love to see Forrest again!! It's like meeting a long lost friend! Character development? Can never go lower than 4! Having said that, I was not impressed with Pepper trying to face up to the bad guys and then let them beat her again just so that her tiger can save her again. I'm sorry, but, that is lame... However, the story telling quality is so wonderful that this book whizzed by.

On the first round of reading before the audiobook was released, I tried to read the ebook as slowly as possible and savour it as long as I could. But it still went too fast for me!

I am an old fan of this author and this series and can't wait for Cursed Dragon!

Quantitative Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 5
Writing Style = 5
Ending = 4.5
World building = 5
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = 5
Plot = 4

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 cherries

Books In The Creatures of the Otherworld Series:

 

Books In The Rebel of the Otherworld Series:

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Meet The Author

About Brogan Thomas:

Brogan lives in Ireland with her husband and their eleven furry children: five furry minions of darkness (aka the cats), four hellhounds (the dogs), and two traditional unicorns (fat, hairy Irish cobs).

In 2019 she decided to embrace her craziness by writing about the imaginary people that live in her head. Her first love is her number-one favourite furry child Bob the cob, then reading. When not reading or writing, she can be found knee-deep in horse poo and fur while blissfully ignoring all adult responsibilities.

broganthomas.com | twitter | facebook | instagram | bookbub | pinterest | youtube | amazon | goodreads

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

DEATH WISH

Death Wish by Harper A. Brooks
Book 1 of the Reaper Reborn series
Narrated by Eugenie Danglar
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook

About Death Wish:

Life’s a b*tch — but what comes after isn’t much better.

Jade Blackwell, a paranormal reaper, helps supernaturals cross over after death. Her job comes with lots of rules — but not following them is kind of her thing… until it ends up involving her in something much deadlier than she ever imagined.

With the protective veil fading away, demons are crossing realms and impregnating humans, and Jade’s best friend is among their victims. She’s determined to save her friend, even if it means working with Cole Masters, a dangerous demon halfling and notorious gun-for-hire.

But time is running out to fix the barrier and find a demon cure. With supernaturals everywhere in danger, and the balance between good and evil tipped for the worst, Jade must choose between her own eternal afterlife… or the living world she so desperately wants to be a part of.

Either way, death is coming.

The explosively popular Urban Fantasy genre meets the Otherworld Series in this spunky new grim reaper tale by RONE Award winning author, Harper A. Brooks.

Source: Info in the About Death Wish was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44034245-death-wish on 25/08/2019.

My Thoughts:

Promising start to a new-to-me series!

The reaper theme with the in-between limbo place where reapers socialise has been around the block a few times already. Namely, the Lana Harvey, Reapers Inc. series by Angela Roquet has exact the same premise. Charley Davidson series by Darinda Jones is another reaper story. So originality-wise this book does not rate very high. However, among the reaper books that I have read thus far this one has the best story telling quality. I also like the way Eugenie Danglar reads. The words are clear. She pauses between scenes to let the listener know that the scene has changed. Or at least give an indication that the scene has changed so that the listener does not get confused when the story lines changes and no longer make sense. And her voice is not aggravating to the ears. Kudos to the narration! Being the first book in the series, it is of course, a coming of age kinda book. Journey of self-discovery while battling good versus evil and saving the world. What I do not like is that our heroine has the tendency to be too stupid to live (tstl). What is that all about!?!

Empirical Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 4
Story itself = 3.5
Writing Style = 4.5
Ending = 3
World building = 4
Cover art = 4
Pace = 4
Plot = 3
Narration = 5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries

Books In The Reaper Reborn Series:

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Meet The Author

About Harper A. Brooks:

Harper A. Brooks lives in a small town on the New Jersey shore. Even though classic authors have always filled her bookshelves, she finds her writing muse drawn to the dark, magical, and romantic. But when she isn't creating entire worlds with sexy shifters or legendary love stories, you can find her either with a good cup of coffee in hand or at home snuggling with her furry, four-legged son, Sammy.

She writes historical and paranormal romance.

harperabrooks.com | twitter | facebook | instagram | amazon | goodreads

The Narrator

Eugenie Danglar

goodreads

FTC Disclosure:
The different formats of this book were purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.

SHATTERED GODS

Shattered Gods by Chris Fox
Book 1 in the Shattered Gods series
Narrated by Ryan Burke
Genre: epic fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook

About Shattered Gods:

Fated to destroy the world. Determined to save it.

My name is Xal and I live in the dims, a walled prison where my people are kept by our cruel masters, until we are needed to fight once more. One member of every family must answer The Call, for our blood bears the magic of a demonic god, and all the terrible power that brings.

We march to war against the Fomori, an unstoppable army of giants, and their behemoths. If we do not, then our families are put to death. The Hasrans use us as cannon fodder, and worse. They used up my father, and he never came home. Die resisting. Die fighting. My choice isn’t if it happens, but rather how I sell my life.

If by some miracle I survive I will be granted entrance to the Imperial Academy, where every noble house will vie to architect my end. They cannot allow the void-blooded to live. They cannot allow us to thrive, or to gain more magic from the bodies of other dead gods. They cannot allow us to win. They fear the rise of another dreadlord. And they are right to fear. I will pull down an empire, and that is just the beginning.

Source: Info in the "About Shattered Gods" was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57725133-shattered-gods on 16/10/2022.

Buy Link(s):

 

My Thoughts:

Most fantasy formulaic route starts with a farm boy who went on to become great and saves the world. This story puts a little twist on that by starting with a prison community instead of a poor farm. So there is a tiny bit of originality in it at least.

The kindle ebook and the audible audiobook are whispersynced. However, there are parts where the two do not match. Like for example, in location 334 of 710 of the ebook, the line reads, "...but the one next to that was Zaro, I thought, a fierce warrior with a weapon in either hand." But the audiobook says, "...but the man next to that was Dalanthar, the very same steward emblazoned where I trained under Caw." No, some parts are not the same and some parts are inconsistent. The book sometimes call a god by different names, i.e., as Dalanthus and sometimes as Zaro, and/or used the names of two gods interchangeably. WTF!?! Consequently, the gods, temples, and characters are kinda confusing. On top of that there are clerical errors, i.e., "processor" instead of "professor" (loc 490 of 710 of the kindle ebook). Annoying! This kind of errors are peppered all throughout the book. The editor needs his/her pay docked.

Luiz, a GoodReads reviewer, said that the Academy ways do not make a lot of sense and I agree with him! That put a lot of holes in the plot/story building. In fact the story has so many plot holes in it that if it were a sheet, it would look like it had been striped with a machine gun!

Circle of Eight

I like that the ebook has some art in it, like the sigil of the Circle of Eight and the Hasra City map. It substantiate the imagination. Adds a dimension to the reading experience that wouldn't be there if the images were not there. Or maybe it is just me because I have the type of brain that is a visual learner.

I like Ryan Kennard Burke's voice. It is not aggravating to the ears. And I like the way he gives life to some characters!

Quantitative Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 3.5
Character development = 3.5
Story itself = 3
Writing Style = 4.5
Ending = 3
World building = 5
Cover art = 4
Pace = (19 hrs and 51 mins listening time)
Plot = 2.5
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries

Hasra City map

Books In The Shattered Gods Series:

Meet The Author

About Chris Fox:

By day I am an iPhone developer architecting the app used to scope Stephen Colbert’s ear. By night I am Batman. Ok maybe not. One can dream though, right?

I’ve been writing since I was six years old and started inflicting my work on others at age 18. By age 24 people stopped running away when I approached them with a new story and shortly thereafter I published my first one in the Rifter.

Wait you’re still reading?

Ok, the facts I’m supposed to list in a bio. As of this writing I’m 38 years old and live just north of the Golden Gate Bridge in the beautiful town of Mill Valley. If you’re unsure how to find it just follow the smell of self-entitlement. Once you see the teens driving Teslas you’ll know you’re in the right place.

I live in a tiny studio that I can cross in (literally) five steps and don’t own an oven. But you know what? It’s worth it. I love developing iPhone apps and if you want to work in San Francisco you accept that rent for a tiny place costs more than most people’s mortgage.

If you and about 2 million other people start buying my books I promise to move out of Marin to a house in the redwoods up in Guerneville. No pressure. Wait that’s a lie. Pressure.

www.chrisfoxwrites.com | twitter | facebook | amazon | goodreads

The Narrator

About Ryan Kennard Burke:

Ryan Kennard Burke is a narrator/voice-over artist, audiobook director, and a Canadian. His parents and extended family are Australian and he lives in America pursuing a career in entertainment. His eclectic background is reflected by his career. Having worked in both Canada and the US as an actor, producer and stuntman he is now working in VO and Audiobooks. During his years of study abroad he has earned both a BFA from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy and an MBA from Argosy University. Ryan is an award winning producer, actor and is a current top seller for Audiobooks. You can find his titles by simply browsing his name on Audible.

ryankennardburke.com | twitter | instagram | goodreads

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