Cherry Mischievous: werewolves

Showing posts with label werewolves. Show all posts

Saturday, 28 December 2024

A SHIFTER'S SIN

A Shifter's Sin by Debbie Cassidy
Book 1 in the Wolves of Hawthorne Cove series
Narrated by Keira Stevens and Troy Duran
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook

About A Shifter's Sin:

A Lycan that can’t shift is no use to anyone.

I’ve made it my mission to be useful to my pack. As pack enforcer, I’m fast and strong, but when the time comes to bond with my mate, it isn’t enough.

Rejection means lone wolf status and isolation from the pack. But when a package arrives with an unexpected inheritance, the pack that wants to shun me, suddenly has a new use for me.

Turns out, I’m the proud owner of a house in mysterious territory, rumoured to be home to a pack of beautifully twisted shifters. Hawthorne Cove is Impregnable to Lycans, but not to a half human like me.

Now I have a second chance to be accepted by my pack.

All I have to do is infiltrate the Hawthorne pack, find the source of their power and steal it.

Easier said than done.

Because once I pass the mystical boundaries surrounding the town, I’ll be absolutely, and totally at the mercy of the wolves of Hawthorne Cove.

Source: Info in the "About A Shifter's Sin" was taken from amazon on 03/11/2024.

Buy Link(s):

My Thoughts:

This is my first Debbie Cassidy read and am I glad to stumble upon this author!

About half-way through the book it made me think of the Innkeeper series by Ilona Andrews with magic houses and sentient magic...

The book ended in a huge cliffhanger though it ended the current dilemma in the book. I hate cliffhangers and that is one of the big reasons why this book will never get a 5 out of 5 with me.

There wasn't much of a plot. But then again, this is an urban fantasy, not a crime fiction. I was not expecting anything twisty.

The story telling quality was good enough that kept me reading through the end.

This is also my first Keira Stevens and Troy Duran listen. For both narrators. They make a good duo.

Quantitative Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 3.5
Character development = 4
Story itself = 3
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 1.5
World building = 5
Cover art = 4
Pace = (7 hrs and 19 mins listening time)
Plot = 2.5
Narration = 5

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 cherries

Books In The Wolves of Hawthorne Cove Series:

Meet The Author

About Debbie Cassidy:

Debbie Cassidy lives in England, Bedfordshire, with her three kids and very supportive husband. Coffee and chocolate biscuits are her writing fuels of choice, and she is still working on getting that perfect tower of solitude built in her back garden. Obsessed with building new worlds and reading about them, she spends her spare time daydreaming and conversing with the characters in her head – in a totally non psychotic way of course. She writes Urban Fantasy, Fantasy and Reverse Harem Fantasy. All her books contain plenty of action, romance and twisty plots.

debbiecassidyauthor.com | x | facebook | amazon | goodreads

The Narrators

Keira Stevens:

Audiobook narrator / voice-over artist

goodreads

About Troy Duran:

Troy Duran is a passionate voice for audiobooks, and you'll hear this in each of over 250 titles featuring his warm, smoky, sometimes gritty baritone in romance, drama, sci-fi, fantasy, and horror. Fans have described Troy's voice as "one click," "sex-on-a-stick," "instant-O," and "fire."

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

Saturday, 5 October 2024

KIN SELECTION

Kin Selection by L B Gilbert (aka Lucy Leroux)
Book 1 in A Shifter's Claim series
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook

About Kin Selection:

Animal activist Denise Hammond had no idea the wolf cub she just rescued was a shifter — not until the werewolf sent to recover him kidnapped her. 

Saving a wolf cub from an animal-testing facility changes everything for Denise Hammond, a feisty and dedicated animal activist. Determined to protect the innocent pup, she's shocked when the cub shifts into a toddler right before her eyes.

 Yogi, a wolf shifter, is bound by honor to keep his species' existence a secret. He kidnaps Denise and takes her to the cub's family to make her prove her trustworthiness. Knowing a hellion with curves likes hers is the ultimate temptation for the other males in his pack, Yogi stays close to Denise, fighting to keep his desire for her under control. But she just might ignite the animal within him.

Source: Info in the About Kin Selection was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37791916-kin-selection on 24/12/2019.

Buy Link(s):

My Thoughts:

The author's voice is wonderful! The plot is not. It could probably happen... But the way it was told was not very convincing. In fact, it told me that our kick-ass heroine is just this side of stupid. Or maybe I'm just too practical... Maybe... For 155 pages long, this book is short and sweet.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 2.5
Story itself = 3
Writing Style = 3.5
Ending = 3.5
World building = 4
Cover art = 3.5
Pace = 3
Plot = 2

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 cherries

Books In A Shifter's Claim Series:

Meet The Author

About L B Gilbert:

USA Today bestselling author L.B. Gilbert spent years getting degrees from the most prestigious universities in America, including a PhD that she is not using at all. She moved to France for work and found love. She's married now and living in Toulouse with one adorable half-french baby.

She has always enjoyed reading books as far from her reality as possible but eventually the voices in her head told her to write her own. And so far the voices are enjoying them. You can check out the geeky things she likes on twitter @elementalauthor, facebook www.facebook.com/elementalsauthor, or www.elementalauthor.com

*If you like a little more steam with your Fire, check out the author's Lucy Leroux titles*

FTC Disclosure:
This book was purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.

Thursday, 5 September 2024

THREE DOG KNIGHT

Three Dog Knight by Annabel Chase
Book 2 in the Midnight Empire: The Tower series
Narrated by Suzanne Elise Freeman
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook

About Three Dog Knight:

I survived a job for royal vampires with my life and identity intact. That means I can return to my normal life as a knight, right?

Wrong.

When a group of werewolves goes berserk in our local pub, there’s a new threat in the city and the local pack hires me to find out what it is. Unfortunately that decision draws the attention of a certain vampire prince who likes to keep tabs on the most powerful pack in the city. Just when I thought I was free of the Demon of House Duncan, we’re embarking on a road trip together to investigate.

And what we discover changes everything — as well as each other.

Source: Info in the About Three Dog Knight was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59535753-three-dog-knight on 13/05/2022.

Buy Link(s):

My Thoughts:

The opening volley is the death of somebody who shifted unwillingly because of some external forces and when he shifted back to human form and asked for help, he was killed instead! That broke my heart!!

At this point I can tell that the over-arching theme of this series is about power stones and finding them. If it keeps being like this, I'm afraid that it's going to get repetitive. So, hopefully, the author has some trick up her sleeve to liven things up. However, at this point, this book is still very interesting and even though it ended in a cliffhanger, it also ended the dilemma in the book. Points for the author!!

The plot... yes, there is a plot. Not twisty, but there is one.

I don't recommend reading this book as a starting point into the Midnight Empire world because the reader will almost likely get confused. The world building was done in book one, Wild Knight, and this book just follows through. So, a reader might get confused about the butterflies in this book.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 4
Story itself = 4
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 4
World building = 4
Cover art = 4
Pace = (7 hrs and 24 mins listening time)
Plot = 4
Narration = 4

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries

Books In The Midnight Empire: The Tower Series:

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