Audio Book Review: Pestilence By Laura Thalassa

Pestilence
(The Four Horsemen #1)
By Laura Thalassa

Narrator: Susannah Jones
Length: 11 hours and 22 minutes

They came to earth--Pestilence, War, Famine, Death--four horsemen riding their screaming steeds, racing to the corners of the world. Four horsemen with the power to destroy all of humanity. They came to earth, and they came to end us all.

When Pestilence comes for Sara Burn’s town, one thing is certain: everyone she knows and loves is marked for death. Unless, of course, the angelic-looking horseman is stopped, which is exactly what Sara has in mind when she shoots the unholy beast off his steed.

Too bad no one told her Pestilence can’t be killed.

Now the horseman, very much alive and very pissed off, has taken her prisoner, and he’s eager to make her suffer. Only, the longer she’s with him, the more uncertain she is about his true feelings towards her … and hers towards him.

And now, well, Sara might still be able to save the world, but in order to do so, she'll have to sacrifice her heart in the process.

Available At:

| Amazon | Audible |

* I know the cover I used in this post isn't the cover the latest edition of this novel has. That's because I like it better than the updated cover. This cover is perfect for this novel, I don't understand why they changed it to a cover that resembles an erotica novel but that's only my humble opinion on the latest cover.

My Review:

The moral quandaries embedded in this novel while trying to redeem a villain proved to be very interesting. Though I understand what this novel tried to do it wasn't enough to convince me to put aside my morals. 

The first thing this novel wasn't capable of was making me care about both main characters. I would have loved a lot more character development throughout this novel as well. We're told the most on the surface information about both and that's all we get until the almost very end. By then I don't care enough about them to make a difference in how I experience the story. 

I also would have liked to see more of a story element that wasn't just about the couple and them wandering aimlessly around the world. Halfway through this novel, I would have been happy with a vague story running in the background if I'm being honest. 

As interesting as a book redeeming a villain sounded to me it turns out it's not something I enjoy reading about. I don't think it's the book's fault though. This was something I've seen going around on twitter and wanted to see if it lived up to the expectations I built based on what other people were saying. My final answer is no, it wasn't worth it for me.

The Audio Book:

The narration was fine. The narrator doesn't have a very big range of male voices but it wasn't a problem considering this story revolved the majority of time around the couple.

My Rating:

Audio Book Review: Tempting Titus By Michelle Dare

Tempting Titus

(Paranormals of Avynwood #6)

By Michelle Dare

Length: 6 hours and 23 minuutes

Narrators: Troy Duran & Sarah L. Colton

Life seemed to be moving in the right direction at last. Then the fires started.

As a wolf shifter with vampire gifted powers, Titus was better equipped to handle emergencies than others. But he wasn’t invincible.

Imogen was a typical senior in high school—except she was a powerful mage hiding in plain sight. When Titus showed up after class to help a pack brother, Imogen’s world was rocked.

Never had she met someone like him.

With the paranormal community under threat, their homes and businesses going up in flames, Imogen wasn’t worried. Too bad her abilities didn’t equal safety.

The magnetism between Titus and Imogen was potent from the start. Both tried to fight it. But fate had a different plan for them—a perilous one.

The world was burning around them. Everyone Titus and Imogen loved was at risk. When the ashes cooled and the dust settled, they would find out if their love survived fate’s test.

Available At:| Amazon | Audible |

My Review:

I'm pretty sure I went into this book with the wrong expectations because what I actually got compared to what I thought I was getting just rubbed me the wrong way. For example: The age gap. I usually don't mind an age gap of a decade or so, unless one of the parties is barely legal (or has been raised by the hero since they were a kid. That's a different rant for a different book). I fully understand that this is a paranormal story. Therefore the age gap should be fine. BUT the heroine is 18 going on 19 and SO damn innocent and childlike.

Something else that rubbed me the wrong way was how against finding her mate the heroine was. It became this whole thing where her mom had to almost physically drag her or trick her into being in the same room as the hero. After it finally happened, she was in love and happy and blah blah. I think it was more the way it was written that turned me off of this aspect of the story. It was almost like the heroine was throwing a tantrum for the sake of it.

The hero was an okay guy. I didn't love him but I didn't dislike him either. I appreciated his small effort at the beginning of trying not to let anything happen because she was so young compared to him. It's pointed out multiple times in the story that shifter society doesn't really care about the age gaps because it's destiny and mates are their perfect paring and age gaps are only a human construct.

I just wasn't as invested as I should have been in the world the author created to fully enjoy this novel. Some aspects of the world rubbed me the wrong way and I didn't really like any of the characters to make it worth my while. I'd also like to point out that this was also far from adult PNR. At best this is YA PNR targeted at the younger side of that demographic. Had I known that I would not have picked up this novel in the first place.

*PNR: Paranormal Romance
*YA: Young Adult Genre

The Audio Book:

The narration was fine. There were no strange noises in the background and the characters were distinguishable from each other in both narrations. Though I wish this has been dual narrated.

My Rating:

Book Review: The Rose Witch By Chandelle LaVaun

The Rose Witch

(The Coven saga)

By Chandelle LaVaun

A Coven Old Magic Stand-Alone Novel

His magic lurks in the shadows…

I feel his eyes on my back with every step I take. He’s following me. Chasing me. There’s nowhere for me to go, nowhere to hide that he won’t find me. He moves in smoke and shadows. He is the darkness. He tracks my every move like a predator with gold glowing eyes in the night. I know he’s going to catch me, the only question is…why do I want him to?

I have no idea who he is or what he wants. I know I should be terrified…but I’m not.

There are things happening to me…things I can’t control or explain…things that only I can see. Magic pours from me like a scarlet river and this locket around my neck pulses with dark, electric energy. I think it’s what he wants…but he isn’t the only thing on the hunt for it. Demons hide around every corner, they attack mercilessly and relentlessly - the only thing they seem to be afraid of is him.

That should be a warning, except there’s something inside me that begs to be near him. I feel it like a magnet, drawing me closer and I’m running out of reasons to fight it.

He is the Prince of Hell…and he’s either my savior or my damnation…

The Rose Witch is a novel set in The Coven saga but is designed to be read as a stand-alone.

Available At:| Amazon |
My Review:

I judged this book by its cover and I was burned. As interesting as the world the author created is there was something that just didn't click with me. In the beginning, it was a lot of descriptions for everything. I just kept thinking why the author just can't let me use my own dang imagination. A short while after that were the info dumps for how the universe worked and boy! were those boring and long. 

The heroine overreacted a lot. So much of the beginning of this novel could have been resolved had she just stopped panicking and spoken to the guy for like five minutes. I disliked how she was supposed to be this powerful witch but found herself incapacitated every time things got going. As you can tell by now, I wasn't a fan of hers.

The hero is a 700+ year-old who blushes at even the slightest innuendo. I'm not mad at it but it also didn't really match well with who he was supposed to be (at least for me). Other than the rough beginning, he was very sweet and charming. Granted he had his own reasons for doing what he was doing but at least he was transparent about them considering the life-or-death stakes.

The last quarter of this book lost its steam for me. I'll be honest and say that I skimmed a lot of it. I was just ready to get it over with. The miracle that happened with the heroine was really weird and strangely weaved into the story as well. I don't think I'll be reading any future books in this series/universe.

My Rating:

Audio Book Review: Broken By J.L. Drake

Broken
(Broken Trilogy #1)
By J.L. Drake

Narrator: Elizabeth Klett
Length: 10 hours and 1 minute

My name is Savannah Miller.

My father is the mayor of New York. One day after my twenty-seventh birthday I was grabbed from behind. A cloth sack was quickly pulled over my head, and I was taken from everything I’d ever known.

I was beaten, starved, treated like an animal, and forced to live in a room with no windows. With no sense of time and no dignity left I finally gave up hope and made a promise to myself to end it all. Unfortunately, it was going to be a slow process.

Then one night an elite group of US Army soldiers came to my rescue. I was brought to a safe house and given two options:

One—Stay under their protection and follow their rules or...

Two—Leave and be guaranteed to be returned to the savages within a week.

I chose option one.

As I work with a therapist and begin processing my hellish ordeal things slowly begin to surface. With the help of new friends and a potential new love I fight to get my life back and make choices that will forever alter my future.

This is my story…

Available At:

| Amazon | Audible |

My Review:

I don't know how I feel about this book. I can assure you it evoked a lot of emotion, but they're probably not the ones the author meant to have present. 

I found the heroine very wishy washy. One moment she was strong and in control and the next she was crying and not explaining to anyone what was going on. Her first answer to everything is to runaway. Instead of getting someone she trusts aside and talking about what happened to her (e.g. the York situation) she hides it and has everyone questioning what the heck happened. The first time it happened I understood, every other time after that was annoying.

I liked Cole overall. He was sweet and attentive, but had a very violent and arrogant side to him. The arrogance was over done and also started getting on my nerves by the end of the novel. He also got in the habit of trying to boss the heroine around which did nothing for the story or their relationship (it only made me more annoyed).

**SPOILERS**

(Please highlight the text to read it)

I despised the pregnancy twist. It only added drama to an already dramatic event. It didn't do anything for the story. Has anyone in this book ever heard of using a condom while on birth control? Is that a new concept and I'm the only one that bothered to know about it?

**End of SPOILERS**

The end was something I saw coming. I hoped I would be wrong, but the cliché cliffhanger happened. It wasn't all that surprising. The villain telling all about how they did it and why wasn't very impressive either. I think it would have been more interesting if the heroine had talked to York. It would have made for a much more exciting mind-f*ck.

The Audio Book:

I didn't love the narration. Elizabeth seemed monotoned (which didn't help me connect emotionally to the story or characters) with the exception of the dialogue. I could differentiate between characters, but there were times when the male voices would all become one and I was left confused for a few lines.

My Rating:
 
& ½

Audio Book Review: Ask Me If I Care By Lani Lynn Vale

Ask Me If I Care
(SWAT Generation 2.0 #4)
By Lani Lynn Vale

Narrated By: Lidia Dornet & Brett Galliford
Length: 6 hours and 32 minutes

Ares saw him for the first time at a Kilgore Police Department benefit dinner. She’d gone with her dad as his plus one. Hayes Greer had gone by himself and brooded silently across the same table as her, drinking whiskey and not saying a word.

It only took that one time for her to become interested.

The next time she saw him, he was doing another benefit—but this one requiring a whole lot fewer clothes. And that was when she knew. She wanted him. Badly. But the morose Hayes was too busy thinking about his sins to see what was right in front of his face—Ares.

***

Hayes Greer knew the moment that he saw the feisty Ares Downy again that he should’ve stayed away. Maybe if he hadn’t done the stupid calendar, he wouldn’t be questioning every single woman’s intentions.

Maybe if he’d listened to that niggling feeling telling him to stay away, he would’ve been able to do his job a little better. But seeing her with a knife to her throat, in the middle of a building set to blow, made his usually well-wired brain start to malfunction.

Because nobody was allowed to touch her like that—only him. Nobody was allowed to scare her, either. Not and live to tell the tale.

Available At:

| Amazon | Audible | B&N |

| Kobo | iBooks |

My Review:

For what it's worth this book did what I wanted it to do which was pass the time I had between major book releases faster. So because of that, this was an average book. Nothing was really mind-blowing or shocking about it or the story. 

Ares was a great character! She was sassy, sarcastic and a total klutz. She had a strong personality and didn't take anyone's crap. I loved the relationship she had with her parents and brother. It was a refreshing take on a good family dynamic. 

Hayes was okay. He was the stoic and soft-spoken type except when push came to shove, which I usually enjoy reading about. There were opportunities to develop his character more but most of it was pushed into the background. I would have liked to have explored his PTSD more and how he deals with it on a daily basis. The "solution" Ares thought of isn't a solution. It's a remedy to help with the symptoms that he's probably going to deal with for the rest of his life. It isn't something that just goes away with time and I disliked how the author glossed over it all.

Even though I didn't see the ending coming I didn't really like it. It was a rushed mess. It felt like the author thought the book needed more action and decided to slap it carelessly at the end of the novel. This seems to be a trend with the books this author writes. I've been tolerant of it in the past but this one was one of the worst ones (at least out of the books I've read by this author).

The Audio Book:

The woman's narration was fantastic! The guy's narration sounded muffled and grated on my nerves by the end of the book. I'm still on the fence on whether or not I'd recommend this audio book.

My Rating: