Nina Diab

I Enjoyed It

Reviewed: 01-09-25 Listener received this title free

I really enjoyed this book. The premise was really interesting and I was quickly hooked. A female shifter at odds with her wolf, who finally gets fed up and refuses to marry the man she has settled on- a human who fathered her daughter but knows nothing about shifters- transforms during the wedding, grabs their daughter, and runs off into the woods. Her jilted groom sends a guard to hunt her down and bring back his daughter- a guard who is secretly also a wolf shifter... and the bride's fated mate. How does that happen? What will happen? The story was fast-paced, with suspense and danger. I liked both Caleb and Jennifer and his pack. Her ex was easy to hate.

Elle Sonali did a great job bringing these characters to life. I always enjoy her work.

Overall: 4 stars
Performance: 4 stars
Story: 4 stars

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Loved It!

Reviewed: 01-07-25 Listener received this title free

“Thank you for looking after me, Vore.”  But Lettie didn’t get up. And Vore didn’t move. “Maybe I was wrong about you.”

I loved this book when I bought it a few years ago. I believe it was the first Tallean book I'd read at the time and fell in love. Now I'm excited that the series is being made into audiobooks AND narrated by Troy Duran. He's perfect for alien romance. I love his tone of voice for the male leads. He does a good distinctive female voice. And I like that there's almost a soothing quality to the narrative parts that are not dialogue.

I liked Vore's personality. He's charming and has a reputation with the ladies, but actually longs for a mate of his own. Lettie was attracted to him from the start no matter how much she didn't want to be and was determined to resist him. I liked the push and pull between these two- like magnets. And Vore doesn't give up easily.

I love revisiting this series in audio and excited for more!

Overall: 5 stars
Performance: 5 stars
Story: 5 stars

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I Enjoyed It

Reviewed: 12-27-24 Listener received this title free

I loved this book. It was such a fun and intriguing read. I loved the concept of this story between an OCD serial killer with his own morals, and a homeless woman who is more than she appears. I loved Marlowe from the start- the way his mind works and just his overall personality. I also really liked Minnie. She turned out to be the perfect match for him. I liked that she fell for him first. I'm so used to it being the other way around.

I listened to this narrated by Mark Royse. I thought he did a great job bringing these characters to life and giving them distinct voices.

This is my first book by this author and I will definitely be listening to the next one. I also hope to hear more from this narrator, who is also new to me.

Overall: 4 stars
Performance: 4 stars
Story: 4 stars

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I Enjoyed It

Reviewed: 12-16-24 Listener received this title free

I enjoyed this book. The story was interesting and easy to get hooked on with the tension and suspense and looming danger. I liked Isabella and Kieran. Isabella's the daughter of an Italian mafia don, who sells her to Kieran- an Irish mob boss. She's not happy and has her own dreams and aspirations, but Kieran's an alpha and a smart man and gets what he wants. And he not only wants an heir, but trying to set up a change in the dynamics of power. Great chemistry between them. This is my first book from this author.

Lexi Evans and Tyler Griffin both do a wonderful job narrating this book and bringing these characters to life. I love the emotion Lexi puts into it. I love Tyler's accent. I also love that this is a true dual narration in that Lexi voices all the women, and Tyler all the men regardless of which character's chapter it is. That sadly is still a rare find in dual narration.

Overall: 4 stars
Performance: 4 stars
Story: 4 stars

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1 person found this helpful

Good

Reviewed: 12-16-24 Listener received this title free

This was a good story. I really liked the premise of a necromancer (Brad) and an empath (Jordan) working together at a morgue and solving a paranormal mystery that could otherwise have serious consequences. I, of course, know a little of empaths, but one who can feel all the emotions of the dead fascinated me. I thought the two of them made a cute match, a great team, and balanced each other well.

I listened to this narrated by Allen Jeffries. He does a good job creating different and distinct voices for all the characters and does put good energy into it. But it feels.. hmm. Dramatic in a way. Almost how I used to hear characters talk on kid-oriented TV shows and dubbed anime two decades ago. Not bad if you like that sort of thing, but I didn't care for it myself. Speeding it up a little kind of toned it down a bit and helped.

Overall: 4 stars
Performance: 3 stars
Story: 4 stars

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Good

Reviewed: 12-09-24 Listener received this title free

I enjoyed the first book in this series, "The Court that Bleeds Gold," and was happy to continue Eleanor's story. Good world building and I love the concept of being able to manipulate metal. The chemistry between Ella and Ruskin is still there, but there's some back and forth. There's also action in the story and I liked the pacing.

I listened to this book narrated by Ash Kingsley. I like her better doing female than male voices, but still a good job.

Looking forward to book three.

Overall: 4 stars
Performance: 4 stars
Story: 4 stars

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Fantastic! Absolutely Loved It!

Reviewed: 12-05-24 Listener received this title free

I absolutely loved this book! I'd read book one- Secrets and Sake- and then listened to it in audiobook and fell in love even more. So I was salivating for book two to find out what would happen to Jinta with the kitsune curse and Tamano, Raiden who now leads the Namikawa-kai yakuza wolves, and the dangers they face from both Takada's rival clan, and the hunters coming after them.

Apart from the action, danger, and suspense- there were battles both outside and from within. Both Jinta and Raiden have powerful insecurities and demons they harbor from their pasts. Both feel inadequate for the other and doubt themselves regardless about how powerful their feelings for each other are. There were twists and turns, and both at times had to face their pasts. The story was quite emotional for me at times. One particular thing that happened affected me so strongly I had to stop and take a break. But I really liked how that situation was handled overall. I loved when the dynamic between Jinta and Raiden grew beyond what either of them thought it would be. (And my God was it hot!) I loved how everything came together by the end.

No spoilers, but I really wish the bonus epilogue of a certain celebratory event was narrated with the audiobook! I loved it and even though it's short, wanted to hear it out loud.

I really hope to get more in this world, see my guys again!, and see more of Ren and her new position. Because she is and will remain awesome! I also want to see more of Hirano.

Nick Cracknell did another fantastic job narrating this book! I loved the emotion he put into it and the voices of the different characters. I'm searching now for more of his work because I need to hear him narrate more. He had the perfect voice for this world.

I can't recommend this book- this duet- more!

Overall: 5 stars
Performance: 5 stars
Story: 5 stars

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Loved It!

Reviewed: 12-04-24 Listener received this title free

"Together," Adrian whispered, echoing Knox’s promise.
Knox smiled. "Always."

I loved this book! It was such a fun story! What person (kid or adult) doesn't fantasize at some point about meeting their favorite character from a book, movie, etc. in real life? Adrian loves and knows everything about the Incubus Knox from his favorite webnovel and blogs about it. Imagine his surprise when someone looking exactly like Knox (or a perfect cosplayer..?) comes crashing through his skylight into his room. He doesn't believe immediately that this is really THE Knox though. I liked Knox's personality. His confusion over things in the real world that are not in his own (like almost getting hit by a car). And surprise how much Adrian seems to know about him and his friends. I also like that although he is an incubus, he's trying to resist his urges and be more than just his basest nature. I also liked Adrian's character growth over the course of the story. And of course loved the chemistry between them. (On a last note- whoever made the amazing cover of this book needs to make one of Knox in those duck pajamas!)

After reading this book, I was lucky enough to get my hands on the audiobook. I've listened to a lot of John Solo's narrations, but I think he does an especially wonderful job bringing this story to life. I could easily distinguish between the different characters' voices. I was especially drawn to Knox's. I've never heard him speak in that deep tone before and it was perfect.

A wonderful story and I'm looking forward to more in this world!

Overall: 5 stars
Performance: 5 stars
Story: 5 stars

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I Enjoyed It

Reviewed: 11-30-24 Listener received this title free

I really enjoyed this book. I was quick to get hooked to the storyline. I really liked both Cory and JJ, though they were kind of opposites. JJ was a bit of a mess and finally gets into trouble that he can't wiggle out of; Cory's working hard and not happy having to take responsibility for JJ who's snuck onto the cruise ship before getting caught and now sharing his cabin. JJ has a good heart though and I enjoyed seeing how their relationship would develop.

I listened to this audiobook narrated by Daniel Downs. I've never heard him before, but I liked his tone of voice. I had no trouble distinguishing between the characters. I hope to listen to him again.

Overall: 4 stars
Performance: 4 stars
Story: 4 stars

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Love Story, Not the Narration- Speeding Up Helps

Reviewed: 11-30-24 Listener received this title free

I read this ebook last year and really loved it. I personally don't like this narrator after listening to him narrate another B.L. Maxwell book... but I wanted to hear the story I enjoyed so much narrated. I'd previously said I didn't like the inflections in Guy's voice while narrating, and there is a slowness to his speech. I tried speeding it up to 1.3 (I've never tried speeding up the audio before) and it was so much better and easier to listen to. I couldn't hear the inflections so much and of course it wasn't as slow. After that, I was able to enjoy listening to it. Since I see Guy Veryzer will be narrating more of Maxwell's books, I'll speed it up so I can get through them.

Below is my original review for the ebook.

Overall: 4 stars
Performance: 2.5 stars
Story: 5 stars


Original Ebook Review 4/5/2023-

"You both are so perfect for each other. No one else loves cookies and baking the way you two do.”

I loved this book. It was such a sweet romance- in more ways than one. Eli and Randy were perfect for each other. I loved how Eli's kind and caring personality won Randy over when Randy had just considered him competition. Eli was so much more than he'd thought and they had so much in common to bond over. I love romances that involve baking- there is just this appeal that immediately draws me in. I couldn't get enough of these two men. They were sweet and romantic and I couldn't wait for their happy ending- it was so sweet I couldn't hide my smile. 5 stars.

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