Category: B reviews (Page 70 of 74)

All He Ever Needed by Shannon Stacey

September 14, 2012 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: Carina sent an early copy to all of its auto-approved NetGalley reviewers. Thank you Carina! But in any event, I’m a fan of the series.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Born to RoamMitch Kowalski lives out of a suitcase—and he likes it that way. Traveling for work has the added bonus of scaring off women who would otherwise try to tie him down. But when he’s called home to help with running the family lodge, he’s intrigued by the new girl in town and her insistence that she doesn’t need a man—for anything. If there’s one thing Mitch can’t resist, it’s a challenge, especially a beautiful one.Looking for Home

After a nomadic childhood, Paige Sullivan is finally putting down roots. Determined to stand on her own two feet, she lives by the motto men are a luxury, not a necessity. But when Mr. Tall, Dark and Hot pulls up a stool in her diner and offers her six weeks of naughty fun with a built-in expiration date, she’s tempted to indulge.

Mitch won’t stay put for a woman, and Paige won’t chase after a man—they’re the perfect match for a no-strings fling. Until they realize the amazing sex has become anything but casual…

What worked for me (and what didn’t): First of all, Mitch Kowalski is ROWR. He’s also a bit of a player, but he’s not a dick about it. He makes it clear from the start that he’s not into long term. Things will end, he will say goodbye and leave. He won’t call, he won’t text and he won’t be back.His role as boss/owner of a demolition company (what a cool job!) means he travels a lot and he’s very busy and he learned the hard way that his business and a long term relationship don’t mix well.

But, even before that, he was a love ’em and leave ’em man – as many many ladies in Whitfield will tell you – the strange thing is that no-one holds a grudge. All the memories are fond (at least on the part of the women, some of their daddy’s? Not so much.)

She leaned her hip against the stainless steel island the coffeemaker sat on and looked him over. “Tall, dark and handsome, with pretty blue eyes. You must be one of Josh’s brothers.”

Usually a guy didn’t like being told he had a pretty anything, but he’d learned a long time ago having pretty eyes led to having pretty girls. “I’m the oldest. Mitch.”

When Mitch comes home to Whitfield to help his brother Josh with the Northern Star Lodge after Josh breaks his leg, it is with bittersweet joy. It is good to be home, to see family and the lodge, but he detests that he doesn’t seem to be able to shake off the mistakes and hubris of his teen self. No-one in Whitfield will let him forget his adventures – and over the years, many of them have been embellished.

Mitch doesn’t take long to spot Paige and decide that he’d like to spend his 6 weeks in Whitfield getting cozy with her. Paige’s role-model was her mother – a woman who flitted from one man to the next, who felt it was necessary to have a man to be “complete”. Her philosophy is that men are a luxury she doesn’t need so she’s sworn of relationships. Despite how hot and sexy Mitch is, it does take him some time to wear down her resistance – by the time he does, half of his time is up (which seemed like a bit of a waste if you ask me – I mean, he was the perfect candidate for a fling wasn’t he? Temporary and hot – and, not staying, so she wouldn’t have to keep bumping into him in town.)

Paige also has to deal with the “girlfriend code” – her good friend Hailey had a fling with Mitch when they were teenagers – in fact, it is one of the reasons Hailey is urging Paige to go for it.

“But still nothing. Trust me when I tell you there was no emotional involvement at all, for either of us, and you are clear to land, honey.”

“My runway’s closed.” Paige frowned, then shook her head. “I’m butchering this whole airplane thing. I can’t be the plane and the runway.”

“Let me make it easy. He’ll be the plane. You be the hangar.”

“For a guy who’s parked his plane all over town? He can taxi on down to another hangar.”

Hailey laughed. “You’re right. You do suck at the airplane thing. But I don’t think he’s quite as free with his plane parking as legend makes him out to be, you know. I’ve lived my whole life here, and a lot of those stories are the equivalent of my uncle’s fish stories. They just want everybody to think they landed the big one.”

“I can’t do planes and fish. You’ve gotta pick one.”

“Reel him in, keep him a few weeks, then throw him back and let him swim away.”

“You’re killing me with metaphors.

*gigglesnort*

I didn’t mind the build up of the sexual tension actually, it was sexy and fun and it gave the couple some time to do a bit of courting. But, I did think Paige’s turnaround made little sense in the big scheme – after all, nothing had really changed, other than resistance being futile I guess. And, I would have liked the period of “togetherness” to have lasted longer than a couple of weeks.

When Paige and Mitch do get together, they certainly scorch up the sheets (and a few other places as well) and find extra uses for a can of whipped cream. Pretty soon, both of them have developed feelings but Mitch won’t stay and Paige won’t go – if she does, she would be giving up on her dreams and they’re just as important as Mitch’s. What I liked, is that Mitch never ever contemplated that Paige would or ought to do so (which was why I was able to forgive him for a couple of his more sexist type comments – like we woman need a man to open a jar! Really!). The compromise, when it occurs, seems obvious (and not dissimilar to that reached in Slow Summer Kisses really) but I didn’t see much resolution of the other problem Mitch has with Whitfield – not being able to escape his past.

I think, in the end, perhaps the 6 week duration of their journey from “hello” to HEA was a little on the short side for me, particularly as they were dancing around each other for half of it. I guess I would have liked the relationship to span a little more time. Other than that, I can’t really articulate why I like others in the series better than this one (having said that, I didn’t not like it).

As usual, there is plenty of sizzle and spark and humour – all the things which have made Shannon Stacey an auto-buy for me. Her contemporary voice just works for me. While this book wasn’t my favourite in the Kowalski series, it was nevertheless good fun and I recommend.

What else? We are also introduced to the other Kowalksi brothers Josh and Ryan and their soon to be significant others (they just don’t know it yet) Katie and Lauren (Ryan and Lauren are next) and a broader cast of Whitfield townspeople. I particularly liked Drew and the storyline with his wife Mallory. He wants children, she doesn’t – but she’s told him for years that she would eventually – turns out, not so much. Their ending in this book isn’t happy. I’m hoping that over the course of the trilogy we might see Drew get a HEA of his own (ETA: Ms. Stacey tweeted that Drew will be getting his own book – yippee!) – whether his HEA will be with Mallory again or someone new, who knows. They certainly have believable and large obstacles. I can’t help but be sympathetic to Drew’s position – children were something they had agreed on before they were married and Mallory’s been lying to him about it for 10 years.

There is an overarching storyline about whether Josh will stay in Whitfield and whether he will keep running the lodge which didn’t bog down this book but links the 3 stories together. Next up is Ryan’s carpentry assistance to get the lodge into tip top shape for the as-yet-unknown future.

The good news is that All He Ever Desired is out in October and All He Ever Dreamed is out in November, so we don’t have long to wait to find out what happens to the other Kowalksi brothers.

Favourite Quote:

“Men are a luxury, not a necessity.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, scowling as if the concept was totally foreign to him. Which it probably was.

She moved away from the island and straightened the salt and pepper shakers just to give her hands something to do. “It means I don’t need a man in my life. And I have that written on a sticky note taped to my fridge so I don’t forget it.”

“But you want a man, right?”

She pretended to think about it for a few seconds. “Not especially.”

“Who opens jars for you?”

“I have a little gadget that does that.”

“But…” He grinned. “What about sex?”

“I have a little gadget that does that, too.”

Grade: B-

My review of Overseas is up at ARRA

September 12, 2012 / Kaetrin

I’m over at the ARRA blog with a review of Beatriz Williams’ Overseas today. (They don’t grade there but I gave it a B.)

There’s even a giveaway for members. Come say hi! 🙂

Beautiful Mess by Lucy V. Morgan

September 5, 2012 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: Jayne from Dear Author had a great review of this one. And, after I read that, realising I already had the book on my TBR I moved it on up to the top of the pile.

A review mainly in quotes: This cute funny short story is about Bailey, who lives with 3 male roommates (well, one doesn’t actually live there but he’s there so often he might as well) and what happens after her boyfriend of 2 years dumps her. The boys decide to cheer her up with some pizza and Jagermeister. As Bailey is a one pot wonder, before long she’s confessing that her ex never gave her an orgasm. The boys’ responses are hilarious. I had many laugh out loud moments in this one.

“It does take a while sometimes,” said Olly.

“But you have to find the buttons before you can push them, so to speak. Preferably before you get a hand cramp.”
“Or neck cramp,” said Tom.

“It’s better if you get some feedback. It’s like the videos me and Ol make.” Linc paused. “The better a reaction you get for the first bit, the more you enjoy doing the second bit, and then…”

“It does get dull if she’s not doing anything,” Olly cut in. “You’re like, ‘fucking hell, we‘re not doing the ironing!’”

and

“So what do you suggest I do, then?” I said finally. “Go out and molest men until I find one with your sexual prowess, Ol?”

“Oh God, I don’t know.” He rolled his eyes at me. “I mean, you might do all sorts of weird things like not let them go down on you, or you might not actually know where your clit
is.”

“Or sometimes it’s just too hairy and you wish that she’d wouldn’t let you,” Tom said glumly.

“I’m not a freak,” I muttered. “And I’m not that hairy either.”

“Not that hair is bad,” said Olly quickly,“just that nobody wants friction burns. Or to suddenly be transported to the Mongolian wilderness when she takes her knickers off.”

I loved the way the boys were portrayed – completely authentic, geeky and funny. I’m looking forward to Olly’s story which I believe is coming out soon. There are also some fun shorts and deleted scenes on the author’s website. It also has the best insult ever, vis: Tosspot wank-bastard fucktarded nonce captain

What else? The author is based in the UK and unlike my experience in Never Enough, the British idiom was spot on. The only thing I questioned was her use of the word “ow” for an exclamation of pleasure. Normally I see it used for pain. I’m not sure if that’s a British thing or a Lucy V. Morgan thing.

It’s only 52 pages so it’s easy to read in one sitting. And worth it. Did I mention it’s funny?

I mean, it’d been a week since I broke up with a guy who not only chewed my heart up and spat it out, but slowly re-ingested it so he could shit it on to crackers and feed it to parrots with attachment issues.

Grade: B+

But My Boyfriend Is by KA Mitchell

August 31, 2012 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: Love KA Mitchell’s books – love the Florida series. Pre-ordered and bumped to the top of the reading list as soon as it became available.

What it’s about: For those who’ve read the earlier books in the series, Dylan Williams, Aaron Chase’s brother (Collision Course). Dylan and his mirror twin Darryl are in Texas – Darryl is about to graduate from college and Dylan is a line cook at The Cheesecake Factory. Dylan is NOT GAY. Except, he sometimes trawls local gay hangout Webber Park and to get a blowjob. When Darryl cuts through the park one night, he is mistaken for Dylan and bashed.

Mike Aurietta witnesses the bashing, calls 911 and the ambulance and helps scare he bad guys off. He and Dylan meet in the hospital where Darryl is being treated.

Mike is a trainer at UT for the Longhorns. He’s out to his friends and family but not at work, because he doesn’t want the football players to worry about him checking them out or feeling them up when he’s strapping a hamstring. And, this is Texas, where homophobia is strong.

Mike’s gaydar pings with Dylan and there is instant attraction between the two. But Dylan is NOT GAY. Dylan feels pretty guilty for Darryl’s circumstances and he’s also struggling with Darryl pulling away from him – apart from one week in foster care early on, they’ve never been separated. As the family screw-up Dylan is pretty down on himself. He finds himself drawn to Mike, someone who doesn’t share the family baggage. And having sex with Mike certainly relieves the tension. But Dylan is NOT GAY. Even though he likes buttsecks and blowjobs.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): Actually, I didn’t think Dylan was gay either. It seemed to me he was bi, perhaps with a gay leaning – Dylan had relationships with girls and seemed to enjoy sex with women – while Mike certainly turned his crank, it didn’t seem beyond the realm that Dylan could have a meaningful and sexual relationship with a woman. Before he fell in love with Mike at least.

I gather from my tweetstream that Dylan is disliked by some readers. For me, it wasn’t so much that I didn’t like him, it was more that I didn’t get to see enough of his transition. Even at the end, I’m not sure he comfortably identified as gay and I can’t say I was super confident that he and Mike would work out in the long term – even though I wanted them too. The set up of showing how resistant to being gay-identified Dylan was worked so well, that I needed more in the last part of the book to show the turnaround and make me believe that it would stick.

There was some subtext in the book which I didn’t quite get. Perhaps I need to be bashed over the head with something but I didn’t understand (for example) Dylan to be asking Joey to come out to Aaron on his behalf – but that’s apparently what happened. And there didn’t seem to be anything which came from that – I didn’t feel that Dylan was comfortable with his sexual identity at the end of the book either and one of the reasons for that was that he didn’t really come out to his family himself – except for a private chat with Darryl, kind of.

Dylan did come to grips, somewhat, with “Operation: Amputation” – separating his life from Darryl’s but I wondered if his reliance on Mike was a product of that rather than the catalyst for the relationship. Dylan did not like to be alone. I don’t think that changed throughout the book. I wonder if Mike got a good deal. Mike was certainly worth it. He’s a genuinely nice guy who was possibly more patient with Dylan than was deserved. I did feel that Mike’s career change at the end was somewhat glossed over given his angst about it.

I’ve seen a few reviews and tweets to the effect that the book finished abruptly. They wanted another sex scene and/or more of Dylan and Mike happy together. And I agree 100% with that sentiment. (KA Mitchell writes hot sex so I’m always happy for there to be another sex scene!) The story seemed somewhat unfinished to me – I wasn’t confident that Dylan could stand as an out and proud gay man. I wasn’t even sure what he was doing with his own career at the end; whether he would maybe pursue his computer aided design in some way maybe. Dylan felt unfinished – he started off the book drifting and uncertain and unfortunately he didn’t end up settled and confident. He was well on the way, but it wasn’t quite done.

But.

I did like Dylan. (I had less sympathy for Darryl actually. Darryl was keeping his own secrets too and I didn’t quite get why he was so freaked out by his secret fear he might be gay too. He seemed pretty homophobic and I wondered by Aaron hadn’t kicked his ass about it.) I mean, I was sympathetic to the fact that Darryl was horribly beaten and he did not deserve that. But blaming Dylan for it and not even calling on their birthday? Not so much.

I also had some sympathy for Dylan; being a black gay man in Texas doesn’t sound easy. He has a bit of a chip on his shoulder about being black too and wonders for a little while if Mike only has a case of “jungle fever” (a new-to-me term) but it doesn’t take him long to realise that Mike is not like that.

And I loved Mike. He was steady and strong and just what Dylan needed. Dylan bounced around like a fly in a bottle and Mike was just… there. He grounded Dylan and helped him breathe.

There’s also a bit of Joey and Aaron which is always fun – and Joey is at his talkative best – to the point where Dylan notes:

Joey kept right on. It was a miracle Aaron hadn’t found a reason to get Joey’s jaw wired shut.

Joey helps Dylan quite a bit, with his velvet steamroller charm, smoothing the way for Dylan and Darryl to reconnect and helping him avoid trouble with Aaron and giving Dylan boyfriend advice.

I could see, in the intimate scenes (which were hot hot hot) Dylan’s sexual progression – fumbling, uncomfortable and embarrassed but horny at first, then gradually becoming more comfortable with his own body and Mike’s and his own desire for Mike. But like I said above, I didn’t feel the journey was quite complete by the end of the book.

What else? In the book Darryl has short hair (like on the cover) and Dylan has long hair done in cornrows. I wish the cover had shown a picture of Dylan instead.

My favourite in the series is still No Souvenirs. And now I need me a Dr. Kim fix. Stat.

Grade: B-

Feeling Hot by Elle Kennedy

August 28, 2012 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: After MinnChica tweeted about this book a couple of weeks ago, I had to pick it up. The hook? This is a m/f erotic romance in a series featuring Navy SEAL’s who apparently all like threesomes – in this one, because the f in the equation thinks it’s hot, the 2 straight m’s get busy. Oh. My. *fans self*. So, I pre-ordered and downloaded and scheduled it in immediately after the new KA Mitchell (hey, I can’t read 2 books at once and I’ve been hanging out for Dylan’s story!).

What it’s about: The story starts when Navy SEAL Cash McCoy (he has a really great story about how he got his name) is home feeling frustrated. After being deployed for 6 months (he has a strict no sex when deployed overseas rule), he’s horny and it’s not helping that his buddy, his buddy’s girlfriend and another male friend are going at it loudly in a nearby bedroom. After considering –

As it was, he was distracted as hell, and kinda wondering if he ought to knock on the door and ask to join in.

Naah. Probably inappropriate.

– and rejecting Plan A, he decides to go out to a club and get himself laid. He’s not doing so well – in fact, he’s running away from a Navy groupie when he finds himself hiding in the same storage room as a beautiful sexy blonde woman and after some sexy conversation, they find themselves making out.

When his SEAL Lt “orders” him to babysit his younger sister who has a stalker ex-boyfriend, Cash isn’t too bothered by the “hands off or I’ll drown you” threat – until he comes face to face with the beautiful storage room girl. Okay, the set up is a bit unbelievable, but the writing was so much fun I was happy to go along with it.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): Right from page one I was smiling and enjoying this book and for the most part, that continued right the way through. The set up was cute and I liked how Cash and Jen sorted out any misunderstandings frankly and early. The chemistry between the couple is off the charts and it was fun watching Cash squirm with desire – he’s made a promise to his Lt and he’s trying desperately to keep it, but Jen is NOT HELPING. He doesn’t last long :D.

“Have you ever been in a threesome? I haven’t,” she said matter-of-factly.

Cash briefly closed his eyes. Would it be rude if he excused himself and spent the rest of the night jacking off in the shower?

Probably.

Cash thinks he’s not good at relationships because he finds it hard to talk to women except for to get them into bed and during sex (he’s very good at that). He’s blunt and doesn’t understand the female games about “does my butt look big in this dress?” But Jen appreciates his frankness and they find themselves getting along very well very quickly.

Jen, having a military father and brother, knows first hand how hard the military life can be on relationships and has vowed not to date any military men. But, Cash is so hot, she decides a fling can’t hurt – they’re going to be living together for 3 weeks – surely they’ll get it out of their systems by then? (Riiight). Actually Jen’s concerns were very realistic and this was one part of the book which was a little weak for me. In the end (it should be no surprise given it’s a romance) Jen decides Cash is worth the effort and heartache of being with an active-duty SEAL but I would have liked to have seen a little more of the journey from point A to point B. The story has a subplot involving trouble in the marriage of her brother Carson and his wife Holly (MC’s from a previous story) which serves to illustrate just how hard it can be to keep a relationship healthy when one partner is off for months risking his life and unable to contact the other for long stretches and pretty much unable to talk about his work. It did such a good job I began to have extra sympathy for Jen’s position. I thought, in the end, there was almost but not quite enough to satisfy me regarding Jen’s turnaround. I mean, I knew she would – I wanted her to change her mind after all, but I would have liked more about the how of it – it was such a dearly held belief after all. And it was never an option for Cash to leave the teams. Cash himself says “the military is my life”.

That said, I appreciated that in amongst the fantasy of hot Navy SEALS all being sex gods who put their lady’s pleasure before anything else and who regularly have threesomes (please tell me that’s not real or I may have to cry), there is realism as regards the challenges facing the wives and girlfriends of the SEALS.

The suspense plot is integrated well into the story – it doesn’t take it over and I actually liked the way it ended up being resolved – Jen’s a pretty tough cookie all on her own.

Another thing I liked was how Cash turns out to be Jen’s No. 1 supporter. She’s used to being treated like the family screw-up – changing jobs all the time and not settled in any way, taking her “silly pictures” as a hobby. Cash recognised in Jen’s photographs true talent and passion and encourages her to go for it. For the first time, in Cash, Jen has someone who will stand up for her – even against her Lt brother if necessary.

Cash himself is pretty straight forward, likeable and hot. Oh my. Add to that his sexy SEAL friends and we have a winner. Ding Ding. His friend Dylan is also sex on a stick (I want to read his story. Oh, yes I do!). When he visits for football night, the subject of threesomes comes up and before anyone knows it, there he is, giving Cash a sexy BJ. *fans self again*. This author can certainly write the hot sexy scene.

The way it read, to me, both men were so confident in their heterosexuality they didn’t have a big problem with “taking a walk on the wild side” – Cash spent a little time worrying that it would screw up their friendship but it wasn’t explored further than that. Which, in the context of this book, was okay – that’s not really what the book was about. ~~But, oh, man – I’ve totally bookmarked that scene for re-reads~~. I expect I will read the book again.

There were a couple of small continuity errors I picked up – [parts of] Jen’s clothes seem to go mysteriously missing sometimes, but otherwise I didn’t notice any problems with the grammar or editing – at least none that bothered me.

I loved the way the guys were together – their banter and their bond. I loved that a lot of the book was from Cash’s POV – hero points of view are always a win for me. I also liked the obvious camaraderie the WAGS had for each other and it makes sense, given how much they rely on one another when their men are away. I was also pretty tickled by CO Becker who’s gone cuckoo over his baby daughter – the stuff about the approved list of birthday gifts was funny – “no lead paint”. I see he has his own book too…

What else? I enjoyed this one so much, I immediately went and downloaded the 6 earlier books and I can see from her website that the author has another in the series coming out later this year (Seth’s book). Yay!

This was a real winner for me. If you like fun super-sexy contemporaries with military heroes and perhaps a dash of suspense, this could be a winner for you too..

Grade: B+

Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews, narrated by Renee Raudman

August 23, 2012 / Kaetrin

Why I ~~read~~ listened to it: Love this series, love Andrea and Raphael. Got it as soon as I could.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Some people have everything figured out—Andrea Nash is not one of those people. After being kicked out of the Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid, Andrea’s whole existence is in shambles. All she can do is to try to put herself back together, something made easier by working for Cutting Edge, a small investigative firm owned by her best friend Kate Daniels.

When several shapeshifters working for Raphael Medrano—the male alpha of the Clan Bouda and Andrea’s former lover—die unexpectedly at a dig site, Andrea is assigned to investigate…and must work with Raphael. As Andrea’s search for the killer leads her into the secret underbelly of supernatural Atlanta, she knows that dealing with her feelings for Raphael might have to take a back seat to saving the world…

What worked for me (and what didn’t): This is Andrea’s book and Kate doesn’t feature all that much (and neither does Curran *cries*) – they were busy doing other save-the-world-type things I gather – perhaps we will find out more in Kate 6. Because it was so strongly Andrea’s story, it felt very appropriate for Kate to be more in the background – she has a way of taking centre stage when they’re on scene together.

At the start of the book, Andrea is estranged from Raphael, has been kicked out of the Order of Merciful Aid and hasn’t taken up a place in the Pack (despite clear intention from Aunt B and even Curran that it is becoming urgent). When Jim tasks Andrea with investigating the murder of 4 shapeshifters on behalf of the Pack, she is both excited (this is what she does) and dismayed – the shapeshifters worked for Raphael’s salvage company and it means she’s going to have to spend time with her ex. It doesn’t help that very early on Raphael brings a blonde bimbo with him when he’s giving information to Andrea – and she announces that Raphael is “engaged to be engaged” to her (Rebecca). (This is a Very. Bad. Move.)

Pushed to her absolute limit, Andrea embraces the beastkin side of herself and finds new attitude – demonstrated in various ways including her newfound ability to rock a little black dress and scarlet lipstick. Raphael of course is still deeply in love with Andrea (as is she with him) but they are both hurt and in need of an apology from the other and some mutual understanding. Eventually they do talk and finally (finally!) Raphael understands why Andrea made the choices she did before and during the battle with Erra. While he does not like it (which is fair enough) he gets it and is then able to let it go. Andrea also understands things from Raphael’s point of view – it was very much that they both had things to explain and understand about each other – no one character was all wrong or all right – which is, you know, realistic.

When Raphael gets his inner Marvin Gaye on however, break out the fans because it gets pretty steamy. 😛

Of course, it’s not only a romance (there is a very strong romantic thread but it is a story about saving the world first I think). Andrea and Raphael, assisted by Roman (the Volv), Ascanio (he’s hilarious, I adore him) and other Pack members must battle an Egyptian god who’s trying to resurrect himself. I won’t give more of that part of the plot away – it’s too much fun to discover as you read (or listen to, as the case may be) the book.

Andrea also finds herself – she finally accepts the shapeshifter part of herself and finds her place of belonging – and it’s not just with Raphael.

I did find the ending a little abrupt and perhaps a little convenient, but I forgave both because I’m all about the happy ending. I spent a lot of time laughing and grinning like a loon at the snarky banter between Raphael/Andrea, Raphael/Roman, Ascanio/Andrea, Kate/Andrea etc. This is a rich world with fully fleshed out characters and it doesn’t just rely on Kate and Curran. Who knew? 😀

The narration: As far as the narration was concerned, Renee Raudman was her usual excellent self. There were some times when she continued with one character voice instead of changing to the correct one which made a couple of conversations difficult to follow – I would have been fine in print but on audio one relies upon character voices and/or dialogue tags – when there are none of the latter and the wrong character voice is used, it does cause some confusion. Fortunately, this didn’t happen too often.

I think Ms. Raudman’s voice for Raphael has changed a little but it did sound different to her “Curran” voice which I appreciated. There were only very subtle differences between the Kate voice and the Andrea voice – and I think Andrea’s beastkin voice was a little different (and very much like Aunt B’s) but these are small niggles in an otherwise very enjoyable listen.

What else? Curran is still my favourite in the Kate Daniels world but Raphael definitely holds a special place for me and he got extra bonus points for his treatment of Michelle late in the book.

If there are going to be more books in the Kate Daniels world (and I hope there will be), may I request stories for Roman (who knew he was so sexy? And funny?) and (when he grows up a little more) Ascanio? Pretty please?

Grade: B+