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OKducky
Molly Harper has done it again with this witty story of hard-ass Maggie. She thinks she's the big, bad she-alpha, until she get knocked on her sometimes furry butt by the gorgeous Nick Thatcher, the HUMAN who wants to tell the world that he has found a real live werewolf. I love Molly's stories. Her snarky, witty sense of humor is a great escape when things get tough and I need a laugh. I never even hesitate to hit the "add to cart" button when I see a new book by Molly, and it is a real pleasure to find Amanda Ronconi's name a the narrator. I think Amanda does a great job of portraying the characters Molly Harper has written for us to enjoy. Thank you Audible for bring us Molly Harper.
NOTE: Do not eat or drink when listening to Molly Harper's books unless you enjoy snorting your snack out of your nose when you start laughing. I am telling you from personal experience. Also a full bladder is another thing you want to stay away from before reading.......need I say more?
Amanda Stevens is a new author for me and I have to admit that the only reason I downloaded this book was because Khristine Hvam narrated it and I am so happy I did! I am now a fan of Amanda Stevens and I am looking forward to downloading other books by her, (even those not narrated by Khristine Hvam)! She has a way with words that made me feel like I had a ghost touching my hair! Goose bumps galore! This is hands down, a 100% "make you FEEL and SEE" story, and an awesome author and narrator combo. I am now hooked! For me, there was a gothic romance feel to "The Graveyard Queen", Amelia, the main character. And the idea of someone who is so passionate about graveyard restoration.......just wow! I NEVER expected it to end the way it did and was surprised by the "who done it". I don't like to give anything of the story away, so all I can suggest is to read the book blurb, listen to the sample offered and just ENJOY. Downloading book 2 now!
I love this series and I am very pleased that Audible has picked it up. Alyssa gives us a totally different view of the supernatural world with her Warriors of Poseidon. I really loved her take on the Atlantis mythology and how she adds vamps and weres into the mix. The love story can be a little corny at times, but that, to me, is just a part of the "formal speak" of Conlan's people so it fits.The only thing I was not thrilled with was the narrator. Joshua Swanson has a great tone of voice but I think he kinda of over does it when reading this type of story. His style, to me, would be more for a children's story where the more drama the better. At times through out the story it gets a bit too much. I see that he is slated to do the rest of the series and I can only hope he tones it down a bit, and changes the pronunciation of the word em-path. He sounds like he is saying "M-pith" stressing the M and pith instead of PATH. I know it is silly to mention one single word, but it is just a pet peeve of mine.So, my rating for the book itself is a 5 star but the narration is only 3 star (if that). I will round it out to a 4 star total. (I wish there was a way to give separate ratings and then a final rating). I will probably buy the next book to see if Joshua is any better. If not.............maybe if they go on a $4.99 sale.
I also need to mention........for those who are not into explicit sex and language, this series may not be for you.
I had read a few audiobooks and had even joined Audible. But until I read this book I did not understand the magic of the format. Before reading this book I had no interest in1) romance 2) science fiction or fantasy and 3) time travel genres. I'd heard enough about the series that it piqued my interest because I loved historical fiction. Especially the period of time I knew the book covered. And I always found the challenge of tackling a big book rewarding.
This book changed so many of my perceptions of genre and reading format. While I still argue that though there is definitely a romantic and sexual relationship at the books core, it was only one part of the adventure. It still doesn't fit the romance genre to me, but it did such a good job of weaving romance and sexuality into the adventure it made me curious to read more traditional romance novels and see if they handled the topic as well. They didn't, but I discovered other good books I never would have tried of not for Outlander.
Likewise, other than Anne Rice's Vampire series which I had read many years ago, this was one of my very rare ventures into fantasy-science fiction. Setting aside my understanding of reality to accept someone else's is always difficult. But reading Outlander and the subsequent books in the series, I found myself trying to work out in my mind how this might have happened. It encouraged me to explore this genre more thoroughly as well. Even more surprising, it made me evaluate my perception of "time", what it means and how it works. I found myself paying more attention to physics and the study of the time and space relationship.
The twists and turns of the plot kept me turning the page just like the best mysteries I read. While reading the book there were enough unanswered questions, clues and short glimpses of scenes or events that caught my attention and made me store them away to remember "when all was revealed." But all was not revealed at the end and I found myself turning over these clues and snippets, trying to determine their significance, what I thought they meant and what their purpose was. One requirement of a great book is that you cannot get it out of your mind after you turn the last page. This book met that criteria. I thought about it for weeks.
Most importantly I learned that other voices can bring a whole new level to the reading experience, if it is the right voice for the right book. I would have enjoyed this book regardless, but if I read it myself and heard my voice in my head the characters would never have come so alive as they did in Davina Porter's voice. This is a perfect marriage of book and narrator. I was so surprised when I later discovered more about Porter's age, experience and background. She made a 21 year old Scotsman come to life. Her voice is Jamie to me. She handled each character wonderfully, although it is the first and only time I have ever listened to a book or series of books and thought a woman narrator did a better job on the men's voices than she did on the women's. I have loved hearing how the narrator has aged the character's voices throughout the series. You hear the young Jamie in the middle aged Jamie's voice, but you also hear the growth and maturity. I have accepted the narrators in the Lord John series, even when the book includes Jamie and actually think they are narrated well. But I am not certain I could accept another narrator for future Outlander books.
Finally, my initial interest in this book was from a historical fiction viewpoint. A good historical fiction novel, by Bernard Cornwell or Sharon Kay Penman sticks to as much historical fact as possible but presents it in an engaging and relate-able format. It makes you interested enough in the times and events that you will endure the dry-er, less lively recitation of facts of that same event or time in a nonfiction book, just to learn more. Outlander and this series delivered that in spades.