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M.B.

Follower of new and unusual authors

Monterey Bay, CA | Member Since 2012

49
HELPFUL VOTES
  • 12 reviews
  • 19 ratings
  • 25 titles in library
  • 7 purchased in 2013
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FOLLOWERS
2

  • Witch Hunt: The Gryphonpike Chronicles, Book 1

    • UNABRIDGED (1 hr and 40 mins)
    • By Annie Bellet
    • Narrated By Christine Padovan
    Overall
    (6)
    Performance
    (5)
    Story
    (6)

    A mute elven archer known only as Killer. Azyrin, a half Winter-orc shaman and his human swordswoman bride, Makha. Drake, the charming, swashbuckling rogue. The fireball-slinging pixie-goblin, Rahiel, and her mini-unicorn, Bill. These are the Gryphonpike Companions. Arriving in Strongwater Barrow, the Companions find the town riddled with plague and death. Ending the curse and saving the survivors means going into the swamps where monsters lurk and witches wait. Sounds like exactly their kind of day.

    M.B. says: "Wow! What a ride!"
    "Wow! What a ride!"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story
    What did you love best about Witch Hunt?

    This author writes so beautifully - there is a wonderful flow from start to finish in the storyline. Having elves, pixie-goblins, humans, a unicorn and other assorted characters interacting in the same story and the great sense of humor throughout! Love the action sequences - I learned all these new words for the different weapons used in the story!


    What other book might you compare Witch Hunt to and why?

    A bit of a 'Lord of the Rings' type of journey/adventure, but is still completely different. This story has great humor interlaced with the drama, and ends on an upbeat note.


    What does Christine Padovan bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

    If I read the book, my voice would be in my head for all the characters. The narrator's voice has a lovely melody to it that really makes me believe she is an elf-singer with a stolen set of pipes.

    I enjoyed the amusing voices she uses for all the characters. I especially like Makha sounding like a Valkyrie!


    Any additional comments?

    I googled the author's name and found she has other books in the Gryphonpike Companions' series. I hope the author keeps putting her books into audio form! They're great entertaining stuff!

    3 of 3 people found this review helpful
  • Retreat Hell! She Just Got Here: 1 Night Stand Series: Always a Marine, Book 2

    • UNABRIDGED (1 hr and 5 mins)
    • By Heather Long
    • Narrated By Christine Padovan
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (5)
    Performance
    (5)
    Story
    (5)

    Jazz has been one of the guys for over a decade, serving her country with distinction, but she longs to explore her femininity, to be desired as a woman, to flirt, cavort, and fulfill every sexual desire. When her mother, of all people, signs her up for a one-night stand, she's not sure whether to be exhilarated or pissed. Flying to Las Vegas on the promise of a total escape, Jazz plans to be Jasmine for just one night, because tomorrow she plans to re-up for another five years.

    M.B. says: "Great menage story from Ms. Long"
    "Great menage story from Ms. Long"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story
    If you could sum up Retreat Hell! She Just Got Here in three words, what would they be?

    Semper fi thrice :-)


    Who was your favorite character and why?

    That's hard - all three were so likable. I really liked Jazz - she was one of the guys for so long as a Marine and wanted to explore being a woman so badly. Her transformation was very fun to listen to :-).


    What about Christine Padovan’s performance did you like?

    Her alto tones are so pleasant to listen to. I enjoy how she voices male characters and makes them so real.


    Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

    I felt bad for Logan, thinking he may not be able to overcome his injuries to be with a woman. But definitely, I was grinning with the end results :-).


    Any additional comments?

    Love Ms. Long's ability to give her characters such depth in only a short story format!

    2 of 2 people found this review helpful
  • Entwined Erotica: Volume 1: Unbound, All 4 Stories

    • UNABRIDGED (15 hrs and 59 mins)
    • By Cecilia Tan, Lacey Michaels, Debra Hyde, and others
    • Narrated By Christine Padovan
    Overall
    (13)
    Performance
    (12)
    Story
    (13)

    Entwined is a new experiment in erotica, bringing together all-star authors and fans into a single immersive experience. In each volume, one award-winning author contributes the opening scenes to a new erotic adventure. But when the heroine reaches a decision point, the narrative fractures into wildly different pathways from hardcore BDSM to lighter, more romantic fare, and all of the shades in between, listeners can listen to and replay high-quality fractures, each written by an award-winning erotica author in her own genre.

    Mark says: "Hot, Innocent and Smart!"
    "Way better than Fifty Shades of Grey!!!"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    What a great concept! Get a bunch of great authors together of different romance/erotica genres, take the same beginning and write a different story in that author's genre on the same main character!

    Not sure if this publisher will always offer this lower pricing structure on these stories on Audible, but if so, you definitely get more 'bang' for your buck buying and listening to the 'Entwined' stories ;-)

    Can't wait for Volume 2 to 'come' out !

    4 of 4 people found this review helpful
  • Once Her Man, Always Her Man: A 1 Night Stand Story: Always a Marine, Book 1

    • UNABRIDGED (1 hr and 12 mins)
    • By Heather Long
    • Narrated By Christine Padovan
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (10)
    Performance
    (8)
    Story
    (9)

    Fulfilling a favor and executing a business plan, Luke Dexter arrives at Dallas' Sybarite Club for a one-night stand. He never imagined he'd come face to face with the woman he left behind a decade earlier. Rebecca Rainier fell in love with Luke Dexter in high school and was crushed when he dumped her to join the Marines after 9/11. Set up on a one-night stand by her business partner, nothing could prepare Rebecca for who her date is. Can Luke and Rebecca bridge the pain of a decade-long abandonment, in one cold Texas night?

    M.B. says: "Masterfully written and well narrated love story"
    "Masterfully written and well narrated love story"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    As her Amazon reviews say, Ms. Long is a master of the short story. There is a beginning, middle and end to all the characters. I could feel the pain and longing of Luke and Rebecca from the very first description.

    And, of course, wonderfully written and beautifully described sex scenes :-) - the narrator has improved considerably from a year ago in the Romance genre.

    Hope to see the rest of Ms. Long's 'Always a Marine' series make it into audio form :-)

    3 of 3 people found this review helpful
  • The Sword and the Dragon, Revised: The Wardstone Trilogy, Book 1

    • UNABRIDGED (24 hrs and 9 mins)
    • By M. R. Mathias
    • Narrated By Chris Dorman
    Overall
    (25)
    Performance
    (23)
    Story
    (22)

    When the Royal Wizard of Westland poisons the king so that his puppet prince can take the throne and start a continental war, a young squire is forced to run for his life carrying the powerful sword that his dying monarch burdened him with from the death bed. Two brothers find a magic ring and start on paths to becoming the most powerful sort of enemies, while an evil young sorceress unwillingly falls in love with one of them when he agrees to help her steal a dragon's egg for her father.

    D. P. Prior says: "Richly imagined characters in an epic world"
    "One of Top 10 Indie Fantasy stories in audio! Yes!"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    Yes, FINALLY - the great M.R. Mathias is in audio form! I can understand why he wanted the talent of Chris Dorman, an animation voice artist to narrate this story - Mr. Dorman can certainly do great character voices.

    However, the narrator parts were alittle stiff - but being this is Mr. Dorman's first audiobook, he will hopefully get better as he goes along :-)

    But even so, the strength of the story and its many wonderful characters made this still a great entertaining experience for me, just like reading the book did.

    5 of 6 people found this review helpful
  • Gator Kill: Truman Smith Private Eye, Book 2

    • UNABRIDGED (4 hrs and 42 mins)
    • By Bill Crider
    • Narrated By Michael Ray Davis
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (4)
    Performance
    (4)
    Story
    (4)

    After he failed to find his missing sister, whose remains finally turned up in a bag in an overgrown field, Texas PI Truman Smith retired to become a housepainter on Galveston Island. But when an alligator is killed and its carcass left on display on a family friend's property, Tru is persuaded to search for the culprit. Soon the brooding gumshoe is stumbling over the bodies of dead humans, is shot at and run down by a souped-up four-by-four as he's embroiled in a plot complete with crooked police, a possible land-grabbing sheme and assorted "bad guys".

    M.B. says: "Great narration - couldn't stop listening!"
    "Great narration - couldn't stop listening!"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    It was hard to 'put it down' - it's that good! Don't know where this narrator has been, but glad he is now narrating audiobooks. What a voice!

    0 of 0 people found this review helpful
  • Playing for Keeps: 'Fantasy' Football - Season 1

    • UNABRIDGED (5 hrs and 36 mins)
    • By Liz Matis
    • Narrated By Christine Padovan
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (21)
    Performance
    (18)
    Story
    (19)

    Journalist Samantha Jameson always wanted to be one of the boys, but Ryan Terell won't let her join the club. Fresh from the battlegrounds of Iraq, reporting on a bunch of overgrown boys playing pro football is just the change of scenery she needs. If trying to be taken seriously in the world of sports writing wasn't hard enough, Ryan, her college crush, is only making it harder. As a tight-end for the team she's covering, he is strictly off limits.

    M.B. says: "Hot football player + sexy news reporter = !!!!!!"
    "Hot football player + sexy news reporter = !!!!!!"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    I can see why this story won a romance contest - I've never read or heard a story combining pro football, journalism, fashion modeling, Irish-American families and more - in one story. And seamlessly too :-).

    Great humor and great sex too! (My vibrator almost burnt out from overuse ;-)) All the characters were fleshed out nicely - great interplay between Ryan and his friend, Jake; Samantha and supermodel friend, Hannah. This could easily have been made into a longer story but it still worked out nicely just as it is.

    The narrator must be taking continuous audiobook lessons or is just getting better as she does more audio stories.

    Loved it from start to finish! :-)

    6 of 6 people found this review helpful
  • Badwater: The Forensic Geology Series

    • UNABRIDGED (10 hrs and 6 mins)
    • By Toni K. Dwiggins
    • Narrated By Christine Padovan
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (6)
    Performance
    (6)
    Story
    (5)

    Forensic geologists Cassie Oldfield and Walter Shaws embark on a perilous hunt - tracking a terrorist who has stolen radioactive material that is hotter than the desert in August. He threatens to release it in America's most fragile national park, Death Valley. But first he must stop the geologists who are closing in. As the hunt turns dangerous, Cassie and Walter will need grit along with their field skills to survive this case. For they are up against more than pure human malice.

    M.B. says: "Who knew geology could be so cool?"
    "Who knew geology could be so cool?"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story
    If you could sum up Badwater: The Forensic Geology Series in three words, what would they be?

    Hot, Hotter, Triple X


    What did you like best about this story?

    I liked the interplay between all the characters, and how the author kept you guessing until the very end. The author must know a lot about geology because it was as if a real trained geologist was taking you through the investigation. I learned a lot and was entertained at the same time :-)


    What about Christine Padovan’s performance did you like?

    Good distinction between all the character voices; nice conversational style as Cassie. A very pleasant voice to listen to.


    Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

    Felt some sadness in a couple of scenes. Suffice to say, this author knows how to write a great story!


    Any additional comments?

    I'll definitely look out for more from Ms. Dwiggins :-)

    6 of 6 people found this review helpful
  • Romeo and Judy Anne: Texas One Night Stands

    • UNABRIDGED (10 hrs and 13 mins)
    • By Joan Reeves
    • Narrated By Christine Padovan
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (44)
    Performance
    (38)
    Story
    (38)

    Good girls just can't win! High school principal Judy Anne Palmer was always a good girl who never did an impulsive, rebellious thing. Ever. And look where it got her! One night in Dallas, she meets a man and decides to indulge in a liberating night of passion - liberating her from the stigma of being the oldest living virgin north of the Rio Grande. After all, she'll never see her one-night Romeo again. Unfortunately, the night doesn't turn out exactly the way she planned, and her one-night Romeo isn't one-night stand material.

    M.B. says: "Cute story with hot sex scenes"
    "Cute story with hot sex scenes"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story
    If you could sum up Romeo and Judy Anne in three words, what would they be?

    Can think of four - 'Hot Sex in Texas'


    Which character – as performed by Christine Padovan – was your favorite?

    Didn't have a favorite. Character voices are O.K. but the narrator is actually really great at voicing the sex scenes :-)


    Any additional comments?

    The virgin has left the building!

    8 of 8 people found this review helpful
  • A Stone's Throw: The Gryphonpike Chronicles, Book 3

    • UNABRIDGED (1 hr and 34 mins)
    • By Annie Bellet
    • Narrated By Christine Padovan
    Overall
    (2)
    Performance
    (2)
    Story
    (2)

    The mute elven archer known only as Killer. Azyrin, a half Winter-orc shaman and his human swordswoman bride, Makha. Drake, the charming, swashbuckling rogue. The fireball-slinging pixie-goblin, Rahiel, and her mini-unicorn, Bill. These are the Gryphonpike Companions. A magical scabbard and a hundred year old story send the companions down into the caverns beneath the Barrowlands. Surviving the caverns and finding the legendary rapier will test Killer's friendship with the roguish Drake.

    M.B. says: "The fun continues :-)"
    "The fun continues :-)"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story
    If you could sum up A Stone's Throw in three words, what would they be?

    Fun fantasy adventure


    What was one of the most memorable moments of A Stone's Throw?

    Drake trying to 'sheath' his sword ;-) and the fight scene with the cave tree and bats.


    Which character – as performed by Christine Padovan – was your favorite?

    That's hard - I guess the Irish sisters for this one.


    Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

    Yes, Ms. Bellet writes each story in the series as a novella, so I like to listen to each one in one sitting - or long commute :-)


    Any additional comments?

    The battle scenes weren't as challenging as the first 2 books, but still very entertaining - this one actually had more character development between Drake and Killer.

    4 of 4 people found this review helpful
  • A Darker Dream (Love Spell Romance)

    • UNABRIDGED (10 hrs and 56 mins)
    • By Amanda Ashley
    • Narrated By Christine Padovan
    Overall
    (45)
    Performance
    (38)
    Story
    (38)

    In all his 400 years, Rayven never met a woman like Rhianna McLeod. She is a vision of light, of warmth, of everything he is not - nor can ever be. Doomed to live forever in darkness and solitude, he knows all too well the risk in getting close to her, yet he hungers for her with a fierce passion he swears he will never allow himself to feel. Rhianna's father sold her to Rayven to put food on the table so she had no choice but to go with the dark stranger. To her surprise, he gives her everything she wants: the finest clothes, education, and the run of the castle - everything, that is, except his touch.

    Olette says: "I jus needed something..."
    "Beautifully written and sensually narrated story"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story
    What made the experience of listening to A Darker Dream (Love Spell Romance) the most enjoyable?

    The narrator's sensuous way of telling the story. Not sure why some of the listener comments hate her 'cadence' - this is a story taking place in a different country and era, and she fitted her voice to the author's writing style, characters and timeframe perfectly.

    Hearing the different accents (Irish, French/Russian? and Italian) was enjoyable too. Not always perfect, but nicely done and distinctive.


    Would you recommend A Darker Dream (Love Spell Romance) to your friends? Why or why not?

    Yes, it is beautifully written prose, but the back and forth between the two main characters (he wants her; he pushes her away; he begs her to stay; she is scared, then changes her mind, stands her ground, etc.) was a little much sometimes.

    I think this story would be even nicer in an abridged version. And it was nice to listen to a vampire story that took place in another time (1840's Ireland) versus a lot of the modern day vampire stories floating around these days.


    Which character – as performed by Christine Padovan – was your favorite?

    Rhianna as the woman who loved the vampire Rayven so much, she was willing to become a vampire to be with him forever. Then her mom was another favorite :-)


    Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

    Toward the end with Ravyen's ancient vampire friend, Salvatore in the chapel - but if I have say exactly what it is, it will spoil the wonderful ending for new listeners of Amanda Ashley!


    Any additional comments?

    Nice to see this award winning author's older best sellers come into audio form.

    5 of 6 people found this review helpful

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