Charming

Bastan Hollow Saga, Book 1

By: Jane Washington

Narrated by: Lindsey Dorcus, Lance Rasmussen

Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

Lilou Adler is a student at the Bastan college for applied physics: a magic school focused on training adult witches and warlocks to become enforcers. As an enforcer-in-training, she is one of the many tasked with keeping each generation of fairy tale creatures on track with their fates.

There are just a few problems:

1. Being tasked with the all-important "Cinderella" tale as her first assignment had to be a clerical error.
2. Prince Charming is too busy chasing fairy "tail" to settle down.
3. Cinderella has sticky fingers and boundary issues.
4. A certain someone is hell-bent on taking her out of commission, but not even the high warlock of Bastan can stop this witch when she gets started.

Arlo Demarcus is the high warlock of Bastan and it’s his job to investigate magical crimes and to enforce magical law. It’s also his job to protect the next target in a string of magical murders: Lilou Adler.

There are just a few problems:

1. Lilou being tasked with the all-important "Cinderella" tale as her first assignment had to be a joke.
2. A certain someone is hell-bent on making his job a living hell, but there’s no way a twenty-something Enforcer-in-training is going to stop this warlock when he gets started.

This is a full, stand-alone novel. It is book number one of the Bastan Hollow Saga, but each book can be listened to as a stand-alone.

©2018 Jane Washington (P)2019 Jane Washington

good not great

I liked the story when told by Arlo but Lilo and her British accent were not great. the author did a good job describing almost to the point that felt like a movie script. not sure why I needed the runes described in such detail unless they want the book for a movie. Lilo character in general was off putting to me but I liked all the other characters

Charming

Charming is the perfect way to describe this book. Lilo was incredibly likable and super funny, and the cast of supporting characters was a great compliment. Both narrators did a good job of capturing the personalities of each character.

#AudiobookObsessionReviewer

A Charming and Amusing Story

This book was very engaging and I was disappointed when it ended . Lilou is a hilarious character and I found myself laughing out loud many times . The narration was also spot on .

*Audiobook Obsession Review *

One of my favorites to listen to over and over ❤️❤️

If you want to read a thoroughly enjoyable funny story...pick this up! This whole story has kept me laughing, smiling and chortling all day long! I really never know what is going to happen next! That is the beauty of this. It completely entertains me and keeps me guessing and wondering. I walk around with a giant smile on my face while listening. The characters...i have never read/listened to any others like these. Lilou is stubborn and really just trying to figure out how to do this insurmountable task. So she bumbles, breaks the rules and runs across the most amazing characters while getting herself out of hot water time and again. I know so already said this but I never knew what Lilou was going to do or say next!

The narrators of this book...ROCK! They NAIL all of these voices..time and time again! From all the Goblins and the Stone creatures to the college kids, fairy’s and enforcers. I am going to say these are new favorites for me! They make the noises/words for the characters and I can easily picture them in my mind. YAY! Lindsey Dorcus and Lance Rasmussen!

This is a first time author for me. How this author came up with this story I don’t know. But I can NOT wait for the next or even more in this series.

Perfect narration for the perfect story

Lilou Adler is a student at the Bastan College for Applied Physics: a magic school focused on training witches and warlocks to become Enforcers. She's incredibly powerful but equally undisciplined. One of the Enforcers' main jobs is keeping each generation of fairy tale creatures on track with their "story" to ensure Earth stays balanced. Second and third-year students are each given a fairy tale assignment as a test. They are placed on teams and given lesser-known tales to prove their abilities but not important enough to risk Earth. But not Lilou. She has been given a solo assignment: The Majorly Important Cinderella! Not an assignment fit for a trainee. When the keeper of the Guild refuses to reassign Lilou, she has no choice except to take on this generation's Cinderella. Arlo Demarcus, the High Warlock of Bastan is working a case of magical murders of Wicca witches which has led him to the next target, Lilou. He needs to keep her alive as she attempts her task. To do this, he'll have to refrain from killing her himself!

Charming! This story, this author. I can't possibly do them justice. A Prince Charming with a fairy fetish, a Cinderella master-thief with a deviant streak, a gang of role-playing goblins, an inappropriately hysterical fairy, a bizarre stone house-staff, a rebel-enforcer, an uptight High Warlock, and a rule-breaking, coffee-addicted, wise-cracking, headstrong witch. Only the delicious, warped imagination of Jane Washington could create these characters. The banter, the quirky supporting characters, the ridiculous scenarios, the even more ridiculous complications, the sexual tensions, the prophecy all contribute to a brilliant story. You won't find a more unique, more clever, more entertaining read. I've never had a book make me laugh out loud or gasp as many times as this one. My only complaint stems from my greed. I wanted to see Lilou and even her mother meet the statues. I can only imagine the conversations!

Lindsey Dorcus and Lance Rasmussen were the perfect choices to bring this book to audio. They brought the characters to life and captured the quirkiness exactly how I imagined. #AudiobookObsessionReviewer

Truly fantastic fairy-tale fantasy!

This was a truly fantastic fairy-tale fantasy. It was funny, charming, and I just can't wait for more. If you love a heroine who is clever and funny, this is a great place to start. The dual narration was also on-point. I really can't wait for more in this series.

#AudiobookObsessionReviewer

A Charming tale

Not your typical fairy tale, this was the first book of Jane Washington’s that I’ve listened to and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Dorcus and Rasmussen did a wonderful job of bringing the quirky characters and the worlds to life. I often found myself laughing at the antics of Lilou and the others. I’m looking forward to book two.

#audiobookobsession

Best book I've listened to in a while!!

This book had me intrigued from the first chapter and literally laughing out loud so many times. the narrators are perfect and their voices for the goblins and stone statues had me cracking up! This is a must read!!! Cant wait for book 2 to be on audible! will definitely be checking out other books by this author!

Captivating and Entertaining

Dorcus and Rasmussen bring the characters' voices and actions real emotion and complexity. The story is original and delightful to follow.

Funny and entertaining.

I did enjoy the (audio) book, however, I was starting to get a bit ticked off when I thought the author was going to make it a love triangle but she didn't so I kept reading. Personally, I liked how she didn't draw the ending out for chapters on end so I was thrilled she just killed the bad guy fairly quickly. The narrator's were excellent!