Influential Magic

Crescent City Fae, Book 1

By: Deanna Chase

Narrated by: Gabra Zackman

Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

It's tough being a faery in New Orleans, a city fraught with vampires...especially when their very existence drains your life force.

Willow Rhoswen, owner of The Fated Cupcake and part-time vampire hunter for the Void is having a rough week. Four years after her twin brother's mysterious death, Willow's life is threatened and the director saddles her with a new partner - her ex-boyfriend, David. To her horror, he's turned vamp, which causes her physical pain whenever she touches him...and any other specimen of the undead.

In order to save Willow's life, David agrees to turn double agent against the most powerful vampire organization in New Orleans. Or so he says. And she's convinced they know something about her brother's death. Unsure where David's loyalties lie, she turns to Talisen, her childhood crush, to help her solve the mystery.

Caught between two gorgeous men and a director who'll stop at nothing to control Willow's gifts, she'll have to follow her instincts and learn who to trust. Otherwise, she risks losing more than just her life.

©2013 Deanna Chase (P)2013 Deanna Chase

GREAT SERIES!!

I am really enjoying this series so far, bought next two audio books as well. Original & different completely entertaining & engaging

Fae & Vampire... sound familiar?

Sookie & Bill? This felt very much like fanfic. If you are missing southern fae, witches, and vamps... then this book is for you.

It did not work for me. I really need a stronger main character.

Addicting series

Another addicting series by Deanna Chase! I will be consuming the rest of the series!

Slow start, lackluster heroine

I thought about giving up on it throughout the first several chapters. Despite there being some action, I just didn't feel invested. Maybe there hadn't been enough character development for me to care. Maybe I wasn't meshing with the narrator's characterizations, because, though I don't think Gabra Zackman is a bad narrator (have listened to her before and had no complaints) in this story, I really disliked the 'voices' of most of the characters.

Nevertheless, I must have been hooked at some point, because I just finished and am now looking forward to the next installment. There is still something about it that just comes slightly short of being amazing...a missing ingredient I can't quite pinpoint. I think it might be that the main character annoys me in some ways, and at some moments. I think it may be a case of my liking the book despite the main character, rather than because of her.

Willow occasionally seems to have the stubbornness and rashness of a teenager, and she is frequently a bit clueless; it's usually her sidekick, Phoebe, who displays quick and clever reasoning. Overall, Willow's judgment seems markedly underdeveloped, and her personality leaves much to be desired. I can only hope this was intentional on the author's part and can be attributed to the beginning of Willow's character arc.

I am more intrigued by the other characters, and by the story itself. The story definitely offers room for many interesting possibilities!

Recommend for those who enjoy fantasy

I really enjoyed this book. I was completely drawn in and finished it in a day. (Which may not sound crazy fast but I have two kids under 3, so in mum time that’s very fast lol)
The story was interesting with a few unexpected twists here and there. I really liked that there was a good balance between the story and the romance. It wasn’t just all about her trying to get a man or living her life obsessing over needing a man.
Also supernatural/paranormal people seem to be completely part of regular day life, they aren’t living in secret but are part of normal society. This, at least in my opinion, makes the story even better, it adds interesting layers to social interaction. You can see different races, human/vampire/fairy/witch etc with different prejudices and social statuses, all of which I found interesting and helps build the world.
If you enjoy fantasy, especially in a real world setting, you should give this series a try.

When Past comes back into play life get dangerous

What made the experience of listening to Influential Magic the most enjoyable?

Life get turned upside down, and Lives are lost and some are saved, other are changed forever.

Truly keep you wanting them talk faster find out what happen next

Loved it!!

I really enjoyed listening to this book!! It is very well written and kept me wanting to know more! I loved and hated some of the characters..lol..I couldn't decide which . One minute your mad as all get out at them and the next your seeing something that redeems them. The story is full of action, danger and suspense.
As for Willow , Phoebe, Link and Tal I loved them and their loyalty andfriendship to each other!! I can not wait to see where Willow and Tal's friendship goes! But for next one I think I want to buy the ebook along with audiobook so I can pop back and forth. I can't wait to get started!!

Wishy Washy Heroine that Grew on Me

This is a hard review to write. How can I put it in words without spoiling anything? I loved the story. But at times, the heroine, Willow, would drive me crazy! I wanted to smack her. Why she worried about the bad guys being tortured to get info from them was beyond me after all she went through. And she treated Talisen (hope I spelled that correctly) and David so bad most of the time. Almost seemed selfish a few times. But if I had been through what she had, I would too. I got frustrated because it would take forever to get things explained. But that's what made it keep you hanging. I didn't mean that as in it was drug out. Not at all. There were some twists at the end I never saw coming. I had to stop for a moment and just think about it, I was so stunned. I was also torn between David and Talisen for most of the book. I saw good in David even though he had been bad. Ooh I'm dying to tell about stuff. This world building and story line is so amazing! It's really strong and packed with stuff. I had the ebook and the audio so I would listen at times and read other times. The narrator really brings it to life even more. She does voices so well you think it's actually someone else speaking. I forgot I was listening to just one person. It was like listening to a tv show. I was so absorbed. I think this might be my favorite series of Deanna's now. I highly recommend it.

Exciting New Series

Would you try another book from Deanna Chase and/or Gabra Zackman?

Yes I love this story and I have been enjoy Deanna Chase books for a while but I have to say I am excited to see were this series goes. I liked the story and also the people in this book. I was worried it would be closer to the other series but Deanna did it again and surprised me and I happy to say this is a great book and can't wait for the next one.

Any additional comments?

I so look forward to the next book I hope we don't have to wait to long.

Snooze feast!

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Not sure

Would you ever listen to anything by Deanna Chase again?

Maybe

How could the performance have been better?

This book screamed for a more emotional performance and better character development. I have tried to avoid books narrated by Gabra Zackman because her voice is not suited for changes in character or highly emotional scenes. Her character voices are never more than a slight, weird change in inflection otherwise, it's a monotone reading. She has a beautiful voice, although more suited for hypnotherapy audiobooks.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Irritated. The synopsis was interesting but the heroine Willow was whiney, weak and hard to get behind. I found myself getting irritated and wishing she'd grow a backbone. The plot was scattered and had no real purpose. Some of the main elements of the story e.g. the reason she was able to turn David, were never explained or even resolved...hinted for the next book in the series....nothing.