Bloodfire

Blood Destiny, Book 1

By: Helen Harper

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld

Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Mack might be, to all intents and purposes, a normal looking human, but she lives with a pack of shapeshifters in Cornwall in rural England after being dumped there by her mother when she was just a young child. She desperately wants to be accepted by her surrogate family, not least because a lot of them hate her for merely being human, but for some reason her blood just won't allow the transformation to occur. With a terrible temper to match her fiery red hair, Mack is extraordinarily useful in a fight, and when her pack alpha is brutally and abruptly murdered, she swears vengeance. Unfortunately, his murder also draws in the Brethren - the leaders of the shapeshifter world - who will slaughter everyone in Mack's small rural pack if they discover her true identity. Unfortunately Corrigan, the green-eyed muscle-bound Lord Alpha of the Brethren, doesn't let much slip by him.

©2013 Helen Harper (P)2014 Tantor

is this YA?

Even for YA the story is too simple and predictable. the writing is not good. This is not a horrible book, just not a good one. I'm sure it will appeal to some but just isn't interesting to me.

very different but interesting

this was very cool. I really like mack and the Lord alpha. I am rooting for them to get together big time.

A bit Mary Sue-ish, think I'll skip the series

Story:
The main character is rather Mary Sue-ish, in that 'oblivious to hot dude flirting, never really understands what's going on but runs headlong into trouble and expects everyone to forgive her for her recklessness, but boy can she kick ass' kind of way.
The general plot is rather promising, but the characterization isn't something I can tolerate long-term. I've also read reviews of further books and don't think the series lives up to its potential anyway, so I'm ending on what I think is a high note, relatively speaking.

Narrator:
Saskia Maarleveld is hot and cold for me personally, and it has everything to do with how interesting the book is. If it's interesting, she's great. But if the book gets boring, or there's a slow chapter or few, her voice can honestly make me drowsy. That's happened now with two books she's narrated. I can't risk listening to her narration too close to bedtime or I risk falling asleep at my computer.

Original take, but frustrating.

I found the storyline very original and thought Saskia Maarleveld did an amazing job. That said, I found the character's unwillingness to do anything even remotely intelligent to be very frustrating, as the author kept telling us how smart she was.

WOW WHAT A PAGE BURNER!! Loved every minute.

HELEN HARPER is quickly becoming one of my favorite author's, I truly appreciate her quick wit, writing style and most of all the quirky and lovable characters!! Bloodfire was the first book I read and listened to with Audible but after that I am hooked, so I've already ordered 3 more of her books, and can't wait to read the next one..... I just hope that I remember to stop reading before 3 a.m. so I can get some sleep!!!

Loved this book!

Good story line. love this narrator and am eager for the next in the series.

Good narrator, story not for me

The narrator did a pretty good job which is probably why I finished listening to this one. It's different and I can't really say one way or the other if that's good or bad just that I didn't care for how it ended and it seems silly to introduce us to a whole slew of characters where most probably won't be moving forward in the series, I'm sure the important ones will be. If I read about a wolf pack I want to get to know the members of that pack, if I read about a lone kick ass hero I get to know that hero, here we find out the lead is not a shifter and leaves the pack at the end, just didn't like that, plus while the book did have some pretty good parts, most, for me, was boring and hard to keep my attention.

The summary doesn't do it justice

I loved this book! The writing is good and sleek and the heroine is one of the very, very few female heroines (in this and other genres), that isn't weak, whiny, self-harming in one way or another, needlessly snarky or bitchy or a disguised damsel in distress. No Sirrey, this "kitten" kicks some serious butt!
I loved the humour and the action and the characters. Actually, there's nothing I didn't like about this book.
The characters are really well fleshed out and believable. Even Anton, the kind-of-antagonist. I not only know plenty of people who would act in the same shitty way, but I kind of understand his reasons. I don't like him, obviously, and I'd love to smack some sense into him, but I see where he's coming from.
Corrigan I also liked a lot. He's mysterious because no one really knows a lot about him and his ways (well, no one Mack knows and trusts, anyway), and even though Mack is convinced he's the enemy, his actions make you wonder pretty early on if that is really the case. And yet again, Macks thoughts were very understandable to me (even if she did take a long time to notice his flirting with her. A long, long time. But I think we've all been there).
I also loved the side characters, especially Alex.

The plot was good too. There was suspense, action (very well described fight scenes) and an imaginative world too boot! I love that in this world there aren't just the usual shifters, vamps and fairies around, but supernatural creatures from other cultures as well. It makes the world seem so huge and interesting, even if everything (well, almost everything) is set in rural Cornwall. I also liked the notion of a pack of shifters rather than werewolves, with people shifting into an animal they have most in common with.

About the narration:
Saskia Maarleveld is freaking fantastic! So many non-British narrators, when trying to use a British accent, overdo it and sound anything but natural, but Saskia's main accent is soft and, well, just very pretty. I actually liked all her accents, which almost never happens to me. And oh, Corrigans voice! I never thought I'd say this, but yes: this woman knows how to portray a deep, sexy male voice! Whenever Corrigan spoke, I completely forgot that the narrator was female. I just swooned. Really, now. With a single book, she has turned into my favourite female narrator. I've already been actively looking for other books she's narrated, she's that good.

Good story but the language was pretty foul.

Would you try another book from Helen Harper and/or Saskia Maarleveld?

I bought Bloodfire and Bloodmagic but I probably won't read her books again unless she gets rid of the foul language

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Get rid of foul language

What aspect of Saskia Maarleveld’s performance would you have changed?

Performance was good

Mixed feelings

I liked the book over all, but I got tired of her hiding the truth from the Alpha leader. That part of the story got old quick and some of her reasons to keep it hidden. I just wanted to shake Mak.