Knight Awakened

Circle of Seven, Book 1

By: Coreene Callahan

Narrated by: Suzan Crowley

Length: 17 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

Warlord Vladimir Barbu has seized control of Transylvania, but his claim to the throne remains anything but certain. The king of Hungary opposes his rule, his people despise him, and the high priestess needed to crown him has vanished without a trace. Refusing to see his ambitions thwarted, he hires an assassin to hunt her down.… Killing is the only life Xavian Ramir knows. But now the elite assassin wants out, vowing to start anew after one last job.…

High priestess Afina Lazar is running for her life, desperate to protect the magical amulet entrusted to her care. When Barbu’s hired killer finds her, she knows her only chance of stopping the warlord’s rise to power is to convince this enigmatic - and handsome - hunter that she is more valuable alive than dead. Together, they will undertake a dramatic adventure through a magical world where love and redemption come at a terrible price.

©2012 Coreene Callahan (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

GOOD READ!!! BAD LISTENING

I would have enjoyed this book much more had it been read by another narrator. No offense but her character voices are in need of revamping.. I am glad that I did not burn this to CD because I would have been seriously upset..

Exciting

Overall, from start to finish, this was an exciting book. At first, her captor, then her love, Afina, a sorceress and Xavian need to work together to stop Vladimir, an awful warlord. There are references to abuse and Vladimir, especially, wants to take Afina against her will, so just in case, this is a trigger warning. There's a lot of action, a good amount of romance and overall, the author does a good job building this intricate world. There's a bit too much happening so that it's kind of difficult to really keep track of everything and the book was probably a little longer than it needed to be. however, overall, I really enjoyed the story.

I found Suzan Crowley's narration of the audiobook overall well done. Let me note, however, that I listened to this book at 1.7x speed, which is my normal rate, as I saw other reviews that said that she was a bit slow. In my opinion, she spoke clearly and did a pretty good job differentiating between the characters. A good listen made even better by the fact that it was a read and listen under KU!

poorly narrated

What did you like best about Knight Awakened? What did you like least?

I liked the concept okay, but the narrator was bad.

Would you be willing to try another book from Coreene Callahan? Why or why not?

Sure, I think the story could be interesting.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

She made the characters seem lazy during the times when they should be panicked or in the least worried.

Was Knight Awakened worth the listening time?

Still trying to get through it.

Any additional comments?

I would like to hear this book with a different narrator.

MAGIC IS IN THE VERY AIR WE BREATHE!!

What made the experience of listening to Knight Awakened the most enjoyable?

Alfina, the high priestess developes a personal growth with an assassin who just cannot figure out what makes her tick.

What did you like best about this story?

The details throughout the book, whether through a fight scene or a love scene. The author greatly goes into almost every aspect,

Which character – as performed by Suzan Crowley – was your favorite?

My favorite character in this story was Xavian Ramir. Suzan Crowley managed to humanize this character.

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

I was moved when Xavian Ramir went to war against he war lord he was trained by.

Great read... But..

Any additional comments?

I was thinking of giving this book a 3 star review but I liked it more than "it's okay," which is a 3 star review.
However, I doubt I'll read the next book. It's just way toooo long and it was a little repetitive. The one good thing about my iPad is being able to get a count on how many times a word or phrase is used; Jesu was said 54 times. Rahat was said 33 times and chewing on the bottom lip was used 29 times. Seriously? If the story hadn't been so good I would have given up.
I liked Xavian and Afina a lot. Xavian's lust for her was crazy but his love for her was written better than any I've ever read before.
I also liked Henri, Cristobal, Garren, Cruz, Andri and Shay. All the bad guys, Vladimir, Halal and Al Pacii were all just as bad as a person can possibly imagine.
Besides it being sooo long this book is all about story telling. You have to go through pages and pages before anyone says anything and I don't really like that. It's like not involving the players in the book. When there's no dialogue I get bored pretty easy. It was a great story that's why I finished it. There was some really great sexual tension and some awesome sex in this book and if you don't mind there being so little dialogue then this book is for you.

As to the narrator: She was good and bad. She did show emotions while reading, which is good. BUT her males didn't exactly sound like men, which is bad.
I mean, really. When a book keeps referring to the hero's voice a low and sexy and the narrator sounds like a girl, how stupid is that. If she had sounded like a man when a man was talking she would have been a perfect narrator. I don't think I'd want to listen to her again if she can't even try to sound manly.

Fascinating!

I first posted this review on January 23, 2013 but it was removed along with many other reviews. So, if you find this is a problem then please call Audible.
Xavian was taken as a child and learned to do nothing else but kill and be evil. Once he escapes , he takes a jobs only for hire, jobs where he gets paid to kill. Xavian Ramir takes a job from Warlord Vladmir Barbu to bring in the high priestess Afina Lazor who is running for her life. The Warlord has seized control of Transylvania but he's hated and despised by the people. He can't be crowned until the high priestess is found. Xaxian finds Afina but something compels him not to turn her in just yet. He soon finds himself attracted to the high priestess. He learns Afina didn't just run away so that Vladimir doesn't get crowned, she ran to protect a magical amulet that was entrusted to her. She knows she has to convince Xavian that she's more valuable alive than dead.
The storyline is set in AD 1331. Overall, it was a wonderful story. It was confusing at times with trying to keep up with all the characters. It was an hard story to follow because of character development. You don't really get to connect to the characters. The romance wasn't really there either. I think this story would've been great with more development. I think that the next story. Narrator Suzan Crowley did a great job with her telling of this story. I give it 4 stars

Evading Assassins & a Warlord

I thought the narrator was pretty good. But the story was a lot.

Assassin Xavian Ramir was sent his assassin order leader Halal to capture Afina Lazar and return her to warlord Vladimir Barbu.

Afina is the high priestess and her endorsement (and marriage) is necessary in order for Barbu to retain control of the conquered Transylvania.

As Xavian captures Afina and begins his journey to return her, he is surprised that she isn't what he thought she would be. First of all, she was running with her daughter. Second, she is a smart, observant and brave woman. As he gets to know her, he begins to question why Barbu is trying to force Afina into a union and he also begins to question his latest assignment.

Of course, they begin to develop feelings for each other. Afina possesses magic that she isn't sure how to use. But the magic grew once Xavian kissed her. Xavian decides he cannot and will not hand over Afina, not with their bond growing so strong. But that means disobedience to his assassin order as well as war with Barbu.
Now Xavian & Afina are being hunted and they have to find a way escape Halal and an angry warload.

I felt like a lot was going on and thrown in this book. It was just a lot. I didn't think the Dragon's made that much of a difference to my enjoyment either.

But I loved Xavian and Afina. Both were warriors who cared about others and would willing sacrifice themselves for the benefit for others. Their love was magically and together they were stronger. I didn't quite understand Halal's reasons for being a bad guy, but I assume we will see more in book 2.

Overall, it was an okay beginning to the series.

This was what I needed!

Would you consider the audio edition of Knight Awakened to be better than the print version?

Yes. You have to increase the speed to really enjoy it.

Any additional comments?

Great listen! Action and romance. Just increase the speed and enjoy!

Thankfully I didn't pay for this audio version!!!!

If you could sum up Knight Awakened in three words, what would they be?

Don't buy it.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The characters are all interesting. Xavian is too cruel, don't know why the heroine puts up with it. OF course, all is well at the end.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator is so horrible that I wanted to scream. Her tone is monotonous, she speaks so slowly I got furious. She is without a doubt the worst narrator I've ever heard. She never gets the mood right. The characters wouldn't talk like that. She makes the heroine sound weak-willed and pathetic. I wish I had paid for it so I could return it!!! Hated it, hated it.

She almost ruined the book for me. I had to switch to reading only because I couldn't stand her a moment longer. When I found myself shouting at my car radio and screaming "I hate you", I knew I was at the end of my patience.

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

Aside from the narrator I couldn't say I had an extreme reation.

Any additional comments?

The book itself is overlong with so much, too much description. Too many words. Get to the point sooner, please! Perhaps I could have forborne it if it weren't for the narrator.

I will never order another book with this narrator.

Totally hooked! Great series

Well Ms Callahan has me hooked on another one of her series. This book has everything you could possibly want. A hero looking for redemption. A heroine trying to find her inner strength. Villains you want to jump into the book and beat down yourself. It has moments that will make you tear up, moments that will make you fan yourself and moments that will make you bust out laughing. I know you're wondering how but telling you would be ruining the story. So glad I bought this book and I most definitely will be buying book 2.