Tempt the Stars

Cassandra Palmer Series, Book 6

By: Karen Chance

Narrated by: Allyson Ryan

Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Being a goddess is a lot less fun than you might think. Especially when you're only a half goddess, you only found out about it recently, and you still don't know what you're doing half the time. And when you've just used your not-so-reliable powers to burglarize the booby-trapped office of a vampire mob boss.

Yeah, that part sucks. But that's just the tip of the iceberg for Cassandra Palmer, aka the Pythia, the freshly minted chief seer of the supernatural world. After all, Cassie still has to save a friend from a fate worse than death, deal with an increasingly possessive master vampire, and prevent a party of her own acolytes from unleashing a storm of fury upon the world. Totally just your average day at the office, right?

©2013 Karen Chance (P)2013 Tantor

Changes happening everywhere!

Very fast paced and adventurous. Mircha had thrown me for a loop with his feelings for Cassie. However, now. I wonder where Cassie's feelings lie. Are they with Mircha or John? Only the next book will tell.

Boring!

The storyline was confusing. Cassie was whiny. If I hadn't been so far into the series I would have put this back on the "shelf." As it is, I hope that I can get my money back!

Throw me off

I don’t know who is in charge of changing narrator’s but please stop! This is the second series I have listened to that authors changed there narrator’s! The first one did an absolutely amazing job! This one isn’t good and this book felt like it was its own side book! I was totally thrown off and didn’t know where I was felt off from the previous book. I feel like I need to just read the series myself as long as she’s continues to read them. Sorry to the narrator but you need to pick your characters voices better.

Terrible ouch!

Narrator change was just the horrible icing on the cake. Story was disjointed and shallow. Audio editing needs cleaning up. Narrator lost meanings, requiring multiple rewinds. Another cliffhanger leaving you where you were before reading this novel.

WARNING: Terrible Narrator

I hated the narrator... Allyson Ryan is by far the worst.. This is my second review on this particular narrator. She sounds nasally, she squeaks, her tone gets so high pitched that hurts my eardrums. Oh, and the voice impressions were amateur and utterly annoying. The story, had potential too bad I couldn't get over the narrator...

It's a better read than a listen

Not because of the narrator; she does all right; I just need to read this series instead of listening so I can skip over the more ridiculous parts in favor of the 'meat of the story' parts.

Get On With It

What would have made Tempt the Stars better?

Less is more. I made the mistake of listening to the first five books before this one so I could remember everything, Yikes! Don't do it unless you are a die-hard fan who won't be put off by long, long, long detailed descriptions of ....everything and a main character who wants to be taken seriously and do everything herself and then leaves without pants. Really!? She was so immature at times I was speechless. I found myself thinking just get on with it.

Would you recommend Tempt the Stars to your friends? Why or why not?

Fans have to because they have waited so long for this. I understand once you are a true fan you have to go for it! Enjoy!

Did Allyson Ryan do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

I think so - C.Holloway did not know how to pronounce vague or dais or deluge etc. . . so by the end of Book 5 I wanted to pull my hair out. Allyson was a breath of fresh air for me. I am sure die-hards won't agree. I do think narrators should at least listen to how the former performer pronounced names for consistency.

What character would you cut from Tempt the Stars?

I think I am the one that should be cut because it was not a good fit for me. Actually, each character plays an important role in the world Karen has created so I would not cut anyone but I would grow Cassie up. The plus side of her growing up (not in years necessarily but attitude at least) would mean the other characters could interact with more complexity.

Any additional comments?

This series was good for me because I realized I really do lean more toward a Jane Yellowrock, Dani O'Malley, Mac Lane or Cat Russell type of character.

Narration kills this series for me

Would you try another book from Karen Chance and/or Allyson Ryan?

I would not try another book read by Allyson Ryan. I might try a book (but book only, not an audiobook) written by Karen Chance.

Has Tempt the Stars turned you off from other books in this genre?

No, I consider this book to be a one-off within its own series and the broader genre.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

I blame my revulsion to continue beyond chapter 10 on the narration rather than the story. The characters' voices are lame. The intonation is just wrong. I cannot continue listening, even though I really want to find out what happens between Cassie and the war mage.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Tempt the Stars?

I think all the mindless action scenes are unnecessary and unbelievable.