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

Much better than I was expecting

The book summary really didn't do this book justice. I found it an excellent read with a lot more complexity than I was expecting..

It follows the well-trodden path of a magical world separate to the "muggle" world with rules about not letting the non-magical people find out about the reality of magic. However it establishes a good universe through which the story unwinds. The characters are all rich and have a depth to them, and the author doesn't separate them into distinct good/bad groups.

After reading this book I immediately downloaded the next in the series. I rarely do that.

To top it all off, the narrator is brilliant. Her performance significantly enhances the experience and adds an additional dimension to the main character.

She is so good that I would pay to hear her read a telephone directory.

Finally a real heroine

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

It seems that half of the books I read with a female super power lead have them as either self abusive women, or caught in excessive bad boy mode. Mack is neither of these and refreshing, the other characters and story are also refreshing.

What other book might you compare Bloodfire to and why?

The Mercy Thompson series or Kitty Norville series are other great female lead series. While I generally loved those as well, this story had its own sense of flare and unexpected results and subtle sub stories.

Which character – as performed by Saskia Maarleveld – was your favorite?

The lead Mack, she was not weak, not into bad boys, she had great depth and convictions right along with her flaws. The internal struggles were great and not over powering the story and she resulted in a very believable character.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes, and then some.

Any additional comments?

So far I like the world she created for her story.

Lovely narrator. Downer of a story.

I liked the way the story developed. But what a downer! I kept waiting for some reprieve - and it never came. Not only that, but the lowest point is at the end. The unsatisfying ending May eventually motivate me to read the next book. But I really wish this one had a self contained arc that is satisfying on some level. The highlight of the book is the narrator. Loved her voice!

Celtic is not pronounced with an 'S'!

Great starting story - though a bit heavy-handed with the love interest. The narrator has a nice english accent - either by inheritance or talent but the pronuncication of far too many of the words is inauthentic enough to be thoroughly distracting. Timbre great, but it seems that no effort was put into researching place names, slang, intonation of insults of many infractions. That said, the story and otherwise pleasant voices and characterizations worked fine.

Wow!

Took a chance on this series and I don't regret a second! All the elements that I enjoy - great story, kick-a** strong female lead, alpha guy, action and great narration.

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.

Not bad.

This book seems to set the stage for the rest of the story. Not a lot of action, just enough to keep it interesting, I definitely like the attitude of the main character and think there is a lot of potential to this story, I hope to see some of that in the next book. :) Narration was Awesomely done.

weak

What disappointed you about Bloodfire?

The storyline was weak and didn't really hold up. The "heroine" has to be saved. It might make an ok pre-teen book if the swearing was left out. It might be one of those books that works better as a read rather than a listen too. There is a lot of repetition......we get it, if the brethren find out she is human it's a problem.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

All of the main character's emotions are more or less in the same slightly breathy tone.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

It was shorter than some

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

The Ending Absolutely Sucked

I can't believe the ending. Spoiler. Instead of the heroine winning, in the end she lost everything. What a disappointment.

Light sort of romanticy chiclit with fighting?

What made the experience of listening to Bloodfire the most enjoyable?

The narration was really good. The characters were fun, the action scenes were thought out.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Bloodfire?

The bickering.

What about Saskia Maarleveld’s performance did you like?

Good all round.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

The Cornwall you never knew existed.

Any additional comments?

The heroine got a little bit whiny from time to time but it was nice to see her try her best and not need rescuing all the time like so many other heroines in this genre.

Disappointed.......

I tried really hard to like this book and I had thought I had found a replacement for the Kate Daniels series but lord the book missed the mark big time. The story line read as if it would be really good but I have to say the Heroine was just beyond annoying - talk about crappy attitude - there was nothing to like about her. She was bloody miserable all the time with her friends, with her pack and her woe is me and my human life living with the pack attitude was just idiotic!! I unfortunately downloaded the second book thinking it would be really good series but I actually can’t bring myself to listen to it. What a complete waste! Seriously don’t bother

Fantastic serie! better than the lazy witch

Action packed, slow burn romance, funny.
I found the lazy witch series to bland. This one is much better.
Great serie similar to Darkfever by Karen Moning.

A fantastic series

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this series. it's a great storyline that brings shifters, mages, fae, and odd magical creatures together to fight for the greater good. The narrator does help to bring the book to life, but unfortunately, I found her "Alex voice" pretty irritating by book 2 and a few mispronounced words. I think as a narrator, you should look up and learn the correct pronunciation of an unfamiliar word. However, I would still recommend this 5 book series without any hesitation.

What will the kitten do next?

Halfway through I was shouting at the storey line it was becoming so clear. I wish she did more like healing her sick pack mates before she went through the portal. I’m eggar to see what’s in stored or our little kitten.

Story fine, performance was something else

The narrator did a passable British accent. Cornish would have been better, but the mispronounced words were very distracting. There was even one instance of “barred” teeth rather than “bared”.
Celtic with a soft “s” is the Scottish football team, not the tribe. Other words were pronounced the American way which is disconcerting and off putting to a British listener.

Enjoyable story

Let me start with the narration. Other reviewers have mentioned problem with the accents of the characters but they didn't bother me. A few weeks ago I listened to a book with a 'so-called' Indian accent and it ruined that book for me, so I understand that the accents in this book could bother some people. I did however, had to increase the speed of the narration, without it I probably would have given up in the middle.
The story is interesting and I enjoyed it. I liked Mac's character. She was very bold with abilities to back it up. Normally, I get annoyed and irritated by such characters as they don't know when to stop but Mac stayed just on this side of the line for me. She was an alpha without ever being able to be one and the biggest secret of her life was constantly dangling as sword over her head. I also felt Mac's frustration quite keenly after the fight as if it was my own. It was different and even though I was thrown off initially, by how the fight ended, I liked it.
Overall I enjoyed listening to the book.

Blood fire

I enjoyed the story , it was unique and Mackenzie was a great heroine .I thought in the beginning it was a little tedious because of the narration , but I persevered and it was worth it . It’s really not difficult to do do a Cornish accent , I’m from Cornwall and it was so far away from the accent it was laughable . I think if you can’t do some just don’t try! Any way I am going to read the next in the series because the storyline is great

Fun story

Really enjoyed the easy listening style of the narrator
Kept me listening and left me wanting more

Great series

I love this series. Hooked me from the start and I had few sleepless nights as I could not put it down, I recommend