DaR

Darverius, House of DaR Series, Book 1

By: Jennifer Julie Miller

Narrated by: Emily Sutton-Smith, Tor Thom

Kira: In the blink of an eye, my whole world has collapsed around me. Headed towards my dream vacation, I was snatched right out of the air. My husband, the love of my life, was destroyed right in front of my eyes. He fought bravely trying to protect me from a horror neither one of us could have ever imagined. I find myself standing in the spotlight on a stage. Mutilated and tortured, the blood from my body flowing freely down my legs along with my will to live. Piercing yellow eyes emerge from the darkness, but even the shadows can't hide his imposing form. Gentle, but terrifying arms reach out for me, and within their embrace, can I find the will to live again?

DaR: I am a badass, known throughout the galaxy for my brutality, as a ruthless and feared commander. With that being said, somehow I still got coerced into purchasing a slave. My eyes fall upon a small female whose very essence and eternal light is leaking out of her onto the floor below her. I walk up among the beings surrounding her and pull her from the stage, daring, or should I say hoping they try to do something about it. The moment I put her in my arms, everything changes.

Contains mature themes.

©2021 Jennifer Julie Miller (P)2022 Tantor

Love, loss, and love again

This book deals a lot with overcoming the loss of a loved one. It could be rough for those still processing grief of this kind (I had my moments for sure).

The story is pretty brutal at the beginning and the violence/torture was graphic, but there is no rape or sexual assault scenes. The universe that is built seems to be very dangerous for everyone, however after the initial setup, there isn't really much more in the rest of the story and none at that same intensity.

It is a really good slow romance with a mature (40+) female main character which brings a new dynamic to the typical abducted by aliens theme. This is about overcoming loss of not just a loved one, but of everything familiar and learning how to move forward and embrace the new. Solid sci-fi romance with a nod to fantasy, but not erotica. Again, this is a slow building relationship story.

I enjoyed it and was very surprised at the ending as I was expecting some of the characters to be the next stories in the series (and maybe they will), but it ties a lot of them up in a bow enough for this to be a solid stand-alone book.

My only criticism is of Tor Thom's narration. His voice is so very rich and masculine that his female and child characters sometimes sound too rough and similar. I really wish they had done a duet narration style for this book as I think it would have been more effective for the storytelling.

Loved It!

I loved this book. It was my first from this author and I will definitely be continuing this series! Great world building and wonderful characters. My heart broke for the horror, suffering, and loss Kira endured at the beginning of this book. Honestly I'm impressed she didn't break. I loved DaR. He was powerful, respected, but also caring. I loved his relationship with his sons- at least those closest to him. It was unique. I loved how different each one was and I cannot wait to read their stories. She made his dwelling a home, and he gave her family. I also loved Sage- what I wouldn't give to have a dwelling like her! And her little pet was adorable. I want one of those, too!

Emily Sutton-Smith and Tor Thom did a wonderful job with this audiobook. Tom has a perfect deep, masculine voice. While not as good at softening when he has to voice female or child characters, is perfect for our alpha. I liked Emily for Kira and loved her southern accent.

Overall: 5 stars
Performance: 5 stars
Story: 5 stars

Definitely worth the listen!

Don’t really have anything negative to say because I truly enjoyed listening to the book.

must read

this is worth the credit, it is absolutely great read once you started you can't put it down.

DaR is a Perfect Gentleman

Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️.5
Heat Rating: 🔥🔥🔥
Narrator Performance: Female: 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧 Male: 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧

Having never read Jennifer Julie Miller before I had no clue what to expect from this book. I was looking for shorter listens and when I saw that this was under 6 hours and in the + catalogue I couldn’t help but grab it. Boy am I thrilled that I did. I absolutely loved this book. The world building was superb and the action packed beginning drew me in with a quickness. The storyline was rather compelling and the romance was realistic. It wasn’t a slow burn romance. There was no burn at all. Instead, because DaR was a perfect gentleman, we got a romance that was heartfelt, genuine and respectful of Kira’s loss.

There were a few minor things that I found missing in the book. Firstly, Kira’s grief had holes in it. As she learns to live in her new surroundings she only seems to morn certain things. Secondly, this series is obviously going to follow DaR and his sons. What I’m not getting is why all of his children are boys. There was no reason given for that. The third thing that I found odd was a proclamation made by one of DaR’s sons. It was obviously put in the story to lay the groundwork for a future book however I found it suspect that nobody reacted or questioned him about what he said.

Both narrators blew me away with their performances. Tor Thom’s voice seemed especially deep as he portrayed DaR’s steely control and dedication. Emily Sutton-Smith delivered Kira’s southern accented words with easily felt emotion. I look forward to hearing more from them both.

* Jennifer Julie Miller must be a Battlestar fan

Fantastic world buildingand a thrilling story

I wish it could have been longer, I wasn't ready to say goodbye to kira and dar.

Great book

It is sweet and kind and about love and loss. I got so caught up in the story that I read it in one day.

Loved the narration

The story never bogged down. It moved along steadily. I liked this author and bought 3 more books

Wow just wow!🥰🥰

1st off I would have to say the Narrators were totally awesome! They brought this book to life!🥰 The Arthur I have to say Knew what they were doing when they wrote this book! Right away this book will pull you in! It told a wonderful story. Without Using constant sex through the whole thing. You don't have to write a book with constant sex to make it be good!As for as the romance it was a beautiful heartfelt book. Well worthy credit. And I certainly can't wait for the next book🥰🥰🥰 You will love this book!

just wonderful

I love when a male and female narrate the books. And tor thom has the most amazing voice. The characters are fantastic and well written and with the exception of two spots that mess up on the pronouns and the wrong narrator, this book is perfect. I also really enjoy the fact that the lead female role is an older, mature woman. I’m almost 40 and it was actually really nice to have some representation.