Dark Heirloom: A Vampire Urban Fantasy

An Ema Marx Novel, Book 1

By: J.D. Brown

Narrated by: MJ Webb

Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's Summary

Vampires. Shifters. Nephilim. Ema Marx is their savior, but she can’t believe the bloodsuckers exist. Or that she’s one of them. 

Sure, night vision and super strength are cool, but when an ancient premonition threatens her life, Ema just wants to get the hell out of Dodge. Or in this case, the mysterious castle she wakes up in. 

Jalmari is a vampire prince with a bad attitude. He wants nothing to do with Ema, until he discovers she's a threat to his throne. Now he's out for blood. Ema's blood. 

Ema's survival hangs on her ability to stay one step ahead of Jalmari while curbing her own morbid thirst. Can she save herself, or will she succumb to a dangerous destiny? 

Dark Heirloom is the first installment of the five-time award-winning Ema Marx series. If you like strong female heroines, lots of action, and a hint of romance, then you'll love J.D. Brown's gripping urban fantasy world. 

Pick up this page-turner today! 

Now a complete series:

Dark Heirloom (Book One) 

Dark Liaison (Book Two) 

Dark Becoming (Book Three) 

Dark Ascension (Book Four) 

Dark Heiress (Book Five) 

Novellas

Athena's Oracle

The Warrioress

A Vampyre Christmas Carol

©2020 J.D. Brown (P)2020 J.D. Brown

Not Your Average Vampire Story... Great Listen

When I was asked to give this book a listen, I wondered if this was just going to be aNoThEr VaMpIrE sToRy. However, I was wrong and I am so glad I was. By chapter 2, I was hooked. “Dark Heirloom” adds even more to the vampire universe in a unique way. This book will have you listening and wanting more. You quickly fall in love with the characters and cheer them on.

The narrator does great with switching between the voices to help distinguish the different characters speaking. For me, this was really helpful as this was my first ever audible book and I’m definitely more a visual person. You can clearly hear the protagonist’s voice. The narration is clear and is read at a perfect rhythm and rate. I even chose to speed up the volume by 1.3x-1.5x and it didn’t distract from the story at all.

One thing that I found odd (and maybe it’s because I’m very new to audiobooks) is the white noise-like sounds between some (but not all) of the chapters. I could have personally gone without that but it makes sense as it may be a means to help the listener transition from one chapter to the next. This NEVER happens during the actual story and doesn’t distract the listener. But hey, I’m new audiobooks, so what do I know?

This book is great for the young adult reader or for anyone who is looking for an escape from reality. There are some romance or adult-like moments (sexual encounters/reference, adult language) so be cautious. All in all, this is a fun book to listen to and I cannot wait to listen to the next book in the series.

Gripping

This story is incredible. The main characters are intriguing and deep. There are layers of different stories, yet all culminating into the main story and they're all interwoven beautifully. Left me wanting more and ready to keep listening to the next book.

The narrator does a fabulous job with all of the accents and her inflections are spot on.

Uh ok

There is this weird static noise in between each chapter that is hella loud and not necessary at all. Also, the accents of each person this narrator does is grating on my nerves. I’m like 20 min in and I have no clue what’s going on. I just can’t finish it. Waste of credit!

Dark Heirloom

This is a great vampire book by JD Brown, and MJ Webb did an excellent job of narrating it. MJ kept the accents/voices and characters straight. Very engaging. Good job! Can't wait to listen to book two.

Good but....

I really enjoyed the book BUT there is one thing that I hated...that was the transition between chapters...it was a static type sound and it was crap...they really should remove it. The narration, story and characters were good. I surprisingly enjoyed it. Cant wait for book 2.

Really enjoy this story

Author: Jennifer Rayes
Fantasy romance scenes, some corse language and violence, but doesn’t go into gory details.

The story is well constructed. Leaves you wanting more. Well Worth a credit.

Narrated by: Elizabeth Kelly brings the characters alive with their own individual unique voice, she does a wonderful job.

I just love this story. Can’t wait to see what happens in the next book.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher free of charge for a honest, unbiased review.

Interesting take on vampires and great narration!

This was my very first audiobook and I really enjoyed it. The plot was interesting and provided a different, fresh take on vampire mythology. I've read plenty of vampire books and this one didn't feel predictable at all. Jesu was my favorite character and Jalmari was easy for me to hate, but I hope that he will redeem himself later in the series. This book isn’t a stand alone story, so I am looking forward to listening to the next book once it comes out.

I do want to note for future readers/listeners as a trigger warning, there is a rape alluded to in the book. No details are given and it is oddly brushed off pretty quickly. It didn't seem necessary to the plot, maybe it will become more clear later in the series.

I loved the narration. The narrator was very easy to listen to and brought the characters to life. MJ Webb did an amazing job with all the characters and their accents. Her transition between each character was seamless. At first, I was impressed with her voices for Jalmari and Jesu and then she amazed me all over again with the Hell scene and all the new characters. I really can’t wait to hear the next book to see what new characters she will bring to life - with hopefully lots of German accents! ;)

My first audible

Overall I absolutely loved the story, towards chapter 18 it seemed to just be dragging! The narration was spot on! I was able to feel and understand everything Ema was going through emotionally!

The story was very great, just wish it wouldn't have been so dragged out! Can't wait to see what is in store for Ema in the future.

For this being my first audible I would highly recommend it!

Dark Hirloom review

Despite it being written in a first person narrative, I actually enjoyed listening to this audio book and look forward to more from this author.

Definitely a must listen!

I had such a good experience with this book! Right out of the gate, I was SO impressed with the narration. MJ has a gift for accents. She easily transitioned from one accent to another. It was so easy to keep up. There was an odd static in between the chapters but nothing that would keep me from listening again.

The book, I love a good vampire book. I liked that this one was different! It’s not all die hard romance. But there are the steamy parts that keep you coming back for me. I adore the main character, Ema. She’s very relatable, for me at least.

This is definitely a must listen!

Couldn't turn it off!!!

I'm a romance girl, through and through, but as soon as I started listening to this book I was hooked! MJ Webb has so many voices that I worried that she has multiple personalities at one point; how can one woman do that? She's amazing, and has mastered both male and female voices as well as many dialects and accents. her way with accents is great too.

The story from JD Brown is totally compelling, but again I think that having it read to me is what makes it. There is so much movement and feeling within the writing that the reader feels part of the story; much of that is that MJ Webb really brings the story to life, almost making the listener part of the furniture or one of the characters themselves. You feel as though you need to respond to the dialogue!

MJ Webb puts so much angst and passion into her performance that it was really hard to turn her off! I wanted to listen, to know what was going to happen next in the story. I really didn't want it to end and then it came to a cliff hanger and I couldn't start the next book quick enough!

I loved this audiobook and I'm totally recommending it to you as a either a seasoned Vampire reader or if your like me a first time Paranormal Reader. xx

I received a free copy of this audio book from the author and provide my honest review voluntarily.

Had me totally enthralled.

I received this book free for an honest review .

This book is so good I was sad it ended.
Ema is attacked one night and the police advise her to go stay at a friends as all her possessions are lost and they fear her assailant might come after her again. She goes to her Mothers but things don’t work out so she leaves and heads back home where she’s attacked again and she wakes up in a strange castle in another country.
Ema’s life is threatened by an ancient prophecy and she has to come to terms that shifters , vampires and nephilims are all real.
Can Ema stay one step ahead and ensure she’s safe or will the prophecy unfold putting her in danger .
This isn’t your normal run of the mill vampire story and you need to read or listen to it.
MJ Webb was brilliant at the voices and accents and made the book more enjoyable . I am eagerly awaiting book 2 and hoping it’s not to far off.