Dark and Devious

Wardens of the Raven Court, Book 1

By: M. J. Padgett

Narrated by: Stephanie Haughton

Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Something dark and devious lurks in the moors around Roisin Dubh’s home, and it’s her duty to stamp it out before it gets its claws into the humans she’s vowed to protect.…even though those humans would kill her on sight if they knew she was Fae.

As a member of the Raven Court of Neverknoll, Roisin is bound by a vow to protect the humans of Gwenlyre from dark Fae at all costs. For her entire life, she’s done her best to blend in with the humans by day and protect them by night. But now, something sinister has entered Gwenlyre, and it will strain Roisin’s vows—and her heart—to their limits.

Finley O’Neill belongs to a human Guild tasked with hunting down Fae and Fae sympathizers...but when he discovers a childhood friend is more than she seems, his allegiance is tested. When a nasty attack tangles Finley deeper into the fray, he must choose his path wisely—one path could make him prey for dark Fae, and the other could end him on the gallows for treason.

When all-out war threatens to destroy everything Roisin and Finley love, they must both choose sides…but in Neverknoll and Gwenlyre, the choices are never black and white.

A new series by M. J. Padgett filled with Celtic mythology, lore, and a dash of fairy tale enchantment.

©2022 Melissa Padgett (P)2022 Melissa Padgett

A very unique and compelling story!

Dark and Devious is a very unique and compelling story; however, the narration for this book is too monotonous. I tried several times and at several different speeds, but there was just no emotion in the performance, and I ended up buying the ebook to read instead. I am glad that I did get the ebook because I would have missed out on an awesome story.

I loved Finley and his evolution throughout the book. He became so much stronger emotionally, and there are many times when he melted my heart with his thoughtfulness. The scene where he gifts Rosion a new chair, in particular, had me tearing up!

Elair broke my heart! He was such a sweet character, so swoon-worthy! And I feel so bad for him. He obviously loves Rosion deeply, but we all know she had to end up with Finley!

Rosion is a strong protagonist. She is a very honorable character, and I admire that about her. Time and again, she makes hard decisions for the good of all. She stuck to her oaths to protect the humans, even when it would have been easier to leave them to their fate. She accepted her place among her people and became a formidable and just Reagent. I absolutely adore her.

I cannot wait to read more about these characters!

Unique & Clean Fae Protector & Romance

Parents- PG13 - middle school and up
Language- None
Violence- PG13 - Fae Raven hunting & killing evil fae, evil fae brutally killing people, while not overly graphic there's quite a bit of blood and some gore mentioned so the squeamish may have some issues
Sexual Content- nothing to warn of, just the kissing variety

I really do like the Fae line of stories but so many of them are in the R or even X rated content level, so I love it when I can find the gem of a clean fae book like this one! I really liked the unique Fae Raven protector, most books show the fae messing with/hurting people but it was nice to see that the Ravens are meant to guard people from the evil fae that enter into human lands. I listened to this one with my 17 year old son and while it does become a "kissing book" there's plenty of action and fight scenes to keep him happy too. The story does grab you pretty quickly and it's not an easy one to put down.

Narrator- 4⭐ I really loved the accent but on the 1x speed she is very slow and hard to listen to, it's completely corrected if you bump the playback speed up to 1.25-1.3x speed. Once the speed is fixed I thoroughly enjoyed listening to her, she has good differentiations and pretty good acting skills.

—I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

OF THE DARK AND DEVIOUS

A UNIQUE STORY, THOUGH A LITTLE DARK, THE NARRATOR DID A GREAT JOB WITH THE STORY.

FAY COURTS ADVENTURE, ROMANCE. ENJOYED IT ALOT

STORY IS GOOD, WELL WRITTEN AND EASY TO FOLLOW.

ACCEPTABLE FOR TEENS AND UP.

NARRATOR WAS GREAT AND EASY TO FOLLOW.