Emperor

Galactic Kings, Book 2

By: Anna Hackett

Narrated by: Vivienne Leheny, Stephen Dexter

Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

When an experimental starship test goes horribly wrong, a scientist from Earth finds herself fighting for her survival, and her only lifeline is a wild, powerful alien king.

Waking on an alien world, wracked by pain, Dr. Poppy Ellison is confused and adrift…until his voice calls to her in the darkness. The big, wild, enthralling man reveals that she’s been infected and is turning into an alien shape-shifter. Poppy has always been smart, practical, and boring, but with her entire life turned upside down, there is no one she can trust…except for this alien wolf.

Emperor Brodin Damar Sarkany is king of Damar and its shape-shifters. As wild as the forest city they call home, the Damari can be volatile, always fighting to control the wolf inside. Brodin uses his immense strength to keep his people in check and protect them from the most dangerous evil of all—his war-mongering father. He can’t afford the distraction of a small, tantalizing woman from Earth, even when everything about Poppy sings to the instincts of both man and wolf.

As his father’s ruthless warlord attacks, innocent children are at risk, and Poppy knows she has to help by mastering her new, emerging abilities. She must also face the shocking passion that explodes between her and Brodin. But as Poppy and Brodin hunt down the enemy, they uncover a plot that could mean the destruction of all the Damari…if they don’t stop it in time.

©2022 Anna Hackett (P)2022 Anna Hackett

Fantastic!

I love this series; Anna Hackett has done it again! We get to find out what happens to Poppy and her emperor. Both narrators made the story come to life; definitely worth a credit!

Brodin

Brodin takes in the infected Poppy as a favor to his brother. He has no idea that all things will change upon her arrival and recovery, or that she'll play a huge role in the continued war against his father.

The chemistry is amazing. I love how strong each still get to be and how everything lines up to end this second chapter of the Galactic Kings series.

Superbad villain!

The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💙🖤💚❤️
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📙📘
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌍🌏
Character development: 😠😘🤓🥰
Narrator(s): 🎙🎙🎙
Narration Type: Dual Narration

The heroine: Dr. Poppy Ellison - she is a doctor and works for Ninotech, a large corporation on Earth that specializes in experimental space technology. She was currently working on a wormhole drive project along with her pilot friend, Mallory when something went wrong and the ship spun out of control, breaking apart. Her half of the ship crash landed separately from Mallory, on an alien planet, Poppy was found and taken to Damar when it was found they could help her more.

The Hero: Emperor Brodin Damar Sarkany - He is brother to Overlord Rhain Zhalto Sarkany from the first book. They each have their own planet that they rule over. Brodin is king of Damar, and all the shapeshifters on the planet. Like Rhain in Overlord, Brodin is at war with his father who has his own planet but is waging war on his son’s in order to try to get them to join him. Though he is a brutal tyrant, so Brodin wants none of that, like Rhain.

The Story: Poppy wakes up to a burning pain and she doesn’t know who or where she is, though she is in a bed and there are people around her talking about her “transformation”. They know that her name is Poppy and that her pain levels are about as high as they can be. She had been experimented on by a warlord sent by Brodin’s father and she was infected by Damari blood. The last thing Brodin needs is a weakness right now, so he tries to keep away from Poppy.

I love the premise of this one. The idea of waking up on an alien planet with new powers, is certainly a fun one and different than most alien romance. Though at first I didn’t really like the story, but I kept listening and it got better and better. The witch that Brodin’s father sent to wreak havoc, really was a baddy and did some horrible things. It really held my interest and I loved the suspense and action throughout the story.

This book is told in dual points of view via dual narration and was narrated by Vivienne Leheny and Stephen Dexter. Stephen Dexter is one of my favorite male narrators and has a deep husky voice and is great at portraying emotion through his voice. Vivienne Leheny has a low voice for a female and she seemed to overact a bit too much for my liking, her emotions seemed too overblown to be genuine.

Pretty Good Book

This book had an interesting storyline with enough action to keep it going. Vivienne still goes a bit overboard with narration, but she does a good job as does Stephen. Will continue to listen if this is a series.

Enjoyed

I’ve enjoyed all of Anna’s book so far and this one was justified as enjoyable as the others. Looking at to listening to the next one in the series.

Exciting story!

4.5 Stars

Emperor Brodin Damar Sarkany is tasked with helping human Poppy Ellison survive the change occurring in her body after she is purposely infected with blood that turns her into a partial wolf shifter. This is a rigorous change, and Poppy is having a hard time adjusting to the pain. For some reason, Brodin makes her feel safe when she is hurting the most. He promises his brother that he will see Poppy through the change, and he is honoring that promise, but he is also drawn to her for some reason. These two brothers and a third brother rule three of the planets in a solar system comprised of five planets. One is uninhabitable and the other is ruled by their father, who seems to be power-hungry and is sending horrible hordes of animals, creatures, and warlords to each planet to disrupt them and hopefully overthrow each one. His ultimate aim is to have his sons by his side so he can use their power to rule the entire solar system. However, his sons are fighting against his rule and his tyranny, and fighting the invading forces that he sends to attack each planet.

This book was difficult to put down once I started it. It is tense and fast-paced. The action rarely slows down, and there is always a new challenge to face. Brodin and Poppy learn to fight together and save each other several times throughout the course of the story. They are surrounded by a good team of other fighters and they aren’t afraid to face danger and overwhelming odds. Poppy’s skills are the perfect match for Brodin’s skills. She is strong in areas where he isn’t as strong, and vice versa. They make an excellent team. This story is just so much fun! These characters are likeable and they face their challenges with strength and dignity. They are supportive of the others around them. It was unexpectedly delightful to have Brodin know everyone in his village. Even though he is an emperor, this detail makes him more likeable and approachable. And making Poppy so intelligent and curious makes her a very intriguing protagonist in her own right.

The narrators do a fine job of conveying the story to listeners. The recording quality is excellent, and the voice acting is clear, distinct, and appropriate for the characters they portray. Each character has a distinct voice. There aren’t any extraneous noises either.

This is the second story in this series. It can be read or heard as a stand-alone, but would be a better experience if readers have read or listened to Overlord first. This is a wonderful series by a very creative writer.

Good. But, I Wanted More

I liked this one but not as well as the first. The hero, Brodin, is so big, brooding, and hotttt. He was ringing my bell. I could not wait to see him and Poppy unite and I was not disappointed. The sexy times were grouped in one patch of sizzling pages.

Here’s the catch. As much as I loved how sexy this was, I needed more. I needed more connection, smolder, and build up. I needed to know more about Poppy’s transition. I needed more engagement and conversation between Poppy and Brodin. It was difficult to buy that they had a real love connection. It all felt so dependent upon the sex.

I did enjoy getting to know more about this world, these people,and the enemies they faced. The Damari are alien versions of werewolves. They are fascinating. We learned more about the struggle against Zavere and his minions. I look forward to seeing this conflict in future novels.

I hate the male narrator’s work in the audiobook. His vocal expression vacillates between being completely overreacted or completely flat. His female voices are terrible also. His male voices are good but that’s all. I wish Anna would let Vivienne do the narration alone. She is fabulous.

Exciting again and again

Good story. A little predictable but not of these books are and that I what we love about them. Definitely needs a female narrator all the voices sounded like husky men.

Loved it

Great fighting couple who were fated from the beginning the the Galactic Kings series. Just got the captain and the first claw book 😍

I was so excited to see this on Audible

Anna Hackett just rules. I couldn’t wait for book 2 to come on Audible and I was not disappointed. Amazing. The narrators did just amazing job! If you loved book 1, run to book 2, then your like me…waiting for book 3 lolol.