Exiled Heir

The Empty Throne Trilogy, Book 1

By: Kai Butler

Narrated by: Greg Tremblay

Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

Without him, I’m a dead man, but if he knew who I was, he would kill me himself.

Miles Castillo has spent his entire life running from the crime his parents committed. He’s an alpha without a pack, and a son whose very name is poisoned. When two werewolf hunters catch him, he has to choose between a man who wants his head mounted on a wall and Cade Bartlett, the mage prince who doesn’t realize who Miles is.

The icy prince has a job for Miles, one that will keep Miles’s head on his shoulders: become Prince Cade’s consort and find out who is trying to kill him.

As Miles delves deeper into Cade’s court, he begins seeing the truth beneath Cade’s chilly exterior. The more the prince trusts him, the closer he gets to seeing under Miles’s mask as well.

What will happen when Cade realizes the secret Miles holds puts both of their lives at risk?

©2023 Kai Butler (P)2023 Kai Butler

loved every about this except for the cliff hanger

now we have till wait till God knows when for a conclusion. after all this angst there better be a happy ending

Great story, narration could be better though.

The story was ripe to push all the dramatic, angry, happy and sappy buttons. I could envision the characters, see their lives, understand their motivations.

The narrating, however, left a little to be desired. Most of Greg Tremblay's voices were well done, but Cade spent most of the book sounding like someone with a cold. There were also parts I could tell he'd misread as he'd gone along, where he started a sentence, but he didn't realize it's modes and nuances until part-way through. I feel like, for these reasons, book chapters should be read silently before they're read audibly. The lack of pauses where a pause should be, obvious questions sounding like statements, and using a tone of voice that's inappropriate to the situation conveyed by the sentence are examples I came across in this reading. I don't feel like I have the voice for doing audiobooks, but if I did do audiobooks, I would read each chapter before I narrated it, and any mistake would force me to start over. I've also heard other readers yawn during their narrating, something else that's a little difficult to get past, though fortunately I didn't hear that and Greg Tremblay's work.

It's not enough to stop me from listening to further of his work, but since comments are able to be made, I felt perhaps it would be appropriate to also provide constructive criticism about the issues I noticed.

Exiled Heir

kai books are an auto buy for me after her San Amaro series. This one hooked me just as fast. Great pace, narrator is perfection (as always), and I never feel like I've read it before with Kai Buttler. It all feels new and exciting.

the is a fun book

The storyline was a little bit obvious but definitely going to be waiting for the sequel.

More than I'd expected

I was hoping this would be a casual read. With so many overused tropes it's easy to expect little effort in a romance involving werewolves. What I got was a high-magic Game of Thrones story. I'm pleasantly surprised but also annoyed that I'm going to have to wait to find out what is going to happen. (worth your time)

Another masterpiece

Love the characters and the beautifully unique magic that Kai always entwines into her stories. So excited to see where this series leads! And of course brought to life with Greg’s incredible voice ❤️

The story was emotional

I liked the characters and the supernatural world author developed for them in this book. The story was super emotional I felt all the emotions. One moment I am cheering for a character and the next moment hating their royal attitude. Greg is golden.

Cliffhanger ending

Very enjoyable listen. I always like Kai Butler. Reader is perfect. Bit of a slow start, with Cade being difficult to like at first. I could tell early on who the enemy was. I liked the development of the mystery, with plenty of red herrings. Things sped up almost too much in the last hour of the book, with a cliffhanger ending that we’ll have to wait for few more books for conclusion.

Loved it!

Well written great mix of plot, story and magic. Easy to follow and to pick up after a few days of reading breaks

Wow!

I liked this more that I thought I would based on the blurb. I found the story engaging and fun. The things I enjoyed so much in the San Amaro series: mystery, intrigue, smart & snarky protagonists...are all here, with enough differences that it doesn't feel formulaic.

Greg Boudreaux's narration is perfect. I am always amazed at his range of characterizations. Especially with the0 female characters. IMHO Greg is the most talented narrator in the bunch. I never lose track of the characters with him like I do with other narators. I never have to go back and re-listen to figure out who is speaking.

I am disappointed that I will now have to wait for the next book!!