Forging the Future

Change of Heart

By: Mary Calmes

Narrated by: Sean Crisden

Length: 6 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

A Change of Heart Novel

Jin Church is back where he started, alone, wandering, and uncertain of his path. It's not by choice but by circumstance, as he remembers he's a werepanther...but not much else. He knows one thing for sure - he needs to find the beautiful blond man who haunts his dreams.

Logan Church is trapped in a living hell. His mate is missing, his tribe is falling apart, and he's estranged from the son he loves with all his heart. His world is unraveling without his mate by his side, and he has no one to blame but himself.

If Jin can regain his memory and Logan can overcome the threats to his leadership, then perhaps they can resume their lives. The question is: Is that what they want? Back to the same house, the same tribe, the same troubles? They can choose from various roads leading to their future...or they can forge their own path.

©2015 Mary Calmes (P)2015 Dreamspinner Press

Wow!

Absolutely loved this.
It’s safe to say Koren is just an idiot. He ruined a life he could’ve had with Domin then with Danny. Both men were ready to risk it all for him. Ivan did risk it all for him.
If there’s one more book it’ll be safe to say he’ll be insanely miserable. I she does write another just make Koren suffer.

Great book and Great Voice

Love Mary Calmes books. Really liked the narration by Sean.
Great voice and did a fantastic job with the different characters.
Will be listening to other books that Sean does.
Thanks.
LOLA

Amazing conclusion to a great series

I don't think I'vw ever had a more satisfying conclusion to a series. I loved every minute and this will definitely be a reread.

loved it

loved it so much that it left me wanting Another book.Where I could find out who end up being leading the tribe.I really enjoyed it.

Gah - so hard to see this end!

Wow oh wow! When I saw the excerpt for this I just knew Mary was gonna give us the ugly cry!

We start off with Jin separated from Logan and with no memory of him, his life, his powers, or even his SON!

(Mary – why do you separate our boys like that – it kills me!!!)

There is some weird tribal stuff that happens and apparently it is figured out that Jin belongs to someone and someone important. Finally, Crane comes around and Jin doesn’t even recognize him! (Oh, Mary, cruel, cruel Mary!)

Apparently Jin has to prove he and Logan are mated by recognizing him without being told who he is – another stinkin’ test! – but of course he does! However … he still doesn’t have his memory back – he just knows Logan is HIS!

(I love it when they go all MINE! on each other- so sexy!)

It has been rough on Logan to have Jin gone for so many months. His tribe is questioning his strength. His a-hole family is stirring trouble and it looks like there is going to be a big ol’ fight sooner rather than later to determine who is the rightful leader of the Mafdet tribe.

In addition, Domin has been trying to lure Logan to Egypt to lead a tribe there that would be both benefited by his leadership and serve to help Jin and Ilia train their own powers.

When Jin finally does regain his memory (So, so touching!) there is a huge fight and big trouble and much bloodshed. At one point I found myself yelling at Mary – NOOOOOOO! – but it all worked out in the end – as we knew it would.

**

Mary is my hero. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. She can write such amazingly diverse subject matter and do it so well. Kudos!

There is no way this story will mean much to you if you haven’t been reading the series, so I’m assuming you are all fans, like me.

I adored catching up with Jin and Logan and Crane and the gang. There are some new romances on the horizons, new babies, new deaths, more heartache – life.

I felt the end was a bit rushed for my taste. I got the abbreviated version of what’s happening with everyone in Egypt and a rough idea of what Jin and Logan will be doing there – I’m assuming (read: hoping!) that there is another book coming to take us through that experience more fully.

I highly recommend this to all the fans of the series 5 of 5 hearts

Audio

The narration of this series is mostly done by Sean Crisden (books 2 and 3 by Jeff Gelder). Sean – by far – did the best job IMHO and I’m always sad when a series isn’t done by the same narrator especially when they are doing a fabulous job, but that is neither here nor there.

Sean did his best work with this, by far. It’s a very complex story with so many people and so many different accents and voice types and regionalities. Women, children, older people, younger, anger, crying, passion – you name it. Add to that the very complex names and places and I’m sure it was WORK to do this so well.

(I had the luck to see/meet Sean at GRL this year and he’s agreed to answer some questions about this narration – so look for that to follow!)

I love Sean’s Alpha growly voice that he gives to Logan. It absolutely makes my toes curl. When Logan is on the plane and tells Jin how sorry he is for doubting him and he’s all choked up… yep. Tears. It’s very moving.

I also liked what he did with Crane’s voice in this narration, it seemed more natural. I’m amazed that he can go from an American to British to Egyptian to… you name it, so smoothly and flawlessly. They are all in this book and he did them all very, very well.


So, as you can probably guess I’m giving this a big 6 of 5 stars for an absolutely amazing book, series and narration. Highly recommended.

Jin and Logan, need I say more

Would you consider the audio edition of Forging the Future to be better than the print version?

I love both, but Sean Crisden is excellent. He really brings the characters to life.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Forging the Future?

When Jin is reunited with his son.

What about Sean Crisden’s performance did you like?

All of it1

A final? chapter to the Change of Heart series

I so far have listened to all the previous books, they are enjoyable m/m romances with a dash of action and modern fantasy (of sorts) thrown in which is a good mix on its own.

I always liked weres and gay werepanthers were a must read / listen for someone who is fascinated by big cats.
First of all, I would not recommend starting with this volume as the characters and history will be rather puzzling without any prior knowledge.
Thus, to the book from the standpoint of someone knowing the others (and if you don't, do try Change of Heart, it is a fun listen!):

The story picks up five years after Crucible of Fate, so be prepared for quite a few things having happened in the meantime. And be prepared to start worrying like mad what could have thrown Jin into his current situation, on his own, memory lost and taken in by some other tribe.

The book takes its time to keep you guessing and that is definitely good for suspense.
Not spoiling anything, things look quite a lot better again after a while, but be prepared for some very hard hits just when things seemed to be going well again.

Feeling rather invested in the characters, I admit I found many of the turns of the plot rather painful, Forging the future hits the reader hard, maybe too hard.

Characters we came to know show aspects of themselves we hoped they overcame and again, we do get reminded of what a harsh world the werepanthers live in.

How the story develops is not per se implausible or out of character, but it is in some cases pretty much things going the worst way possible.
Listening to the end did make me kinda wish for the next sentence being "it was all just a dream!", but that it is not.

The plot overall relies a lot on the drama and unlike the first book, where everything ends for the better, this time, some things don't.

One downside is that the action ends up, like in the previous book, be more buildup than resolution, it all seems to go for a big epic clash and then things diffuse...

I would have preferred the series to get a more lighthearted, adventury last chapter, more adversity from outside, more loyalty from within, more action and a bit less of a dark mood.

Sean Crisden still delivers a nice narration, but I have to subtract points for some vocie inconsistencies, it is weird if a character is voiced that differently in some cases, especially Danny seems weird now.

Still, it is a decent book, maybe not one I will have as much fun revisiting as the others though.

quite read

I've almost always like this writer work and this was no different I enjoy this book and look forward to more work like this

Ties together the Change of Heart theme nicely

When I first started listening to this series I was not so sure about it. I wasn't so keen on the idea of the shifter sub-genre, particularly within the m/m romance arena - one too many bad werewolf books I suppose. Ultimately though, I was won over for a couple of reasons.

One - I liked the fact that the idea of a pre-destined mate was addressed within the narrative - the absurdity of it, the problems and pitfalls of such a thing, and especially the idea of the removal of individual choice and identity that the very concept kneecaps.

Two - in spite of the fact that there does tend to be some hmmm, heavy-handed repetition of salient points at times - I really enjoy Mary Calmes writing style, world building and most especially character building. Simply put, I fell in love not only with the two main characters, but with the entire cast of characters. I wanted to be a part of Logan's pack. *laugh*

Every book in this series has had moments I loved and moments that ... not so much. It has been awesome to see the characters develop, change, grow, stumble and fall, fail, connect, disconnect, and ultimately either thrive or shrivel away. I love that this book fit perfectly within the series, and the story arches, but 5 books in, it was not just more of the same.

Some characters are not at all where I expected them to be, and others are exactly where I wanted and expected them. I love that in the plot of this book we get to circle back to that earliest theme of how having a predestined mate shapes, and doesn't shape Logan and Jin's relationship, and I love that I still get to discover things in this world, fall in love all over again with a whole cast of characters and the world they live in.


I will say, not super jazzed with the treatment of fathers as a rule within this series, but that is a totally personal thing.

I have listened to this series over and over again, and will be happy to add this latest (and possibly last?) book to the rotation. If you like the series, then this book is a good addition. If you haven't read the series ... don't start here ... there is too much history that goes into the fabric of this world, these characters, and ultimately this plot.

Apt title is APT

Although a heck of a lot is happening to this book, which is the conclusion of Logan and Jin's story (I think Ilia might get s book but don't quote me on that), by the end of it everything when it comes to their story is concluded nicely and their new journey in forging the future together with Doman and Yuri begins where they can feel safe with nothing and no one to threaten them.

Mary left open the future of the Mafdet tribe to showcase that after Logan renounced them and no longer counted Coren, Rush or Peter as family, what happened to the tribe is of no importance, so no need to concern with them.

I love Sean Crisden it's no secret and I loved his narration and performance here. It was incredible.