Heart of the Fae

The Otherworld, Book 1

By: Emma Hamm

Narrated by: Siobhan Waring

Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's Summary

Once upon a time... 

A plague sweeps across the emerald hills of Ui Neiill, leaving a young midwife's father with months to live. To save her people, Sorcha makes a deal with a dangerous Fae. She must travel across the sea, through merrow and kelpie lands, to find a forgotten king on a crumbling throne. 

Born king of the Seelie Fae, Eamonn fought battles unnumbered to uphold honor, duty, and freedom - until his twin brother sank a blade between his shoulders. Crystals grew from the wound, splitting open skin and bone. His people banished him to a cursed isle for his disfigurement, now king of criminals and fools. 

With the help of brownies, pixies, and will-o'-the-wisps, Sorcha battles to break through his crystalline shell and persuade him to take back his stolen throne. 

This determined beauty could come dangerously close to stealing his beastly heart.

©2017 Emma Hamm (P)2018 Emma Hamm

A Romantic Fantasy that will steal your heart.

So you like a Beauty and a Beast type of story,,,,,,, you like a well crafted story...... you want characters you care about
and you want to relax and listen to a good performance well here it is.

Go download and enjoy.



This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

<Insert stone pun here>

Heart of the Fae tells the story of Sorcha, a midwife struggling to help her family through a deadly plague. When her father falls ill to the plague, Sorcha makes a deal and then sets off on a long journey, that unfortunately feels incredibly long and drawn out.

--Warning: this story has graphic descriptions of violence, sexual themes and actions--

Sorcha travels to a few different locations before finding the person who supposedly has the cure, Eamon, the 'Beast' of this story, and tries to get him to leave his brooding castle and come save her people. Spoiler alert, he won't go. There's quite a few scenes of her life in the otherworld, and quite the cast of characters, some of which are more memorable than others.

Unfortunately, the pacing of the story is very jumbled, with a lack of progress in plot for what feels like half of the runtime of this audiobook. Sorcha seems to forget about the urgency of her quest while the incredible unhealthy romance builds between Sorcha and the violent, brooding Eamonn. I recall one of Eamon's first comments about Sorcha being that {paraphrased} "she had been the first to calm his rage without his destructive temper tantrums". Their first few romantic scenes involve rather vivid descriptions and the pair continuing to engage with destructive behaviors when they bite each other hard enough to draw blood, using the mark as a brand.

But, all things considered, the concept is really fun as an Irish retelling of Beauty & the Beast. I am curious about what happens next in the story

**I was provided with a promotional copy of this audiobook at my request, and have voluntarily left a fair and honest review**

A Must Read for Fantasy Lovers

What a wonderful story. It had a lovely twist on a tale as old as time. I loved it so much I immediately went to find the sequel, thankfully I didn't have to look far. I did notice a few mistakes in the writing such as Sorcha describing things and using Stone's real name when she didn't know his real name but overall a FANTASTIC read!

Not a Beauty and the Beast Retell. That's GOOD!

I don't know why some reviews are relating this listen to Beauty and the Beast. I don't see it. Other than Seelie, the male love interest, being "deformed," there were no other similarities.

This listen was unique. Socha needs to save her family from a blood beetle infestation and travels to the other side of the world to do so. In the process she meets Seelie, and faeries, and evil twin brothers, and a brooding sea captain, and a raven with an attitude. The quest did not end in book one but that did not make this listen incomplete.

The narrator was wonderful. I mean, like, off the chains wonderful. This material could have easily been overlooked or not as impressive if not for the deft voice of Waring.

It's a long listen but is very much worth it. I'm looking forward to book two.

Unique retelling of old fae legends

This was a very enjoyable listen. Many of the old Celtic myths are woven together into an original plot line. It has a clever, self-sufficient protagonist, unique world-building, adventure, and romance. This is well-crafted fantasy and worth the credit! Fans of Sarah J Maas would likely enjoy this, though it the story is nothing like Maas's work. Will definitely be listening to the second book - just wish that the rest of the series was available on Audible.

narrator was perfect she made all voices unique.

the story had a few gaps but I am still excited to ready the second one

Fairy tale fantasy

This book was not what I expected. The author puts her own take on beauty and the beast. My only negative view is that I found it slow going at times. However, there is some action/adventure, intrigue and romance.
Interested to see what happens in book two.

I Have Found A New Genre That I Love!

Heart of the Fae was an amazing fantasy story that I could not put down from start to finish. I found it was well paced and really kept my interest. The characters are fascinating and well written. I really loved Sorcha and what a strong female she is. The story was absolutely engaging and the adventure was incredible.

I am new to the Fae genre within fantasy, but I really enjoyed it and would read/listen more of this story as well as in this category because this book was so enjoyable.

Siobhan Waring does an INCREDIBLE job with the voices. Each is so unique and distinct. Her emotions were on point as well.

I received a copy of this audiobook at my request, and I have voluntarily left this review.

One of my favorites...

I read this series of books when they first came out and loved them. I HAD to have the audiobook versions when they were released. You will love the hero, heroine and all of the creatures you will be introduced to. The books are magical, exciting, and romantic.
Siobhan Waring has taken Emma Hamm's books to another level. I highly recommend !!!

Heart of the Fae

The narration was perfection, but it took some time for me to get into the story. It dragged at times, but then there were those times it had me on the edge of of my seat. I felt like I was being teased, which was good and bad. Bad in the sense that I knew if I stopped listening I would not resume; good because the moment I thought I was going to give up, the author would hit me with something that intrigued me. Once I was in the middle of the story, enamored with Sorcha and Eamonn, I had to see what their fate would be. Overall, a good story with great narration. I hope that book 2 will be formatted for audio.

Wow!

This is my first experience of an Audio book. I'm a third of the way through but had to share my thoughts. I am really enjoying the book. It is beautifully narrated and the story is captivating. I will definitely keep listening and looking for more titles by the same Narrator and Author!

Wonderful!

I haven't read a heroine that I have liked so much in years. I enjoyed every aspect of the story and the narrator was amazing; She made the characters come alive! This is now one of my forever favourites.

4.5

Since Heart of the Fae and Veins of Magic form a duology, neither standing alone, I'm going to write a single review encompassing both. But one of the main takeaway potential readers should understand is this point that they need both books for a complete story.

I really enjoyed this, both the story and the narration. I really like that Hamm's fae are old school scary fae, her female characters are strong and full of agency, and her male ones aren't afraid to show need. I especially appreciated that it was Sorcha who took the lead in most sexual situations.

My only complaint here is how very gendered everything is. While I appreciate that Hamm's goal was to emphasize that both a king and a queen are necessary, neither an accouterment to the other. (A pleasant change from most stories that center a king and make the queen little more than an accessory or political pawn.) But the book leans hard into women being soft and kind and caring and men being violent, rough and in need of tempering. True, Sorcha had to go against that in the course of the story but it was still a strong theme in the book. (As was how much bigger he was than her, another classic gendering technique.)

All in all, however, I can't wait to dive into more of Hamm's writing and Waring's narration.

Note: I received an Audible code for a copy of this book. I chose to listen and review it.

Amazing

I Enjoyed this audio book very much from start to finish great story line too

WOW

Wow, wow, and I say wow again! I listened to this audiobook and what an absolute pleasure it was. Not only was the story amazing, what a fabulous imagination the author has, but the narration was also absolutely perfect. Every single character she performed sounded perfect, each male was different from the other, each accent was absolutely spot on, and she brought an amazing book to life. I have to say that Siobhan Waring has just become my favourite female narrator!

I have to warn that there is a cliff hanger ending to this story, but at least you can go ahead and read/listen to the next book straight away to find out what happens next. That is exactly what I did. I couldn't leave the fate of Sorcha and her stone prince, Eamonn hanging...I NEEDED to know what happened next. Their relationship wasn't an easy one, she valued her independence and wouldn't have anybody tell her what to do whereas he was a man who demanded obedience from everybody especially lowly humans such as Sorcha. He had spent his life exiled by his family, losing his right to the throne, but Socha helped him to see that as it was his right, he should fight for it so that he could bring peace between the various species in the 'Otherworld'

I honestly can't get over just how much I loved this book. Instead of listening to maybe an hour of it at bedtime and then falling asleep, I actually made sure I didn't fall asleep and managed to listen to most of it, not going to sleep until around 5 AM and even then I wasn't happy that I had to stop to sleep. I just wish I could have had the energy to stay awake and listen to it all. Suffice to say that a small break was necessary then I listened to the end and nearly fell through the floor when I realised that the story concluded in the next book!

Despite the cliff hanger I loved this book and the narration of it and am more than happy to recommend it!!

Beautiful Written and Enchanting Story

Such a wondrous tale. I’d have to say Heart of the Fae is my favorite Beauty and the Beast retailing thus far. It’s amazing. From the beginning I was pulled into Sorcha and Eamonn story and enchanted by it. Theirs is a tale of strength, courage, betrayal, healing and discovery. The author’s attention to detail and the lovely narrator really bring this story to life. I can’t wait to dive into the next part of Sorcha and Eamonn’s journey.

excellent story

this is my first book by this author but she has excellent skills with weaving a story, I definitely am interested in listening to more of her books! the narrator does an excellent job bringing this story to life. can't wait for more in the series!

3.75 fairytale-enchanted ★★★✬✩

This book is for you if… you suspect an intricate combination of Celtic fairytale x beauty & beast is the retelling you've needed all your life. Be aware that it gives quite a lot of room to romance.

⤐ Overall.
My heart started pounding in anticipation of a beauty-&-the-beast x Irish-Celtic-mythology crossover when I discovered Heart of the Fae. At least to my knowledge, Celtic mythology and fiction don't mix well in the literary world yet, mostly because authors rip the scarce evidence we have about the civilizations in question apart and then put it back together, the results excruciating. I knew this of course but my silly heart still hoped for the best.

Altogether, I am very happy with the audiobook. Both the world-building and the style of story-telling agreed with me. It definitely carries typical elements of fairytales but also allows for a strong female character and a less creepy version of Beauty and the Beast. Although it's still one of my favourite childhood movies I feel increasing discomfort over the depiction of romance in the conventional story. Here, on the other hand, the Stockholm-Syndrome factor has not crossed my mind once. The narrator was Irish voice artist Siobhan Waring and I absolutely loved her. She narrated both the chapters from Sorcha and Eamon's point of view and did a great impression of the different voices, including the side characters.

Even though I was satisfied to a large extent, I felt that Emma missed out on a bit of the potential that Celtic mythology (and even archaeological facts) offers to make for a realistic fairytale. I'm aware it sounds like an oxymoron but I truly believe it is possible to smartly weave facts and fiction together in a way that satisfies both a Celtic civilizations enthusiast and a fairytale lover. I guess to make for a convincing romance, she had to drop a bit of that and give more time to the development of Sorcha's and Aemon's feelings. I suppose we had it coming but I still understand reactions such as this one. I wish some of that on-page-time would have been sacrificed in favour of a more adventure-driven plot. I'm excited to see how the story of Sorcha continues. I still believe Emma's story has the capacity to incorporate both aspects.
_____________________
Writing quality + easy of reading = 4*

pace = 4*

plot development = 3*

characters = 5*

enjoyability = 4*

insightfulness = 3*

Heart of the Fae

I found this story to be well written and lovely to listen to.I am looking forward to Bk 2,whcih I have ,so I can finish the story. Siobhan Waring has a wonderful voice and was the perfect narrator.I was given this book by the narrator,author or publisher free for an honest review.

alright

a little disappointed in this one. I love slow burn romances and this was that but the story didn't entice me enough to purchase #2.