Inked

Gilded Blood, Book 1

By: Rachel Rener

Narrated by: Tara Novie

Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

When Zayn, your smoking hot boss, tells you never to touch the cache of deluxe tattoo ink locked away in his office, you listen to him…until the day you run out of your own ink, your squirming client is on the verge of peeing his pants, and your boss is nowhere to be found.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, right?

I fully expected Zayn to yell at me when he returned to the shop. What I didn't expect was the fresh cobra tattoo on my client’s butt magically springing to life. Or the interdimensional filing cabinet hiding in the back of Zayn's office. And, oh, did I mention that my gorgeous, magic-ink-hoarding boss is actually an incubus?

Now, through (mostly) no fault of my own–we have to venture into a strange and distant land where a never-ending list of lethal flora, fauna, and fae await us. When you add in my Jewish mother’s string of poorly-timed, hysterical phone calls, there is one thing I’m grateful for: there’s no cell service in the fae realm.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 Rachel Rener (P)2022 Podium Audio

Fun From Beginning to End

Listen, when I say, “I don’t think I was the intended target audience” for this book, I don’t think anyone would disagree. I am a straight man, as far as I can tell, and I thoroughly enjoyed this story! Rachel’s character blossomed into life from page one to the end, they were vibrant, colorful, and multi-dimensional. Zayn, in my POV, was a fantastic subversion of what I am used to when it comes to reading fantasy. He was the sexy eye candy with a tempestuous mood, he was filled with muscles and vigor that had Talia, in several instances, in dire need of a wardrobe change in the downstairs department…
All in all, a perfect mix of theme, humor, and character development, with the spicy edge everyone should experience.

Whining

A lot of whining. Lots of good parts once you get past the whining. Narrator was excellent. Hopefully the second book does not have as much whining.

A bit intense, but worth it

Not your normally expected heroine. Talia is quite the character. Thrust unknowingly into a world that she never knew existed, there’s a lot of panic, fear and worry. Along with some anxiety and rejection sensitive dysphoria. Honestly. It was refreshing to hear a heroine that DIDN’T have it all figured out! The narrator nailed all of the unsure feelings in her reading!

I’m excited to see how Talia grows in future books!!

Hilarious!

Not only was this book SO fun, it was hilarious, fast-paced, and the narrator is one of the most dynamic I’ve listened to. I loved the combo of Celtic fae lore mixed with Jewish culture. And the narrator got the characters (especially her mother) PERFECT. Seriously, can’t wait to listen to the next one! I need to know what happens!

I couldn't get past the narrator

I couldn't keep listening to it because of the overdramatic and annoying narration. It seems like a good story overall so no issues there.

Relevant Urban Fantasy

Really enjoyed this book. I laughed. I cried. I blushed! This urban fantasy masterfully explores themes around grief, consent, and trauma while simultaneously being entertaining and fun. Additionally, Tara Novie brings the book into life with her brilliant narration. Can’t wait to listen to the next book in the series.

Loved this series

This series was unique and definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat. Poor Talia is thrust into a world of Fae she never knew existed but handles it with strength and will overcome the evil that has its sights on her gold blood,

Amazing

I read this as an ebook when it came out and I loved Talia and her story so much I couldn’t wait for this audiobook. It was done perfectly, Tara sounded exactly what I pictured from the high pitch voice to the lulling sing song voice. I can’t wait to listen to more.

No spoilers

I really have mixed feelings about this book. first off the narration was great Novie did a fantastic job as far as the book this review is for book 1 and 2 there's just a bit to much whining from the female character she's ALWAYS crying or tears pooling in her eyes I get at some of the parts that should happen but its very very often this happens the male character was more meh to me he's also a bit whiny I get he has issues but he really needs to pull up those pants and man up hopefully he comes around in book 3 I guess I was expecting a stronger character with him over all I will listen to book 3 when it comes out FYI book 2 ends in a cliffhanger but you can get the third book to read I choose to wait for Audible

Loved this book

Was captivated in chapter one and it never let up. Can’t wait to read book 2