Killer Heart

Cursed Hearts, Book 1

By: Rhys Lawless

Narrated by: John York

Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's Summary

They’re sworn enemies.

Witches and witch hunters can never fall for each other....

Wade is a witch hunter with a cursed heart. 

But everything he’s come to know about those evil creatures is about to be challenged by one man....

Caleb’s love life is a mess.

He’s given up on love, but as an empath, love never gives up on him.

When he meets a witch hunter with a cursed heart, he comes up with a plan.

• Trade hearts.
• Stop the witch hunters.
• Have a bisexual awakening.
• Go their separate ways.

If they want to fix their lives, they’ll have to learn to trust each other. Can they overcome their hatred and work together or will they end up ruining both their lives?

Killer Heart is an MM urban fantasy with lots of magic, powerful emotions, a passionate blooming romance, and a touch of kink. 

This is book 1 in the Blade & Dust series with no cliff-hanger and a happy for now ending.

Buy now and fall under Killer Heart's spell.

©2019 Rhys Lawless (P)2020 Rhys Lawless

Gritty queer romance

I really wanted to like this book--it had pretty much everything I love: magic, queerness, snark, and an excellent narrator. I found, though, that I just didn't end up liking either of the main characters. Wade was callous and caustic--with a good reason for that!--and I thought Caleb would be a good counterpoint to that, but I found him to be jaded and caustic, too. I gave it a good try but in the end I just found I couldn't connect.

I think this is very much a personal taste thing, because overall, this book is excellent quality--the writing was excellent, narration excellent, setup excellent all around. I tend to like sweeter romances, though, and this is much more gritty.

If you like gritty shows like Game of Thrones, Outlander, and Billions vs, say, This is Us or A Discovery of Witches (though maybe a bit of the latter!), you'll likely love this book! And I'd wholeheartedly recommend it. I probably wouldn't recommend it to the squeamish, though.

I was given a free copy of this book at my request and voluntarily left this review.

A story with potential ruined by elementary writing and characters

The narrator did a very fine job considering the material he was working with. On top of very simplistic writing, there were so many misused adjectives, awkward interactions, and strange descriptions that I had a really hard time taking the story seriously. On top of that, the characters did not talk, act, or react like normal human beings. There were so many inappropriate expositions during weird times, a lot of sharing and heavy emotion between characters that didn’t even know each other, and the way the characters spoke and thought reminded me of an angsty 12 year old. I genuinely didn’t want to finish the book, but I figured to give it a fair chance I should finish int to get a good feel for the story. The universe has potential, but it was wasted on weak characters and flimsy plot points.

Fresh Fantasy with tons of twists and turns

4 Blue Roses
3.5 Blue Flames

Narrator John York brings a whole new fresh fantastical world choc-a-block stuffed full of characters and plot. His flawless delivery astounded me. Since, the last time I reviewed one of his performances, (about one year ago), he has grown into his own and he sounds comfortable in his readings. The voices he used for the different characters are excellently distinguishable. The cadence of his voice and the pace of his performance is very enjoyable.

I believe listeners will be as pleasantly surprised. They will enjoy the sexy, enemies to lovers trope. In my opinion, this is the best of John York so far.

I usually do not like the enemies to lovers, unless there is tons of back and forth banter. These characters were not terribly snarky, but we do see the protagonists fall in love, the progression of their relationship felt believable, because we fell in love with both of them too.

The author has managed to weave an intrinsic storyline into the plot, it was refreshingly unpredictable. Thanks to the beautiful well rounded primary and secondary characters, I will definitely look out for the next book in the series.

If you’re a fan of magic, witches, phoenixes, and more twists and turns than the Looping Star, then is the story for you.

Happy Listening

Annoyingly Crass

I could barely get beyond the first few chapters. The narration is beyond hard to listen to and the insane amount concentration on sex is ridiculous in the first chapter. Its just not enough of a story to keep my attention as it is sex and drugs with a cute fiction world to say it in.

A solid summer beach or rainy day read

I do a lot of heavy reading for my day job, so thing light, frivolous and easy to follow is alway nice when I want to decompress. The story was solid, but a bit more development of the characters earlier on would have been nice. However, all and all this book accomplished just what I was looking for light entertainment without too much mental gymnastics.

Enemies to Lovers

I love these two main characters so much! I fell in love with them from the moment this book started. This is a very good enemies to lovers PNR story. The plot was a good blend of action and character development and kept me on the edge of my seat for a lot of the time. I loved the mystery and trying to figure out what was going on and why. This author put their own spin on the witch and witch hunter stories and definitely made it a must listen to! The narrator did a fantastic job with the different characters and emotions. I can't wait for the next book!

Poor quality

This is a poor quality audio- beware!
There’s background noise which is very unusual for the typically high quality audible audiobooks.
Very disappointed

Really enjoyed it

The book is great! I've really liked the characters; the plot got me hooked all the time. And the narrator is absolutely fantastic!

Enjoyable urban fantasy

I really enjoyed the story. John York did a fantastic job bringing it to life I can’t wait for the other ones to be released on audio!

Good Book

I hope that audible come out the next three books in the series. please 🙏

Does not live up to the title's subheading

Let's clear this up, the book is not 'breathtaking'. It's good if occasionally confused.

Urban fantasy with enemies to lovers. There's a lot going on but bear with it, it all makes sense by the end.

Also Wade is a totally unlikable character at the start of this book, but there are reason for a lot of his behaviour. He's no pussycat by the end but a lot of his behaviour is explained away by events. His constant denial of being gay or bisexual is jarring, though.

The narrator is new to me and did a reasonable job, although sometimes the voices got confused.

Book ends on a soft cliffhanger, with MCs together as a couple.

good book

love it I couldn't put the book down and I can't wait for the other book come out on here

Amazing urban fantasy

Wade hunts witches, Caleb is a witch. So, at first glance, there is nothing these two men should have in common. Between the curse that has haunted Wade since he was a child and Caleb's empathic abilities, this story just got more interesting by the second. As there are outside forces at play, you will find yourself gasping and in shock as each curve is revealed.

Great worldbuilding!

Story: I was awed with the worldbuilding in this story! It's a rich and complex realm that we get to see and experience first hand, with plenty of descriptions and narrative that helps navigate and understand it. It's a great skill, especially with such variety and amount of details, to still make it about the story first and foremost.
Teh dual POV narration did a great job of showing both sides of the story and the plot twist kept it interesting.
Looking forward to learning, what's next!

Narration: The voice was interesting and differentiation for various characters was done really well. In some places though, I felt that the inflection did not correspond with emotions I expected from the story itself. Overall though, it was a good performance for sure.

Enjoyable start to a new series :)

Two men on opposing sides have to work together against a common enemy - not quite enemies-to-lovers, but fun all the same.
The world-building for the story is well done and I had no trouble following the story, (I have not read the prequel, Foxy Heart). The story has magic, suspense, some twists (I didn't see coming) and so much more going on. Wade and Caleb make a good couple and hope to see more of them and their growing relationship.
John York provides a multi-faceted performance - characters are distinct, emotions portrayed well, accents were well done. Definitely a great way to enjoy the book!

I requested and received this audiobook. This is an unbiased review provided.