Burning Bright

Ivy Granger Book 3

By: E.J. Stevens

Narrated by: Melanie A. Mason, David Wilson Brown

Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

Burning down the house....

Things are not going well at the offices of Private Eye. Jinx is having demon problems, the city is overrun with pyromaniacal imps, and Ivy's wisp powers are burning out of control, attracting the attention of both the Seelie and Unseelie courts.

Along came a faerie queen.... It's the worst possible time for the Green Lady to call in a favor, but Ivy's bound by her deal with the glaistig. Too bad there's no wiggle room in faerie bargains.

Ivy must rid the city of imps, keep Jinx from murdering her one solid link to Hell, and fulfill her bargain with the Green Lady - with sidhe assassins hot on her tail.

Just another day's work for Ivy Granger, psychic detective.

©2014 E.J. Stevens (P)2015 E.J. Stevens

Fantastic turn of events!

Book three of the Ivy Granger Series continues where book two left off. Ivy Granger is a psychic detective with her partner and best friend Jinx (a rather clumsy and unlucky girl). Ivy has saved the life of a Kelpie King (now her boyfriend) and saved her beloved city from out-of-control, and evil paranormals. During the process, Ivy had asked some pretty powerful para's for favors which in turn put her in their debt. Now both the Fae Queen and Vampire King are calling Ivy to pay up.

With most great and well written paranormal stories, there are always more than one crisis happening within the book, and Burning Bright is no exception! The story starts out with Jinx waking up to a terrible hangover from Club Nexus, only to find out that this was the Green Lady’s way to ensure Ivy would pay her debt to her and kill her witch friend Kaye McShay! While Ivy is still trying to process what just went down, the city is also under attack by a bunch of fire imps that have been running amok all over town starting fires! This leads to the Vampire King's favor she owes him... The crusty ol' vampire wants Ivy to find out who is up to the fires, and extinguish them, permanently! Vampires and fire are not a good match, get it? Fire and match, bahahaha! Then there is the weird thing with Jenna the Guild Hunter. The Guild sent her to Germany on a mission, really?! No one is believing this, but there is too much else going on for Ivy to investigate it further.

The family dynamic that has formed from book one to now is pretty hilarious. Ceff the Kelpie King is still hot and heavy with Ivy, Forneus is still mooning over Jinx, and Arachne who is Kaye's apprentice is stepping up into her witchiness now. Ivy also adopts another stray and adds to the odd pack. Sparky, the new stray is so adorable, I love him! I think this is exactly what Ivy needed. During the course of the story, I was lead with clues as to the future of the next book with a big “war coming” that is mentioned but no specifics like with who and when. There is also the matter of finding Ivy's father still as well. The third installment of the Ivy Granger Series does not lack danger, sex or imagination by a long shot! This book is for sure One-Click worthy!

Narrator Review

Melanie A. Mason and David Wilson Brown return from Blood and Mistletoe, Book 1.5 of the Ivy Granger Series. My last encounter with the duo was horrific. Mainly the audio quality sucking big time! HOWEVER, for Burning Bright they seemed to have learned from their mistakes and pulled off a Hail Mary!!! MY GOD! The timing, the audio, the tone all in sync and sounding fan-tab-ulous! Amazing redemption play, and congrats on a job very well done! I give you both a 5 star rating for your performances! I was so enthralled through the entire book that I had totally forgotten about my previous experience. I love you both, and because I'm already in love with Traci Odom, I will be torn in two now when the next book is released. Damn the powers that be for doing this to me!!

**Audiobook provided by the author for an honest review**

Ivy's Journey Continues

Ivy's journey continues in book 3 and once again we get a story filled with action, suspense, romance and best of all magic & magical creatures. The narrator does an excellent job bringing the story to life. This is one of my fave series and Im excited to see where the author takes Ivy next.

A Bit Warm & Dark for this Church Lady

Real Rating = 3.5

A fun Urban Fantasy that skirts the edges of my standards.

Source: I received this book free in return for an honest review.

BOOK DETAILS:
Burning Bright by E.J. Stevens, read by Melanie A. Mason & David Wilson Brown, published 2015 / Length: 7 hrs 32 min

SERIES INFO:
This is Book #1 of 4 (so far) in the "Ivy Granger, Psychic Detective" series. Book #4, Birthright just came out on audio.

**This review contains spoilers for the previous book(s).**

SUMMARY:
I was very happy to see character growth and change in this book, but unhappy to see an increase in elements that aren't to my taste.

Note: If you are frequent reader of Urban Fantasy, then this book will probably seem tame to you. Also, I haven't read the novellas, but apparently that was a mistake since it appears that some important things happened in the last one that impact this one. It's not absolutely necessary to read it, but I plan to go back and do so.

I'm not a big fan of the covers for this series. And this book is incorrectly categorized in Audible as "Mysteries & Thrillers > Modern Detective."

CHARACTERS:
Ivy Granger: I love the fact that we are seeing true character growth for her. She is learning to see herself and others more clearly

Ceffyl Dwr: Continues to be the perfect boyfriend with the tragic past (i.e. a bit of a stereotype). I liked the way he was shown to grieve after a certain event. I would like to see a bit more development in his character outside of his relationship to Ivy.

Ivy & Ceff: I still feel like the status of their relationship is a bit unclear. In the second book, she called him her "boyfriend;" but he had himself introduced (at her debut to fae society) as her "consort." Now the term "suitor" is being used. And his (former?) wife has been referred to as just "wife" but then as "ex." It is clear that Ivy, at least, does not consider herself to be married (which makes their physical relationship problematic for me).

I would also like to see more of her helping Ceff and being involved in his world, not just the other way around. I adore how deeply he loves her, but would like to see some detailed reasons for that love beyond just gratitude for her saving him in the first book. Her ability gives the perfect opportunity to overcome his not being a POV character.
--
There were some significant changes for other characters in this book, which I am excited to see play out.

WORLDBUILDING:
The world remains much the same as before, with a mix of things like vampires, hell & demons, and Celtic fae in a U.S. coastal city. We get some additional Celtic myths thrown in this time also.

PLOT:
We begin with the same prologue found in the previous books.

The ending resolves the current issues, and some of ivy's problems from previous books, while introducing some new ones.

HIGHLIGHTS / CAUTIONS:

--Sparky is my favorite new addition, I love him and can't wait to see what becomes of him.
--The manner in which Ivy handles the issue with Arachne.
--Everything involved with the use of the apples.

I COULD HAVE DONE WITHOUT: The language, especially the 6 or so F-words, and vulgarity. (I don't remember F-words in the first two books, maybe I just automatically skipped them because I was reading rather than listening) / The (literal) blood bath. Some other gore.

OTHER CAUTIONS(?): A lot of time is spent thinking or talking about Ivy & Ceff's (premarital) sex life, although she doesn't go into great detail.

NARRATION:
Notes: There were some production issues with the sound quality at the very beginning, but they went away. / This is the kind of dual narration where they split it by who's speaking rather than by chapters.

DAVID: Character voices differentiated = Yes. I really liked Hob's voice, and loved the one for the fire imp. I would have liked an accent for Ceff (although he does live off the U.S. coast). / Accents good = Yes / Phrasing, Pacing & Pronunciation = Yes / Emoting = Yes

MELANIE: Character voices differentiated = Yes, although everyone else got such great voices and accent that it made Ivy's voice seem kind of boring. I didn't like what they did with Ailinn's voice / Accents good = Yes / Phrasing, Pacing & Pronunciation = Yes, although some of the Irish words may have been wrong, I'm not sure / Emoting = Yes

Speed = listened on 1.25, my usual, but it was just a touch fast.

Sassy, brave heroine in a fun series.

Ivy Granger has a very unique, and rather difficult psychic gift which has helped her build a successful Private Eye business. Ivy and her assistant, Jinx, usually stay busy with the business but Ivy has been distracted spending funds and energy trying to find her father. Meanwhile Jinx has gotten trapped in a life-draining situation. To save Jinx Ivy makes a bargain with the Green Lady which requires Ivy to kill Kaye, a powerful witch who has helped Ivy and become a friend.

Ivy is half human and half ‘wisp’ princess. She was abandoned by her father, the King of the Wisps, so she never learned how to control her abilities. The current, ruling faerie court view her as a risk to maintaining the secrets of the paranormals in the human world. Accordingly, they have sent an enforcement team to “eliminate” her.

Not only is Ivy dealing with these personal issues but suddenly fires are popping up all over the city. Ivy has discovered that pyromaniacal, demon imps have gotten loose and she needs help to stop them. Along the way to that task Ivy rescues a “runt” of a fire imp who is being played with by the clan of Cats.

Ivy gets support from her boyfriend, Ceffyl, who is the local Kelpie King. She also gets backup from another “ally”, if not exactly a friend, Torn, the leader of the Cats. Ivy also calls on Forneus who is a demon lawyer -- as in a lawyer who happens to be a demon. Ivy doesn’t exactly trust Forneus, but she knows he is interested in Jinx and will help protect her if they can rescue.

Ivy needs to find a way to kill Kaye without really killing her while also keeping herself from being killed so she can save Jinx from her kidnapper and save the city from burning. The tasks all blend together and keep Ivy and her 'friends' on the run in creative and dangerous situations.

Even as Ivy stumbles through some of her exploits, I soon realized that being a rescuer is a big part of who she is. I liked the steady support from her strong water Kelpie boyfriend, Ceff, and the flirty, suggestive snipes from Torn and Forneus which add another fun element to the mix. You might not think a demon is cute, but little imp “Sparky” is really an adorable character with an importance that Ivy didn’t know when she saved him. I am expecting/hoping he will grow into a helpful member of the team. There are other fun characters, including Father Michael, Humphrey the Gargoyle and a mischievous hearth brownie.

I might have more easily and more quickly related to the characters if I had read/listened to the first two books of the series. However, I think I finally adjusted to them and was able to pick up on the important characters, elements and tensions as presented in this third book. I enjoyed the fun and by the end I was looking forward to listening to the current release, Birthright (which I enjoyed even more than book 3 - review coming soon).

Audio Notes: I enjoyed the team narration by Melanie A. Mason and David Wilson Brown. Melanie presents the female characters and aspects and David adds depth and counterbalance with the male characters. They both did a good job with the different character voices and the teamwork made the narration a fuller experience which I liked.

I received this audiobook from the author for an honest review.

Awesome paranormal mystery w/ a good dose of wit

This was such a fun paranormal mystery to listen to. It’s probably my favorite one so far by Stevens. It’s full of magic, mystery and humor. I love all the different magical beings. The characters are well thought out and the plot keeps you entertained. Its complex and keeps you on your toes. I’ve quickly become sucked into Ivy Granger’s world and can’t wait to listen to all the books in the series.
The narrator does a great job. The characters are easily distinguishable and each of their personalities stand out.

Awesome!

I recently brought this on sale and am very glad I did. The story is fast paced, vivid and higly imaginative, worded so well it made visualizating the characters, environment and concepts easy. The narrators voices were crisp, clear and set at a lively pace.

Ivy's debts are paid and friendships tested

What did you love best about Burning Bright?

E.J. does a wonderful job of blending these tidbits in as the story goes. It fills in gaps and continues the three dimensional feel of the world and characters. I do enjoy the story and adventure Ivy goes on here. There are many great friend moments in this book. Moments that show how important those you keep near are and how you can help them.

If you’ve listened to books by E.J. Stevens before, how does this one compare?

I liked this story better than the previous books for a few reasons. The story was a little bit more complex with more than two things happening, tying it all together. And this duo of voices fits for me much better.

Which character – as performed by Melanie A. Mason and David Wilson Brown – was your favorite?

This novel is narrated by the duo that also voiced a novella. They are Melanie and David. And I do enjoy having both of them for female and male characters. Melanie has the emotions to go with the words as she speaks, and she's not overly bubbly for Ivy. Melanie sounds down to Earth and more real to me for Ivy. Melanie also does an accent from the old world for the Green Lady, a lilt to her words. David is a lovely addition to Melanie's female readings, giving us all the male voices to complement her characters. David's voice for Forneus reminds me of Jack Nicholson. There is one sentence that is repeated, missed in editing. But overall I enjoyed their interpretations of the characters. I do like the slight enhancements such as the sounds of a character on the phone and the echo of a ghost talking!

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Ivy gives some great advice in this book, and learns a few things about those she judged harshly. I liked the advice she gave to Arachne and having to face what she did.

Any additional comments?

The characters are fun in the mix too. Ivy is growing as a character. I don't seem to remember Ivy swearing as much, as she does in this book, in previous books. Mind you, it's not as heavy in swearing as other UF books I've read, but more for Ivy. Ivy still has a habit of 'saying' she's not soft of heart, stubborn, or a smart mouth. This always seems to rub me wrong when I hear/read it. She says it, but I don't think I see it as much in her actions. Now when others say it or she does do something, it's okay, it's just when Ivy thinks she's being stubborn after she's being stubborn that feels repetitive for me. E.J. has a way of writing in puns, little jokes, and thought from Ivy that are play on words. They are fun at times, and also a few that have you roll your eyes because it's corny. lol.

Oh! Sparky! He sounds like a cutie. Really. Adorable little thing (that could grow to be so big!). And Forneus. I knew Ivy couldn't keep him away forever. lol. Torn is a fun rival for Forneus and loves dangerous adventure, so he fits so well.

*I requested to review a copy of this audiobook for an honest review from the author.

To die or not to die, that is the question

As things keep heating up in Ivy’s life, she are faced with death from every angle. This book is a fast paced and full of action as the other books in the series. I love how with each book I get to know the characters better and new angles to the main plot is reviled. This book can be read as a stand alone book, but a would recommend reading the other books in the series first. I really love this series and are looking forward to what happens next.

Welcome to Harborsmouth!

EJ Stevens, Ivy Granger, and the town of Harborsmouth, occupy the space at the fringes of my wheelhouse. I don't visit very often, but it's a great, lighthearted Urban-Fantasy that's just plain fun. It's full of the fae's magic and antics, and it's just the place to go when you need a break from your daily grind!
In Burning Bright, Ivy is trying to save her friend Jinx from certain death, and that means first finding out who or what is causing Jinx' slow but steady decline. In the course of her investigation, she begins to steadily incur debts in the form of favors owed to the elite fae royalty (never a good predicament to be in), and she finds herself between the proverbial rock and a hard place! Meanwhile Harborsmouth is burning. Fire Imps are running amok, and yeah... it's up to Ivy to stop it, and rid the city of the imp incursion!
Yup, you're gonna want to grab this one!

  Oh, and Welcome to Harborsmouth!

I've now listened to several of Ivy Granger's books, and although I'm not a big fan of Melanie A Mason's voice talents, she's a known consequence, and... tolerable. But I think that's probably the main reasons why I haven't devoured the whole series yet!
Now on the other hand, David Wilson Brown is great! Not only is a he a really good voice talent, he has the much harder job of voicing all the male characters and giving each one their own unique voice, at which he does really well!

Great audio book.

The psychic detective is indeed burning bright. I normally do not read mysteries, but this one was special and I loved it. I highly recommend this audio-book! Now for the obligatory: "I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review." "I was voluntarily provided this review copy audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator.”