RaZ

Darverius, House of DaR, Book 4

By: Jennifer Julie Miller

Narrated by: Emily Sutton-Smith, Tor Thom

Length: 6 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

Katherine

How do you go on when all of your wants and dreams have been destroyed? My loved ones were snatched right out of my hands, leaving me alone in a world of unknowns and terror. I'm lost in the in-between with no familiar paths to follow until the sound of a heartbeat and a whisper draws me back to the land of the living.

RaZ

The moment I laid eyes upon her face I knew there would be no distance I wouldn't travel to make her my own. Unknown forces try to steal her from my arms and even if I have to fight the very essence of her world, the universe, or the Gods we pray to. Nothing will stop me from making her MINE!

Contains mature themes.

©2022 Jennifer Julie Miller (P)2023 Tantor

”It’s the end of the world as we know it.”

The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: ❤️💙💜💚💖
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘📙📔
World building: 🌏🌍🌏🌎🌍
Character development: 😠☺️😋🥰😎
Narration: 🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration Type: Dual Narration

The Hero: RaZ - he got a transmission from across space and from the moment he saw Katherine on that transmission, he knew she was his. From that moment, he changed from being a funny slacker, to a man on a mission. He left his father, his father’s human mate, Kiera and his 21 brothers who each have a different ability and look due to their mixed heritage. Since his father met Kiera, they searched for Earth, found their grandfather and Katherine. Now RaZ is on his way.

The heroine: Katherine - everything she ever loved has been destroyed after a huge asteroid hit Jupiter which knocked it off its axis and the gravity started pulling all the planets in the solar system towards it. Earth was affected greatly, including the loss of over 1/3 of the population within weeks. Storms began soon after including tornados, earth quakes, and hurricanes starting to kill all life on earth.

The Story: the story was a bit confusing at first and I don’t think it was due to the fact that this was the first book in the series that I have read. Because there was plenty of catch up material at the very beginning. RaZ was in a spaceship going off to find Katherine, and every time he went to sleep, he somehow got into a soft of astral projection of the past where a girl named Katherine died and stuck around as a ghost to protect her friend who was being abused. Then when that friend had a baby, it was somehow Katherine reborn. Meanwhile, RaZ was having all sorts of problems on his ship during his journey.

Katherine’s uncle Tye (RaZ’s grandfather) brought her and other family to his wrecked ship, though her mother and best friend was fading fast. Katherine has some paranormal abilities which include that she can reincarnate souls that she catches leaving their bodies. Though her mother makes her promise to let her and her father go.

The story was good and original and the world building was terrific. I liked the fact that RaZ is a vampire with wings, Even Katherine and her entire family were vampires who have lived hundreds of years, she was actually half vampire, half hellhound. Though the intimate scenes were overly full of prose and pretty statements that made the scenes way too fake and flowery. It had me laughing in a few places and it obviously wasn’t meant to be funny, which made it more so.

This book is told in multiple points of view via dual narration and was narrated by Emily Sutton-Smith and Tor Thom. I really enjoy Tor Thom, he has a very deep masculine voice which is perfect for alien romance. He is one of the male narrators I always count on to do a great job. This is the first time I have listened to Emily Sutton-Smith. I am not sure how much I liked her voice. It was definitely a pleasant voice, though it was a bit lower than I like for a female narrator. I have to say though that some of my favorite chapters where when they were in the POV of the ships AI.

A mix of two worlds

RaZ is fabulous! He is a worrier that has a kind soul. His journey is a hard one but his determination is strong. When he reaches earth life as he knows it changes and for the good. Meeting your life mate can make the situation better. It’s not an easy transition for all but it’s worth it. Enjoy

Waiting for more

I love the entire series! Waiting for more. A great story where the characters' journey is the focus and the sex and passion is not overpowering.

Love

I love this series and can’t wait for more books. RaZ is such a stunt devil is right on the money for him.

Love it but

I loved it, but was kinda upset that her parents were so selfish and kept fighting her and telling her they were staying that causing their death for hesitation of leaving. Plus why packing stuff when the world is ending? That I found unbelievable. If I knew the world was ending I would be running to get out the hell with my stuff!!

Nice lore tie-in

This series is unique in the sense that instead of a whole race searching for mates, we have a variety of hunks with different abilities and we're just all waiting to see what they are. I thought Raz's story was an interesting tie-in to human lore. I can tell fans have been crying for more steamy scenes the author seems to have obliged in this installment without holding much back. I prefer a more well-rounded tale sprinkled with these hot and heavy encounters. It appears that while offering up so much fanservice that the storytelling has suffered in the process. More specifically, the dialogue. Conversations are loaded with descriptive imagery and text in an unnatural way. I couldn't help but wonder who actually talks like that? For example, a child is explaining a situation with such exuberant detail and vocabulary, including actions, and expressions and small details that most people wouldn't bother mentioning in a hasty situation. It takes away from the moment and serves as a reminder that this is just a make-believe world when I'd rather be engrossed and consumed by it. As much as I like the male VA's voice, he simply just reads the lines and that makes it hard when the POV switches to another male character. The female does better although her country accent slips in from time to time.

UPDATE:
It's been months and I'm still struggling to finish this. The constant braying over the child is very... distracting. Every time she is mentioned the characters are fawning over her for a few pages and it's completely unnecessary. It's hard to imagine a bunch of big beefy alien warrior guys doing this much cooing. I started skipping parts just to find out where the story gets moving again. If I ever complete this novel, it'll be out of sheer commitment to finish rather than enjoyment.