Tempt the Stars

Cassandra Palmer Series, Book 6

By: Karen Chance

Narrated by: Allyson Ryan

Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Being a goddess is a lot less fun than you might think. Especially when you're only a half goddess, you only found out about it recently, and you still don't know what you're doing half the time. And when you've just used your not-so-reliable powers to burglarize the booby-trapped office of a vampire mob boss.

Yeah, that part sucks. But that's just the tip of the iceberg for Cassandra Palmer, aka the Pythia, the freshly minted chief seer of the supernatural world. After all, Cassie still has to save a friend from a fate worse than death, deal with an increasingly possessive master vampire, and prevent a party of her own acolytes from unleashing a storm of fury upon the world. Totally just your average day at the office, right?

©2013 Karen Chance (P)2013 Tantor

Love the story, vast improvement on the narrator!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Definitely. I immensely enjoy Karen Chance's Cassie Palmer series. I think anyone who enjoys urban fantasy, especially peppered with action, time-travel, and a healthy dose of humor would enjoy this series. Like the first five books in the series, "Tempt the Stars" does not disappoint.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I think it's tough not to love Cassie's tenacity and sense of humor, so I would call her my favorite character. However, both of her paramours have their strengths and weaknesses, which make them lovable...but when it comes to choosing a love interest for Cassie, I'm Team Pritkin!

Have you listened to any of Allyson Ryan’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but I will seek out other books Ryan has narrated now that I've heard this one! I think she did a fantastic job.Also, I seem to be in the minority, but Cynthia Holloway's narration of the first five books in the series grated on me to the point that (after reading them in print) I only listened to one of the other Cassie Palmer books on audiobook ("Curse the Dawn," if that makes any difference). I've heard other series narrated by Holloway, and felt the same way about her narration if those. Not enough differentiation between characters, obnoxious female voices, and not enough variation in tone of voice between male and female characters. An irritation of mine specific to Holloway's reading of the Cassie books is that she didn't read Pritkin with a British accent. I might have forgiven that in the first book, but Holloway should have corrected it after that, because Pritkin and his accent are repeatedly described as English! It drove me nuts. Especially because, having read the series in print, I always imagined Pritkin with a sexy British accent in my head, and I felt kind of cheated by the error. Thank god Allyson Ryan has entered the picture and finally corrected that! I think Ryan took over for a subpar narrator, and improved the overall quality of the reading without substantially changing other characters voices, other than to make them a bit more unique from one another, thereby making it easier to tell who is speaking. She took familiar voices and improved upon them without totally changing them. I normally hate it when narrators get changed mid-series, but this is a welcome exception. (Another excellent narrator swap was changing from Joyce Bean, whom I actually like generally, to Natalie Ross and Phil Gigante in the last two books of Karen Marie Moning's Fever series--it's not always bad to make a change mid-series!)I do concede that Allyson Ryan mispronounced "stalactite." Fortunately, the word only comes up two or three times, and I'll take that over Holloway's mispronunciation of Pritkin's accent in the other five books in this series any day. Well done, Allyson Ryan! Here's hoping she sticks around for the remainder of the Cassie Palmer series.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I had already read "Tempt the Stars" in print a few weeks ago when it was released, and I still listened to this audiobook in one sitting! It was that enjoyable.

Any additional comments?

If you love Karen Chance, give this book a try. Even if you're devoted to Cynthia Holloway like many reviewers seem to be, I would still encourage you to listen to "Tempt the Stars." You might be surprised at how much you enjoy Allyson Ryan's narration, regardless of which reader you ultimately decide you prefer!

Another Cliffhanger.

I do like Karen books, but I really don’t like cliffhanger. Give me the choice to continue another book, instead of leaving me to wonder at his fate. Also, I’m made about Cassie’s other relationship! We were left hanging about this too. Make the book longer if you have to. No peace meal and unfinished plots.

New narrator sounds too old

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Either get the previous narrator back, or find someone younger. I mean no disrespect, but Cassie is a quirky 24 year old, while Ms. Ryan sounds like she could be twice her age, and it just doesn't work with this character at all. I also hated the overly comical way she read some of the other characters, like the feminine voices some of the less macho vampires were given.

I don't know what happened to the previous narrator, but if she wanted a pay raise, she should have gottten it, and if she just did not feel like continuing, they should have found a narrator who at least sounds somilar to the first one, or found someone awesome like Tevia Gilbert or Lorelei King.

I ended up reading the book instead, so this was a waste of my money.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Not effaminate male characters. She also just sounded too old to be Cassie.

Do you think Tempt the Stars needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Yes, it had a cliffhanger ending.

Any additional comments?

Please get a different narrator, or I will not buy the next one.

Story is AWESOME!!! But Narrator HAS TO GO!

Is there anything you would change about this book?

YES! The narrator! I loved Cynthia Holloway and I'm desperately sorry to lose her not only in this series but in Chicagoland Vampires as well. Yet another series wounded by the loss of a good narrator. But this narrator will not do! I'm willing to take the risk of switching narrators again. It couldn't get any worse than it already is by switching again. She's not the right fit for this book. Not even close.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Tempt the Stars?

Oh man, I can't answer this without giving away spoilers, but there is almost a "YESssss!" moment in this book. Soo great! But then there's a huge cliffhanger which leaves you completely stunned and wanting to throw things (not my kindle though). Especially after waiting TWO YEARS for this installment. At least the next installment is promised in 2014. I don't think I could wait another two years.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The tone and the way she goes up an octave at the end of almost EVERY SENTENCE is like scratching nails against a chalkboard. Luckily, I did the "whisper sync" thing this time (which is what I do any time there is a narrator change within a series) and purchased the book BEFORE the audiobook so I could read it most of the time instead of listening. Just in case the narration didn't sit well. In the end I wound up reading the whole thing. I just could not tolerate the narrators intonation. Sorry.

Was Tempt the Stars worth the listening time?

I'm recommending reading this book in kindle or print ONLY. Otherwise the story may be ruined for you. You won't enjoy the story if you don't enjoy the narration to some degree at least.Or better yet, "WHISPER SYNC" it instead of wasting an audible credit or paying full price for the audiobook. First, buy the kindle version, then you can purchase the audiobook for a very heavily discounted price (under $4 dollars I believe), which winds up being significantly cheaper than the actual audiobook. When or if you get sick of the narration, you can switch easily over to reading at the same place you left off in the audiobook and vice versa via cross platform (kindle and audible) communication. It's a pretty nifty feature! Especially when you need to stop reading to do things like drive to work, clean your house, or make supper to feed your hungry children. Very convenient.

Entertaining

Tempt the Stars picks up where book 5 ended. Cassie is in search of a mentor and gets the opportunity to visit a different plain. Chaos follows her everywhere and a backbone is slowly starting to appear. Mircea fans maybe disappointed since he only makes a brief appearance. A surprising ending may leave you cursing the author.

Love the story,Hate Cassie she is as dumb as rocks

I love the story, Cassie not so much, I am getting so tired of hearing how tired she is all the time even when she just woke up arghhhh... she never seem to know anything at all even when its being explained to her, why does she has to be that clueless? this is the 6th book should she not be further ahead by now.. she is annoying the hell out of me and I still have 4 more books to go because stupid me fell in love with the story from book one and bought the whole series assuming she would've turned into this untouchable badass not the dumb as rocks chick she is...

A bit confusing!!!

The book was good even though the way it jumps around you kind of get lost and I had to rewind a few times because i thought i missed something. I really feel that if your only turning out a book in a series once a year that you really shouldn't end it in a cliffhanger because you forget the last book and it's really not fair to the reader we like the books so we will get them regardless so no need to try to make sure we will read the next. The narrator personally I thought the previous one was better but this one did ok. In the beginning it's really hard to stick with the story because she sounds like a robot but it gets better later so if you can hang on do so. It's a good listen still a bit confusing though.

Complex story telling with non stop action!

I've read other comments on how others have found Ms. Chance's style of story telling hard to understand, but I think that may be because they were expecting a romantic story with a little of action and adventure in it. Well there is some romance, but the action and adventure is almost non stop. I would love more romance to happen between Cassie and John because he has more of a future to offer than a vampire, we will have to see.
So if you are trying to read these books for the romance you will be sorely disappointed. If you are use to reading complex stories of battle and the trials the hero or heroine have to go through to achieve the peace they want then these are the books for you.

You have to understand the time line Ms. Chance is sticking Cassie in; she has been sheltered all her life then all of a sudden she is thrown into this crazy position of power and expected to save not only Earth, but the demon and fairy world's as well from Gods! Cassie is only doing all of this with in a three month period with no training in anything! I would be freaking out and going insane if it were me.

So if you love to read stories of the impossible odds the heroine has to face and maybe be a little freaked out by all of it while she is doing it then this story will please you. It makes for some very funny moments where I was cry laughing my head off. These books would make for a wonderful TV series; hint...hint out there anyone?

If you ever read your readers comments Ms. Chance could you please add more romantic scenes with John and Cassie! I mean some really sizzling ones! Please!

Very heart wrenching....

This is one of my favorite books of the series so far. It's a crazy ride through hell and the beginning of big changes for Cassie.

Miss the old narrator. Another cliffhanger. Ugh

I don't think I would be so miffed if it didn't take this author forever to release books. Last time is was a 2 year gap. I am kind of losing interest in this series. I feel like after 6 books, the story should be further along.

I also think the other narrator does a better job. It irks me when publishers change narrators during a series. You get use to someone doing the voices and it's like starting a new series when they switch.

I don't know if I will purchase the next one if it takes 2 years for it to release.