Stormwalker

By: Allyson James

Narrated by: Hillary Huber

Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's Summary

Half-Navajo Janet Begay possesses extraordinary power that is tied to the storms that waft across the desert. The only person who can control her when she's caught in the storm's evocative power is Mick, a dark-haired, blue-eyed biker Janet can't seem to touch with her powers. He can wield fire and not get burned, and Janet's never sure where he goes when they're not together.

Together she and Mick investigate mysterious disappearances, which Janet fears are tied to her mother's people, the mythical gods from beneath the earth. They are helped along the way by Coyote and Crow, but these shapeshifting gods have their own agendas.

©2010 Jennifer Ashley (P)2012 Tantor

Critic Reviews

"The mix of kick-butt action, fiery passion and serious drama ensure [listeners] will want to revisit this world ASAP." ( Romantic Times)

Messy writing with an obnoxious heroine

This is the first book in the Stormwalker series. The fifth book in that series will be titled, Dreamwalker, and is expected to release in June 2015. This was an action packed paranormal romance with a story that was incredibly flawed.

I listened to this on audiobook and it was okay. It was nothing spectacular but the narrator did a decent job distinguishing between character voices.

Janet Begay is a Stormwalker whose mother is a Goddess from Beneath. Janet moves back to her hometown to face her mother once and for all and to investigate the disappearance of a young woman. Right after her arrival things start to get tricky. Janet is being attacked by Skinwalkers and her ex-boyfriend (the mysterious Mick) shows up to help. Janet hasn’t seen Mick in five years but is still drawn to him. Together they try and track down the missing woman, all the while dodging evil attacks from Janet’s mother.

I was intrigued by the idea of a character, Janet, who can harness the power of storms. The idea ended up being cooler than what was actually done in this book. I actually struggled to finish this book, it was just so ridiculous. Considering I was listening to this as an audiobook while I languished in traffic, that’s saying something...I hardly ever stop reading an audiobook.

There were a lot of problems with this story and a lot of things I didn't enjoy about the story. My main issue was the relationship between Mick and Janet, which left a lot to be desired. Pretty much if they have any problems they just have sex and then everything is good until they have problems again. So silly.

Sex is a huge part of this book, Janet is pretty much obsessed with sex. Which I don’t have a problem with...except the sex scenes were very poorly done. They are boring and not at all creative. I feel like if you are going to make a book that features sex, you should be able to write about it in a way that is engaging.

Even sillier is the part where Mick tells Janet that he's not sleeping with her again until she decides that she really wants Mick in her life...then...you guessed it...a couple chapters later they get pissed at each other and have sex. Huge eye roll here.

When Mick reveals his big secret Janet gets all whiny and immature about it all. I swear she acted like a two year old throwing a tantrum. I mean is she seriously that blind that she didn’t see something was going on with Mick? I understand she is pissed about the secret thing, however she is the one who lets this guy walk all over her without ever questioning his motives. In general Janet's character is extremely immature and makes a lot of bad decisions throughout the book. I hate dumb heroines.

There was some good action scenes in here and the fight scenes are decently done. However, there were also a lot of parts where things don't quite make sense or are over-explained. There is some awkward dialogue as well.

Overall this was a paranormal romance (PNR) that epitomizes a lot of things I hate about poorly done PNR. There is an abusive relationship (that is pushed as being a loving one), a stupid and dense heroine, lots of sex that is poorly done, and an underdeveloped world. The book does have a bit of an urban fantasy feel to it because there is a lot of action, but there is also a lot of relationship drama and sex that reminded me more of a PNR. I pretty much detested this book and won't be reading any more of this series.

10 of 11 people found this review helpful

Story wasn't engaging

Janet was a daughter of a native american man and a white women "jane doe", no one knew. Being illegitimate or motherless, Janet was teased a lot in her tribe and ostracized. When she was an adult, she ran off to find herself. She met a man named Mick, climbed on their motorbikes and headed out of town.

5 years later, she has returned home because she was asked to help find a missing girl named Amy. Amy's family had no body and no information, and they just to know whether their daughter was kidnapped or if she was dead. Returning home means that Janet Baguette has to deal with everything she had been running from, her community, her grandmother, her love for Mick, and finally her true identity as a Stormwalker.

I can't say that I liked this story. It wasn't engaging, and it wasn't a story that I would ever read again. In fact, I kept looking to see how much time was left in the audiobook and was horrified that there was still over 5hrs to go. To go on with a series, there has to be something I care about or something I am curious about...and there isn't. I may read book 2 in the future, but not anytime soon.

I will say the narrator did a good job with the various voices and her pace, but I just didn't connect with the heroine, heroine or any part of this story.

14 of 18 people found this review helpful

Gods, Goddesses and Harleys

I was looking for a new story to listen to while driving back and forth to my in-laws about 3 hours away and stumbled on the fact that Jennifer Ashley (Highland Pleasures series) was writing alternative fiction under the Allyson James name. The fact that there were already 3 titles in the series with a 4th upcoming was an added bonus.

This story moves right along right from the start and we meet most of the major characters in the first two chapters. Hillary Huber does a great job of differentiating the characters, and I really like what she does with them. Nash is a little strident, but the rest are just spot on. She really gets Maya's "up yours" attitude and conveys it with every word.

In my opinion, the characters are well drawn and believable. They definitely make me want to rush to the Crossroads Motel and buy them a drink!

My favorite scene in the book involves Janet, Maya and a bottle of tequila. You'll laugh, bite your nails and drive right past your exit just so you can keep on listening. Can't wait to hear the rest of the series. Thanks, Audible!

7 of 9 people found this review helpful

A Good Listen

I liked this one...and have had the e-book forever....not sure why I waited so long but. it took the audio being released to get my butt in gear to start it.

Some of it was easy to figure out early on but there were still a few twists and turns that were surprising. The narration was great...can't wait for book 2

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Just mediocre

This was a very slow moving book. I was disappointed that it seemed to be an amalgamation of character, plot, and world building ideas from a lot of other popular paranormal series but added very little that was truly original. The narrator was pretty good but I still found myself skipping entire chapters just to get through the story.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

GOOD STORY

Enjoyed the story but had to listen closely. I have already purchased the next story. I do want to say for us older readers we know about sex so its nice not to have the blow by blow told. Just enough told that you know what is going to happen.

Was Ok book

I listing to this book for the first time and it made me what to find out how her relationship ends with Mick. But at the same time I was mad that she was with the dragon when he was to kill her.

Yep buying this book

listened to this book via the romance package and plan to buy now with a credit loved the characters and love to see Jannet and Mick relationship grow.

Good surprise

This was a very interesting story. I love urban fantasy and paranormal romance. Most times you find the same story over and over but in this case I was pleasantly surprised. I loved Janet and Mick. Janet seemed like most of us trying to figure it all out while growing up and finding out the world is quite different in the eyes of an adult vs. that of a child. Nash got on my nerves. I wanted to really just throw y hands up every time he opened his mouth. This story is action pack and steamy but for a first book in a series does a good job setting up this world. Looking forward to what is to come.

Nonstop action!

Very engaging story and interesting characters. Looking forward to the next book. Can’t wait to see where this goes next.