Swords & Stilettos

Enlighten Series, Book 1

By: Kristin D. Van Risseghem

Narrated by: Sofia Willingham

Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

She doesn’t remember adding Armageddon to her birthday wish list....

The day Zoe turns eighteen, the gates of hell will open and Satan will escape his prison - unless Zoe can stop him.

Her plans to party with her friends and ogle cute guys are sidelined when her bestie reveals he's a Guardian Angel.

And the boy she’s been secretly crushing on? He’s a Nephilim. Both were sent to protect her from the army of demons dispatched to kill her.

The normal life Zoe loved is destroyed by an ancient prophecy that declares she will be the one to unite Angels, Nephilim, Fairies and Werewolves in an epic battle against evil.

Now, it’s time for Zoe to blow out the candles and make a wish, because if she can’t learn to control her new found talents, there will be Hell to pay....

©2016 Kristin D. Van Risseghem (P)2017 Kristin D. Van Risseghem

Fun YA series that I'll be following!

I had a hard time getting into this book, but it finally picked up for me after 3-4 chapters and then I couldn't stop listening. It's a fun YA novel full of magic, action, fairies, angels, werewolves, demons, etc. I really enjoyed it and look forward to the next book in the series. In fact, I already checked on audible for other books by this author, and though the next in this series isn't out, there are a few other novels, one about one of the angels and 2 about the fairies in this book, that I plan on listening to while waiting for the next in this series.
The narration was okay, a bit stilted and choppy at times. I sped it up to x1.25 and it was better, but still a little off. I think it's one of the reasons it took me a minute to get into the story; however, once I did get into it and changed the speed, the narration didn't bother me as much. I received a review copy at my request and voluntarily reviewed.

You won’t want to stop listening!

I loved this story! One day Zoey is a normal, sheltered girl, til she is thrown into a world where angels and demons are searching for the child if a prophecy. I got sucked into this story! Listening to Zoey and she steps into the world of the enlightened and tried to figure out her place in it. I can’t wait to listen to book two and hear how Zoey grows into her purpose, as she continues to trust her new friends and get ready for what's to come. There seemed to be an issue with the audio in a few spots where a sentence is repeated twice. That’s why I gave a 4 star for performance.

If you love stories involving angels, You will love this book!
Zoe is 17 and just a normal teenage, coffee loving girl in Minnesota, until one day.
I do love how Zoe is thrust into a world where angels exist and a battle over a future prophecy is the focus of all the super naturals she meets.
Zoe is a believable 17 year old wrestling with her world being turned upside down and slowly coming to terms with her possible roll all while battling a mean girl, falling in love and learning how to set boundaries with her friendships.
I loved this book and listened to the audio version.
Sofia did a great job giving a voice to all the characters and helping to immerse you in the world.
There were a few doubled parts that might need a clean up, my only nitpick!

Great New YA/Teen Fantasy Romance

This is a fun YA/Teen Fantasy! This audiobook has action, suspense, romance, Angels, Nephilims, fairies, and werewolves.

Narration was good and brought the story to life.

I enjoyed listening to this audiobook and getting to know Chloe. One minute she is a normal teen and the next the world she knows collapses and she finds herself learning that not all is what it seems.

I’m looking forward to book 2! I’ll have to get it as soon as it comes out! This is one of my favorite genres and I throughly enjoyed the characters and story line.

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

Promising beginning

Any additional comments?

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

This book caught my eye in the Audiobookboom mailing I got and decided to give it a read.

The author used some themes common to a lot of YA type books — teenage girl, high school angst, love triangle. Not a negative really, but merely the setting.

The story ended up mixing angels with demons, fairies, and werewolves with some twists around the main character that I found interesting to the point I didn’t want to put the book down. I look forward to reading the next in the series (on my own dime) to see what happens next!

Great YA listen

Gripping story and intriguing characters, this book had me hooked from the start. Great narrator too. I received a free review copy of this audiobook at my request and I have voluntarily left this review.

good book

this book was pretty good. a lot better then I thought it would be. I am look forward to the next one. narrator did a good job as well.

A little slow but it picks up pace.

Zoe is a high school student just trying to finish her last year in school. She has a best friend Kieran who is a hottie by her side when they both stumble upon a demon and her hottie friend fights him off. Soon after life as Zoe knew it changes forever and she has to face these demons as well as a prophecy.

I will say that the story was very slow at the beginning but once it picked up pace it was very good and I enjoyed it. Will be continuing this series to see what happens next.

The narrator was okay. I had to speed up the pace to 2.0 to get by to listen to her. Not one of my favorites narrator.

Fun & Enjoyable

I really liked this book. The storyline of normal girl finds out she needs to save the world is always a cool concept. I would have liked a little more action and supernatural elements. I felt too much time was spent on normal everyday teenage worries like clothes and boys but overall it was a really fun read and I will be getting book 2

Geared to a younger audiance than I was expecting.

I was expecting a young adult book in this is definitely more for a pre-teen/young teen based audience. The narrator increases the youthful feel of the book. I felt the main character was definitely immature for a 17 year old who is supposed to save the world. I feel like in reality there's a whole range of maturity levels in teenagers but to have a teenager who is supposed to be coming into powers still acts like a junior high kid is not the kind of character I want to read about.

An epic read!

A guardian angel...
A nephilim...
A girl destined to save the world...
The real question is: can she stay alive long enough to stop Armageddon?

The author has created such a great world and story - I am impressed by her talent and writing.

A read that ensures you never want to stop for any kind of breaks. A read that pushes you to forget reality and live in this fictional world.

Such wonderful characters - great character development of the MC!

Full of angels, demons, nephilim, fairies, adventure, action, secrets, wolves and romance.

Perfect for readers of urban fantasy/paranormal romance.

The narrator was good. Liked listening to her but there were minor editing issues like a few words been repeated. Overall, an enjoyable listen to this electric read!