The Winter King

A Faeted Mates Omnibus

By: Ariel Hunter

Narrated by: Amber Lee Connors, Kieran Flitton

Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's Summary

A bounty hunter down on her luck. A fae king looking for a reason to live. A mate bond neither can deny.

Mara Wylde is a small-time bounty hunter who just can’t seem to catch a break, no matter how hard she tries. Her rent’s two months overdue. Her antiques shop is failing. She’s eaten ramen five nights in a row now, and is desperate for a way out of debt.

When Mara’s offered a hundred grand to nab a high fae right out of Faerie, she knows she can’t turn down the job, no matter the risks. Even if it means catching the eye of the elusive Winter King.

Tortured by his past and not wanting to rule anymore, Vareck Blackthorne is ready to cede his crown and journey to the nether to escape his torment. Minutes from delivering this news to all of Faerie, he sees her - a fae woman with hair like the dawn and eyes that remind him of summer. A summer that has been gone for centuries.

After 600 years of suffering, he’s finally found her - his fated mate.

The only problem?

She has no idea.

The Winter King is the first Faeted Mates omnibus that includes the entirety of Mara and Vareck’s story. It was initially released in three installments, titled: Hunted by the Winter King, Taken from the Winter King, and Taming the Winter King. This is a fast-paced, hot paranormal romance series with dominant fae males and their sassy, spitfire women.

Warning: Beware of cursing and steamy scenes. This is an adult series.

©2020 Raging Hippo LLC (P)2020 Raging Hippo LLC

A nice love story

I need my own Vareck . I loved listening to this omnibus . The narrator's gave a great performance . Book 1 is my favorite of the three . Mara made some stupid choices but I loved her character overall . My favorite scene is when she jumped out the window . Vareck is a tortured dominant jealous alpha male who just wants his mate . I loved the scenes in his POV .

3 1/2 STARS

Pretty good story. I enjoyed the world that the author created. It was a slow burn between the main couple as the heroine kept pushing the hero away. There is a lot of action as they travel between realms. There is also couples being set up for future books. Where I struggled a little was feeling the connection between the king and his mate. So much time is spent fighting the bond and with other characters that I felt their romance fell to the side. It wrapped up a little too quickly for me at the end and I was left wanting more of Mara and the Kings relationship as an actual couple. It was still an enjoyable listen and overall 3 1/2 stars.

Narration was 5 stars! Both are new to me narrators and I thought they did an amazing job. They definitely pulled me into the story.

Intriguing

This was an intriguing book from the start. Mara needs rent money and a slimy leprechaun comes to her with a job she can't pass up. I liked Mara. She is strong, determined, and relentless. There are things about her past that are slowly revealed that make things so much clearer as the story progressed. None of it was a surprise, but it was well written.

Vareck is a tyrant. I wasn't certain if I would like him or not at the start of the book. He is determined to hand over his kingdom until he sees Mara. Then everything changes and she becomes his obsession. The way everything unfolds, I was rooting for Mara and the king's best friend (she is also a kick butt warrior). There are quite a few unanswered questions and the last book ends setting up the prince and Mara's sister for a book all their own. I'm intrigued to see where that goes.

Overall, it was a fun, solid story. 4/5.



Thank you to the author/publisher for the review copy of this book. I received this book in exchange for an honest review and the opinions stated above are 100% mine.

Great story and narration

I really liked this story and the narration was phenomenal! I thoroughly enjoyed Kieran’s voice and tone, I’d listen to anything he reads 😄 And Amber Lee’s voice is so nice and easy to listen to. She was perfect for voicing the heroine. I didn’t feel that the narration was cringy or over dramatic like I do in some other books. I loved listening.

Cute little fae love story

A cute little "faery" love story. Nothing new or different in the genre.
The last 10 minutes of the book basically set the story up for multiple follow-up books which I had expected. There are several unanswered questions about important components of the story. I hope upcoming books answer these.
I did enjoy the narrators especially Kieran Flitton. He is a new-to-me narrator. He read with fervor and was able to relate the strength of the characters' feelings very well.

I enjoyed every minute of it!

Very well written, a great storyline, and the narration was perfect.
A worthy listen and wow what a cliffhanger!

man...that was bad

that was awful! Story bad dialog pitiful....narrorators were even bad. Waste of a credit all around!

I enjoyed this book!

I really enjoyed this book! It is an enemies to lovers romance and though Vareck takes a while to be likable it is all worth it in the end! I liked the concept of moving between worlds and the story was interesting! Both narrators did an amazing job bringing the story to life! I will definitely read the next one in the series

Easy Listen!

This is a great listen. The story flows. The narrator is easy to listen to. Suggest anyone that enjoys this genre, listen to this book.

LOVED it!!

Perfect sound and story! just like i had picture and heard in my head! :)

Brilliant

I couldn’t stop listening to this book. If you love mystical stories then this is a must listen. The narrators are perfect. Enjoy

Good narration, nice story

Despite the good narration, it took me some time to finish listening to this book. On the whole, it was a good story and the narration was really well done. When I started to listen to it, it was interesting and captivated me but I felt myself getting distracted every now and then because the story lost a bit of its momentum.
There were some inconsistencies and some parts where I wanted to get to the heart of it and just get on with the action but all in all I enjoyed listening to these books.

The only thing really annoyed me though, ... Treating someone like THAT and justifying it with your feelings for her and that you just know that she is your mate...? Nope. That is unacceptable no matter how accepting the heroine is and how much the hero considers this behavior as normal. It's not normal in my book and I don't feel right about it.

Apart from that though, the books were nice and quick stories to listen to.

Wonderfully Entertaining

This book is a wonderfully written, thrilling adventure and love story. Mara is a strong and resourceful female character who thinks she knows what she wants until her world is turned upside down by the super sexy Varek. The narrators are brilliant and all encompassing adding an extra dimension to the story.

The Winter King

I really enjoyed listening to this book. I really love fated mates trope. I highly recommend this book.

Fantastic PNR

I received this book free for an honest review.

Mara is a bounty hunter and she’s hired to go to the Winter Kings realm and kidnap Prince Sebastian .
King Vareck isn’t happy attending the celebration and then he notices Mara and his senses go on overload and he realises she’s his fated mate but before he can reach her she goes through a portal holding her bounty.
Vareck follows Mara into the human realm and forcefully bring her back to his palace where she keeps trying to escape until he gets an amulet that forces her to listen to him. I loved this book so much the characters are excellent especially Corvo the Kings familiar. I loved listening to the interaction between Vareck and Mara and how she went from hating him to realising how much she loved him. There’s a few unexpected twists in the book too and the ending wasn’t exactly a cliffhanger but it’s left open so hopefully there will be another book about Amelia.

Paranormal story

This book is written well and has good content. I find that I lost interest occasionally. Not really my kind of book but that is a personal opinion. I would recommend you give it a listen you might be surprised.

Recommended

I love a good mate bond story and this book did not disappoint. That being said, it's so much more than just a mate bond story. The world building was done well and there's always something new coming up that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

I have to say - Corvo might be my favourite character. He definitely brings humour to the story.