Trusted Bond

Change of Heart, Book 2

De: Mary Calmes

Narrado por: Jeff Gelder

Jin Rayne is having trouble adjusting to the new life he’s supposed to love. Instead of adapting to being the mate of tribe leader Logan Church, Jin can't get past the fact that his lover was straight before they met. He's discovered the joy in belonging to Logan but fears his new life could disappear at a moment’s notice, despite Logan's insistence that they are forever, end of story.

Jin wants to trust Logan, but that desire will be put to the test both by a rival tribe leader and by a startling revelation about Jin's existence. At stake is Jin's life and his place in the tribe. If he's going to survive to see Logan again, he'll have to release his fear and freely accept the bond, for only then can he truly trust.

©2012 Mary Calmes (P)2012 Mary Calmes

I love Jin

This story just gets better. I loved jin in the first book but in this one, we learn more about his past and I felt so connected to him. I loved Logan too, but there is more going on in this book than just Logan and Jin.
The story is nail-biting, unique and kept me on the edge of my seat,
I do wish Sean Crisden was still narrating but Jeff Gelder did ok.

Not as good with the new narrator

You have to have read book one to read this, so I’m not going into back-story details, this is a continuation of book one and not a stand-alone.

So Mary likes to torture her readers sometimes and this is one of those cases. Our MCs found one another in book one and now she’s gonna rip ‘em apart! (Kind of her specialty, isn’t it? LOL ) But when they reunite – MAN – super, super hot and very touching.

In addition to the external forces that try to keep these guys apart, Jin is still doubting Logan’s devotion. He’s not quite sure how much Logan sees him as his Reah vs an actual person to love.

There are some truly awful things that happen in this story – poor Crane! – and lots of violence. So - for those of you with a squeamish stomach – be forewarned – these are shifter’s whose animals are real and whose traditions are violent and who are capable and willing to do almost anything in the name of what’s “right”.

But… that being said… the relationship building between Logan and Jin is what romances are meant to be. Epic. Bigger than life. Involving the heart, mind, body and soul. They move through their tragedies and tribulations and build something rock solid and forged in steel.

4 of 5 stars

Audio

I’d say this is a matter of taste. Unfortunately, they changed narrators for book two from Sean Crisden (who I loved!) to Jeff Gelder (he does books two and three then Sean comes back for four and five). (From talking with people, I believe it had to do with scheduling and the publishers made the decision to move forward rather than waiting for Sean.) Some people really like Jeff Gelder’s narration style and though it’s nice to have one person do an entire series, having adequate narration is at least a plus. To me, Jeff’s job is only adequate, and not superlative. He doesn’t pronounce things the same as Sean and he’s not great with emotion. He doesn’t do accents and he’s a bit more monotone in his narration style.

Jeff Gelder isn’t bad to listen to and I wouldn’t avoid these two books because of him, but I am sad that Sean couldn’t do the entire series and I don’t think he does them justice.

What I recommend is to listen to the sample before you decide to buy – if you think it won’t bother you (or that you’d like it!) then go on ahead and enjoy. If it will make you crazy just read this and book 3 and go back to Sean for 4 and 5.

2 of 5 stars

Overall 3 of 5 stars

Will Jin ever trust the bond?

I enjoyed the story and the development of the characters into the next step in their lives. It's clear that this performance was not proofed. It could have been so good. This was one of the first audios I listened to and liked it, but now that I have a lot more experience with audible, I realize that this could have been so much better. The author did a wonderful job with the story, it's just too bad no one proofed the audio before it was released.

Loved Mary Calmes' Book

Who was your favorite character and why?

I love seeing the emotional journey Jin experiences as he comes to realize how much he trusts and loves Logan.

What didn’t you like about Jeff Gelder’s performance?

I was so disappointed in the narration. There were inflections that made no sense, pauses in the middle of sentences that had no purpose and no changes in voice or tone to accommodate the different characters.

no emotion

I've read the physical book and I just wanted to hear it cuz I did listen to the first and last. Sean Crisden is the better reader. much better. he puts humor and fear and emotion into the story. Jeff Gelder is so dead pan and he's saying all the names and words different.
I don't like him.