Witchbane

Witchbane Series, Book 1

By: Morgan Brice

Narrated by: Kale Williams

Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

Seth Tanner and his brother Jesse's fun evening debunking local urban legends ends with Jesse's gruesome murder. Seth vows revenge on Jesse's killer - too bad the murderer has been dead for a hundred years.

Seth uncovers a cycle of ritual killings that feed the power of a dark warlock's immortal witch-disciples, and he's hell bent on stopping Jackson Malone from becoming the next victim. He's used to risking his neck. He never intended to risk his heart.

©2018 Gail Z. Martin (P)2019 Tantor

Lots of Drama

The story was all right when it came to the mystery plot but tanked in the romance department. The relationship drama got to be too much and I was rolling my eyes so hard because these guys only knew each other for a couple of days. I did not like Evan. His inner thoughts and hostility was over the top, leading to his to stupid to live decision. This series is not for me and I will not be continuing.

Fanfiction with a budget

First of all, another stellar performance by Kale Williams. The identity of Jackson Malone was a surprise i didn't see coming, though the identity of Valek wasn't a surprise, the identity of the secondary antagonist really threw me for a loop, so Kudos there. I was drawn to this book, by the plot, but was disappointed to find after 8 chapters all I seemed to be hearing was how attractive the two male leads were, it certainly wasn't enough for me to stop listening, but it did get to the point where i briefly forgot what the plot of the book was. All in all, I am highly invested in these characters and will listen to the sequels.

I love this book.

It was a fantastic read. It highlights queer culture very well,
and it’s a beautiful story

Hot and Sweet

Overall a good story, there is a reason that Sonny/Jackson/Evan (one character, three names) was suspicious, and for the story to work he had to trust the wrong side at some point. and with Seth's past, it makes sense that he didn't want to throw all his baggage at new guy's feet, but if you don't like that trope, then you will hate this. I was on board mostly, though I saw some of it coming.
Kale Williams was the reason I picked up the book. he is one of my favorite narrators. He didn't disappoint.
Also these men have the recovery time that porn stars dream of, so if you don't like that then this isn't for you. If you do, then hell yes, because they celebrate all the small victories.

Same story, with a bit of a tweak

OK guys so I just discovered this author this week. I read two books in the Badlands series and noticed that there were a few issues with keeping up with the timelines and usage errors and repetitions. I never heard of a Hayabusa motorcycle before I read that series. So now I’m looking for something else by this author and I found this book and what do you know? This protagonist also rides a Hayabusa. This one also finds it Ideal that he and his hook up potential are only a few inches apart which is perfect, coincidentally the same exact thing the other protagonist said in the other book. In the other books the protagonist was a medium, in this book all the sudden now he’s a shaman. I don’t understand why it’s so difficult to keep up with these details. Especially given that it’s not right or miss is some thing then the editor should catch it. Oh rider is not only supposed to be a good storyteller but should also travel or at least read about travel and have varying interests. Readers don’t want to read about characters who all have the same interests. Why don’t you Mr. Bryce have a character who rides a Yamaha, crotch rocket, rice rocket? Even if you personally don’t like those types of motorcycles Make your characters like them. If you’re just writing to make money and if these stories are selling then don’t change anything. Just remember now with self publishing there are many, many books out there and discerning readers will move on to more original and varied stories. I myself have not been impressed with this book and probably won’t read anymore. If you’re open to constructive feedback, I would recommend finding new beta readers and maybe get a better editor. I commented on the last series that instead of saying “he said an incantation“ it would be nice if you would actually take some time to create the words of a spell. Take a few more minutes and get the details right. Every time you mentioned the protagonist putting his cell phone on the night table before going to bed you never mentioned that they actually plugged in the cell phone to charge. Anyway good luck I hope you do well and maybe I’ll read these comments and take them for the constructive feedback they’re meant to be. If you see typos or errors in this review, don’t just chalk it up to someone who’s trying to tear you down; I’m visually impaired and I have to dictate and there’s no easy way To review my input. Thank you

A very flimsy story buried in flimsy erotica. Meh.

When I read the glowing reviews and see the 5 star ratings, I wonder how standards got this low. While the story starts off strong it plateaus early and the author seems to have no incentive to put in any effort - listeners are flinging 5 star reviews like beads at Mardi Gras.

Let’s first give credit it to Kale, whose narration saves this mess. His voice is easy on the ears and his characters sound unique and believable.

Now the story. I had high hopes at the start. The premise was a bit of a stretch, but that’s ok if the author commits. All that Morgan commits to is sloppy writing. If you read the synopsis you know that Seth is looking for a man named Jackson. Well once in Richmond he meets Sonny, a bartender. Now having watched Days of our Lives for awhile, I remember Jackson Kiriakis aka Sonny Kiriakis. I guess Seth didn’t watch that show. Never making that connection, even after spending a decent amount of time together over a couple of days, it’s only after their “love connection” does Seth find out Sonny is the Jackson he’s looking for. Then we find out Jackson/Sonny goes by the Evan. Huh?

Seth and the newly identified Evan embark on a 4 day sprint to keep Jackson/Sonny/Evan alive. They’d have solved it just three days if they had kept their pants on. These two go around the sheets like no one’s business. It’s needlessly descriptive every time. Oh wait. They have a total of 4 days to solve an unsolvable puzzle to try and keep Jackson/Sonny/Evan alive. That will just have to wait because everything makes them erect. Just the blood loss from their brains to their groins slows them down a full day. Time that could be spent fleshing out the convoluted plot instead is devoted to a lot of descriptive sex. Here is the breakdown of the book- sex, Jackson/Sonny/Evan being incredibly dumb and ignoring clues that have big red arrows pointing to the words “this is a clue”, Seth being morose, Seth getting a warm cloth to clean up Evan after sex, and both of them thinking about having sex.

I am lucky that this is included in my membership and didn’t waste a credit. Also, the next couple of books in this series are included as well. I do a lot of walking and listen to a lot of content. I will likely listen to those as well. Would you turn down a free domino’s pizza? No. It’s not that great, but it’s still pizza. Will I use credits for the other titles in the series? Highly unlikely. That’s a lesson I learned from Keira Andrews Amish series, the overblown sex is still relentless in each subsequent book. Why subject myself to that?

Not too bad

it was decent enough. A few twist. Hopefully the 2nd book is better. I thought the obstacles within the narrative were so so

witchbane

Omg this audio book was absolutely positively amazing. I would highly recommend this audiobook.

Very promising start

I enjoy Kale William's performance so I followed him to Morgan Brice. Witchbane and is my 3rd read - the first two were in the Bad lands series which is in the same world as Witchbane. I was delightfully surprised at how action packed this book turned out to be and I fell in love with Evan and Seth. That their sex scenes were tastefully spicy doesn't hurt 😏 so I think I might continue their journey - at least 1 more book

4 stars - I possibly would listen again

Good story. Good narration.

This story is another one of increasingly more common urban fantasy series that sets a team on a quest to hunt monsters that are harming unsuspecting folks.

The characters are engaging, the setting is decent, the plot has some interesting developments, and the romance is steamy.

I would like to see some more vivid descriptions of scenery, monsters, and fights. One of the perks of writing urban fantasy stories is the opportunity to show the reader something new or unique. This is just the first book so I hope the author takes advantage of this opportunity more in the rest of the series because I like the descriptions of regular urban settings.

Kale Williams adds some flavor to the story with his narration, and I look forward t listening to the entire series.