Witch's Reign

By: Shannon Mayer

Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang

Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's Summary

The Witch's Reign...a land of unnatural hellish cold ruled over by the Ice Witch herself, who is in turn guarded by three creatures - Wolf, Bear, and Raven. Those lovely beasts derive their power directly from their mistress and just happen to kill any who cross their paths. To get there, you first must pass through the Dragon's Ground. Full of, you guessed it, dragons who for the record, also do not like trespassers.

Sounds like a fun place to go, doesn't it?

Yeah, not so much.

You see the thing is my best friend, Darcy was sent with a team into the Witch's Reign to recover a powerful jewel that belongs to our mentor, and they are long overdue to come back.

That leaves me, Zamira "Reckless" Wilson to go after my friend because no one else will.

Somehow, I get saddled with a human - a male no less! - tagging along for the ride. A human that is as weak and useless as my shifting abilities.

Throw in a weapon that might be trying to kill me, and a small dragon that has a penchant for Shakespearean insults, and you've got my life in a nutshell.

May the sands of the desert swallow me whole because this is going to be a friggin bumpy ride.

©2018 Hijinks Ink Publishing (P)2018 Hijinks Ink Publishing

Great but

Ok I really enjoyed the story and plot so far the series is keeping me busy I like the narrator the only thing keeping me from giving this book a 5 star is the heroine, seriously why do authors make them so stupid I mean seriously being nice is one thing but to keep helping someone who is a complete douchebag bugs me. Also, she never speaks up for herself and just makes herself seem week because she is stupid enough to let others keep using her over and over I just can’t stand those types of heroines

Mayer delivers again!

Witch’s Reign is set in the Rylee Adamson world. Ms. Mayer includes characters we’ve met previously such as Alex (from the Rylee Adamson series) and Merlin & Flora (from the Venom Trilogy) very seamlessly. Zamira, a downtrodden feline shifter beaten down by self loathing and an ex-lover, finds herself in insurmountable odds at every turn. The story will have you sitting at the end of your seat hollering and rooting for the underdogs as Zamira faces down enemies much stronger and bigger than she is in her human and shifted forms. There is non-stop action right from the start whether it is with an enemy, loved one, or an ex-mate. The witty banter will have you smiling and wanting more. I hope to see more from Lyla and Max! Great story with excitement from the very start and I’m looking forward to Dragon’s Cursed. Lauren Fortgang did an awesome job narrating by providing unique voices for each character, tone inflections, and speed of reading.

should be the second or third book

I'm on chapter 5 and the amount of missing information that the characters are talking is making this book feel like you should have at least read one or two books before it. the references such as the main characters relationship the situation the book starts out in and the relationship that the main character has with her father also the 2 random people that are talking about an (emperor) or choosing a champion?

It was OK...

I did like this book, but some things confused me. The descriptions of the places they travelled to were minimal so in my head it was mostly a foggy haze. Another insta-romance. There's SOME restraint, but I would've liked even more. They came together too quickly. Like Disney, only it wasn't at once, but after 2 days. So only Slightly better.
I also had to go back and re-listen to some parts because I felt like I missed something. Zamira would be talking about / doing something and suddenly something else was taking place and it confused me. I'm still confused. Also, not much character development. They're kind of 2D... Not very deep. But I do love Zamira.

I’m awaiting book two

It’s a pretty good story of adventure with a little romance and a strong heroine. The kind of books I am into right now. It held my interest & my desire to get the next in the series. I’m pretty quick to return a book so that’s saying something. But it’s not so good that I’m losing sleep over waiting.

Enjoyable

This is a great story with interesting characters.

This book needs a language warning. If you are not into frequent swearing, be warned. I have never felt Fbombs improve a great story.

It also ends abruptly leaving you hanging.

YA Playbook 101

It's like someone took a standard template for YA novels and everyone is applying it to their books with just slight twists. Could be the number of primary characters, year or dimension, weapons types, etc. Throw in a spunky heroin who is extremely skilled, but has an issue (that they have to either overcome or twist to their advantage) and does not feel they are worthy or good looking (although they are in fact gorgeous), add in a beautiful boy/man who happens to be her soul mate. don't forget about the comedic side kick, bullies that put the person down and they have to prove something to, and lets see... oh yeah, a world defining evil or catastrophic event that only our heroin can prevent if only they can believe in themselves... did I capture all the ingredients, more of less... stir for 8 hours, serves only to those who can't get enough of this cookie cutter plot, the rest should check out the thousands of original books available.

Basically a post apocalyptic world where apparently pop culture still has an influence (naming a horse Batman and many other references) seems a bit of a stretch considering they don't really mention interacting with humans except for one and he was only there for 6 months and didn't talk... and the clincher than sealed the deal and had me listening at 1.5 for the majority of the book (need to get my moneys worth no matter what) was that the three companions could quote a vast amount of Shakespeare as if they were songs at the top of the charts for months. Find me 5 random people under the age of 40 that can even name 5 Shakespeare plays and I'll dance a jig. To have 3 people quoting it for hours who have zero interaction with the human world defies belief. How does a dragon even turn pages? And don't get me started on how dragons make the best plum wine... HOW? I can see Smaug now, "pass me the plums, this is going to be my best patch ever." Really? Do they knit blankets too?

Needless to say, the cover is nice looking, the narrator did a fine job, but the story is your typical YA dime novel.

Action-packed Till the Final Chapter

Shannon Mayer starts Witch's Reign off with an edge of your seat action scene and doesn't stop until the end of the book. This book was very fast paced with periods of reflection by the main characters in order to elaborate on their history or character development. She does a very good job of planting Easter eggs of information for you to figure out. I am an avid reader and get annoyed with most author's attempts at such coy tidbits; but I will say that Mayer piqued my spidy-sense and had me second-guessing myself for several chapters before any revelations. I do agree with other reviews that this series is very reminiscent of the Rylee Adamson series, so if you enjoyed those, you will likely enjoy these although I believe I read that they are different worlds. I see some of her other books tie into this world, and I have not yet read those, so maybe those other ones will help me understand and enjoy this world better. By the end of this book, Mayer has developed the main characters beautifully into complex characters. Another plus for me at least is that the name of the book does not give away the entire story. It does tie into the story, but just not in the obvious way.

As for negatives, there were a few which is why I cannot give this a glowing 5 star review. It took me about half of the book to really get into the book, and if I didn't already like Mayer's other works, I might have put the book down. After a sort of turning point in the journey, I realized she had after all sucked me in, and I am looking forward to future books. I am also just NOT a fan of alternate universes within the same planet. Such as some parts of the story is where some modern day countries are. I just wish she would have set the series in a completely different world instead of trying to tie it into current countries on our same planet. Thankfully, it's not constantly talked about, and after it's mentioned for reference, the story proceeds so you can easily push it to the back of your mind and enjoy the journey.

In conclusion, if you're a big fan of action, sass, and sarcasm from a killer female heroine, this story is for you. I thoroughly look forward to the next installment in the Desert Cursed Series.

Great Series!!

LOVED this book....

Ms. Mayer is constantly bringing in new stories and characters that just suck us in as readers...

Zam, Balder and Lila are such GREAT Characters... Steve not so much....

Can't wait to see what the future brings for ALL of them....

Lila is my hero

This is just a great start into a promising series, with so many surprises and the development of a deep friendship ahead. I love Zam and her travel companions, how they overcome all those obstacles to reach a common goal. What a team. I have a feeling they will be back and stronger than before. Great story and awesome narration! Off to the next to be enchanted by the desert cursed series over and over again!

Not great

I read some of the other reviews before buying this. I thought the comment about too much swearing was probably prudish (I prefer swearing to euphemisms) but I actually have to agree, there is so much swearing in this it overpowers the dialogue in places and becomes distracting. Another review said the heroine was stupid - I found the author places the audience way ahead of the heroine in realisations so by the time she figures things out it can appear she’s a bit dim witted. I much prefer this author’s other series. This one falls a little flat.