WINTER'S DEMON

Winter's Demon by Eric R. Asher
Book 3 of the Vesik series
Read by William Dufris
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audio

About Winter's Demon:

Some things can never be undone. The horrors I've defeated — or even caused — with my own hands … they are nothing compared to what’s coming. Philip Pinkerton has brought his madness upon my family, my own blood. His army of necromancers is on the move, harbingers of a great darkness. I fear the war has begun ... and damn, I don't get paid enough for this.

Source: Info in the About Winter's Demon was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22404543-winter-s-demon on 15/01/2018.

Buy Link(s):
 

My Thoughts:

It took me a long time to finish this book despite the convenience offered by the audiobook format. It just seems like our group of heroes and heroines are just running around from fight to fight with not much of a plot... wtf?!... In the end the good guys didn't even win, they just survived. And now they are in even deeper pickle than when the book started... But here's the kicker, a beloved character died. It took me a year to mourn her before I could continue reading/listening to this book again. And that contributed much to the lagging pace of this book. On the up side, the narrative is still peppered with humour which I like. Specially when William Dufris squeaks it out to imitate a girly scream. Kudos to the narration! And from this book pans out the plot of the next four books in this series, or so I presume... there is so much plot lines hanging from here and from the titles of the rest of the books, I can guess what the next four books is all about... I hope I am wrong though because I like surprises.

In the end, I would still say that this book was an enjoyable read despite the lagging pace.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 3
Writing Style = 4.5
Ending = 3.5
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 4
Pace = (10 hrs & 4 mins listening time)
Plot = 3
Narration = 5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries


Books In The Vesik Series:

               

About Eric R. Asher
	Eric is a former bookseller, guitarist, and comic seller currently living in Saint Louis, Missouri. A lifelong enthusiast of books, music, toys, and games, he discovered a love for the written word after being dragged to the library by his parents at a young age. When he is not writing, you can usually find him reading, gaming, or buried beneath a small avalanche of Transformers.
www.daysgonebad.com | facebook | facebook author page | twitter | goodreads | pinterest | google+

FTC Disclosure:
This book was purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.

HATCHED

Hatched by Joanna Mazurkiewicz
Book 1 of the Draconia World series
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook

About Hatched:

When a world of magic is the only thing you know, what do you do when it’s gone?

In the dark city of Draconia, ruled by powerful mages, the only thing that matters is magic, and Fran is on the search. She’s caught the attention of some unsavory types. It doesn’t help that she has the most powerful magical object in the kingdom in her possession; an object many men have died to hold: a dragon’s egg.

Trapped down a dark alley, with the threat of death coming ever nearer, a crack forms in the wall allowing Fran a way of escape to a place she’d only heard tales of. But will it be one that she regrets? She’ll enter a whole new world, but the threat of Draconia and the mages isn’t far behind.

They want what she has, and nothing will stop them — not even a non-magical place.

Source: Info in the About Hatched was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36565336-hatched on 01/04/2018.

My Thoughts:

This book is a kind of "coming of age" story. It may not be so surprising seeing that this is the first book in the series. This is also my first Joanna Mazurkiewicz book and I like her author's voice. Having said that, for some reason I needed little breaks from it. So it may not be as compelling as I would have liked it to be. Still I trudged through the book because I like the premise. So, I am a dragon lover and a hatched dragon egg is irresistible! ... So pace-wise, this book wasn't a very quick read for me.

Plot is not this author's forté. There isn't much of one in this book. All the main protagonist did is run around stumbling from one danger into another and saved by sheer dumb luck. On top of that, Francesca has a tendency to be too stupid to live (TSTL). That soooo did not endear this book to me! But me, being a fantasy geek, was willing to overlook that for the dragon story that this book has to offer. However, if the TSTL persists and overcomes the goodness of the dragon story further down the line, then I may stop following this series at some point... which would be a pity, because I really like the dragon story! And to top that off, the ending is a huge cliffie!

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 3.5
Character development = 3.5
Story itself = 4.5
Writing Style = 3.5
Ending = 2
World building = 4
Cover art = 3.5
Pace = 2
Plot = 1.5

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 cherries


Books In The Draconia World Series:

Amazon

Amazon

Meet The Author

About Joanna Mazurkiewicz:

Joanna Mazurkiewicz was born in Poland. She moved to United Kingdom when she was only nineteen and just finished high school. She had aspired to be a writer upon completion of the Harry Potter series but also enjoyed reading books like ‘Gone with the Wind’, ’Animal Farm’ and ‘The doll’. She graduated from Swansea University with a bachelor degree in American Studies. While studying in the UK she made a decision to start writing fiction in English.

The “Whispers of the Sprite” is her first debut novel and she is currently working on other projects. Joanna lives in Cowbridge, a small town in South Wales near Cardiff with her boyfriend Bruce. She enjoys cycling around Welsh countryside some of which has become the settings in her first series.

website | twitter | facebook | google+ | pinterest | goodreads

FTC Disclosure:
This book was purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.

BLOOD VICE

The Book

Blood Vice by Angela Roquet
Book 1 in the Blood Vice series
Read by Hollie Jackson
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook

About Blood Vice:

Detective Jenna Skye bombs her first week on the St. Louis County Police Department's Vice Squad when she's bitten by a vampire in a supernatural brothel. Her day only gets worse from there. She wakes up in the morgue and discovers that her partner is dead. Before the sun rises, she realizes she is too. Jenna vows to continue their investigation until justice is served, but a werewolf squatter, an unexpected visit from her estranged sister, and a nosy FBI agent stand in her way. Not to mention her fresh aversion to sunlight and a thirst for something a little stiffer than revenge.

Source: Info in the About Blood Vice was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35022378-blood-vice on 02/01/2018.

Books in the Blood Vice series:

     

Review

My Thoughts:

I bought this book because I became a fan of this author's Lana Harvey, Reapers Inc. series. I wanted to see if this author's awesomeness would carry over to her other books. And I'm glad I checked out her other books because Angela Roquet's wonderful story telling quality does carry over to her other books! Unfortunately, so did the TSTL (too stupid to live) element. It has reared up it's ugly head again. And that is why, even though this book is good, I do not think that I would be buying/reading another book in this series again. I just couldn't tolerate the TSTL!

The plot... like the Pocket Full Of Posies, of the Lana Harvey, Reapers Inc. series, was pretty simplistic. Or rather, it ranges from simple to non-existent. However with Lana Harvey I could excuse it by saying that it was never a crime fiction or thriller to begin with. That series was more of the "fantasy" bit rather than the urban, in the urban fantasy category. Blood Vice though is suppose to be a police/crime sort of thing. I kinda expected the plot to be a little thicker. Guess I was expecting too much.

This would be my second book series listening to Hollie Jackson and I'm happy to say that I still like her narration. I still agree with her interpretation. And would happily buy her books again!

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 3
Story itself = 3
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 2
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = (5 hours and 40 minutes listening time)
Plot = 3
Narration = 5

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 cherries

The Author

About Angela Roquet:

USA Today bestselling Angela Roquet is a great big weirdo. She collects Danger Girl comic books, owls, skulls, random craft supplies, and all things Joss Whedon. She's a fan of renewable energy, marriage equality, and religious tolerance. As long as whatever you're doing isn't hurting anyone, she's a fan of you, too.

Angela lives in Missouri with her husband and son. She's a member of SFWA and HWA, as well as the Four Horsemen of the Bookocalypse, her epic book critique group, where she's known as Death. When she's not swearing at the keyboard, she enjoys painting, goofing off with her family and friends, and reading books that raise eyebrows.

GRAVEYARD SHIFT, the first novel in Angela's Lana Harvey, Reapers Inc. series, is now available for FREE on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, & iBooks. You can find Angela online at www.angelaroquet.com

website | twitter | facebook | google+ | instagram | youtube | goodreads

The Narrator

About Hollie Jackson:

With over 200 audiobooks narrated and produced, Hollie Jackson has worked with both indie and USA Today bestselling authors across a wide range of genres. Hollie's voice brings characters of all types to vibrant, compelling life, allowing the listener to sit back and enjoy the story.

Growing up in a military family, Hollie found herself lost in the world of poetry and prose, and truly enjoys sharing that joy with others through spoken and written word. As an author, she understands the importance of drawing the reader into the world of the story. As a voracious reader, she enjoys an eclectic range of genre and carries that over into the studio: from contemporary romance to paranormal thrillers, historical fiction to epic fantasy, from erotica to tamer New Adult/Young Adult titles.

Everyone has a story to tell, and Hollie loves to bring those stories to life, one word at a time.

The information about Hollie Jackson was taken from https://tantor.com/narrator/hollie-jackson.html on 25/12/2017.

https://tantor.com/narrator/hollie-jackson.html | goodreads

FTC Disclosure:
This book was purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.