FIXIN' TO DIE

Fixin' To Die by Tonya Kappes
Book 1 in the Kenni Lowry series
Narrated by Hillary Huber
Genre: supernatural crime fiction
Format: ebook & audiobook

About Fixin' To Die:

Kenni Lowry likes to think the zero crime rate in Cottonwood, Kentucky is due to her being sheriff, but she quickly discovers the ghost of her grandfather, the town’s previous sheriff, has been scaring off any would-be criminals since she was elected.

When the town’s most beloved doctor is found murdered on the very same day as a jewelry store robbery, and a mysterious symbol ties the crime scenes together, Kenni must satisfy her hankerin’ for justice by nabbing the culprits.

With the help of her poppa, a lone deputy, and an annoyingly cute, too-big-for-his-britches State Reserve officer, Kenni must solve both cases and prove to the whole town, and herself, that she’s worth her salt before time runs out.

Source: Info in the "About Fixin' To Die" was taken from amazon on 29/01/2024.

Buy Link(s):

 

My Thoughts:

Amazon should really start allowing people to put emojis in kindle ebooks because this book sorely made me want to do so!! In several sections of the book!

Usually urban fantasies do not have great plots. Just from A to B and sometimes not even that much. But not this book! Kudos to the author for giving this urban fantasy book a good plot!

Well, probably not urban fantasy per sey. More like a ghost story than urban fantasy. A ghost crime fiction.

I would probably enjoy this book more if I do not keep falling asleep while listening to the audiobook. The thing is, I hear things near the end of the book so I kinda know who it was already but missed a chunk in the middle so I wind the audiobook back to where I remembered the story last and listen to the it again. But I already have a bead on who the killer is. Which was a spoiler and missed the excitement. Dang! My fault though!

This is not my first Hillary Huber audiobook. I may not appreciate her voice that much but she did a good job of bringing this book to life!

Quantitative Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 4.5
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 4
World building = 5
Cover art = 4
Pace = (7 hrs and 9 mins listening time)
Plot = 4
Narration = 5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries

Books In The Kenni Lowry Series:

 

Meet The Author

About Tonya Kappes:

Southern Hospitality with a Smidgen of Homicide.

Click the FOLLOW button to be notified of Tonya Kappes's new and upcoming book releases.

Amazon All Star Author Tonya Kappes has written more than 175 southern cozy mysteries, all of which have graced numerous bestseller lists, including USA Today and Woman's World Book Club pick five times . Best known for stories charged with southern charm, emotion and humor and filled with flawed characters, her novels have garnered reader praise and glowing critical reviews. She lives with her husband in northern Kentucky. Now that her four boys have flown out of the nest, Tonya writes full-time in her camper!

Hollywood has taken notice of Tonya’s success and a television show based on her bestselling 40-book A Camper & Criminals Mystery Series is in development.

tonyakappes.com | facebook | instagram | pinterest | youtube | amazon | goodreads

The Narrator

About Hillary Huber:

Hillary has recorded over 700 audiobooks spanning many genres but thrillers are her favorite. She is a multiple Audie Award finalist, multiple Earphone Award winner, Voice Arts Awards winner and one of Audiofile Magazine's best voices. Hillary has a BA in English Literature and is a voracious reader and listener. Likes: yoga, hip hop dancing, baking sourdough, bourbon. Dislikes: liver. Raised in conservative Connecticut and hippy Hawaii, Hillary now splits her time between Santa Monica and New York. Most of that time is in a 4x4 padded room. Er...booth. Her super power is reciting the alphabet backwards.

www.hillaryhuber.com | twitter | facebook | instagram | goodreads

FTC Disclosure:
The ebook and audiobook were purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.

Review: DESIRE UNCHAINED

Desire Unchained by Larissa Ione
Read by Hillary Huber
Book 2 of Demonica series
Genre: urban fantasy erotica
Format: audiobook

About Desire Unchained:

Pleasure is their ultimate weapon . . .

Runa Wagner never meant to fall in love with the sexy stranger who seemed to know her every deepest desire. But she couldn't resist the unbelievable passion that burned between them, a passion that died when she discovered his betrayal and found herself forever changed. Now, determined to make Shade pay for the transformation that haunts her, Runa searches for him, only to be taken prisoner by his darkest enemy.

A Seminus Demon with a love-curse that threatens him with eternal torment, Shade hoped he'd seen the last of Runa and her irresistible charm. But when he wakes up in a dank dungeon chained next to an enraged and mysteriously powerful Runa, he realizes that her effect on him is more dangerous than ever.

As their captor casts a spell that bonds them as lifemates, Shade and Runa must fight for their lives and their hearts-or succumb to a madman's evil plans.

Source: Info in the About Desire Unchained was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4497978-desire-unchained on 31/02/2012.

Review:

I was quite disappointed with Book 1 and expectation bar is now quite low. I did not think that there would be much listening enjoyment in this one any more than Pleasure Unbound had. In a way I was wrong and in some ways I was right. But I continued following this series anyway because one, I already have the books in my TBR shelves. And for another, first books are not always brilliant, so I can't condemn the entire series with just one book specially seeing that this series has so big a following. There must be something in there that is worth following. Anyway, Runa, our female protagonist was doing really well until the end where she turned stupid all of a sudden. I blame this on the author's blatant manipulation to create a dilemma in the story so that our hero could save the world rather than a character development flaw. Or it could be both. Still, pretty pathetic plot building skills there. However, I am a fantasy geek girl to my soul so the vampires, werewolves and other fantastical creaturese in this world speaks to me. The world of the Demonica script has so much potential in it even with it's huge gaping hole in the world building that I am still compelled to read on...

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 2
Character development = 1
Story itself = 1.5
Ending = 3.5
World building = 2.5
Cover art = 2
Pace = (10 hrs and 51 mins listening time)
Plot = 1
Narrator = 3

Overall Rating: 2 out of 5 cherries