CHARMED AND DANGEROUS

Charmed And Dangerous by Lindsay Buroker
Book 5 in the Witch In Wolf Wood series
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & paperback

About Charmed And Dangerous:

After battling witches, werewolves, and a crazy one-eyed rougarou with a vendetta, starting a business making magical charms should be easy.

At least, that’s what Morgen Keller thought.

But now she’s leased a haunted building, her cousin is dating the town’s scheming mayor, and Amar — AKA the handsome werewolf she’s been dating — is embroiled in what could be the final showdown between two rival werewolf packs.

If his pack doesn’t come out on top, she could lose her lover, her business partner, and the only guy willing to catch mice for her snooty owl familiar.

Why did Morgen ever think life in the small town of Bellrock would be simple?

Source: Info in the "About Charmed And Dangerous" was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60279346-charmed-and-dangerous on 20/04/2022.

Buy Link(s):

Lucky

My Thoughts:

This is the second time that I have read an urban fantasy book/series with "Olivia" as the name of the antagonist. The first one is Ilona Andrews' Olivia Charles in the Hidden Legacy series. Is that a trend now? Is Olivia a favourite nemesis name or something?... Anyway, the premise of this book, and this series, is that the world of werewolves and witches is a hidden one. That means that only a few are in the "know". The general population does not. How can that happen when werewolves change shape in front of anyone and witches do not hide their power but show it blatantly to anyone willing to look? That kind of thing don't stay hidden. That kind of thing tend to spread everywhere. So how can this hidden world of werewolves and witches stay hidden? There are a few plot holes like that... However, I am steadfastly and willingly ignoring trivial things like the unbelievable plot, for the reading pleasure that this book has brought me! And a quick read too!

This is also the book which nicely ended the story arc of the series thus far. However, I am still hoping for further books in this series...

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 4.5
Writing Style = 4.5
Ending = 4.5
World building = 5
Cover art = 5
Pace = 4.5
Plot = 2.5
Narration = 5

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries


Books In The Witch In Wolf Wood Series:

 

Meet The Author

About Lindsay Buroker:

Full-time indie fantasy/scifi author who loves hiking, tennis, and vizslas.

lindsayburoker.com | twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest | amazon | goodreads

FTC Disclosure:
The different formats of this book were bought with private funds.
No money received for this review.

BATTLE BOND

Battle Bond by Lindsay Buroker
Book 2 in the Death Before Dragons series
Narrated by Vivienne Leheny
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook

About Battle Bond:

If you think having one dragon around messes up your life, imagine what it’s like when a second one shows up.

I’m Val Thorvald, assassin of magical bad guys and tenuous ally to the dragon lord Zav.

He still calls me a mongrel and thinks I’m a criminal, but he healed my wounds after we fought those dark elves together. That’s progress, right? Maybe one day, he’ll deign to use my name.

Not that this is my primary concern. I’m busy with a new assignment. Nin, the awesome lady who makes my magical weapons, has a werewolf problem. Specifically, sleazy loser werewolf competitors who want to drive her out of business. Or worse.

Normally, a couple of werewolves wouldn’t be a big deal, but these ones have powerful allies. And then there’s that new dragon.

It turns out he’s one of Zav’s enemies, and he wants to use me against him.

I don’t know why he’s picking on me — it’s not like I mean something to Zav — but somehow I’ve gotten stuck in the middle of dragon politics. If you think that sounds like a nightmare, you’re right.

If I can’t figure out a way to help my friend with the werewolves while keeping these dragons from tearing me apart, we’re both going to end up flatter than the deck chairs when Zav lands on the roof of my apartment building.

Source: Info in the "About Battle Bond" was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51959836-battle-bond on 17/08/2021.

Buy Link(s):
 

My Thoughts:

This book picks up where book 1 left off, and so the saga of Val and the dragon Zav continues. Same theme. Same mojo. They fight the same evil. This time the story ends in Zav in a pickle and a cliffhanger, so book 3 got bought as well. However, I do not know how long I can keep following this series seeing there seems to be a pattern of monotony thus far. As to the title, one could say that it sort of relates to the story if you stretch your imagination a little.

The narration remains wonderful!

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 4
Story itself = 3
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 4
World building = 4
Cover art = 5
Pace = 4
Plot = 3
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries


Books In Death Before Dragons Series:

            

Meet The Author

About Lindsay Buroker:

Full-time indie fantasy/scifi author who loves hiking, tennis, and vizslas.

lindsayburoker.com | twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest | amazon | goodreads

The Narrator

About Vivienne Leheny:

For over two decades, Vivienne Leheny has worked professionally in New York City and Los Angeles as an actor, voiceover artist and writer. She’s appeared on Off-Broadway and regional theatre stages, been screened at numerous film festivals (including Sundance in the 2019 opening night film: AFTER THE WEDDING), toured the northeast doing stand-up, and her writing has been published in national publications.

Vivienne has built a successful audiobook narration business, reading under her own name as well as under the pseudonyms, “Nola Zandry” and “Lily Collingwood.” She has a home studio and records using punch & roll software. Currently narrating six ongoing series, she also has numerous stand-alone book narrations, all of which are doing brisk sales on Audible, Amazon and iTunes. She’s narrated titles for Harper Collins, Macmillan, Recorded Books, and Simon & Schuster, among other audiobook publishers.

Vivienne will soon be recording her 150th audiobook narration.

Her audiobook narration course, The Voice in their Ear, has been a sell-out Maine Media Workshops+College, where she’s also taught her Putting Your Voice to Work: Building a Career in Voiceover curriculum, while her Breaking Into Audiobooks seminar for the SAG Foundation fills up quickly and with long wait lists. She’s also taught audiobook narration at the Caymichael Patten Studio.

She’s recorded over a thousand promotions for NBC programming (Saturday Night Live, Nightly News, Days of our Lives, Late Night with Conan O’Brien), including over a decade with The Today Show. She’s also done promotional spots for HBO, Showtime, and Bravo. Vivienne has voiced numerous national commercial campaigns, including Coca Cola, Fruit of the Loom, Florida Orange Juice, Bristol Meyers Squibb, Maxwell House and Revlon.

Her narration work has run the gamut, from Chain Gang Girls on Oxygen to Charles and Di: Once Upon a Time on TLC, from Fine Living’s Esquire’s Man at His Best to the six-part series Killer Outbreaks on Animal Planet, where she was the voice of the Bubonic Plague and West Nile Virus. She’s also the voice for the mysterious and disturbing “Phoenix Project” in the popular video game Assassin’s Creed, Unity.

www.vivienneleheny.com | twitter | facebook | goodreads

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

SINISTER MAGIC

Sinister Magic by Lindsay Buroker
Book 1 in the Death Before Dragons series
Narrated by Vivienne Leheny
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook

About Sinister Magic:

I’m Val Thorvald, and I’m an assassin.

When magical bad guys hurt people, I take care of them. Permanently.

This doesn’t make me popular with the rest of the magical community — as you can tell from the numerous break-ins and assassination attempts I’ve endured over the years. But thanks to my half-elven blood, a powerful sword named Chopper, and a telepathic tiger with an attitude, I’ve always been able to handle my problems with aplomb. Maybe some cursing and swearing, too, but definitely aplomb.

That changes when my boss is afflicted with a mysterious disease, a government agent starts investigating me, and a godforsaken dragon shows up in the middle of my latest job.

I’ve taken down vampires, zombies, and ogres, but dragons are way, way more powerful. And it doesn’t look like this one is going to like me.

Worse than that, he wants to use his magic to compel me to do his bidding, as if I’m some weak-minded minion.

That’s not going to happen. I’d die before being some dragon’s slave.

But if I can’t figure out a way to avoid him, save my boss, and get rid of the government spook, I’m screwed. Or dead. Or screwed and dead. And that’s never comfortable.

Source: Info in the "About Sinister Magic" was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51474324-sinister-magic on 15/08/2021.

Buy Link(s):
 

My Thoughts:

I was beyond bored so a trawled amazon for something to read. As if my TBR piles are not taller than me! Anyway, I came across this book and it has an audiobook version so it got bought. I was glad I did because I enjoyed it. However, it also had the same pitfalls a lot of the urban fantasy books I've read before, i.e., Sookie Stackhouse. Meaning the heroine has a tendency to run headlong straight into trouble and had to be rescued. **sigh** But, she is kind-hearted and honorable. All gristle and raw hide on the outside and a big softie on the inside. Plus, the story also got dragons and magic and Sindari the magical silver tiger sidekick! So the next book got bought. Besides, I also wanted to know if Zav and Val finally killed each other or fall in love!

This is my first Vivienne Leheny listen and she is not too bad at all!

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 4
Story itself = 3
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 4
World building = 4
Cover art = 5
Pace = 4
Plot = 3
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries


Books In Death Before Dragons Series:

                   

Meet The Author

About Lindsay Buroker:

Full-time indie fantasy/scifi author who loves hiking, tennis, and vizslas.

lindsayburoker.com | twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest | amazon | goodreads

The Narrator

About Vivienne Leheny:

For over two decades, Vivienne Leheny has worked professionally in New York City and Los Angeles as an actor, voiceover artist and writer. She’s appeared on Off-Broadway and regional theatre stages, been screened at numerous film festivals (including Sundance in the 2019 opening night film: AFTER THE WEDDING), toured the northeast doing stand-up, and her writing has been published in national publications.

Vivienne has built a successful audiobook narration business, reading under her own name as well as under the pseudonyms, “Nola Zandry” and “Lily Collingwood.” She has a home studio and records using punch & roll software. Currently narrating six ongoing series, she also has numerous stand-alone book narrations, all of which are doing brisk sales on Audible, Amazon and iTunes. She’s narrated titles for Harper Collins, Macmillan, Recorded Books, and Simon & Schuster, among other audiobook publishers.

Vivienne will soon be recording her 150th audiobook narration.

Her audiobook narration course, The Voice in their Ear, has been a sell-out Maine Media Workshops+College, where she’s also taught her Putting Your Voice to Work: Building a Career in Voiceover curriculum, while her Breaking Into Audiobooks seminar for the SAG Foundation fills up quickly and with long wait lists. She’s also taught audiobook narration at the Caymichael Patten Studio.

She’s recorded over a thousand promotions for NBC programming (Saturday Night Live, Nightly News, Days of our Lives, Late Night with Conan O’Brien), including over a decade with The Today Show. She’s also done promotional spots for HBO, Showtime, and Bravo. Vivienne has voiced numerous national commercial campaigns, including Coca Cola, Fruit of the Loom, Florida Orange Juice, Bristol Meyers Squibb, Maxwell House and Revlon.

Her narration work has run the gamut, from Chain Gang Girls on Oxygen to Charles and Di: Once Upon a Time on TLC, from Fine Living’s Esquire’s Man at His Best to the six-part series Killer Outbreaks on Animal Planet, where she was the voice of the Bubonic Plague and West Nile Virus. She’s also the voice for the mysterious and disturbing “Phoenix Project” in the popular video game Assassin’s Creed, Unity.

www.vivienneleheny.com | twitter | facebook | goodreads

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