2019 Audiobooks “Reading” List – Part 2

Tags

5 stars (and then some!), audiobooks, Darynda Jones, dead people, favorite characters, favorite series, Jodi Taylor, Lorelei King, mystery, paranormal, series, time travel, urban fantasy, Zara Ramm

Today I share part two of my audiobook highlights of 2019.  There are several audiobooks that I listened to in 2019 that I am featuring over a few posts.  Each has that one-two (sometimes one-two-three) combination of author and narrator(s) that makes them such great stories.  I’ve got a series of three (short) review posts planned:

1. Freebie’s – Audiobooks that I won from an author, or were given away for the asking. For some reason (a reason that I will not question), authors are happy to give away Audible codes for their books. I tend to snatch them up.  Click on “Freebies” to see those reviews from November 21.
2. Gotta Listen (I Love These Authors and Narrators) – Audiobooks from series I read in 2019 that must be experienced to be appreciated.
3. Everything Else – Other recommended audiobooks, whether they are parts of series or standalones.

You will note that I use the word “short” to describe these reviews. With audiobooks, I do not take notes, highlight text or underline passages that I want to be sure to include in a review. I just listen. So, these reviews will be short and to the point. The book blurb will be longer!

In “short”, I liked all of these audiobooks and would recommend every one of them!

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Today’s Reviews – Gotta Listen (I Love These Authors and Narrators).  If any of these sound good, click on the cover to find the book or audiobook on Amazon.

Gotta Listen to these series because the narrators are so phenomenal. I’ve been listening to both of these series for a few years. Once I started with the audiobook version, I could not go back to plain old reading.

Listed below are the installments that made my 2019 reading list.

Charley Davidson
by Darynda Jones
read by Lorelei King

The Curse of the Tenth Grave (#10)

Eleventh Grave in Moonlight (#11)

The Trouble with the Twelfth Grave (#12)

Summoned to the Thirteenth Grave (#13)

Review
Series and Narration – 5 stars

I stopped fighting my inner demons. We’re on the same side now. T-shirt

Everybody’s favorite grim reaper, Charley Davidson is the smartest, sassiest and funniest private detective that sees dead people, talks to them and helps them cross over. Satan’s son is her boyfriend (and later husband and father of her child), evil is always on her tail and she has the best friends in the world!

I started on this series in 2013 when I won the audiobook of Fifth Grave Past the Light. In addition to finding this great series, I discovered Lorelei King. What an amazing storyteller. After that, I could not actually readwithmy eyes any more Charley Davidson books. Well I did readwithmyeyes The Dirt on the Ninth Grave and the only thing I can say is that Lorelei King is Charley Davidson, as her voice was ever present in my head as I read the book.

Darynda Jones wrapped up the series this past year and, during 2019, I read #9 and downloaded the last four books in the series from my library’s e-book/ audiobook provider. It was almost a binge read of the last 5 books. By the end of the series, Charley has grown to be a combination of humble detective and all powerful god who is not afraid to use her powers (for good). The finale was a bit over the top for me, but probably appropriate for how Charley was developing as a character. Still, Charley Davidson will remain one of my all-time favorite characters of paranormal fictiondom.

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The Chronicles of St. Mary’s
by Jodi Taylor
read by Zara Ramm

And Now for Something Completely Different (#9.7)

Hope for the Best (#10)

When Did You Last See Your Father (#10.5)

Review
Series and Narration – 5 stars

History, tea, time travel, humor – or is that humour? This is such a compelling combination of story elements, I absolutely cannot resist this series. It is better than Doctor Who. I know, I did a detailed analysis.

Passionately committed to telling the story, Zara Ramm delivers narrations that have you weeping, laughing out loud and engrossed so deeply into the story that you will wonder if your need to work, eat and sleep are the fiction instead of The Chronicles of St. Mary’s.

Of course, Ms. Ramm talent shines so much because of the words of Jodi Taylor.  Ms. Taylor has created the most endearing, cheeky, passionate, and intelligent character in Max. Oh, Max is not perfect and that is what makes these tales so delightful. And traumatic. And delightful!

…frankly, Jodi Taylor is an amazing storyteller and it is impossible not to get completely and irreversibly immersed in the plight of Madeline Maxwell, or Max, as she is known to just about everybody. The Chronicles of St. Mary’s is really Max’s story. Her life, her death, her life again, her friends, her lover, her adventures, the danger, and the outrageous fun that she and her cohorts at St. Mary’s have every day.” (I quoted myself – see the Doctor Who link above.)

And Now for Something Completely Different is the annual Christmas tale that lets us normal people know that we are just not doing the holiday as it ought to be done!  I reviewed this one back in March.

In Hope for the Best, a tenuous relationship with the time police keeps Matthew safe but Max, Leon and the rest of the gang on their toes in their latest adventures.  Hunting Clive Ronan and fixing time are the objectives in in this story. What could possibly go wrong?

When Did You Last See Your Father may be my favorite of the shorts.  What would happen if Leon were to meet Max’s father?  Expect tears and elation!

This series is far from done.  I have Doing Time, the first book of the spin-off series (The Time Police), on my Kindle and have pre-ordered the next short story in the St. Mary’s series, Why is Nothing Ever Simple. I am a dedicated fan!

 

The Way I Hear It – 2019 Audiobooks “Reading” List

Tags

audiobooks, E.J. Stevens, Eva Pohler, ghosts, historical romance, Michelle Diener, Mike Rowe, music, mystery, paranormal, Steve Moretti, tamara gill

Yes, I am nearly quoting Mike Rowe.  What can I say?  It’s a good line and he is an entertaining storyteller.

Speaking of storytellers, there are several audiobooks that I listened to in 2019 that I want to feature over a few posts.  Each has that one-two (sometimes one-two-three) combination of author and narrator(s) that makes them such great stories.  I’ve got a series of three (short) review posts planned:

1. Freebie’s – Audiobooks that I won from an author, or were given away for the asking. For some reason (a reason that I will not question), authors are happy to give away Audible codes for their books. I tend to snatch them up.
2. Gotta Listen (I Love These Authors and Narrators) – Audiobooks from series I read in 2019 that must be experienced to be appreciated.
3. Everything Else – Other recommended audiobooks, whether they are parts of series or standalones.

You will note that I use the word “short” to describe these reviews. With audiobooks, I do not take notes, highlight text or underline passages that I want to be sure to include in a review. I just listen. So, these reviews will be short and to the point. The book blurb will be longer!

In “short”, I liked all of these audiobooks and would recommend every one of them!

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Today’s Reviews – The Freebies.  If any of these sound good, click on the cover to find the book or audiobook on Amazon.

My honest opinion goes into all of my reviews.

A Dangerous Madness (Regency London, #3)
by Michelle Diener
read by Shiromi Arserio

The Duke of Wittaker has been living a lie…

He’s been spying on the dissolute, discontented noblemen of the ton, pretending to share their views. Now he’s ready to step out of the shadows and start living a real life…but when the prime minister of England is assassinated, he’s asked to go back to being the rake-hell duke everyone still believes he is to find out more.

Miss Phoebe Hillier has been living a lie, too…

All her life she’s played the game, hiding her fierce intelligence and love of life behind a docile and decorous mask. All it’s gotten her is jilted by her betrothed, a man she thought a fool, but a harmless one. But when she discovers her former fiancé was involved in the plot against the prime minister, and that he’s been murdered, she realizes he wasn’t so harmless after all.

And now the killers have set their sights on her…

The only man who can help her is the Duke of Wittaker–a man she knows she shouldn’t trust. And she soon realizes he’s hiding behind a mask as careful as her own. As the assassin steadfastly vows he acted alone, and as the clock ticks down to his trial, the pair scramble to uncover the real conspiracy. And as the pressure and the danger mounts, Phoebe and Wittaker shed their disguises, layer by layer, to discover something more precious than either imagined–something that could last forever. Unless the conspirators desperate to hide their tracks get to them first.

Note: A Dangerous Madness is connected to the other novels in the Regency London series through an overlap of characters, but each novel is complete on its own, and you do not have to read them in order.

Review of A Dangerous Madness
Story 5 stars
Narration 5 stars
Won from from author.

I am very familiar with Michelle Diener’s scifi romances, which I love. But I also love historical romances, so I was very happy to win the opportunity to listen to A Dangerous Madness. Historical fiction readers will appreciate that this book is based on an actual historical event, with Ms. Diener’s theories deftly mixed into the telling of it.

This book has a perfect combination of intrigue, danger and romance. An overall theme might be secrets, secrets, secrets. And of course romance. Phoebe and Wittaker are smart characters who absolutely belong together, even if it takes a whole book for them to get there.

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Hound’s Bite (Ivy Granger, #5)
by E.J. Stevens
read by Melanie A. Mason and Anthony A. Bowlin

Ivy Granger thought she left the worst of Mab’s creations behind when she escaped Faerie. She thought wrong.

In a cruel twist of fate, Ivy has unleashed a powerful horde of Unseelie beasts upon her city, turning her homecoming into a potential slaughter of innocents. Now Ivy must gather her allies to fight a reputedly unstoppable force–The Wild Hunt.

Will the training Ivy received in her father’s court be enough to save her city, or will Harborsmouth be forced to kneel before the Lord of the Hunt? She is willing to risk her own life, but some sacrifices come at a cost worse than death. When an ally is bitten by one of The Wild Hunt’s hounds, Ivy must face the possibility that winning this battle may mean killing the one person she has come to love most.

Review of Hounds Bite
Story 5 stars
Narration 5 stars
Free from the author.

I haven’t read the entire Ivy Granger series. Just enough to know I should jump at the opportunity for a free audiobook. I skipped book 4, but did not find I was at a disadvantage. Feel free to jump into the series at which ever book appeals to you.

I loved the narration of this book, complete with sound effects and two talented narrators. This is a non-stop, thrill-a-minute adventure. Ivy Granger has more weird troubles than a paranormal psychic should be allowed to have. The atmosphere is dark and tense, but with occasional relief from cute characters and a touch of romance.

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Only a Duke Will Do (To Marry a Rogue, #2)
by Tamara Gill
read by Stevie Zimmerman

Without a Season, Lady Isolde Worthingham captured the Duke of Moore’s heart at a country dance. But on the eve of her wedding, a scandal that rocked the ton and sent her fleeing to Scotland alone and unwed, leaves her perfectly planned future in a tangle of disgrace and heartbreak.

Merrick Mountshaw, the Duke of Moore loathes the pitiful existence he hides from the ton. With a scandalous wife he never wanted, who flaunts her many indiscretions, life is a never-ending parade of hell. When the one woman he loved and lost returns to London, he knows he can no longer live without her.

But vows and past hurts are not easily forgotten. Love may not win against the ton when a too proper Lord and Lady play by the rules.

Review of Only a Duke Will Do
Story 4 stars
Narration 5 stars
Free from the author.

Isolde and Merrick are meant to be. That is evident in chapter 1. But it will take the greater part of a book to get them together. Why?

Contrary to popular belief, women of the early 19th century did have power if they used lies and blackmail to get what they wanted. I had a hard time with this concept. How does a woman of no standing get her way over a duke? Make that two dukes. Really, who is the ton going to believe?

Nevertheless, it happens, and the ensuing tragedy will lead to heartbreak. Emotion, passion, desperation and hope. A reader may even shed a few tears.

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Song for a Lost Kingdom (prequel)
by Steve Moretti
read by Bethany Mason and Tom McLean

Katharine’s passion is her music, but she is lost for words to complete it in 1745 Scotland.

In this prequel to the best-selling Song for a Lost Kingdom series, the origins of the story unfold as the Scottish parliament votes itself out of existence on January 7, 1707. The Drummond and Carnegie clans vow to stand united against it, even though it means they will lose everything they hold most dear.

Review for Song for a Lost Kingdom (prequel)
Story 4 stars
Narration 5 stars
Won from the author.

This book is billed as a prequel, but the story just stops…  I would call it more of a prologue, introducing a story.  Just enough to give you a taste.  The narration is nicely done and the recording includes lovely music. Song for a Lost Kingdom is about music as much as it is about history. My ear is ready for the audiobook of the whole story!

The Case of the Abandoned Warehouse (Mystery House, #2)
by Eva Pohler
read by Debbie Andreen

When Ellen and her two best friends travel to Tulsa for Sue’s daughter’s wedding, they get the crazy idea of flipping another historical home–only this time, it’s an abandoned warehouse. When they hear from the locals that the place is haunted, Ellen and Sue convince Tanya to investigate, and what they uncover is one of Tulsa’s and the nation’s most horrifying secrets.

Review of The Case of the Abandoned Warehouse
Story 5 stars
Narration 3 stars
Free from the author.

The Case of the Abandoned Warehouse takes place in Tulsa. The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 is a big part of the plot. I appreciated the author’s research. The relating of the events of those historical days was purposeful and poignant. In the story, Ellen, Sue and Tanya were determined to do what they could to uncover the truth about what happened and put Tulsa on the road to healing for all. Their quest gets them into lots of trouble, but they have a few friends and ghosts to help them out.

I did not care for the narration of this book. When the story got intense due to eminent danger, I just did not feel it because Ms. Andreen sounds a bit like a 1st grade teacher reading to her class. As I continue with the series, I will switch to the e-book.

I really like this Mystery House series. Probably because it features women of an age with me. But also because these three friends have an appetite for truth, adventure and friendship.

 

Mission: Nutcracker (Inspector Davidson, #2) by Cecilia Dominic – Review

Tags

4.5 stars, Book Review, Cecilia Dominic, holiday, paranormal, romance, scifi romance, Steampunk, The Nutcracker

About Mission: Nutcracker by Cecilia Dominic

She dreams of joining the scientific elite. He’s desperate to save his business and his sister. Together, they may hold the turnkey to adventure…

Terminus, 1871. Fiona Telfair won’t give up her gears and gadgets for the ball and chain of mar-riage. But her future as a tinkerer comes under attack when nutcracker automatons raid the trade hall masquerade party and kidnap her fellow inventors. With her brilliant engineer father among those taken, Fiona’s only hope of rescuing him lies with the captivating rail baron who rescued her from the fray.

Devon Meriweather can only keep his train empire on track if he marries into an influential family. And he also needs the connections to make sure his chronically ill sibling can marry well. So no matter how engaging and beautiful the firmly working-class Fiona may be, he knows she’ll only ever be a partner in solving crimes.

As they work closely hunting for clues to the strange aether-powered apparatus and magical mice, the intrepid duo can’t deny their budding feelings. But neither can afford a distracting courtship with the growing threat of the nutcrackers and their deadly chompers.

Can Fiona and Devon expose the menacing mastermind behind the machines and make their passion run like clockwork?

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Review of Mission: Nutcracker

As a fan of Cecilia Dominic’s steampunk novels, I dived right into Mission: Nutcracker. The opening chapter at the Tinkerer’s Ball, where we first see Fiona and Devon attempting an awkward conversation, also introduces the life-sized creepy nutcrackers abducting the attendees at the ball. The tone was set: weird, sweet, frightening, promising and fantastical.

Fiona’s inability to talk to Devon is something I could have related to as a young woman. Only when she speaks of something that she has a lot of familiarity with, does Fiona open up. This baffles Devon, who, despite his ambition, would like to get to know the young, working class tinkerer. Or tinkeress? This couple qualifies a ‘cute’ because of the communication stumbling block.

Circumstance will force them together and give them things to talk about – missing tinkerers, nutcrackers, plots, danger. Henry Davidson and his eclectic crew are thrown into the mix when it becomes apparent the kidnappings are part of a much bigger threat. I love all these characters, old and new. I wondered, for a while, what part Johann Bledsoe would play. Lets just say, the duet of Fiona and Johann played a critical part in thwarting the evil intentions of the bad guys.

There were some elements that were totally unexpected in terms of what I consider to be steampunk, tending more toward fantasy. I had a hard time accepting that it fit in the steampunk setting.  However, in the past, the author has borrowed from history and myth to present some fantastical/paranormal elements. By the end, I was on board with it, plus it added to the embracing of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s original The Nutcracker and the Mouse King story. With some roles slightly changed.

The ever-growing cast of characters gives me a bit of concern. On the one hand, I enjoy getting to visit old friends. On the other hand, sometimes, there are just so many people that I want to keep track of and the limit has been reached. Going forward, I would love to see the story revolving around a subset of these endearing characters.

BTW – the very young looking characters on the book cover would not normally attract me to the book.  Just to let you know that the book does not have the YA vibe that the cover implies.  So, you know, don’t judge a book by it’s cover.

Mission: Nutcracker is not particularly festive. While it does take place around Christmas, it really is creepy, detracting from the holiday spirit. But the theme reminds us of a beloved favorite holiday tale. So why not take a break from the holiday madness to read this book. On the other hand, Mission: Nutcracker can also be described as Holiday Madness!

Thanks to the author who provided a copy of her book in exchange for my honest review.

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Purchase Mission: Nutcracker:

 

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