Ida Umphers

Stunning

Revisado: 10-23-24 El oyente recibió este título gratis

This is an absolutely mind-bending story containing alternate Earth history, SF wonderful characters and steamy romance. I enjoyed every minute of it and here are a few of the reasons why. First, with all the doom and gloom AI stories in the news these days, I loved the AI character of Lasitor. His chapter introductions were a great mix of actual facts and information about the way things work in this fictional world. He also saves our characters multiple times and you can "hear" the eye rolls every time at the antics of these irrational flesh and blood creatures. Second, we get the return of old friends from previous books in the New Beginnings series like Cian, Eryn, Ivan and others and they aren't used as minor, secondary characters. They play major roles in this book and we see them grow and change and learn new things about them. Next, the characters felt real to me because I didn't like all of them from the beginning. I found Peter especially hard to warm up to just like I find some people in real life but I came to appreciate him more as we see him through Ish's eyes and because like all the characters he develops and changes over the course of the story. I loved the way the author organized this story so that it was not told in a linear fashion. It felt like a wonderful jigsaw puzzle/mystery/stained glass that I had to pay attention to and try to catch all the clues and pieces as we changed time periods and locations and got to see events from different perspectives. I love a book I can't coast through. Finally, there are just some genuinely great lines in this book. My favorites from the first time I read it, that I couldn't wait to hear performed were "Hmmm, an alien, an angel, and a dead prophet. Welcome. We've been expecting you. Please come in." If that has vague Dracula vibes, there's a reason and every bit of this is important to the story and paid off.

Now to Jonathan Waters' performance. This is a long, complicated book and can't have been easy to perform with all the different characters, characters appearing at different ages and in different time periods and with plenty of scenes of high emotion. It would have been so easy to create caricatures and/or go over the top but Waters never puts a foot wrong. The emotions are spot on, the voices are distinct, his voice is great to listen to for 17 plus hours and it sounds like he's having a ball.

Very much looking forward to more from this author and narrator combo.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Meaningful sequel

Revisado: 10-20-24 El oyente recibió este título gratis

I enjoyed seeing Andrew and Rafael overcome so many obstacles and become a couple in Blue Star Diner, but with this sequel, Brina Brady has shown how well she understands those characters and that with two men like that, there would continue to be growing pains in the relationship along the way. Here, we get to see how something that Andrew would never think twice about is a major source of insecurity and heartache for Rafael and actually threatens their relationship for a time. Thank goodness these two are older and level headed enough to listen to friends and relatives who have their best interests at heart and even more importantly to each other and we get a wonderful, Christmassy ending for these two. James Talbot showed with his performance in Blue Star Diner that he understood these characters and their emotional interactions and he continues that work here, letting us feel their transitions from happiness to hurt and confusion and back to joy and understanding.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Stunning

Revisado: 10-20-24 El oyente recibió este título gratis

I've felt ever since I read this book that these are the best short stories Janice Jarrell has written about Colin and Josh and that has been doubly confirmed after listening to Walker Williams bring them to life with his performance of the audio version. I want to go through story by story and tell you everything that's great in it. That, however, would deprive you of the joy of discovering all the wonderful things you've yet to find. Colin, Josh, Nate and David are so real and each book takes us both forward into their life now and back to give us additional insights into how they became the men and friends they are. Fair warning, potato chips have nothing on Janice Jarrell's books, if you read one you'll have to read all the rest and I envy you those first reads. There isn't a story that is less than a winner in this book, but let me try to highlight a few things without spoiling too much. There's a lot about work in this book, both its positive and negative aspects. We get to see Josh working his magic as a psychologist in McCafferty's bar but what works so well is that we get to see it through Colin's eyes and feel in a visceral way his pride in Josh's ability. Colin is having difficulty in several of these stories with his work/life balance and when Josh has to intervene be prepared for what I lovingly call "badass" Josh like you've never seen him before making a shocking promise to Colin's boss that you'll absolutely believe he can keep. As with all books about these guys, love is uppermost and ever present and here we get to watch the dilemma a gift causes when it seems to require Colin to remove his wedding ring - the contemplation of which hurt my heart in way I would never have predicted and the solution to which I defy you not to stand up and cheer with a tear in your eye. If you've read Relevant Heart, you'll definitely remember the white suit and be delighted to know that it makes a stunning reappearance here at a time it's very much needed. Finally, if you've watched the Olympics and caught any of the amazing skateboard action you haven't seen anything until you've seen Josh on a board yelling "Yahooooooo!" In the skateboard story and in several others we get to see Colin watch Josh and I think that's the thing that stuck with me most in this collection. We've known since the first book how different Josh was to all the other men Colin had ever known and in this book we get more inside his head than we've ever done before and view Josh directly through Colin's eyes. It's very clear why Colin fell for him from that viewpoint. As always, Walker Williams knows these guys inside out and you completely forget you're hearing about fictional characters. He takes right into their lives as living, breathing people.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Family and the land

Revisado: 10-02-24 El oyente recibió este título gratis

The author has done a wonderful job of capturing the importance of family and family land in the South. I was not familiar with quail plantations and found the information about the one belonging to the Parkers new and interesting. As ever in the South, class plays a major role in the story as Luke and his mother are taken in by the wealthy Parkers but real strains develop when Luke falls in love with the Parker's daughter - generosity only extends so far. Luke's love for the land is well described and when developers threaten it he and Angus Parker form an alliance to defeat them. There are complications there as well, however. I was hooked from the first by the personal relationships and the question of what would finally happen to the land. David Allen Vargo has a beautiful voice well suited to sounding "Southern" and the skill and good taste not to overdo it. The accent never descends into parody or caricature. He understands the characters and the complex threads running among them and hits just the right notes. This was a new author for meand I'm looking forward to reading his other book.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Hidden identities and Motives

Revisado: 09-20-24 El oyente recibió este título gratis

Their respective ambitions put Jinta and Raiden together but the fact that at some point Jinta is going to either confess his motivation to Raiden or it's going to come out, probably at the worst time. I'm a huge fan of these stories where one character hides who/what he really is to get close to another character. It's a treat to see how the author handles the revelation and the feelings of betrayal created. The combination of journalist with a member of the yakuza as well as the mystery of the disappearances and the fated mates and shifter aspect hit all the right notes for me. Nick Cracknell did a great job with this story. I couldn't stop listening.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Wonderful summer romance that becomes more

Revisado: 09-10-24

Call up some pictures of the boardwalk in Seaside Heights, NJ and look at the sun beaming down. That will give you a sense of the tone of the romance between Miguel and Shamus in this story. These two set eyes on each other as soon as Miguel arrives at a boardwalk hotel and their attraction is immediate and intense. Miguel needs to feel safe and protected and Shamus is a natural nurturer and protector and they recognize this in each other. Once these two are together, nothing and no one will ever come between them. Not that there aren't family members and exes who will try, which makes for the conflict necessary in a good romance, but it's clear they're fighting a losing battle against what Miguel and Shamus have found. The book examines the importance of money versus other , deeper aspects of a relationship, shows us a bit of the academic life Shamus and Miguel share and adds in a bit of mystery with some anonymous notes but the focus is always the joy of a summer romance that is clearly going to last. James Talbot does and excellent job with all the characters here and their differences. I particularly enjoyed his Shamus.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

a

Revisado: 08-10-24 El oyente recibió este título gratis

Loved absolutely everything about this one, the characters of Kelly and Tabby, the roller derby background (how I used to love to watch that on Saturdays on TV as a kid), the way the author handled Kelly's complicated grief and the ebb and flow of that and their relationship which starts with the intention of keeping things casual and quickly turns into so much more. Enjoyed the narration for this one a lot. It was emotional without ever going over the top.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Changing perceptions

Revisado: 08-09-24 El oyente recibió este título gratis

I loved seeing Tag and Jay get their chance to shine on stage while having to deal with their own complicated relationship. The author did a great job of showing Tag struggling to establish his career before finances force him to give up his dream for a "regular" job and how while he initially resents and envies what he sees as Jay's easy entree into acting world he comes to understand as do we the listener that what might look on the outside like a gift can in some ways be a burden and a curse. These two characters have real depth and this is a marvelous entry in the series. Simon Goldhill does a wonderful job making us understand both characters and their realization that they have much more in common than either initially believed.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Great subtlety in the characters

Revisado: 08-08-24 El oyente recibió este título gratis

I loved this deeply emotional take on the grumpy/sunshine trope. Mason is the sunshine one in the pairing, and while they are someone it is easy to be around there is a deep sadness there as well that some of the brightness and happiness is a cover for. Hunter makes no attempt to put on a "happy" face for people and the more we learn about his background it is obvious why. As they begin sharing a ride to work and a hotel room at a conference they've been sent to for work, they begin to develop a friendship that turns into more. The author does not make their road together easy, as it takes a while for both of them to trust each other enough to share all their secrets but they slowly get there. Brennan Rossi did a wonderful job capturing the emotions bubbling below the surface with these guys, especially Mason, and showing their slowly developing trust and opening up.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Wonderful characters

Revisado: 08-08-24 El oyente recibió este título gratis

I adored Lyn the demon in this one. He's hip, hysterical and can't believe he's found his fated mate in Jamie, this human who's stolen and amulet and used it in desperation to summon help during a ghoul attack. The author does a great job of building the world with just the right amount of detail and suspense while giving us two characters who are wonderful together. I thought Nick Newport did an amazing job with Lyn who was my favorite character but also brought all the other characters to life really well and caught the suspense element perfectly.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña