Robin’s Audiobooks for August 2020 Challenge updates @kimbacaffeinate @AudiobookMel #LoveAudiobooks

Tensions between the fae and humans are coming to a head. And when coyote shapeshifter Mercy and her Alpha werewolf mate, Adam, are called upon to stop a rampaging troll, they find themselves with something that could be used to make the fae back down and forestall out-and-out war: a human child stolen long ago by the fae.

Defying the most powerful werewolf in the country, the humans, and the fae, Mercy, Adam, and their pack choose to protect the boy no matter what the cost. But who will protect them from a boy who is fire touched?

When Mercy offers to help a child taken long ago by Underhill, she inadvertently set the pack up for a little more than she bargained for.  It was long past time for them to get all of our ducks in a row and have all of the pack brought to heel.  After drawing a line in the sand, Mercy, Adam and pack must sort things out on their own and go up against some powerful Fae who would like to shift the balance of power into their favor.

Narration:

Lorelei King is the voice of Mercy and brings her usual brilliance to the narration.

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Catalina Baylor is looking forward to wearing her maid of honor dress and watching her older sister walk down the aisle. Then the wedding planner gets escorted off the premises, the bride’s priceless tiara disappears, and Rogan's extensive family overruns his mother’s home. Someone is cheating, someone is lying, and someone is plotting murder.

To make this wedding happen, Catalina will have to do the thing she fears most: use her magic. But she’s a Baylor and there’s nothing she wouldn't do for her sister's happiness. Nevada will have her fairy tale wedding, even if Catalina has to tear the mansion apart brick by brick to get it done.

Re-read of one of my favorite authors is always like wrapping myself in a warm blanket and reading on the couch in a rain storm, seven shades of perfect.  This is a story set after the main trilogy ended, giving us Nevada and Rogan’s wedding along with setting up Catalina as the narrator for the next set of books.

She is very different from the extra confident Nevada and making sure everything goes right for the wedding is her #1 priority at the moment.  She needs to find the missing jewel Nevada is supposed to wear at the ceremony that has gone missing and make sure to keep everyone else in the wedding party alive.

Narration:

Emily Rankin is the new voice for Catalina and embodied her personality very well.

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In a world where magic is the key to power and wealth, Catalina Baylor is a Prime, the highest rank of magic user, and the Head of her House. Catalina has always been afraid to use her unique powers, but when her friend’s mother and sister are murdered, Catalina risks her reputation and safety to unravel the mystery.

But behind the scenes powerful forces are at work, and one of them is Alessandro Sagredo, the Italian Prime who was once Catalina’s teenage crush. Dangerous and unpredictable, Alessandro’s true motives are unclear, but he’s drawn to Catalina like a moth to a flame.

To help her friend, Catalina must test the limits of her extraordinary powers, but doing so may cost her both her House–and her heart.

Catalina’s first full book.  I enjoyed almost everything about this.  The magical world is expanded on. Catalina’s long-time crush turns out not to be a rich playboy but a super skilled assassin with some very interesting powers.  The Baylor House is just coming out of their grace period and so they are pretty sure the shit is about to hit the fan and everyone is at the ready.

A cool story about augmented magical people and some stolen serum that was put on lockdown long ago.

Narration:

Emily Rankin is the new voice for Catalina and embodied her personality very well.

Listen to the clip: 

According to mythology mankind used to live in The Tranquiline Halls. Heaven. But then the Voidbringers assaulted and captured heaven, casting out God and men. Men took root on Roshar, the world of storms. And the Voidbringers followed...

They came against man ten thousand times. To help them cope, the Almighty gave men powerful suits of armor and mystical weapons, known as Shardblades. Led by ten angelic Heralds and ten orders of knights known as Radiants, mankind finally won.

Or so the legends say. Today, the only remnants of those supposed battles are the Shardblades, the possession of which makes a man nearly invincible on the battlefield. The entire world is at war with itself - and has been for centuries since the Radiants turned against mankind. Kings strive to win more Shardblades, each secretly wishing to be the one who will finally unite all of mankind under a single throne.

On a world scoured down to the rock by terrifying hurricanes that blow through every few day a young spearman forced into the army of a Shardbearer, led to war against an enemy he doesn't understand and doesn't really want to fight.

What happened deep in mankind's past?

Why did the Radiants turn against mankind, and what happened to the magic they used to wield?

This was my 4^th read of this book.  The Stormlight Archives is by far my favorite fantasy series of all time and each time I read it, I find new things.  It is one of the best crafted series I’ve ever read and each new book in it adds some new understanding to the other books when I read them again.  At a little over a thousand pages, it is hard to convey the crux of the story except there is exceptional worldbuilding, fantastic magic system, complex characters and a wonderful plot

Do you like epic fantasy?  If the answer to that is yes, then READ THIS BOOK.

Narration:

Kate Reading and Michael Kramer expertly narrated the Audible version of this.  But I listened to the Graphic Audio version which has a full cast of narrators and all the bells and whistles like background music and sound effects.  I love it all the more for the way the music made me feel at those key moments in the story.

Listen to the clip: 

Nell Ingram is a rookie PsyLed agent, using the powers she can channel from deep within the earth to solve paranormal crimes. Together with her team, she's taken on the darkest magic and the direst foes. But she'll need to tap into every ounce of power she has for her newest case.

Nell is called to the Tennessee mansion of a country music star and finds a disturbing scene--dead bodies rapidly decaying before everyone's eyes. The witch on her team, T. Laine, knows this can only be one thing: death magic, a rare type of craft used to steal life forces. PsyLed needs to find this lethal killer fast. But when a paranormal-hating FBI agent tries to derail the investigation, they find themselves under attack from all sides.

This is the 5^th book of the Soulwood series where Nell who is a kinda plant person works with a group of witches, werewolves, empaths and a skin walker to solve magical crimes.  She is tied to her land soulwood and can use it to help strengthen her.  With her team, they are trying to figure out what caused the death of a famous singer and some of her crew that made them all deteriorate in record time.  It is a crazy magical mystery.

Narration:

Khristine Hvam is one of my favorite narrators of all time.  She has been wonderful in this entire series and I loved her even more in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series.

Listen to the clip: 

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Robin

Reviewer at Books of My Heart

Reading is my #1 addiction…I’d go to a support group for it but who are we kidding -  I have no intentions of quitting anytime soon. By day, I’m a chemist and can be found sciencing and listening to books. On nights and weekends, I’m a wannabe Spartan and am often training and listening to books. I straight up LOVE almost everything by Brandon Sanderson and Ilona Andrews; they are my flagship authors and I might be slightly impartial where they are concerned. My other guilty pleasures are unusual fairytale retellings and uber alpha males.


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