Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Amber Gambler by Hailey Edwards Narrator: Candace Joice
Series: The Body Shop #2
Published by Tantor Audio on March 24, 2025
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Length: 10 hours, 3 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm
The other family business at The Body Shop is slow after word gets out that Frankie had clients die—cease to exist?—on her watch. Considering they were dead to begin with, she understands why the news shook the spirit community’s faith in her, but it’s a hard hit to her bottom line.
When a spirit appears in her office, ready to sign a contract, she’s eager to please. Until she learns why he wants to hire her. He heard about her clients’ deaths, yes, but he also learned Frankie was instrumental in bringing their killer to justice.
The spirit’s human granddaughter has gone missing, and he wants Frankie to find her before it’s too late. Frankie’s no detective, but her schedule is wide open. The job is to save the girl, but with so many gods and monsters prowling the streets of Thunderbolt these days, she’ll be lucky if she can save herself.
The Body Shop series continues as we learn a bit more about Frankie and her siblings’ history. A ghost asks her to find his “live” grand daughter as many of the street team she worked with have turned up dead. Frankie works with Carter and Harrow to find her and the other girls.
The relationship between Frankie and Harrow is complicated. I was kind of rooting for them but in Amber Gambler things went poorly. Neither is very honest with the other, fo reasons.
Lightening strikes and changes a tree as it burns up and then is fine. Kierce’s crow is with Frankie and before too long Kierce is back. He is low on powers but he came to protect Frankie. He seems very fixated on her and Frankie seems too attracted to him. I’m just not sure about this pairing.
Both Harrow and Frankie have much to learn about their abilities. I wish that was a bit more of a focus. The pace was steady as the case was solved. The answers found were another betrayal for Frankie and her siblings. The next book Midnight Auto Parts is already available in ebook format.
Narration:
The narrator was new to me for this series. I am really comfortable with her voices for the characters giving them personality. I appreciated her voices being appropriate for males and the females. The males were deeper, or stronger. I listened at between 1.5x – 1.75x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
About Hailey Edwards
Hailey Edwards writes about questionable applications of otherwise perfectly good magic, the transformative power of love, the family you choose for yourself, and blowing stuff up. Not necessarily all at once. That could get messy. She lives in Alabama with her husband, their daughter, and a herd of dachshunds.
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 25-Audio
- 25-COYER
I’m glad this was a good second book. The series sounds like fun, although the title of the third book is sort of funny, lol. But it probably makes sense when you read it.
yes, Franky is a necromancer who runs an auto parts / repair shop with help from other paranormals.
Looks like a unique and interesting world. Glad you enjoyed, Anne💜
I enjoy this author for unique paranormal stories.
Yep. I don’t like Harrow. But the relationship with Kierce is a bit off… she’s all over him, crawling on his lap, needing him. It’s a bit co-dependent.
yes I don’t like any of the romantic storylines. I want to learn more about their world and abilities in the background of mysteries being solved.
I was a little underwhelmed by the first book so I didn’t request this one. The mystery sounds interesting, here. The romance/relationships were odd in the first book. Like a sort of love triangle and the dialog and situations didn’t feel natural.
You probably did the right thing for you. I don’t enjoy the relationships but the mysteries can be interesting.