reader and teacher

Unique but falls short

Reviewed: 03-24-24

Pros:
You can learn a little about New Orleans' culture.
Valiant effort.
Free with the plus catalogue. (Woulda been ticked if I paid a credit or bought outright. Honestly, that's sort of the point of the plus catalogue, to let you try new things.)

Neutral:
Normal narrator felt a little old for the character, but she handled everything (normal) nicely.
Some people will like the MC. I didn't particularly, but I can see why others might.

Cons:
Doesn't figure out it's a mystery until the last 25 minutes of the audiobook.
The singing. (Ouch. It's not the quality of the song so much as it's multiple iterations of the same thing.)
MC lies - like a lot. That doesn't strike me as a yay, let's give this book to kids thing.
The wrapup brought up a twist that felt all kinds of a cheesy bid for sequels.

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It’s fine. Blurb tells u the whole story.

Reviewed: 03-20-24

It reads like a detailed world building exercise. I would listen to other stuff set in the world but it hasn’t moved me much either way.

Cool tech. Interesting near future ideas. But pretty much nothing happens. Whoops forgot to include a plot.

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3.5 filler story, strange narration

Reviewed: 08-16-23

This should be read after Erak’s Ransom and before Siege of Macindaw, neither of which I did. Macindaw is essentially part 2 of this story.

The narrator shift was likely because of the unholy amount of singing in here. Keating was probably like nope, not happening. New guy is okay, but he’s got some weirdo pronunciations of things well established - ya know, like the previously published 40plus hour of audio.

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4 of 5 stars Cozy Mystery

Reviewed: 07-31-23 Listener received this title free

Introduction:

Cozy mysteries follow their own pattern.

Sometimes, the main character is super sharp, and other times, they’re lucky they can tie their shoes. Mabel falls somewhere in between but closer to the hapless heroine.



Specs:

· Title: Mabel Gets the Ax

· Series: Mysteries of Medicine Spring, Book 1

· Author: Susan Kimmel Wright

· Narrated by: Lauren Pedersen

· Run time: 9 hrs and 5 min


Summary:

After losing her job, Mabel decides she’s going to be a writer. She lives in her grandmother’s old house but hasn’t quite sorted the estate stuff.


As with all cozy mysteries, someone kicks the bucket pretty quickly. It’s Hellen, one of the less nice people Mabel meets at the Medicine Spring Historical Society. Mabel visits the society in the hopes of volunteering and getting good intel for her book.


Additional Comments:

· Mabel ticks off all the right box for cozy heroine. Older, not the young and hot type, has a dog, has a cat, etc. Couldn’t remember the dog’s name, but he is lively.

· The book is about 2 hours too long.

· There was an awful lot of talking in the book. One decent action scene near the end.

· I’m not sure what kind of investigating Mabel would have done if she didn’t have John Bigelow bust into her life.

· It was a little amusing that new family members seemed to pop up late in the book. (Didn’t know she had a sister til like 7 hours in.)

· The mystery ties up nicely, both past and present.

· Character is likable. Friend is nice but sort of forgettable.

· John’s there as a suitable excuse to talk about the case.

· There’s even a nice red herring thrown in.

· Performance was well done. The voices were distinguishable. I sped it up but I speed up pretty much all books.


Rating and Conclusion: 4 of 5 stars

A decent cozy mystery.


* I was given a free copy of the audiobook by either the author or narrator. I've freely chosen to review the story. All thoughts are my own.

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3.75 Not Their Best, Not Their Worst

Reviewed: 07-31-23

They changed some stuff.
Not a huge fan of the wild change in perspective.
Split narration took a bit of getting used to.
Annie got annoying.
Will still listen to the series, but I much prefer some of the other titles.

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1 person found this helpful

Decent rom com

Reviewed: 07-21-23 Listener received this title free

Nothing But Everything by H.L. Scott

Introduction:

I don’t usually read blurbs until after I’ve heard the book. This one pretty much tells the story.



Will be the first to admit this isn’t my usual genre.



Specs:

· Title: Nothing But Everything

· Author: H.L. Scott

· Narrator: P. Mohan

· Run time: 5 h and 33 min

· Genre: Clean romantic comedy



Summary:

Harper has just inherited a set of rundown cottages from her recently-deceased aunt.



There was a very slight mystery angle, but it felt tacked on.



So, she goes surfing and literally runs into a billionaire, sending the guy to the hospital for some stitches.



Additional Comments:

· The MC’s kind of a walking disaster. I don’t get the strong, independent woman vibe because the initial characterization was she’s kind of terrible at everything. I forgot she was a real estate agent. (No money to her name. Lives with two former college roommates. Still reeling from a breakup.)

· Strong-willed and resilient aren’t the same as needlessly (sometimes foolishly) stubborn.

· Can’t go into too much detail because of possible spoilers, but the MC picks some really weird hills to die on (how dare you keep this random fact of your life from me).

· I expected more humor. (There were some examples. I appreciate the term jerkenstein.)

· Jackie and Claire make decent sidekicks. (I could be spelling those wrong. I’d started reading the Vella but that was a very long time ago, so my knowledge is coming from the audiobook.)

· Victor’s kind of perfect. (Good looking. Good business sense. Good heart. Billionaire.) He just lacks a love of his life.

· The relationship is billed as enemies to lovers, but I don’t get that vibe either. From the first two seconds, his goal (making the neighboring property not an eyesore) and her goal (saving the rental cottages) align. (The back cover makes more of the deal that there was a legal disagreement between Victor and Harper’s aunt than the story seemed to.)

· Overall, it does the job of making you root for their success.

· The mystery angle wasn’t much. There was literally only one suspect, but I’m not sure why. The MC and Victor had little to do with solving the mystery. That’s a tad disappointing.

· Again, I will admit, I may not be cut out for the romcom genre.

· Production notes: Needs work. There were weirdly long pauses between chapters. They sort of just cut off, waited three seconds, then started a new one. I’m not sure if that’s a writing thing or a production issue. (It’s mostly production, but I don’t know if the way the story was written—being Kindle Vella first—made a difference.) There wasn’t a lot of variation in character voices. I think there were a few echo-y portions where the mic was hit.



Rating and Conclusion: 3 of 5 stars

It’s okay. There are cute moments. It’s a short, fluffy, light romance. If those are your favorite things, give this a go.



* I was given a free copy of the audiobook by either the author or narrator. I've freely chosen to review the story. All thoughts are my own.

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Pageant Shennanigans with Witches

Reviewed: 07-19-23 Listener received this title free

Witch Myth: Siren Song, Book 2
Introduction:
Got this one from a code site ages ago, like a few years ago.

Alexandria Clarke is usually decent for a quick, fluffy, decent story. She also does a few different genres, which I appreciate.

Specs:
• Title: Witch Myth: Siren Song, Book 2
• Series: A Witch Myth Cozy Mystery, Book 4
• Author: Alexandria Clarke
• Narrator: Tia Rider
• Run time: 3 h and 9 min

Summary:
It’s like a Nancy Drew book with witches.

Bay Bridges goes undercover at a beauty pageant to stop a saboteur.

Additional Comments:
• I like the narrator’s voice. No production complaints.
• Novella length is just right for this.
• Random note: I think this is the second time the author has done the whole beauty pageant-gone-wrong thing. Silent Graves is the combo book including The Darkest Secret, one of the Calamity James paranormal mysteries. This is essentially the same story with a different MC. While I kinda like Calamity James better, Bay’s not a bad character by any stretch.
• Not sure how the best friend fits in. She’s called the sidekick, but she’s part that, part freeloader, part personal assistant.
• The witch angle gives it a bit of an interesting twist, but as the bad guy taunts, Bay’s kinda dumb at all the convenient times.
• Cozy supernatural isn’t a usual genre for me, but it’s fine. I enjoyed the book.

Rating and Conclusion: 4 of 5 stars
Worth listening to. I don’t think I’m listening to the series in order. Haven’t had much trouble following. (The series titles with multiple numbers are kind of throwing me off, but it’s fine. I’m sure it’d make more sense if I bothered looking up the different series it’s listed under.

* I was given a free copy of the audiobook by either the author or narrator. I've freely chosen to review the story. All thoughts are my own.

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4 of 5 stars Good but odd mix of genres

Reviewed: 07-11-23 Listener received this title free

Specs:

· Title: The Promise of Deception

· Author: Jessica Sly

· Narrator: Lillian Rachel

· Run time: 11h and 37 min

· Genre: historical, thriller, Christian



Summary:

Adelynn Spencer gets visions of murders. Her fiancé, Baze Ford, is a Detective Inspector investigating the bizarre killings. (That much is in the description.)



Additional Comments:

· The book is an odd mixture of Christian and paranormal. Those aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive, but it is surprising that it’s billed as thriller/suspense without one inkling of faith being a thing. I wouldn’t even bill it as thriller suspense at all. Historical is about the only genre it did fit. Mystery maybe. Mystery tends to range closer to paranormal stuff. Maybe even Paranormal Mystery or Christian Paranormal Mystery. (They probably did not bill it as that because I’m not sure that genre exists.)

· I happen to not mind the combination, but I can see that totally blindsiding one side or the other. (People in it for the ghost story, will be like what the heck is with this praying thing. People in it for the faith-based mystery will be like what’s with the random visions and limited inclusion of mind-based superpowers.)

· The characters were fine. Adelynn, besides her visions, isn’t particularly bright. She’s spirited as the back cover suggests. She’s likable to a point, but most of what she does is blunder around from one dangerous or compromising situation to the next. Her faith is her strongest point, so I’m glad that’s not lost in the shuffle.

· Baze is your typical exasperated fiancé.

· The controversy surrounding her engagement doesn’t quite seem to fit. Maybe I’m just not up on my upper crust Edwardian British society rulebook. (Her confusion and hesitation over the situation doesn’t make sense. Baze’s family issues too don’t make all that much sense.)

· The deep conspiracy stuff wasn’t fleshed out. It started great, then sort of fizzled.

· The background stuff with Adelynn’s family is well fleshed out in terms of the tie-in to the mystery, but the family needed a few more skeletons in the proverbial closest to make that angle (deep conspiracy) stick the landing.

· The animosity with Mr. Ford isn’t very well fleshed out.

· Characters are more reactive than proactive. (There’s no clever trying to outwit the baddie. They’re mostly just moving along to the bad guy’s tune, hoping to survive.)

· Side characters are decent. I like Emily as the supportive friend. Bennett too.

· Besides the opening scene party, there isn’t much of a display of wealth for these upper class Brits.

· There’s one twist I didn’t see coming. The rest, including the ultimate baddie, was very much predictable. It still worked fine in terms of satisfaction, but it’s a straightforward mystery.

· The narration is well handled. The only voice that didn’t resonate with me is the mysterious bad guy’s few sections. It was harder to hear those. Also, I played this at 2x speed. My usual is 1.7x, so delivery was slower than I’m used to. That’s surprising because most things with a British accent, I have to slow down for clarity.

· Who would like this book? People who like Edwardian Era stuff and don’t mind characters heavily relying on their Christian faith to make it through the day-to-day trials. (Had to look that up, it’s early 20th century England.)



Rating and Conclusion: 4 of 5 stars

It’s an enjoyable Christian paranormal mystery set in the early 1900’s Britain. So, if you like all those things, including the charming British accent, you should enjoy this one.


* I was given a free copy of the audiobook by either the author or narrator. I've freely chosen to review the story. All thoughts are my own.

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4 of 5 stars

Reviewed: 02-06-23 Listener received this title free

Summary:

Izzie tries to solve a murder.

Additional Comments:

· Love the narrator.

· Story was definitely cozy. Some plot points took their sweet time in coming, but the characters were fun. I even liked bristly Brooke.

· Danger level was a bit tame for my tastes, but a few places had action.

· Chloe’s adorable.

· There were definitely things unresolved, but they didn’t seem big enough to warrant waiting until a sequel. (The sister has two somethings to tell Izzie.

Conclusion: 4 of 5 stars

For clean, cozy mystery fans.

*I received a free copy from the author or narrator. I freely chose to review this book.

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Oddly written

Reviewed: 10-02-22 Listener received this title free

Contains a lot of dialogue that should have been description.

Things along the lines of don’t you dare stick that pie in my face. Ack. You have stuck the pie in my face. Now I shall have to go wash it off. (Paraphrasing)

It’s not bad, just weird.

Mystery itself is fine. The explanations and tie ins worked ok.

Narrated enthusiastically.

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