December 2018: #Audiobook Rewind with Kris

Posted January 2, 2019 by Kristin W in Audio Reviews, Book Love, Coffee & Books, Home, Monthly Feature, Our Reviews, ♡ Reviews by Kris ❤ / 1 Comment

Hello and Welcome to what I am hoping will be the first of many monthly features we will offer on the blog. I (Kris) am still very much an avid reader however at this time I mostly read books available in Audio format and because of life I rarely have time to review them all. I wanted to find a way to feature all of the books that I am reading some of which I end up loving greatly with the knowledge that I do not have time for multiple reviews. So here we are. 

**December 2018**

Title: a blade so black, book 1
author:ll mckinney
Narrator(s): jeanette illidge
rating: 4 beans
synopsis: 

A Blade So Black delivers an irresistible urban fantasy retelling of Alice in Wonderland…but it’s not the Wonderland you remember.

The first time the Nightmares came, it nearly cost Alice her life. Now, she’s trained to battle monstrous creatures in the dark dream realm known as Wonderland with magic weapons and hardcore fighting skills. Yet even warriors have a curfew.

Life in real-world Atlanta isn’t always so simple, as Alice juggles an overprotective mom, a high-maintenance best friend, and a slipping GPA. Keeping the Nightmares at bay is turning into a full-time job. But when Alice’s handsome and mysterious mentor is poisoned, she has to find the antidote by venturing deeper into Wonderland than she’s ever gone before. And she’ll need to use everything she’s learned in both worlds to keep from losing her head…literally.

Debut author L. L. McKinney delivers an action-packed twist on an old classic, full of romance and otherworldly intrigue.

my impression: I really enjoyed the authors spin on alice in wonderland and especially enjoyed the diverse characters. watching this character grow and develop through this first book was a joy i am excited to see what else the series has to offer.
audiobook link: *HERE*

 

Title: American queen: new camelot trilogy #1
author:sierra simone
Narrator(s):stephanie rose
rating: 4 beans
synopsis: 

It starts with a stolen kiss under an English sky, and it ends with a walk down the aisle. It starts with the President sending his best friend to woo me on his behalf, and it ends with my heart split in two.

It starts with buried secrets and dangerous desires…and ends with the three of us bound together with a hateful love sharper than any barbed wire.

My name is Greer Galloway, and I serve at the pleasure of the President of the United States. This is the story of an American Queen.

my impression: this book was all kinds of smoking hot! if you are interested in story lines that flash back, smart/nerdy characters and even some unexpected history then this is the book for you. do not let those cultured aspects fool you though because when I say it was smoking hot i mean be ready for one handed reading/listening. if you like twists and turns and complex main characters this will also be a good read for you. 
audiobook link: *HERE*

 

Title: secret sins, sins duet #1
author: cd reiss
narrator(s): elena wolfe
rating: 5 beans
synopsis: 

From New York Times best-selling author and Audie Award winner CD Reiss…

In the era of pay phones, groupies, and party pills, there were three of us.

Strat. A rock god who walked on air.

Indy. A handsome musician smart enough to live through stardom.

Me, a girl with everything to lose and nothing she wanted to keep.

I loved them both.

They say three’s a crowd, but maybe I liked crowds…until the one thing I wanted to keep was stolen out of my arms.

I left that world, straightened up, went to law school.

I was fine until Indy walked back into my life to remind me of what I’d lost.

They say there’s no time like the present, but when the past shows up with an invoice there’s gonna be hell to pay.

my impression: I am a lifelong devoted fan of CD reiss but i promise it is because of the quality of work that she always produces. i read this book when it came out initially but with the second books release i did a re-read and it was just as epic as i remembered. i would definitely suggest that you read the songs of submission series first as some of the things revealed in this duet pack a much bigger punch if you have read that first but you could read it on its own i suppose. for hot alphas, strong, take charge unapologetic women, intrigue and cover up this series is perfect
audiobook link: *HERE* 

 

Title: sacred sins, sins duet #2
author:cd reiss
narrator(s): elena wolfe
rating: 5 beans
synopsis: 

You know what they say about family.
Blood is thicker than water.
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
A house divided cannot stand.

Margie is the keeper of her family’s secrets.
Six sisters and one brother.
Billions in assets.
Generations of malfeasance.
And one heartbreaking secret three people keep.

Margie.
Her father, Declan.
And Drew – the man she loves.

You know what they say about secrets.
Three can keep them if two are Drazens.

There’s never been a Drazen who went down without a fight.
And there’s never been one who didn’t fight for love.

Beg is included as a free bonus.

my impression: just when you think all of the truth bombs have been dropped and the secrets revealed from book one here comes book 2 with so much more! i genuinely cannot say much except read it and love it! there are lots of good sexy times in this one and as always a strong story line that will keep you flipping the pages or if you’re doing audio want to increase your listening speed to find out what happens next. 
audiobook link: *HERE* 

 

Title: Emergency contact
author: mary h.k. choi
Narrator(s): joy omanski, jacques roy
rating: 4 beans
synopsis:

From debut author Mary H. K. Choi comes a compulsively listenable novel that shows young love in all its awkward glory – perfect for fans of Eleanor & Park and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.

For Penny Lee high school was a total nonevent. Her friends were okay, her grades were fine, and while she somehow managed to land a boyfriend, he doesn’t actually know anything about her. When Penny heads to college in Austin, Texas, to learn how to become a writer, it’s 79 miles and a zillion light-years away from everything she can’t wait to leave behind.

Sam’s stuck. Literally, figuratively, emotionally, financially. He works at a café and sleeps there too, on a mattress on the floor of an empty storage room upstairs. He knows that this is the god-awful chapter of his life that will serve as inspiration for when he’s a famous movie director, but right this second the 17 bucks in his checking account and his dying laptop are really testing him.

When Sam and Penny cross paths it’s less meet cute and more a collision of unbearable awkwardness. Still, they swap numbers and stay in touch – via text – and soon become digitally inseparable, sharing their deepest anxieties and secret dreams without the humiliating weirdness of having to see each other.

 
my impression: this was an excellent read for sure. it features a diverse main character who is trying to manage/deal with her single mother, figuring out who she is, her first year at college, making friends and trying to find love. all while trying to balance the events of her life that have impacted her. 
audiobook link: *here*

 

Title: pestilence: the four horsemen #1
author: Laura thalassa
Narrator(s): susannah jones
rating: 4 beans
synopsis: 

They came to earth-Pestilence, War, Famine, Death-four horsemen riding their screaming steeds, racing to the corners of the world. Four horsemen with the power to destroy all of humanity. They came to earth, and they came to end us all.

When Pestilence comes for Sara Burn’s town, one thing is certain: everyone she knows and loves is marked for death. Unless, of course, the angelic-looking horseman is stopped, which is exactly what Sara has in mind when she shoots the unholy beast off his steed.

Too bad no one told her Pestilence can’t be killed.

Now the horseman, very much alive and very pissed off, has taken her prisoner, and he’s eager to make her suffer. Only, the longer she’s with him, the more uncertain she is about his true feelings towards her, and hers towards him.

And now, well, Sara might still be able to save the world, but in order to do so, she’ll have to sacrifice her heart in the process.

my impression: i don’t know exactly how to characterize this one. most of it is actually really sad and difficult to listen to because well pestilence is pestilence and human nature is sometimes abhorrent. there is a love story in this and a bit of humor at times. overall pestilence makes a wonderful anti-hero that you love to hate. 
audiobook link: *here*

 

Title: an ember in the ashes, book 1
author: sabaa tahir
narrator(s): fiona hardingham, steve west
rating: 4 beans
synopsis: 

Set in a terrifyingly brutal Rome-like world, An Ember in the Ashes is an epic fantasy debut about an orphan fighting for her family and a soldier fighting for his freedom. It’s a story that’s literally burning to be told.

Laia is a Scholar living under the iron-fisted rule of the Martial Empire. When her brother is arrested for treason, Laia goes undercover as a slave at the empire’s greatest military academy in exchange for assistance from rebel Scholars who claim they will help to save her brother from execution.

Elias is the academy’s finest soldier – and secretly its most unwilling. Elias is considering deserting the military, but before he can, he’s ordered to participate in a ruthless contest to choose the next Martial emperor.

When Laia and Elias’ paths cross at the academy, they find that their destinies are more intertwined than either could have imagined and that their choices will change the future of the empire itself.

my impression: this was a very well written and interesting fantasy novel. the villains in this one are terrifying and have no regard for anything but their mission. there are multiple plot lines that all keep you engaged. it is not the type of book where you spend one parallel story waiting to flip back to the main character. you want to know what is going to happen with everyone all at once. 
audiobook link: *HERE*

One response to “December 2018: #Audiobook Rewind with Kris

  1. Pestilence is one of my favorite books read in 2018!!! SO DANG GOOD but yes its not an easy one to listen to but it also by the end makes you want to be a better person and I love books like that.

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