Sorry not a great narrator

Compared to the previous narration, this wasn't anywhere close. Previous being books in same series.

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Fantastic start to this new spin off series

I've been eagerly awaiting this book since the end of the Ellwood Chronicles and it's a fantastic read!! I highly recommend reading that series first characters and relationships follow on, though we focus on different ones in this series, and events overlap from the end of The Enchanter's Heart and this book.
Within pages Tobias is full on pulling at my heartstrings with his history, how low he feels about himself and his self worth. Three years without Thayer has left him feel more alone than ever. Thayer is so excited when they reunite but he, Basil and Jorah haven't quite thought about how hard things have actually been for everyone that was left in this realm. Whilst Toby had no idea is Thayer was alive or dead, Thayer knew he'd go back and they would reunite. It feels like a natural evolution that occurs as the two men learn to be around each other again, with Thayer being three years older since he left and being much more grown up but still happy to cause some mischief once in a while.
New/stronger bonds have been formed, especially between the Mantle of the Three (Thayer, Basil and Jorah). Theirs is something that is unknown to anyone before but really interesting in how it works, I look forward to learning more of their time in the Fae realm. Ailin and Thayer's relationship is so much better, something that gives you warmth after how they were when Thayer was an angsty teen.
There's a brilliant plot for readers to dive into that carries you right through to the end of the story along with the relationship and character development that happens. Fans of the previous series will enjoy updates to the world around them as recovery from the Beserker War has taken place with a unity developing between all forms of magic users, creatures and humans with of course those looking to take advantage.
Another must read from Michele Notaro. Thoroughly enjoyed the whole story and looking forward to who is up next in this series.
This is my first listen from James Paris and he has a good voice, gives characters their individual voices and carrying the intense emotions throughout this story very well.

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It’s a little much…

It’s a 10 hour book or there about and that’s cool and all, but it’s not been used well.

This book leans extremely hard into tropes and that’s fine most of the time “twists” aren’t to my liking, but I can accept that. The vampire aspect of Toby takes up a lot of space without ever really being explored all that much.
I’m cool with kink and I can even get into feeding/eating, but this one was a miss for me and seemed to enter at odd times.
I advise you be prepared for a lot of pining and “issues” that aren’t really ever dealt with in meaningful ways. Also pet names… a lot of pet names that I found out of place most of the time.

The pacing isn’t great and the main characters are not for me… I’ve never been a fan of the “helpless turned powerful” arc, especially the decisions in this book.
Thayer is not for me, the book or the character, but there are good bones here. The story is a little… flat in my mind, but I accidentally started book 3 in the series ahead of time and I liked the first 2 hours of that, so I know there’s potential in this story.

This one is not it though. If you like bubbly characters the narration might not bother you as much as it did me, but I’m still rating it high because I genuinely think he managed to capture the essence of the main character and it honestly compounded my distaste here so he did a good job.

It honestly feels like 60% of this book is the same scene over and over again. I’m struggling to say something good, but I think this book will work for people who like vampires a lot and their powerful yet helpless lovers. It really bugged me that the whole reason for the initial conflict didn’t have a bigger role in the story.


Anyway, I’m gonna read the next book in the series and hopefully it’s more to my tastes.

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Slightly flawed with a lot of heart.

Even though the possessive nature of their connection is not for me, I love the Toby/Thay relationship and it makes it still worth listening to.
What made me rate this lower than other entries was several stupid decisions made throughout with family members perfect to fight the opposition inexplicably absent and combat trained characters not using their abilities effectively.

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So perfect!

I was ecstatic when I discovered Ms Notaro started a new series that were a spinoff of The Ellwood Chronicles. Of course starting with the story of 2 of the most captivating, interesting and mysterious characters that we met in the original series made this book even better. Toby’s and Thayer’s story is so enjoyable, full of action, magic, danger and intrigue in between the romance and hot scenes that kept me at the edge of my seat throughout the book. So, after loving so much the ebook, I really had to hear the version in audio and it was amazing!. It was my first book read by James Paris and he was simply wonderful. A great performance, with a charismatic voice and nice acting skills, I enjoyed every minute in the narration and I can't wait to hear more on this series specially if the reader is Mr Paris. A perfect narration for this wonderful start in a new series!

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