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A great apocalyptic boxset about a nuclear attack

Revisado: 04-03-23 El oyente recibió este título gratis

I'd rate this boxset 4.5 stars but enjoyed it enough to round it up to five. Whilst the first couple of books move at a slower pace as the main characters make their way through a devastated Miami after a terrorist nuclear attack, the latter books allow the plot to streamline a bit more as the characters continue to develop and more of their backstory is revealed. I'm a big fan of this author and Nuclear Dawn reads similarly to her other series (and by that I mean shares similar themes - they're not repetitive). There's a good amount of action, slow burn romance and an overarching feel of good vs evil. The focus of this boxset is terrorism of the homegrown variety, spinning the USA into turmoil after a series of coordinated nuclear attacks take place across the country.

The story is told from a variety of characters' points of view, with Dakota and Logan being at the forefront. The former is the female lead of the story and while a lot of her story is given in small doses throughout the book similarly to the other main characters, Dakota is definitely the star. Having survived a rough childhood being dragged up by a fundamentalist, religious cult, Dakota is a strong female lead who trusts no one and is singularly focused on getting her sister to safety in the Everglades. The bomb attack places her with Logan, an alcoholic and former gang member. As their paths intertwine, they form a connection with one another and are determined to protect Eden, Dakota's non-verbal younger sister. Add to that a world gone crazy in the aftermath of the attack and I was entertained right up until the last page. There were ghosts from the past aplenty as the River Grass cult return to take back what's theirs, gang attacks, food shortages and medical emergencies from the nuclear fallout to keep me turning the pages. I found the narrator didn't have a massive range, but it was enough to deliver the story successfully for the most part. Overall, this was a winner for me and while I would have liked a slightly longer ending because I'm greedy like that, all loose ends were tied up and I finished the book as a happy camper.

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Another excellent story by Zaverelli

Revisado: 09-04-22

I loved this book so much. A. Zavarelli is a one-click author for me and this book is an excellent example of why. It's set in her Sovereign Sons world but is a complete standalone. For those familiar with this author's work, it has a similar vibe and themes to her Requiem series. For those that aren't, think of a secret society (which I normally pass over, to be honest, but have loved this author's take on it), mafia-esque romance with a darker edge. Before I get my teeth into my review, I'll let readers know there are a couple of trigger warnings: sexual assault (not from the H) and some violence (not overly graphic). There are some really solid twists in the story and I don't want to ruin anything because I loved reading it after going in mostly blind.

Alessio is the crème de la crème of the IVI (the secret and nefarious secret society) world. As a Sovereign Son, aka a child of the elite and most powerful and wealthy of the secret society, his world is one of privilege as well as violence, rules and rituals. Needing a nanny for his son, Alessio hires Natalia, a scarred, non-verbal woman with her own secret past. With her motives not entirely revealed, she enters their lives, caring for young Nino (I think he's around six). She mostly uses her phone to communicate since the supporting characters don't know sign language, so a lot of the communication and dialogue is done in this manner. The reader is given a smattering of breadcrumbs here and there from the start of the book as both main characters have questionable pasts and trauma that slowly reveal themselves the further you dive into the story. I loved both Alessio and Natalia. The former is exactly what I expect from this author: broody, ruthless, possessive, jealous, emotionally distant at times and definitely falls into the alpha (and possibly psychopathic lololol) category. He's the guy they call when someone needs a bit of help revealing their secrets in the form of blood and broken bones. One of my favourite quotes of his from the book is when Alessio was trying to find out information: 'I've got more money that God... There's only one thing I want from you, which I made clear from the beginning. If I don't get it in the next ten minutes, you'll be dead, and I'll be on my way out to lunch for a burger'. Gold. Natalia was surprisingly tough, with great inner strength. She was a compassionate character who paired wonderfully with Alessio.

The secondary characters were also great. The author has done a great job of setting up a world that's definitely in the realm of fiction, but written so well that it's not ridiculous. I'll also add in that Natalia's non-verbal mannerisms were done respectfully and contributed perfectly to the plot overall.

So what's the premise of the book? As I've hinted above, Natalia may have an ulterior motive to taking the job to care for Nino and being forced to commit a violent act appears to be at the top of her list. The book had a bit of everything and all things I love: mafia trope, suspense, twists I didn't see coming, darker themes (it wasn't terribly dark but Alessio was definitely an anti-hero) and high heat level with some great smexy times. It was also extremely refreshing to read a book with all of these boxes ticked and have a somewhat-inexperienced male lead that wasn't some stupid, over the top Lothario wannabe to boot like most other books, especially those in this category.

The narration was solid. It took me a little while to get used to Alessio's accent as it went pretty heavy on the wise-guy intonations, but they were both great to listen to overall. This was a great story and I absolutely loved it.

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Second chance feel-good winner

Revisado: 10-05-21 El oyente recibió este título gratis

I'd been waiting for this audio to come out for ages and it didn't disappoint. A second chance romance set in the Juniper Ridge world created by this author, Show Down was a sweet, easy read without too much angst and a satisfying happily every after between producer Lauren, one of the Judson clan, and Nick, a successful builder. Quick note: if you haven't listened to the previous two books in this series, this one holds up fine on its own as a stand alone. Set in a small community specially created for a reality TV show, if you want more background on the setting and the characters you'll obviously want to start from the beginning, but it certainly isn't necessary.

Nick and Lauren were head over heels for each other, dating for year, when Nick dropped the bombshell that he was moving...at a party and without telling Lauren first (he had reasons, but I still kind of wanted to punch him in the junk). The worst part? Lauren thought he was about to propose and in one of those terribly awkward scenes where you know what's going to happen, and it does, but you still want to die a little on the inside as you squirm your way through a cringe-worthy embarrassing moment that you're dragged through with the character, she yells out that she will marry him. The problem? There was never any intention of a proposal on the near horizon. Mortified, Lauren ends the relationship, pretty much ripping out her own heart. Skip ahead two years: Nick's building business is on top of the world and Lauren is successfully producing Juniper Ridge's own reality show on their carefully curated small community on a former cult property with her family. Nick's business has the tender to extend and develop the establishment, bringing him deliberately back into contact with Lauren. He's determined to prove how much he has tried to change and how much he needs Lauren in his life. But old habits sometimes refuse to go away and the couple need to push past stubbornness, pride and poor communication to have any chance of a future.

To be honest, I expected a bit more angst with the initial break up and consequent getting back together. While the book certainly highlighted past mistakes, it didn't dwell too heavily on them for the most part with Nick and Lauren willing to make a go of it much earlier than I expected. Don't get me wrong, former sins certainly cropped up here and there, but it was resolved pretty easily as both Nick and Lauren knew they had to work past it for their relationship to be successful. This was also assisted by the fact that the two main characters seemed to have the self control of a flea when it came to each other, with nowhere near as much animosity present between the two as I had expected. I liked that the author didn't drag this out too much and had Nick operating on the front foot to from the very beginning as he was determined to get Lauren back.

I would have liked for Lauren to stick to her guns for a bit longer, but this is just personal preference and it certainly didn't taint my liking of the story - as I said, it wasn't a bad thing, just unexpected. As a result, the focus was definitely the rebuilding of Nick and Lauren's relationship and trying to meet each other half way. There was a teeny bit of excess drama towards the end, but I get why it was there. I found it a bit strange that with Nick seemingly so into Lauren, even after two years, that he hadn't made any effort to stop or repair the initial break up and fought to keep their relationship going.

As for Nick, I loved him. While he seemed a little clueless about some things, the author had him trying so hard to repair his relationship with Lauren that he couldn't help but be endearing. Lauren was also a strong character and the usual suspects, aka the family and their partners, crop up frequently, some more than others. There's also a cameo by one of the Ponderosa crew which was a nice touch. The reader is treated to the quick confessionals at the start of each chapters again (I love these!) as the story is told from both Nick and Lauren's point of view.

As this book is set in a reality TV world created by this author, I found that the story line didn't emphasis Juniper Ridge, its origins and its features/characters too heavily as this has been done in greater detail in other books in the series. As a fan of these stories, I liked this as it allowed just enough detail for familiar themes of the series to be built upon while focussing on the rekindling of a relationship between Nick and Lauren. Instead, since this is a second chance novel, there were flashbacks and a good amount of innuendos and reference to their past shared history together.

I'm really enjoying this series. It puts a unique twist on a series built around a familial connection and I'm always guaranteed a feel good story with a happy ending. I love how Nick was committed from the beginning to a fresh start with Lauren, throwing himself out there and holding nothing back. I'm a sucker for a second chance novel and this was a cute read. There's a epilogue at the end that wraps up the story and sets the reader up for Cooper and Amy which I can't wait for.

The narrators of this audible book were great, especially Benjamin Charles. His voice is like hot chocolate on a cold day - delicious - and matched what I pictured for Nick perfectly.

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A heart-wrenching post-apocalyptic read

Revisado: 01-12-21 El oyente recibió este título gratis

This isn't my usual pick for an audio book as I generally stick to romance. I'm so glad I took a chance on this one, though, as it was a melancholic story that was equally sad and beautiful, encapturing the love a mother has for her child. In a post-apocalyptic world, children are few and far between, food is scarce and everywhere smells of death. A breed of undead are viciously destroying the human race by ripping them to pieces. Those that survive are subjected to the slow and painful death of tuning into an undead through infection. The author has put her own interesting twist on the zombie trope and it really works. There's great attention to detail and world building as a mother and daughter struggle to survive. Literally nothing goes smoothly and happily making this quite a depressing read but the love between the two main characters is heart-shatteringly beautiful and well-worth the time. The book has a different feel to it that's hard to explain but I'm glad I picked it up.

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An entertaining, dark fairy tale retelling

Revisado: 01-12-21 El oyente recibió este título gratis

I enjoyed this when I read it and loved the audio book even more. It was well paced with plenty of drama and just enough angst to keep me entertained. Ella attends a ball intent on meeting her country's prince and convincing him to donate to the animal shelter she works at. Instead, she winds up with the infamous heir to the Norwegian throne, becoming his obsession. When he kidnaps her, she makes a deal with the devil, agreeing to stay and becoming his target for his cruelty and dark needs. Ella and Thorsen were a perfect blend of naivety and darkness. The former captured elements of the tradition innocent and sweet Cinderella and the latter a tormented, lost soul. It was an intense love story with some dark themes (elements of cruelty, rough sex, suicide, sexual abuse) that were written well. I really enjoyed both of the narrators although I found Ella to sound more Eastern European rather than French. That being said, I'm definitely not an expert. Ashleigh Zavarelli never disappoints me and this book is no different.

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Teacher/Student Romance

Revisado: 09-16-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

I own the ebook of Hate Crush and really enjoyed it, however the audio version knocked it out of the park for me. Funnily enough, this story has three tropes I never go out of my way for: Teacher/Student taboo relationship, age gap and bully. Ashleigh Zavarelli knows how to reel in a reader, though, and this story is no different. I wanted to punch the Hero in the face several times and there's the normal teenage angst as this story takes place at an exclusive school, but it's really entertaining. Over the top, but a great read with a bit of grit.

As for the narration? I flipping loved this narrator. Her versatility with the characters was one of the best I've listened to as someone relatively new to Audible, to the point that I'll be checking out her other work. The accents were great, especially for Sybil (my favourite voice in the story).

If you've read a Zavarelli book before, you'll know what you're getting. She's a one-click for me and this Audible was the cherry on the cake. Loved it even more than the ebook, which is a rarity for me.

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