Great narration, bringing these characters to life

Fallen Raven Books 1 & 2
By Diana A. Hicks

Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)

The Fallen Raven duet is so good, and the audio companion brought the characters to life in the best way. As I was listening + reading, I was instantly captivated by Aurora and Enzo’s connection to each other. Throughout book one, when the characters are actually in high school, I got very strong Cruel Intentions crossed with Romeo & Juliet vibes, so naturally I was all in, waiting with bated breath to see how bad Enzo and his crew would haze Aurora while simultaneously becoming infatuated with Enzo’s internal thoughts about her. Narrators Dane Anderson and Rose Dioro brought these characters to life with perfect intonation especially when it came to every emotion they experienced via the author’s writing.

Aurora is new to town, NYC, having moved from Las Vegas before the school year begins. Las Vegas is the only place she’s called home and is torn between missing it and being thankful for being given a new slate to start over with her parents in a new city. What she is concerned with, though, is how her father (who is basically a con artist) managed to find good favor with the Italian mafia in NYC to move them cross country and put them up in a swanky apartment & enroll her in the best academy in the city. Often times throughout the book, Aurora ponders what her father is up to and worries about her safety as well as her mother’s, and she’s not wrong to be worried, but it’s not exactly what you would immediately think as a reader. I appreciated the unpredictable twist the author gave us.

I read + listened to both books in the duet back-to-back. I don’t even remember how much sleep I got in between each book because book one leaves you on such a cliffhanger that you don’t want to believe what’s happened, prompting you to immediately jump in to book two!

When I made it to book two, I knew there would be a jump in time based on how book one ended, and I also knew I was guaranteed a happy ending. The second book has many chapters that are based in the past, and these chapters are intermingled with the present time chapters throughout the book. These chapters focusing on the past were necessary to explain the development of the characters through a decade. I understand it was necessary to do this and each one of these chapters honing in on the past gave new details of significant events that happened prior to “now” but I found myself getting antsy a few times in these chapters from the past filling in the gaps. I wish the past chapters could have been a little bit shorter because I was more concerned with what is happening now and where the characters would progress and it made me a little restless. I didn’t skip anything; I’m not that kind of reader, plus I have major FOMO so I physically could not make myself skip to the current chapters.

As adults who find their way back to each other, Aurora and Enzo are still crazy attracted to each other and despite Aurora’s hesitancy, and maybe a little bit from Enzo, they cannot deny their chemistry has not dissolve over ten years apart. There are several discoveries made throughout book two that I did not predict, and I cannot express enough in any review how much this means to me. I do not like reading books that are highly predictable! With that said, when I was finally in what I’ll call the meat-and-potatoes of the “now” in book two, I was living for Aurora and Enzo reconciling and cheering them on as they worked together with a common goal to save someone very important to them. Subsequently, said important character was incredibly sweet the way he took to Enzo and I was really hoping we’d get the treat of that happening versus harboring bad feelings and being a jerk.

If you enjoy a duet romance with heavy mafia themes, heartbreak and emotion, plus some deceit and manipulation, this is the book duet for you. The narration was very enjoyable and I felt like I was with these characters as I listened along with reading the KU version of the books.


I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

BookIG: @tequilamockingbirdlady
GR profile: mvporter

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Great wrap up

I liked this one best of the duet, as they are older and not in high school, that's just my preference. But the 10 years apart has made a difference in Enzo and Aurora's lives, they've moved on, and yet they haven't at all.
But now they've found each other again and the stakes are higher, Enzo finds out that she'd had their child and he is missing.
There are a lot of twists and turns, and a good amount of heat. The narration was very well done by both.
The production needs some work, I feel like there wasn't a final proof in some of the errors and sounds you hear, I'm hoping they'll go back over that and correct some of it. Even with that I do recommend this duet.

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Loved this book and the audio so much

5-stars

This review is for the audio of The Dark Raven Duet. I am obsessed with this series, and this book was suspenseful, action-packed, scorching hot angst, and some crazy twists and turns. I love to read the book while I listen to the audiobook and this audio didn't disappoint. I loved the narrators they brought this book to life and made it even more of an emotional ride. I have not listened to Dane Anderson and Rose Dioro, but they both brought this book to life with their voices. Dane Anderson has a smooth and deep voice. It was like rocks sliding down a mountain it was so deep and rumbly. I felt him in my toes. Rose Dioro was sweet and captivating. I loved her ability to bring out the emotions of the books in her words. This book is a dark college mafia, star-crossed lovers romance, and touches on dark themes and topics. I don't think my heart has ever been put through so much in a book before, and I loved it from its beginning to the end. I loved the whole world that Diana A Hicks has created. It is dark and exciting. I loved the rollercoaster of emotions I felt throughout this book and the narrators just took it to a whole nother level. I love her writing style; she is gritty and raw and puts her all into these books. She had me laughing and crying; I felt my heart break and pick up speed, excited to see what would happen next. The narrators brought out my emotions and feelings even more while listening to them throughout this book. Do not miss this audio it makes the book a chef's kiss. -By Brooke

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Star Crossed Lovers HEA

🖤💙AUDIOBOOK RELEASE💙🖤

🎧: 🤩🤩
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶️🌶️🌶️.5/5

Tropes:
🖤HE FALLS FIRST
💙STAR-CROSSED LOVERS
🖤ANGST, FAMILY FEUD
💙FORBIDDEN LOVE

This audiobook was wonderful!! New to me author, Diana A. Hicks wrote an angst, family feud, star-crossed lovers romance set at an elite high school in New York. Enzo and Aurora (Rory) run into each other when she’s fresh in New York and shopping for school. They wind up in school together and she finds herself in the drama of the five families of the mafia because of her father’s wrong-doings. They still manage to fall in love and have a whirlwind of a story to get to their happily ever after. The narration is spot on and Dane Anderson and Rose Dioro do a wonderful job bringing voice to these characters and making the experience immersive.

These are a duet and require reading book 1 before book 2 because it picks up 11 years after book 1. Thanks for the audiobook Diana and Indie Pen, hope to read more of your books in the future!!

#fallenravenduet #dianaahicks #elitehighschool #secretsociety #mafiafivefamilies #hefallsfirst #starcrossedlovers #familyfeud #forbiddenlove #secretpregnancy #secretbaby #darkromance #audiobook #booklover #bibliophile #romancereader #fypage #bookstagrammersdaily #bookstagram #booktok #smuttok

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Dom Love

The narrators do an amazing job portraying the emotions that Aurora, Enzo, and even Rex feel throughout the entire story. They make you feel like you're there in the story.

This is the second story in the duet of Aurora and Enzo.

Oh my, emotions are all over the place from the very beginning. We finally figured out what happened at the house after the fire. There are moments where we are taken back 10 years to hear what happened to Aurora and Enzo to bring them where they are now.

Aurora and Enzo find their way back to each other after still being in love with one another after all these years.

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Aurora and Enzo!

Life as Aurora knows it is about to change when she finds herself attending a high school filled with the heirs to five prominent mafia families. All she wants is to keep a low profile and stay away from those that hold the power, but she never expected to draw the attention of Enzo or what their feelings for each other would mean.

It’s been a decade when Enzo finally reunites with the woman he has never forgotten. They now find themselves facing their past, both when they were together and apart, and trying to find a way to be together like they were always meant to be.

Suspense that keeps you on edge, the secrets keep coming as well as a love and chemistry that may have been put on hold but could never be destroyed.

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Hard Fought HEA

The second half of this duet was a great ending for Enzo and Aurora. It was a bit darker than the first but I loved their love story. They fought hard through circumstances and expectations and loved each other so fiercely.
The narrators did an excellent job again. There were some added voices, especially for the male narrator, so that was fun.
I listened to both book 1 and 2 in about 24 hours and was very invested in their story (stayed up way too late 🙂).

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What a rollercoaster

I was giving an ALC of this audiobook but the views are my own. When the last book ended it seemed quite final but I knew there was another book. Book 2 is set 10 years later and we find out what happens to Enzo and how he copes with the effects of Book 1. Enzo is now the head of the society and has become the a$€ we expected him to be in the first book. If book 1 hadn’t have ended the way it did would this have happened?
This book is packed with tension and highly emotional and you just want everyone to have a HEA. Dane and Rose do another amazing job with the narration giving all the feels with their voices. I want to now go back and listen to the rest of the series.

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1 person found this helpful

Fantastic Conclusion to Enzo and Aurora's Story

Light SPOILERS Included for Fallen Raven Book 1.

This book opens with Aurora and Enzo meeting in a chance encounter where Aurora is being sold at a submissive auction. It’s 10 years after the events at the end of book 1 and Enzo is now the head of his family but has spent years mourning the death of “Aurora” and chasing down her “killer.” Enzo is definitely shocked to see ghost Aurora and he in fact does think she is straight out of his dreams. He is angry and so shocked that she is purchased by someone else. That will not stand and Enzo buys her contract set on getting to the bottom of where she has been for the past decade and more importantly making her pay for tormenting him all these years.

This book is very topsy turvy and twisty, there are lot of references to previous books so there are spoilers to the previous duets, but more importantly you get bits and pieces of exactly what has happened in the past 10 years and both Enzo and Aurora’s life apart. You also finally get the whole sorted tale unraveled and you get to the heart of why Enzo and Aurora were kept apart and eventually all the players involved in their lives and their motivations.

I loved how this book turned out, it was unpredictable in a lot of ways. It also kept me fully engaged and I wanted to keep reading so I could get it all figured out. This duet was definitely worth the read if you like a mystery within a mystery with a Second Chance Romance with a dark edge. Fantastic conclusion to the epic love story of Enzo and Aurora.

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Amazing ending to this duet!

Enzo woke up with a massive hangover and when he heard the woman's voice he glanced over his shoulder to see the three women in bed with him. In the light of day, he couldn't pretend that the blonde was Aurora no matter how much he wished it was true.

Because eleven years ago the mansion in the Hamptons blew up with Aurora and her parents inside. Angelo had shot him and left him for dead, but after waking from a six-month coma Rex told him that he couldn't save her.

He pulled Rex’s invitation out of the inside pocket of his jacket glaring at the the bold letters that read Don Alfera requiring his presence at the Masquerade Ball. Rex was the new Don Alfera. After Exzo's father had abdicated his throne as leader of the five families leaving the mafia life behind, Rex's father not wanting to take the chance that Enzo would fight for his birthright told Angelo to make sure his death was made to look an accident.

He didn't care about the throne. Rex was welcome to it. But he would never forgive Rex for letting Aurora die that night.

I absolutely loved Aurora and Enzo's story! Although I read book one of this duet I listened to book two in audio and I now wish I would have also listened to book one as these narrators are amazing! This is the first time I have listened to either of these narrators but they were perfect as Aurora and Enzo.

Dane Anderson brought Enzo to life with his grief, anger and passion. Rose Dioro gave us Aurora's despair and fear. Every emotion was brought through with both of these narrators. I look forward to listening to both in the future!

This is the final book of the Fallen Raven duet so if you haven't read/listened to book 1 stop now and do so or you won't understand the depth of pain these two have suffered.

This book starts out with a 'WAIT, WHAT???' So so many twists to this emotional story! Each relevation leads to more questions as you try to connect the dots. Let's just say that I am now even more interested in starting the series than before. But why? Well, there are too many spoilers, but I will say that this book will take you through the emotional wringer!

This book is action-packed, full of danger, intrigue, secrets and betrayal. And it will light up your Kindle in the heat factor. Beware if you have issues with reading about graphic violence or human trafficking. Highly recommend this book, narrators and the author!

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