AudioBook Review – Clockwise

 

So far this week I have a full on Audio selection. Hehe. And this was my first choice. A YA time travel novel written by Elle Strauss turned AudioBook by Andrea Emmes.

YA is something I delve into quite often because there’s nothing better than letting your younger self back out hehe. And I’ve never been disappointed.

This was no exception, I had a great ride with Andrea and Elle, what a wonderfully narrated and well told story. 🙂 Really enjoyed this, I was sorry there wasn’t more in the series already to download, and I just don’t have time for real books (even e-books ) aha you can find the AudioBook here – please check it out…. it’s worth it.

http://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Children/Clockwise-Audiobook/B01DL0UXOI

My review is as follows. –

“Fantastic! loved it. “

 

Okay, spoilers follow.

This is a YA, which will defo entertain any age. It’s such a fun and enjoyable listen.

Casey is a very normal kid in the fact she’s not gorgeous and she’s smart, with nobly knees and fly away hair. I think half the teenagers around will be able to identify with her. She’s 15 approaching 16 and her parents are separated.

But her life is far from normal as she time travels, well not totally sure if it’s in as physical a sense as she thinks. But time her end doesn’t move, and she jumps back to the 1860’s.

Her biggest issue is not only doing that, and knowing when she can travel back home, but that with skin to skin contact she can take someone else or other objects with her.

This is a bad thing she’s taken her best friend there when they were 10, and now at 15 she takes her high school crush, Nate.

This is an adorable journey for them both because Nate can’t believe what’s happening and can’t believe that Casey (a girl) knows how to kill and cook a wild animal.

There’s so much fun in here, yet, there are also some very serious undertones, on slavery and the governments from the 1860’s 1960’s and of course present day inter-relationships.

What Andrea brings to the table is a wonderful young and excitable voice, she does both Casey and Nate’s voices with great skill. Then of course add in Samual, and the other members of the Watson family and she’s perfect.

I have to admit, when Samual kept disappearing just like Casey does, I was suspect. And Casey kept saying there was a reason she kept going back to the 1860’s… of course there was, she and Nate needed to save Samual from being killed by Robert. uggh what a horrid horrid man. I also know he was going to be the worst kind of human being.

Sarah and the Watsons’ got a lucky escape in her not having to marry that awful man either. Maybe Casey was supposed to stop her marrying that awful man to.

I have learned this is a series of books! Squeee….. my inner 16 year old is very happy now, and I can’t wait to listen to more of Andrea’s narration within this Time Traveling world.

A match that was made for each other, I will keep looking for more in this series. Thank yo both for the very entertaining few days while at work. Just loved it. 🙂

Dawn

Author Special-Rainbow Dreams Cover Reveal

Hey Everyone!!! 🙂

Guess what? It’s finally here!!  Rainbow Dreams is now available for preorder from the following merchants:

 
 
 
 

What’s it about?  I’m glad you asked!  Here’s the blurb:

Have you ever had a terrible secret you didn’t want anyone to know? Petri does and it may get her killed. Life is hard on Upworld, especially for the residents of Under City, and it’s even harder for those who don’t fit in. Petri has alway been different and now those differences may cost her life. Her one hope is to leave the only home she’s ever known while evading the mob that’s calling for her blood. But Petri has never been outside of her sector of Under City, never mind off the planet. And the laws of Upworld forbid people like her from leaving. Will Petri overcome the odds and make good her escape? Maybe…with a little help from her friends.

Sound interesting?  Good!  And get a load of that cover!!!  It’s courtesy of the FANTABULOUS Julie Nicholls!!  If you’d like to see more of her incredible work, check out her website here:

I also want to let you all know about an Amazon Giveaway I’m running for Captivated By The Winter King.  It’s free to enter!  Rainbow Dreams won’t be released until April 19th, so in the meantime you can get your sexy romance fix with some dreamy Fae! 😉

Okay, okay, I know, enough stalling.  If you’re as excited as I am about this story, I know you’re all ready for a peek:

Rainbow Dreams Chapter One Excerpt

Lightning bolts of fire and ice shot up and down Petri’s spine as she moved over the human man on the bed. Her short, slender body bowed with the sensations that washed over her. His lust was like a fountain of cold water on a hot day, and she was parched. It had been too long; she needed this. Desperately.

Looking down at him as she slid her body onto his straining cock, she smiled. This client had wanted to be blindfolded; he said he enjoyed the mystery. There was more mystery in Petri than most humans would know what to do with, so that was fine with her. With him blindfolded, she didn’t need to be careful to keep her own eyes shut. This was going to be a good feed, and there was no way she could have kept her eyes from glowing.

The man moaned in pleasure. Being fed upon felt as good for humans as feeding did for Petri. None of her clients knew she sipped from their energy, their life force, when she fucked them. All they knew was that she was one hell of a talented dolly. A win-win for all involved.

This client was a regular; Petri had shown him many times how good it could be with her. Some of her regulars came to crave her, almost like the dream dust that was sold in the club below. They were guaranteed repeat business, and she always made sure to show them a good time. After all, that was her job.

The energy of the man’s lust filled Petri as she glided up and down on top of him. She shivered. It was renewing, rejuvenating. She couldn’t get enough. A few grains of dust remained on his upper lip as evidence of his earlier indulgence in some of the chemical delights that were available at Abracadabra.

It was clear her client was high long before Petri started feeding. Before she blindfolded him, she had noted the man’s dilated pupils and the flush of pleasure on his face. She had no doubt the management of Abracadabra would go to great lengths to make sure he received the maximum enjoyment possible during his visit. There was a reason it was the hottest nightclub in this part of Under City.

The club specialized in hedonism in all its forms. Drugs of every description, games, gambling, and other, darker pleasures could be found within its walls. House dollies, little more than sex slaves, waited to fulfill the customers’ every desire. Freelance dollies, like Petri, rented space to ply their trade as well. The house allowed it because the dollies offered the club’s clientele more variety and were motivated to attract business. Once a patron had satisfied their lust, they often wandered downstairs in search of other entertainments.

Leaning down, Petri pressed her cat-like mouth to her client’s lips in a sizzling kiss. Their tongues tangled as he responded, and she undulated her hips against his, faster and faster. The drugs he had consumed tainted his energy, giving Petri a pleasant buzz. She never took dust herself since it interfered with her ability to control her power, but she enjoyed the effect when one of her johns indulged. As their sex intensified, Petri drank deeper, swallowing down the man’s whimpers and sighs of ecstasy as she swallowed his desire.

Lost in the haze of feeding for the first time in days, Petri didn’t realize it at first when the man suddenly went still underneath her. His penis remained stiff and eager inside her, and she continued to ride it, draining his energy. It was only when the cold, clamminess of his skin penetrated the pleasurable trance she often sank into when feeding that she realized that she had gone too far. Her heart skipped a beat.

Swinging her leg over him, she clambered off his body and knelt beside him on the bed. She grabbed his shoulder, shaking him, but there was no response. He was as still and cold as death.

Petri’s breath froze in her chest as she tried to suppress her rising panic. She slapped him, hard, across his face, trying to provoke a response. There was nothing. Leaning down, she put her ear against his chest, listening for something, anything. Any sign that a spark of life remained in the man. She wasn’t sure, but she thought she might have heard a faint fluttering within.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and put her hands on his chest, fingers splayed. She had never done this before, but her instincts said it might work. The process of drawing energy from others had come automatically when she reached physical maturity. It was as natural as breathing to her. But reversing the flow of energy… That was something else altogether. She forced herself to focus; all she could do was try.

Reaching down into the well of energy within her, Petri tried to snag a wisp of it. It was like trying to catch fog. Gritting her teeth, she concentrated and managed to grab a small piece of the mist and tease it up, out of herself and back into the man. It flowed at a slow trickle, but it did flow. The man took a deep breath and Petri slumped in relief.

Before she could stop him, or even turn away, the man reached up and snatched the blindfold from his face. When he saw her glowing eyes, he shrieked, “Mgeni!”

Petri swore. She knew she didn’t have much time. Sitting up, she sucker-punched her client hard in his stomach. The man folded over, clutching his gut, just like she knew he would. As her former client coughed and wheezed, Petri scrambled into her tight, red mini-dress and stiletto pumps and clambered out the window. She couldn’t risk trying to make it through the crowded club below; she needed to be gone before the man recovered enough to sound the alarm.

Whoo! I guess she’s in some trouble!  Want to find out what happens next?  Reserve your copy today so you’ll get it without delay on the 19th! 😉  Thank you all for stopping by today and for your interest in my first foray into the sci-fi genre!!  Have an awesome rest of the week!

AudioBook Review – The Atomic Sea, pt 3 and 4

So great to be back with these characters. 🙂 I’m glad I’ve got two to listen to on the trot though, just never enough in them!

Written by Jack Conner and narrated by Ray Greenley –

The book can be found on Amazon along with the rest of the series and on Audible .com and .co.uk 🙂

http://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/The-Atomic-Sea-Part-Three-Audiobook/B01547ND1G

Review is as follows. –

“Great to be back…”

So today and tomorrow, I’m back with Avery and the crew in the fight against the Octung!

It was great to be with them again. I can’t help but totally get involved in the world here, Avery as a character had come on in leaps and bounds. I must admit, I was a little shocked that he and Layanna get together. But, the more their relationship grew through this part of the story I can see why. Avery is a vastly different character than when he started this. He’s stronger and more resilient than anyone I’ve met, but he’s still vastly flawed in some of his decisions and I guess that is what still makes him human.

Janx and Hilde are such fun characters, Janx will pretty much do anything for the cause now, and Hilde’s constant ‘this will never work’ but ‘oh well, lets go’ is funny.

The explanations in here of the Collosom and then the Overloards and gods is really good, it’s great to start to put together the whole world that is inside Jack’s head. Sad to see MurBlog back though on the other side 😦 that’s really bad for their friends.

There weren’t any really moving moments in here, in regards to story. Perhaps because of the grisly nature of the sacrifices, and the overlords. It’s horrific to think that these people are so brain washed that they’d go in their willingly. Was also quite shocked that Avery poisoned himself so that he could go in the inner temple. Uggh, glad at least that his mutations weren’t so bad he was totally deformed.

Sheridon and Annie turning up was quite a surprise, and this is where Avery makes the biggest mistake and takes her back to the Black Sect. Which is their downfall, you know it’s coming because of it. I have to admit, I didn’t like that Janx, Hilde and Layanna didn’t inform Avery that the weapon they’ve been building to stop the war needs extra dimensional fuel to work, this is a big wrench when Avery’s at the end of his tether.

In regards to narration, excellent job from Ray, there’s some moments in here that I would not be happy reading aloud haha, because they’re just cringe worthy, he does a fab job of sticking to character, and totally is entertaining with his different voices.

I am looking forward to what happens next, will they catch Sheridon and make it to the Atomic Sea…. but I’ll have to wait till I’m in work again haha. I am defo an audio book covert.

—————————–

Kanundra 09/04/2016

“This is too exciting now!”

This series gets better, and better with every part. I’m totally invested in these character now. The good and the bad…. don’t think I ever like a bad guy before. 🙂

As always spoilers follow…

Okay so this has to have been one of the most emotional and hard parts for me to listen to and I shall tell you why.

Three major dynamics are at play here for me, and they’re emotionally very strong, which is what the writer’s been building for. And he’s done a great job.

Avery and his daughter… Such deep seeded background and emotion for us to follow here. Every situation is marred by these characters pasts, if only they could move past some of what happend to them and look to a better future. This book shows how tough a decision that is actually to do in real life. It’s a constant battle for Avery to think of the bigger picture and not just his daughter, who he would die for.

Sheridon and Avery – I have to say here. I do not hate Sheridon AT all. Her goals aren’t that far stretched for me to actually believe now that she is trying to fight for a better world but in her own way, within her own closed in life. She’s emotionally scared just as Avery is, and she’s actually finally shown some real emotion here, which took some horrendous amount of courage for her. I’m admit I was almost on the verge of tears for her because Avery does the ‘right’ thing in his world and takes back the device.

Avery and Layanna – Again another huge dynamic here, that really tugs at the heart strings. They’ve almost broken up because Layanna accepted sacrifices to finish the device (the device to save the world) and Avery can’t get over that horrid thought that she ate some innocent lives. There is such a bigger picture issue here for everyone that it’s hard to grasp everything in your own head untill you actually sit and think about it. So much action, travel and so many decisions to be made.

For Layanna seeing her husband and son after all these years is awful. They hate her, but don’t, and that’s difficult for her. But the one thing it does do is bring Avery and Layanna back together, phew. I don’t want them to suffer any longer…

Janx and Hildra, well they’re still such fun and wonderful characters on their own, Janx with his stories, and Hildra with her swagger, and need for hildebrand. you can’t help but love them all. I do hope this journey isn’t going to be any harder on these four.

Overall. This is a series that has your head in the clouds one minute with it’s wonderful descriptive sea creatures from another dimension, then back down in hell as we realise they’re more horrid in nature than beautiful. Such terrible sickening things they do to people. ugggh the writer really makes you want to vomit sometimes. Yet, I have to say its as fascinating as it is horrid.

Ray’s performance in this part I totally believe is the best I’ve heard from him so far. The book itself has so many emotional scenes, that his effort in delivery of them is 100% so thick with feeling that you can’t help but be right there with the characters in their world. Feel the devastation they’re going through and then sometimes (very rare) the joy at that emotion.

This is a long series, and my only wish was there were some better breaks in-between the books. But, I guess because it’s so long there kinda isn’t many good places to stop…

Looking forward to the next in the series… come on guys!

AudioBook Review – Silicon Man

I’m back with Silicon Man by William Massa, narrated by Joe Hempel.

I can’t help but love I-Robot, as the original story and as the film, so there’s so much potential I see in this series, even after the TV show Humans, which was pretty awesome. So diving into this story was great. 🙂

You can pick up the audiobook at –

http://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/Silicon-Man-Audiobook/B01DCMFIU4

and read my review there to. (always copy them here now) Spoilers follow.

————

“If you love Cybernetics you’ll love this. “

 

Thoughts as follows and SPOILERS

I was interested to follow this series and see what happens next. Or with whom I’m kinda glad that we got new characters to enjoy. Though it was a little predictive, (hence the mark down) I still enjoyed the performance from Joe and got involved with all the characters.

Cole Marcellus, is a cop with a terrible past, he’s dedicated to his cause and wants to stop all AI from hurting others, or running away.

There are some very interesting facts given very early on in this story. The Alsatian. The procedure for the upload… (which I have to say had me cringe over anyway, I mean uploading to a mechanical body… if this were possible… and it got out, how many ‘people’ would want to do just that. Doesn’t bare thinking on. However it does seed doubt in your mind from the get go.

So when AI cole is out and on his mission he gets to see some really awful ways that humans abuse the AI’s, and it’s kinda sad. The AI that rescues the cat is great, cause I am sure Cole was going to do it otherwise. But I do agree with him Cole should have let the enforcer zap him, he got in a whole lot of trouble. haha but saying that he wouldn’t have got to the underground as quick otherwise.

In regards to the whole underground and getting Solace. I honestly thought this whole section of the story was way to quick. Really stupid, no QT period or checks, or well it was just that, too quick and stupid on their part. And for me listening to it, I was shaking my head all the way through.

I did love Kira, and her background with Ron, that was well interspersed. When the Tak Team came in and they broke the underground up again another thing that was a little too predictive was the fact that Cole was still human and AI cole was never going to get back to his body.

The realisation for him though was well played. Even down to Zora putting in a safety memory wipe.

Solace was also one that was never going to get out of AI tak’s grips. I think for me what let me down here wasn’t the fact that I knew it was coming, but if there had been that little bit more build up with Cole and him (not just that one conversation) then it might have felt harsher in my ears, I might have gotten to know him and care for him. When they find him as a blank, I’m pretty indifferent to his story. Even if he’s been this huge hero for everyone, he kinda wasn’t for me.

The ending was pretty awesome, Joe added a depth to the excitement with the tone and pitch of his voice. Human against machine, brilliant and so so glad that Human Cole went back to see to Janson.

So much scope for this world, and the series. I’m still a fan, but sometimes slower is better with the story 🙂

Waiting on the next installment!

Listening to your own work as an audiobook!

 

Well it kinda says it all really. The last few weeks and well the whole of this year so far almost seem a blur, from one thing to another, ups and downs as with life always…

Yet today I had plans, I woke early and couldn’t focus, back on the good ole plan (lipotrim) to get me in the healthy zone in the docs. I did so fab last year, but I’m still at the top end of the weight I want to be, and what is healthy for me, so almost 2 weeks in and feeling the pain of it all haha, the second time is so much harder. But the benefits are worth it, I know they are.

So yeah, no focus and you know when you really need it and it’s just not there yeah. So, ibuprofen, some paracetamol and lots of coffee and I just about started to come around.

I have always so much to do, that never ends, write up crits for the team on Scribophile, (which I’m near done on) and continue with a script I’m working on, I did sign up for camp nano and my cabin is awesome, yesterday I hit the ground running with a few wordwars after work to write 3.5k on my futuristic SO with my fav female character, Sarah Mendoza. I have to warn everyone this is a little out of my comfort zone, space battles and hardship I can handle, but she’s leaning towards a slightly erotic tone of content, haha, I love her but boy she’s opening my eyes.

But, I had an email late last night… A good one, squeeee and cue all excited jumps etc. I had the go ahead to go over the first section of audio for both TSK’s book 1 – Lethao narrated by Greg Tremblay and for our Shorts, The Truth Hurts narrated by Holly Adams.

I’ve only just got into listening to AudioBooks, so the experience of living inside the world someone else created for a few hours is just settling into my mind.

It’s a whole different ball game when someone else is narrating your world, your characters and their story.

It’s not like I write it and forget the story, no, but it’s like experiencing it all for the very first time.

I still haven’t done as much as I’d like, a house to clean and stuff to do here, but I listened to Holly’s work twice (loved it) and then moved onto the first book which I’m now up to chapter 4 on. This might take me all weekend. Haha, but I’m loving it. Kinda here thinking, I didn’t write this did I? but yes, I did. I’m very proud of the team where we’ve come from and where I hope we’ll go.

Thanks for being there with me @TeamSecretKing you brought to life what was only in my head. Now it’s free for everyone else to enjoy or hate, hehehe

Hugs –

 

Dawn