Tag Archives: audiobook

imperfect match

Book Review of Imperfect Match, by Jordan Castillo Price

I received an Audible credit for a copy of Jordan Castillo Price‘s Imperfect Match.

Description from Goodreads:

Lee Kennedy’s destiny is controlled by the Algorithm. It’s the reason he’s still in college, regardless of his good academic performance. He’s switched his major repeatedly and stalled on his Master’s thesis, but there’s only so much longer he can hold out. Because once he graduates, the Algorithm must be triggered.

Everyone in Lee’s family has allowed the Algorithm to match them with a spouse. As has everyone on his block. His neighborhood. In fact, everyone he’s ever known. Pairing with his own chosen match seems inevitable…until, at his sister’s wedding, he meets Roman.

The waiter lives in the Taxable District, a run-down neighborhood that’s only a brief train ride away, but feels like another world. The seedy District is governed by different standards—different expectations—so it’s not exactly a surprise that Roman isn’t married. But it’s definitely a shock to taste his lips.

One forbidden encounter has Lee reeling. He questions everything. His past. His future. And especially the Algorithm. He longs for the freedom to choose not only his own partner, but his own destiny. 

When defying the Algorithm will cost everything—family, home, and even livelihood—is Lee strong enough to take another path? 

Review:

It took me a surprisingly long time to settle into this relatively short story (novella). I caught on fairly quickly that the Boomer and Taxable districts were adherents to different economic and dogmatic systems. But it wasn’t until Lee started to identify his own privileges and the restrictions that came with them that I really started to appreciate the story. Watching him struggle with his responsibilities, searching for a way to meet them while being true to himself was a pleasure. The romantic subplot was sweet, but I felt almost unnecessary. I don’t mean I wish it wasn’t there. It was integral to the story Price was telling. But I also think the rest of Lee’s experience was substantial enough all on its own. 

I don’t know if the term Boomer was chosen specifically to create parallels to the Baby Boomers. But I do think that this story could easy be read as representing the divide between them and Millennials (leaving Get X out as always). Certainly, the difference in opportunities, mind set, and mores fits. All in all, a satisfying read. And Joel Leslie did a good job with the narration.

What a Wolf Dares

Book Review of What a Wolf Dares (Lux Catena #2), by Amy Pennza

I received an audible credit for a copy of Amy Pennza‘s What a Wolf Dares.

Description from Goodreads:

What happens when the species’ most notorious womanizer meets the woman of his dreams?

As a werewolf Alpha’s daughter, Sophie Gregory was raised to understand she has two important purposes in life–to be wed and bred. When she fails at the first, she wants nothing to do with the second, even if it means spending the rest of her life alone. After fleeing a disastrous arranged marriage, she seeks shelter with a neighboring pack. There’s just one problem. Her new pack is home to the handsome, roguish Remy Arsenault: serial dater and notorious womanizer. Remy makes her laugh…and her heart pound. She’s not looking for commitment, but she might just be up for a fling. That’s all Remy is offering, anyway, right?

Remy has a reputation for being a player, but in truth, he’s ready to settle down. Too bad that’s the very last thing Sophie is interested in. He will do anything to win the heart of the woman who makes his head spin with lust–including seducing her with the most delicious sex imaginable. Sophie wants a fling. But what if he’s ready for so much more? To convince her he’s serious this time, he might just have to pull off a small miracle. 

Review:

I thought this was a perfectly adequate shifter-finds-his mate story. I didn’t think there was anything to make it stand out and shine, but nor was there anything that made me grit my teeth and hate it. 

I thought the writing was perfectly readable (or listenable, in my case) and I liked both of the main characters. I did think the villains were cartoonish in how vile they were and the person who came to the rescue in the end, wasn’t really redeemed in my eyes for waiting 20+ years to step in. I don’t believe they could have been oblivious. So, I didn’t really find their sudden backbone and moral compass believable. 

All in all, a good middle of the road book. Sophie James did a good job with it too. It was easy to listen to. And the fact that I hadn’t read book one didn’t prevent me from enjoying this one.

geist

Book Review of Geist (Book of the Order #1), by Philippa Ballantine

I was given an audible credit for a copy of Geist, by Philippa Ballantine.

Description from Goodreads:

Between the living and the dead is the Order of the Deacons, protectors of the Empire, guardians against possession, sentinels enlisted to ward off the malevolent haunting of the geists…

Among the most powerful of the Order is Sorcha, now thrust into partnership with the novice Deacon, Merrick Chambers. They have been dispatched to the isolated village of Ulrich to aide the Priory with a surge of violent geist activity. With them is Raed Rossin, Pretender to the throne that Sorcha is sworn to protect, and bearer of a terrible curse.

But what greets them in the strange settlement is something far more predatory and more horrifying than any mere haunting. And as she uncovers a tradition of twisted rituals passed down through the dark reaches of history, Sorcha will be forced to reconsider everything she thinks she knows.

And if she makes it out of Ulrich alive, what in Hell is she returning to? 

Review:

I was pleasantly surprised by this one. The cover* left me a bit nervous that it would be more YA than I was looking for, but Sorcha is in her 30s (late 30s, I even think), as is Raed. They were believable, capable adults. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that. 

The world is an interesting one. There’s a mild romantic subplot (or two) and there’s some witty humor. I was a little less enamored with the plot than I was with everything surrounding it, but still a solid, enjoyable read. 

Lastly, I’m alway iffy about author-narrators. But, with the exception of some annoying swallowing sounds, Ballantine did an excellent job with the narration. 

*If I’m discussing the cover, I don’t know that a lion fits the description of the beast(as I understood it) and every time I look at it, I’m a bit thrown off.