Audio: Part-time Gods by Rachel Aaron

Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller

Series: Detroit Free Zone (DFZ), Book 2

Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins

Unabridged Audiobook

Release date: 07-02-19

Language: English

Publisher: Audible Studios

Uran fantasy

To review

I actually enjoyed this one more than book 1, I do like when they keep on getting better!

Opal is having a hard time. She works as a cleaner, that is she buys the right to clean out places and sell the stuff she finds. But her dad cursed her so she has bad luck.

First, I found myself liking her dad, and that is so bad. He is a dragon, and he is not a nice, person. But I do feel that deep down he does care, but he is a dragon and dragons can not care for humans. Yes, I totally like her dad. But he is an overbearing crazy dragon that covets humans for his hoard.

So in this one she has to make money to pay off her dad so that she an be free. But she has constant bad luck. To help her she has Nick, who is like part cyborg, or when does you go fully cyborg?

There is weird things happening. There is running from dragons and dragon politics. There is a Julius cameo! Omg, I have missed him so much. I love love Julius...looooove.

Oh, the ending is SO evil, so very evil

This series is fun, Opal is strong and all she wants is freedom. The DFC is one crazy city, and the world is fantastic. Dragons, spirits and magic.

Narration Emily Woo Zeller

I have listened to her in  a few different audios now and i do like her narration. I like her different voices and she brings emotion and feel to the story. She makes Opal for me

Life in the magical mess of the Detroit Free Zone is never easy. When you’re laboring under the curse of a certain prideful, overbearing dragon, it can be down right impossible.   
My name is Opal Yong-ae, and I’m a Cleaner. At least, I used to be. Thanks to the supernatural bad luck that turns everything I do against me, these days I’m more of a walking disaster. Getting rid of this curse is the only way to get my life back. Unfortunately, dragon magic is every bit as sneaky and deadly as the monsters behind it, and just as hard to beat.  
But I’ve never been one to take her doom at face value. Cornered doesn’t mean defeated, and in an awakened city that rules herself, dragons are no longer the biggest powers around.

Audio: Tides of Honour - Genevieve Graham

Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi

Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins

Unabridged Audiobook

Release date: 11-09-17

Language: English Genre: historical fiction

Publisher: Audible Studios

For review

My Thoughts

I guess when a couple is almost together at once then one should expect a bit of heartache along the way.

Danny met Audrey in French, in the midst of war. When he is sent home cos he lost his leg she follows. And then the real story begin. And that is what it was. It felt real. 

Once he tells himself that he is luckier since he does not suffer from shell shock. But he clearly is not ok and he does have ptsd. Drinks too much, depressed (I mean he did loose a leg!), violent. Pushing way those who care. And yes I confess that there sure were times I did not like him when he was an idiot, but then it was not really him. It was war that had changed him and he tried to fight his demons but could not.

Since this is another time he also had trouble with his wife making money while he was useless.

So all credit goes to Audrey. She stands by him for better and for worse. It is not an easy life, but worry not, there is happiness at the end. And I am glad for it.

There was also this really interesting historic event woven into the story. The explosion in Halifax. I had no idea that it had happened. And at that scale! Mind blowing and horrible. I do love learning things like this. So much I do not know.

I enjoyed it. The ups and downs. The bitter reality of life.

Narrator

I have not listened to him before (I think). But I enjoyed his voice for women and men. He made it into a nice tale to listen to.

Blurb

In the summer of 1916, Private Daniel Baker marches into battle with the boys of Nova Scotia's 25th Battalion. Out of brutal necessity, Danny has steeled himself against the trials and horrors of war, but he is completely unprepared to meet the love of his life in war-torn France.

Audrey Poulin has the soul of an artist. She lives alone with her grandmother in the quiet French countryside, where her only joy is in her brush and palette. When by chance she encounters Danny, the handsome young soldier captures her heart and inspires her painting. The young lovers believe that only together can they face the hardships the war brings.

But love is just the beginning. Mere months later Danny is gravely wounded at the Battle of the Somme, and his future is thrown into uncertainty. Soon he and Audrey find themselves struggling to build a new life in Halifax, a city grieving its lost men. As the gray winter of 1917 sets in, Danny's lack of purpose and Audrey's isolation continue to mount, pulling the two apart just as a new catastrophe threatens their existence.

Heartrending and enthralling, Tides of Honour is a novel of love and second chances set against Halifax's most devastating moment of the First World War.

Audio: The Only Woman in the Room - Marie Benedict

By: Marie Benedict

Narrated by: Suzanne Toren

Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins

Unabridged Audiobook

Release date: 01-08-19

Language: English

Publisher: Audible Studios

My Thoughts

The book is in two parts. Before Hollywood and Hollywood. I did like the before bits a lot more, Hollywood was good too, but the more I think about it, the more i think I know why. See this is a fictionalized story of Hedy Lamarr. The bones are there and the things we know, but not everything was known about her Austria days and I felt that the author embraced that more then and let her pen fly. And then when we came to Hollywood there was so much she wanted to talk about that we know happened. Like what a meat market Hollywood was which she surely wanted to talk about cos of MeToo. And how Hedy worries about war, and then war comes so she worries about Jews. And on top of that she is making so many movies and they are all mentioned. Plus her inventions. See, there was just so much going on there. Still good, but I really liked the drama of the first part.

Part one. Hedwig Kleiser, Jewish, even if she does not think of her that way, she is Austrian after all. Actress and now celebrated in the stage production of Sisi. She is 19 an a whirlwind. I liked her from page 1. Then then drama starts, a rich older man wants her and she obeys. This is Austria in the 30s after all. Her father knows trouble is coming and the third richest man in Austria might just protect her and them then. He is a controlling man who just wants pretty armcandy to show his friends.

And this part was exciting. A husband she grew to fear more and more. Tensions rising in Austria. Her husband being part of the Austrian political elite. It was this whole other life I did not know she had had.

Then comes Hollywood. I did feel she suffered a bit too much from survivors guilt. She went on and on how she could have saved the Jews of Austria. I think not. 

And the thrilling part how freaking smart she was. I wish the author had showed more of that in her earlier years. It was like she suddenly was a genius. I mean she invented something that now was a forerunner to bluetooth, wifi, gps (and the military swept that under the rug, aholes.)

Conclusion

That is why I really enjoyed this book. What a fascinating woman! Everyone should read it and see for themselves.

Narrator

I liked her narration because it felt like it was an older Hedy talking. It brought you really close into the story.

Synopsis

Hedy Kiesler is lucky. Her beauty leads to a starring role in a controversial film and marriage to a powerful Austrian arms dealer, allowing her to evade Nazi persecution despite her Jewish heritage. But Hedy is also intelligent. At lavish Vienna dinner parties, she overhears the Third Reich's plans. One night in 1937, desperate to escape her controlling husband and the rise of the Nazis, she disguises herself and flees her husband's castle.

She lands in Hollywood, where she becomes Hedy Lamarr, screen star. But Hedy is keeping a secret even more shocking than her Jewish heritage: she is a scientist. She has an idea that might help the country and that might ease her guilt for escaping alone -- if anyone will listen to her. A powerful novel based on the incredible true story of the glamour icon and scientist whose groundbreaking invention revolutionized modern communication, The Only Woman in the Room is a masterpiece.

Carole's Sunday Review: Lady of the Eternal City - Kate Quinn

Author: Kate Quinn

Narrator: Elizabeth Wiley

Title: Lady of the Eternal City (The Empress of Rome #4)

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: Audiobook

Published: March 3rd 2015

Where I Got It: My shelf (Audible)

Elegant, secretive Sabina may be Empress of Rome, but she still stands poised on a knife’s edge. She must keep the peace between two deadly enemies: her husband Hadrian, Rome’s brilliant and sinister Emperor; and battered warrior Vix, who is her first love. But Sabina is guardian of a deadly secret: Vix’s beautiful son Antinous has become the Emperor’s latest obsession.

Empress and Emperor, father and son will spin in a deadly dance of passion, betrayal, conspiracy, and war. As tragedy sends Hadrian spiraling into madness, Vix and Sabina form a last desperate pact to save the Empire. But ultimately, the fate of Rome lies with an untried girl, a spirited redhead who may just be the next Lady of the Eternal City . . . 

Oh no! The last book in the series. I have been dreading this day but also really excited to see everything come to a conclusion. 

Sabina and Vix are back. So much has happened. So many years. Sabina is now the empress and her husband, Hadrian, is not all sane. Smart and brilliant, but the man has a lot of demons. Especially after a certain event occurs. Vix just wants to live a simple life but his fate seems tied to the empress and emperor.  The fate of the empire may rest on the shoulders of a young girl. 

This was loooonnnnngggggg. Super long, but I didn't mind it really. I actually enjoyed it. I didn't want it to end tbh. I love Sabina and Vix. I also grew to adore Annia. There are even bits of me that like Hadrian. The man needed serious therapy. He is so smart, but he lacks normal human emotion. I do really encourage you to read the others of the series. I felt like they all built up to this one. I would at least read book 3 in order to really appreciate Vix and Sabina. 

The format was still a little odd for me. Everyone's POVs were in one format, but Vix was 1st person. I forgive this and understand it especially when we learn that Vix is writing his memoirs SOOO it does give a reason why the author did what she did. 

Other than that, I adored this book. I think it was one of my favorites of the series. It made me cry. It made me cheer. It gave me all the feels! 

I did listen to the audio of this and I really loved it. The narrator really did a good job. I think she was the same from the last book. But yes, I loved her voices. Every character (and mind you...there are a LOT of characters) had their own voices. Kuddos there. 

Overall, this was really good. It's hard not to give away some spoilers. But this made me feel! This ended perfectly and I can't wait to read more by this author. She is one of my favorites. She really knows how to get you hooked and absorbed. Worth the read. I'll give this 5 stars since the ending gave a good reason why the format was the way it was. 

Got it, thanks!Thanks, I'll check them out.Thank you!

Audio: Minimum Wage Magic - Rachel Aaron

By: Rachel Aaron

Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller

Series: Detroit Free Zone (DFZ), Book 1

Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins

Unabridged Audiobook

Release date: 01-08-19

Language: English

Publisher: Audible Studios

My Thoughts:

I miss the Heartstrikers! I must sadly say that there are no cameos. But people from the series are mentioned. Yes I kept hoping someone would pop up, even if it had made no sense. Cos I miiiiiss them!

But to this book then. Opal is a cleaner. She cleans out places and sell the good stuff. She studied magic at College, but she needs money, and fast. It takes a while to learn why. She also has a troubled family relationship (I was sort of right, but not quite.) She just wants to do her own thing and I can respect that.

She also has the coolest AI sidekick called Sybil, who is in her phone, or whatever electronics she can be in.

I do not want to say too much about the story, but there is a magical mystery to solve. And she will have help.

The DFZ is such a freaky place, and the story never gets boring. But yes I missed the old gang. Who wouldn't! I also really wonder if the next book is about Opal too or someone new...I certainly look forward to more! It was a good book, and I hope it will be as great as a certain other series

Narrator Emily

I have only listened to her once before and I think that was goo.  Now Emily brought in another world and I felt she was Opal. Since all those others I have talked about, well to hear their voices I would have to hear THE voice.

Conclusion:

Fun, exciting.