Choices Stories Review 4/5 Stars Sunkissed

January 29, 2022December 29, 2021 Julie Gilbert Choices Stories, romance, small town Choices Stories, romance, small town

pic from fandom; promo pic for the story

Summary:

Family is complicated. But also, family sticks together.

Additional Comments:

Pretty sure I named my character Joy.
The characters include the hot lifeguard, the MC’s mother, the MC’s somewhat bratty little sister, and the MC’s dead father.
Many of the diamond opportunities involve upgrading the beach house and doing nice things for your mom or sister. The father’s gone but very much present in various notes and such.
I think the other love interests are the local artist and the scientist. I went with the surfer type.
The story’s not exactly the most danger-filled, epic adventures, but there is always a sense of danger navigating the relationships between Mom and Alexis (the sister).

Conclusion:

Not their best story. Not their worst story. Sort of small town meets family drama.

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Many of my 57 audible titles are listed on Audiobooks Unleashed.
Whether you’re looking for mystery or suspense or fantasy, I’ve got a title for you. Free codes are probably on audiobooks unleashed.
Normal links go to audible. *The Amazon labeled links are affiliate links. That means I get a very small payment from Amazon if you go through with a purchase.*
Note: Filter by US if you’re looking for those codes as many titles are out.
Ones I think may still have US codes: Reshner’s Royal Ranger, Never Again, Innova, The Golden City Captives, The Holy War, Reclaim the Darklands, Eagle Eyes, Treachery Makes it Tense, Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts, The Dark Side of Science, Ashlynn’s Dreams, Nadia’s Tears, Malia’s Miracles, and Varick’s Quest
There are plenty of UK codes, but not many US ones left.

Review copies for many titles are available from StoryOrigin.

Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

Awakening – Redeemer Chronicles Book 1, MG fantasy (Amazon) (free codes)
The Holy War – Redeemer Chronicles Book 2, MG fantasy (Amazon) (free codes)
Reclaim the Darklands – Redeemer Chronicles Book 3, MG fantasy (Amazon) (free codes)
River’s Edge Ransom – Prequel to Redeemer Chronicles (Amazon) (email devyaschildren @ gmail.com for free codes)

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Devya’s Children Series Links:

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – short stories featuring Jillian. (Amazon) (free codes)
The Dark Side of Science – official prequel to Devya’s Children; Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live. (Amazon) (Please email devyaschildren @ gmail.com for free codes)

Books 1-4 were re-released in audiobook form in 2021.
Ashlynn’s Dreams – Genetically altered Dream Shaper learns her gift. (Amazon) (Request a Review Copy)
Nadia’s Tears – Jillian tries to awaken her sister, Nadia, from a coma. (Amazon) (Request a Review Copy)
Malia’s Miracles – Jillian and her siblings try to save a friend’s mother. (Amazon) (Request a Review Code)
Varick’s Quest – Jillian and Danielle get kidnapped. Nadia’s also in trouble. (Amazon) (Request a Review Code)
More Scifi:
Reshner’s Royal Ranger (epic sci-fi) just made it there. (Amazon) (click for sample)
If you’re all in and want to review the entire trilogy (~35 hrs!) go here.

Aeris Legends Books 1-3 ~17 hrs of epic fantasy. (Request a Review Copy)

Guardian Angel Files:

Spirit’s Bane – Allister and Mina are training to be Guardians. Satan’s out to get them. (Amazon) (free codes)
Kindred Spirits – Mina’s exiled to Earth. Allister’s stuck in the Heavens. (Amazon) (free codes)

I have Author Direct codes from Findaway Voices for the combo book that has Spirit’s Bane and Kindred Spirits. (Click here for a review copy.)

4.5/5 Schifflebein’s Folly by Iris Chacon

January 26, 2022December 29, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, cozyish, drama, Family Iris Chacon, Jenny Hoops

Narrated by Jenny Hoops

Runtime: 4hrs and 12 min

Summary:

Lloyd Schifflebein’s lifelong goal of being a dad is about to happen, but then, greed and corruption reach out and try to ensnare him from the shadows.

Additional Comments:

Not sure you needed the talking teapot angle to tell the story, but it did add a different spin.
The family is chaotic but perfect.
Conclusion is satisfying.
Charlie is a lovely side character.
cover is creepy.
Performance was nicely handled. I still have Jenny Hoops type cast as Louise Pearle, but she’s done a few good tales for Iris Chacon too.

Conclusion:

If you are in the mood for something weird and light, this is an excellent choice.

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Review copies for many titles are available from StoryOrigin.

Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

Aeris Legends Books 1-3 ~17 hrs of epic fantasy. (Request a Review Copy)

Two True Crime Gruesome Tales

January 23, 2022December 29, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, True Crime Harold Schechter, Paul Alexander, Paul Christy, Steven Weber, true crime

3.5/5 Murdered by Paul Alexander

Narrated by Paul Christy

Summary:

The ins and outs of the cold case 1986 murder of Sherri Rae Rasmussen.

Additional Comments:

Hard to connect with most of the people here. (The cheating husband, spurned ex, innocent, dumb woman and murder victim.)
About the only person to admire is the cold case cop and I can’t even remember his name.
About the only ones worth pitying are the victim’s parents.
It’s a classic case of jealousy.
Hard to believe people are that dumb but I guess the heart wants what it wants.

Conclusion:

Not the most satisfying true crime tale.

4/5 Little Slaughterhouse on the Prairie

Summary:

A chilling, somewhat unsatisfying tale of a 19th century family of serial killers. The Benders reminded me of the family from the X-files episode called Home.

Additional Comments:

The book kind of skips around a lot, but the heart of the story is still disturbing.
Kind of hard to believe they could get away with that many killings but those were different times. People didn’t have the luxury of a cell phone in hand to keep abreast of news.
The author goes through about 4 possible endings for the family.
Sad to think they probably got away with it. That is the unsatisfying part.

Conclusion:

Interesting and dark tale of many gruesome murders.

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Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

Aeris Legends Books 1-3 ~17 hrs of epic fantasy. (Request a Review Copy)

4/5 Shattered by Valerie Davisson

January 20, 2022December 29, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, cozyish, mystery cozy, Leonor A Woodworth, Valerie Davisson

Narrated by Leonor A Woodworth

Runtime: 7 hrs and 1 min

Summary:

Sort of an odd cozy mystery that bounces around past and present.

Additional Comments:

super slow beginning. I almost forgot that part because I heard the first hour then put the book aside for about 2 months.
Narrator fit the main character well. She has a really nice voice but not a huge range.
Some character leaps of logic are bizarre.
It’s hard to like or pity the murder victim. She’s kind of a prickly jerk.
Thomas and Lisa are saints. I am surprised at their lack of reaction to one of the major plot points.
I liked Rick but always had to remind myself who he is. Same for Ben. Lola. And Dime Box. The chess lady. The waitress. They are great characters… there is just a lot of them.
Conclusion is somewhat satisfying, but Logan’s main problem for school got sorted like a fairy godmother came rampaging through.
I did not get the feeling of authentic school drama. Oh, schools are hotbeds of nonsensical problems but I don’t see them investigating good test scores. And I don’t see perfect test scores happening no matter how good the teacher is. There is always a few kids who couldn’t care less.

Conclusion:

If u can wade through the poor pacing, there is a good story here.

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Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

Aeris Legends Books 1-3 ~17 hrs of epic fantasy. (Request a Review Copy)

4/5 Stars The Mysterious Package by Christa Nardi and Cassidy Salem

January 17, 2022December 29, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, cozyish, Family, mystery, Young Adult Cassidy Salem, Christa Nardi, Julie McCarthy

A Hannah and Tamar Mystery

Narrated by Julie McCarthy

Runtime: 2 hrs and 5 mins

Summary:

On the train ride up to see their grandparents, Hannah and Tamar stumble across a distraught, haughty woman and a scruffy looking dude. Things get weirder when the woman slips a strange package into one of the girls’ pockets.

Additional Comments:

Simple, kid safe mystery. Probably going for the market that loves Nancy Drew, The Bobbsey Twins, Mandie, and such.
Half the book is mystery and half is managing semi relationships with some nice guys from the town.
No real peril to the characters. Normally, that would annoy me, but it fits here.
Performance was good.
Main characters did have differences but sort of blurred into one type.
Conclusion works well and is satisfying.

Conclusion:

Clean, peril free mystery aimed at 10-14 year old girls. Fits that well.

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Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

Aeris Legends Books 1-3 ~17 hrs of epic fantasy. (Request a Review Copy)

4/5 Stars Prestige, Privilege & Murder by Christa Nardi

January 14, 2022December 29, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, cozyish, mystery Christa Nardi, cozy, Naomi Rose-Mock

Narrated by Naomi Rose-Mock

3 hrs and 43 min

Summary:

Stacie Maroni’s bitter divorce proceedings come to a screeching halt when her soon-to-be-ex winds up dead.

Additional Comments:

Jasper is a lovely name for a Maltese.
4/5 Performance – well handled; narrator fit the MC nicely
4/5 Plot and conclusion – There seems to be enough action to sustain the mystery. Everything isn’t always as spiffy as it seems, and that’s kind of refreshing.
I like that Stacie’s job has some relevance here. It’s a little ironic.
4/5 Stacie is well off, but she doesn’t come from money. Therefore, she doesn’t bleed a sense of privilege. She’s not quite down-to-earth, but she’s also got a nice sense of normalcy about her that makes her likable.
The romance angle seemed a hair forced, but the cop’s a nice enough guy.
Title fits the story well.

Conclusion:

Nice, very short mystery.

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Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

Aeris Legends Books 1-3 ~17 hrs of epic fantasy. (Request a Review Copy)

3.45/5 Think Murder and 4/5 Stars Dying for Data by Cassidy Salem

January 11, 2022December 29, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, cozyish, mystery Cassidy Salem, cozyish, Melissa Haley

Narrated by Melissa Haley

Summary:

Adina Donati happy hour with a friend ends in disaster when she discovers her body in the ladies room.

Additional Comments:

3/5 Performance – was fine. There were a few very minor sound shifts. The narrator fit the character well enough
3.5/5 Plot – Everything worked out in the end but there seemed to be a lot of rehashing the same information for about 2/3 of the book.
4/5 Main Character – Adina’s interesting. She comes across as capable amateur detective.
3.75/5 Side Characters – Detective Jonathan Sax (spelling?) is a little too helpful to be realistic, but he’s true to characterization as a nice Jewish boy. The other possible romantic interest loves dogs. The neighbor, Daniel, is a nice guy.
The mystery angle works, but there isn’t as much action as I usually like in books.
Not sure why there’s a dog on the cover. They are a very minor footnote in this character’s lists of interests. She volunteers at a dog shelter.

Conclusion:

A decent start to a cozy mystery series.

Summary:

A back alley fight kicks Adina into the middle of a new mystery.

Additional Comments:

Stronger entry than the first in the series.
Adina’s involvement is even more of a stretch this time, but there is a lot more action.
Shady pasts. Gang violence. Murder.
Performance was ok. Still some odd splices.
The love triangle thing kind of fizzled.
Cozy mystery. This woman needs a cat to be a card carrying cozy sleuth, but volunteering at a dog shelter is about as close as we’ll get.

Conclusion:

Nice mystery. Can be read alone or in a series.

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Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

Aeris Legends Books 1-3 ~17 hrs of epic fantasy. (Request a Review Copy)

3.45/5 Stars Classic Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie

January 8, 2022December 29, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, classic, Young Adult classic, J.M. Barrie, Victor Warren

(Performance 4/5 stars) Narrated by Victor Warren

Run Time: 5 hrs and 29 mins

Summary:

The original and definitely not the Disney version of the Peter Pan classic. A boy chases his shadow into a girl’s room and ends up inviting her and her brothers on an adventure.

Additional Comments:

I’d never heard the original. My only previous impressions were the Disney illustrated movie. Basically, every change they made to the story is for the better.
This version is dark, and Peter’s an arrogant jerk. The story narrator declares this pretty quickly. The characterization is spot on for that, but it made him not that fun to hear about. This is the storybook hero … and I hate him because he is legitimately forever a spoiled, selfish, idiot child. Oh, he’s clever, but that’s about the extent of his redeeming qualities.
4/5 stars The performance is solid. The voices are distinguishable. The reading is smooth and correctly inflected.
Not sure how this became a classic. It’s not very kid-friendly. Way more outright murders and death by meaningless fights going on.
It’s certainly fantasy. There are a lot of excellent world-building elements.

Conclusion:

If you want to see where it all began for Peter Pan, go for it. This is a nice reading of it.

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Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

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4/5 Stars Deadly Start by Phillipa Nefri Clark

January 5, 2022December 29, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, cozyish, mystery Carla Kissane, cozy, Phillipa Nefri Clark

Narrated by Carla Kissane

Run Time: 6 hrs and 39 minutes

Summary:

Dr. Charlotte Dean starts over in a new town, helping out Rosie with her bookshop. Of course, she runs straight across a mystery: somebody’s stealing the town’s Christmas trees.

Additional Comments:

4/5 stars plot: the small-town intrigue is low key and interesting.
4/5 stars descriptions: lovely, especially Charlie’s walks in the forest.
4/5 stars main character: Charlie’s a solid, real-feeling character, but there’s a lot of stuff in her past that is alluded to but doesn’t ever come to fruition. We never really learn why she’s starting over. This being book 1 in the series, you’d think some of that would be explained.
4/5 stars side characters: The book club ladies got tiresome real quick. Rosie’s a saint. Trevor’s a handsome saint Charlie admires from afar.
Title fit: poor. Deadly Start implies somebody dies. Pretty sure the biggest crime was some people breaking in and making a mess to run away with Christmas trees.
3/5 stars closure: The mystery is explained but it doesn’t feel complete.
5/5 stars Christmas vibe: I happened to be listening to this around Christmas. It’s got all the gooey side trappings of the season.
4/5 stars performance: Decent. I usually listen to books at 2.3x speed, but had to back this one down to 2x to make heads or tails of the words in the Australian accent, but that’s fine.

Conclusion:

Christmas-y cozy mystery.

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Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

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2.5/5 Befogged by Catherine Johann

January 2, 2022December 17, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, literature Cathering Johann, dark, Denise Levine, sort of paranormal

Narrated by Denise Levine

Run Time: 11 hrs and 11 mins

*spoilers possible in discussion

Summary:

The description tells you absolutely nothing. The paperback description tells you a little more, but almost as bullet points. This is a long, complicated look at one woman’s life pretty much from birth to beyond death.

Additional Comments:

Performance 4/5 stars: Well performed. There weren’t many alternate character voices needed because this is very much all about Winnie. The narrator did a nice with the main character, following her a long way through many life changes and events.
If something bad could happen to someone, it’s probably happened to Winnie. Success, check. Failure, check. Sexual abuse, check. Rape, check. Homelessness, check. Loneliness, check. Love, check. Debilitating disease, check.
Content Warning: There are a few curse words and strong themes like emotional abuse, substance use (maybe abuse?), child abuse, rape, etc.
The story is certainly thoroughly described. It falls in the category of using 500 words to say something that should have been 50. Thus, it comes down to personal preference. If you like long-winded, literature heavy, depressing stuff, this is definitely something to check out. If you don’t, keep fishing for a different book because this isn’t for you.
Use of dialogue tags is atrocious. I finally get why people are like, said is the only dialogue tag that should ever be used. Personally, I like some variety, but wafted does not qualify. Other word choice is somewhat odd too. (Dismembering a tree.)
Not arguing that this woman didn’t have a rough life, but some of her reactions are off. I really can’t say much without running straight into spoiler territory.
The mystical aspects were fine. I like fantasy, but it seemed out of place in the type of story unfolding.
Random thing that sort of amused me. The woman and the person she loves make up a code for their own personal love language. That part is cool. The acronym AF is not. What they meant it to mean and what I’m used to that meaning are very different things.

Conclusion:

If you like literature and deep dives into people’s lives (the good, the bad, and the ugly), you might like this.

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Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)