Choices Stories Review 5/5 Stars: The Royal Heir Book 2

March 12, 2021February 28, 2021 Julie Gilbert Choices Stories, drama, romance royal heir series, sequel

Summary:

You finally have your baby! I’m kind of a traditionalist, so of course, I chose to marry the king. This round is all about fighting for your baby’s right to not be betrothed to a bratty little prince from a kingdom of manipulative meanies.

Side note about diamond scenes:

This is a romance book. Though plenty of things you can spend diamonds on are items and intrigue side quests, quite a few are dates that can quickly heat up to become way more adult than kid-friendly.

Additional Comments:

From moment one, Bradshaw and Isabella have been strong-arming Concordia. Needless to say, the MC and her husband do not appreciate it.
The book does some meandering to keep the story going, but there’s enough adorable baby art to make you not care.
As with most of the Royal Romance/Heir series, most of the diamond opportunities are either dresses or dates. The ones that always catch me are the pets, the duchy upgrades, and the missions with Olivia.
In the original series, Olivia Nevrakis functions as one of the rivals and an antagonist, but by now, she’s a close friend of the MC, the king, and the rest of the crew. She’s also way cooler in this series as a duchess/ spy. Seeing and altering her dossier was hilarious.
I like how they weave in the politics in and around family drama, friend drama, and the like.
The default name for the baby is Lilly. It fit well enough that I altered it only to Lillian, with Lil for short. That face is undeniably adorable. The entire book only covered about 3 months, but they have the kid making enough baby babbles to keep the audience content. I like that the MC and the kind are trying their utmost to take care of the baby themselves (instead of a nanny, though I do love that “wait, that was an option?” is one of the dialogue choices).
End twist: By blundering around, I actually got spoiled, but I still enjoyed the end twist. Won’t say more so as to avoid spoiling you if you’re going to play through this story. Let’s just say it makes you wanna punch somebody.
I happened to finish both Blade of Light and Shadows and this in the same week. They certainly have different feelings, but the to be continued moment here feels more natural than the other book. I think the other book has more replay value, but the cast of characters feels more familiar and comfortable with each other (because of being in many other books together).
The four-book Rules of Engagement series features Prince Leo, but it’s not quite as good as The Royal Romance series, The Royal Masquerade (history), The Crown and the Flame (history + TV), and this series.
Oddly, though I really tend to hate middle books of trilogies, this ending works for me as long as they release a book 3 to wrap things up satisfactorily.

Conclusion:

I’m excited for the next installment in the series, but like most books, I will tackle it at a pace that lets me see the whole thing within a few days. I don’t do waiting week to week for something to release, and I’m behind enough in the books to wait for it.

Audiobook Promotions …

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Many of my 42 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.

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Mystery:

Shadow Council Combo (Books 1-4) (Amazon) (free codes)
The Individual Titles:
SC 1: Money Makes it Deadlier (Amazon) (free codes)
SC 2: Revenge Makes it Sweeter (Amazon) (free codes)
SC 3: Christmas Makes it Chaos (Amazon) (free codes)
SC 4: Treachery Makes it Tense (Amazon) (free codes)

Eagle Eyes – mystery thriller (Amazon) (free codes)
The Individual Titles:
Violence in Vegas (Eagle Eyes Book 1) (Amazon) (free codes)
Rescue in Reno (Eagle Eyes Book 2) (Amazon) (free codes)
Danger in Dallas (Eagle Eyes Book 3) (Amazon) (free codes)

There is a third series, but it’s not on audible yet.

Scratched Off – mystery, thriller; FBI agent vs serial killer, more intense than Shadow Council/Eagle Eyes (Amazon) (free codes)
Never Again (mystery, suspense)

Christian Mystery:

The Collins Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 1, Christian mystery (Amazon) (free codes)
The Kiverson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 2, Christian mystery (Amazon) (free codes)
The Davidson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 3, Christian mystery (Amazon) (free codes)

4.25/5 Stars Doboro the Bottlenecker by Kevin M. Kraft

February 21, 2021February 20, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, Christian, drama audiobooks, Christian, disabilities, Kevin M. Kraft, Todd A. Thompson

Narrated by Todd A. Thompson

Run Time: 7 hrs and 59 mins.

Summary:

Dave Granger survives a devastating attack but is gravely wounded. The spiritual and emotional wounds are almost as deep as the physical ones.

Additional Comments:

Don’t read the blurb. It pretty much spells out the story.
I didn’t pick up on the fact that this was two books in one.
The S. Korean subplot was pretty unique.
Main Character 4/5: This guy definitely goes through a lot, but he also grows a lot along the way. The changes happen over enough time to be believable.
Side Characters 3.5/5: The trouble with having realistic characters sometimes is that they’re annoying and rude. Sometimes, the attitude fit the moment and other times it seemed way out of place. Even the MC has a few bouts of being a complete jerk for no reason.
Plot 4/5: It definitely stretched at points. Overall, that made for an exciting tale. A lot of the MC’s decisions are questionable. Several coincidences have to happen to get to certain plot points.
Action 4/5: There are LONG stretches with no action, but the action included is well described and cool.
Christianity integration 3.5/5: decent. The MC suffers through a lot. I kind of missed where he became a Christian though. That could just be because of the necessary time lapse.
Narration/ Performance 4/5: I’m separating out the performance because there were some tech issues. Todd A. Thompson put in a solid performance.
Production 2.5/5: Several whole sections of chs were repeated (at least 3 that I can recall).
Song at the end was cool.

Conclusion:

A unique and enjoyable book.

Audiobook Promotions …

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Many of my 44 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.

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)

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)
Ashlynn’s Dreams – Genetically altered Dream Shaper learns her gift. (Amazon) (free codes)
Nadia’s Tears – Jillian tries to awaken her sister, Nadia, from a coma. (Amazon) (free codes)
Malia’s Miracles – Jillian and her siblings try to save a friend’s mother. (Amazon) (free codes)
Varick’s Quest – Jillian and Danielle get kidnapped. Nadia’s also in trouble. (Amazon) (free codes)
More Scifi:
Reshner’s Royal Ranger (epic sci-fi) just made it there. (Amazon) (free codes)

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)

Audiobook Reviews: 4/5 Davenport House #7: Hard times by Marie Silk

February 12, 2021January 31, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, drama, historical Allyson Voller, historical fiction, Marie Silk

Narrated by Allyson Voller

Run Time: 4 hrs and 42 mins

Summary:

Joe disappears, leaving Clara practically at the alter, yet again. That messes with her head pretty good. Mary’s still in pain from stuff in the previous book. Her husband’s still kinda clueless.

Additional Comments:

As usual, there’s a lot going on.
There are a lot of spots in this series where ya just want to reach in and smack some sense into the characters, but thankfully, such moments were less in this final book. There are still a few minor threads that are unresolved, but all the main ones have satisfactory conclusions.
There’s even a nice twist concerning one of the semi-villainous characters.
The series is kind of like Downton Abby. Lots of drama. Less drama with the servants this round.
Not many new characters since we’re so far along in the series. Jimmy’s new, I think.
The epilogue is all right. It wraps up a few things and kind of slaps a “they lived happily ever after” sticker on the saga.
Very much character driven with all the triumphs and pitfalls of those sorts of tales. I got bogged down a few months because the characters were being dumb, but overall, it’s a satisfying tale.

Conclusion:

Decent conclusion to a clean historical fiction about some rich folks in the early 1900’s. I think WWI is covered and it starts a few years before that, so 1910’s and early 1920’s. Not that I’m a huge consumer of the genre, but in my limited experience, there aren’t too many family sagas that cover this timespan in America. A nice change of pace from murder and mayhem.

Audiobook Promotions …

Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

Devya’s Children Series Links:

Guardian Angel Files:

Audiobook Reviews: 4/5 Stars Keep Dreaming by Ramon Robinson

February 9, 2021January 31, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, children's, drama Joseph A. Batzel, music, Ramon Robinson

Narrated by Joseph A. Batzel

Run time: 22 minutes

*Spoiler possible in discussion

Summary:

Leron, a high school freshman, gets bullied at school. He’s a talented composer who eventually takes the pain of being bullied and turns it into a beautiful song.

Additional Comments:

Pretty sure the book description tells the entire story, start to finish. It’s a tad confusing because it mentions Leron’s Song, which I’m guessing may be an alternate title??
22 minutes, with 3 something minutes being the song, means that the story itself is about 4K words. The cover and description give the impression that this was made from a comic book. Although I considered turning one of my comics into an audiobook, I elected to go with the full ebook instead of the comic adaptation since that medium relies heavily upon the illustrations.
The story itself is fairly standard kid-being-bullied tale. However, the cover kind of made me think middle school not high school. Also, bullying certainly happens, but with the climate of today, I don’t buy that nothing happened to the bullies. They would have at least been suspended. Many high schools have cameras.
Also, I guess it could happen, but it’d be a rarity for a civics class to have both freshman and “older” kids, at least all 3 of the bullies. One, sure. Kids transfer in and then have to make up a class. Social studies classes in general typically go by grade level though. It’d be more believable if it were a science class since those are offered in different order depending on the district. So, a physics class with mostly freshmen at one place could conceivably have a junior or senior taking it.
Narration’s decently done. The story itself didn’t demand much in the way of character variety due to the brevity of the story.
The song at the end is a nice touch. But if the MC is meant to be the one singing, the “voice” definitely doesn’t fit. It’s a beautiful song, but I’m not sure a high school freshman would have a singing/rapping voice that’s that deep. Senior, maybe.
Not sure I entirely agree with the take home message. The MC internalizes the pain of being bullied and uses it as a catalyst to make his music sing out his problems all the louder. While that’s beautiful and can easily be pegged as realistic, I was hoping for a bit more of a here’s-how-you-get-help-if-you’re-in-that-situation message.

Conclusion:

A nice short story meant to be inspirational.

Audiobook Promotions …

Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

Devya’s Children Series Links:

Guardian Angel Files:

4/5 Stars The Surgeon’s Sin: Atonement by Dean C Lohse, MD

February 6, 2021January 31, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, drama Dean C Lohse, Matt Christenson, medical drama

Narrated by Matt Christenson

Run Time: 6 hours and 32 mins

Summary:

Dr. Peter Jensen makes a mistake during brain surgery. The consequences spiral outward, leaving him questioning everything. His marriage is crumbling, his career’s a mess, and he’s forced to take a perilous journey to get some community service hours.

Additional Comments:

Don’t read the blurb unless you want some major spoilers.
It’s a Christian book (sort of; there’s a fair amount of gospel truth included), but not a typical one. There are some hard-hitting topics in here including suicide and medically assisted suicide. I’m not saying other Christian books avoid such things, but typically, the main character is a Christian and can deal with their problems through that perspective. Not so in this case. Peter’s journey is realistic, but I don’t think he ever converts, which is typically a hallmark of Christian books.
I don’t know enough about medicine to tell if the descriptions of surgery are accurate, but I’m assuming they are since the author is a doctor. That said, they’re also not necessarily for the faint of heart. If you get squeamish at descriptions of bloody procedures, maybe try a different book.
I’d consider it a clean book, despite the medical gruesomeness from time to time. However, I think some people may also be annoyed by the MC using the Lord’s name in vain. He’s not a Christian, so that’s not the issue. The inclusion of that, instead of a reference is enough to annoy people who get annoyed by that. For example, there are no f-bombs in here, nor even the reference to such, but there probably wouldn’t be a conversation including the term even in passing.
The relationships in here come across as very realistic. The plot points are a tad far-fetched, but that makes the story more exciting.
Performance is well handled.
There’s certainly a lot to think about in here. I think it’d be a great book for discussions.

Conclusion:

Exciting family drama combined with medical drama.

Audiobook Promotions …

Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

Devya’s Children Series Links:

Guardian Angel Files:

3.5/5 Stars Reluctant to Wed by Anneliese Dalaba

January 28, 2021January 10, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, Christian, drama Alex Lee, Anneliese Dalaba

Narrated by Alex Lee

Run Time: 10 hrs and 57 min

(story 3/5; performance 4/5)

Disclaimer: This is one person’s opinion. This is not my go-to genre.

Summary:

An American woman goes to England to marry a guy, the Earl of Devonport. The guy has to marry this stranger because of a deal his father and her grandfather made. Something about land and inheriting more property or not.

Additional Comments:

I spent much of the book thinking it’d be worlds better if somebody up and kidnapped the woman. For several hours’ worth of story it seemed nothing was happening. It was a he-said, she-said middle school like gossip-fest.
The Christian aspects were very strong, which is fine.
Devon’s turnabout from nincompoop to knight in shiny armor seemed kind of sudden.
Emma was pretty steady throughout.
I did NOT like Devon’s friend. It takes a fair amount of skill to create somebody that unlikable, but still, he came across as a mean-spirited, meddlesome louse. After all the trouble, Devon doesn’t even kick him to the curb – that at least would have been highly satisfying, just a “oh, sorry, old-boy, thought I was doing you a favor” kind of thing. Also, his motive didn’t seem strong enough to hate women and think they’re all exactly the same brand of manipulative witch.
I did enjoy the epilogue.

Conclusion:

If you like Christian regency style romance, you should give this one a shot.

Audiobook Promotions …

Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

Devya’s Children Series Links:

Guardian Angel Files:

Choices Stories Review: 4/5 Ride-or-Die

May 26, 2020April 24, 2020 Julie Gilbert Choices Stories, drama bad boy romance, Choices Stories

Genre: Contemporary Bad Boy Romance

Summary:

A good girl (daughter of a cop) falls for the bad boy who rides motorcycles and runs with a rough crowd but is essentially good at heart.

Additional Comments:

There is good closure but enough room to expand.
The diamond choices are usually about getting better grades than your rival. The MC tries to be the good girl while falling for the handsome bad boy.
The end is surprisingly action-filled.
The fast cars/ street racing aspect is pretty cool.
Not their best or worst story. Worthy of a sequel, but I’m not sure if it’s a big money maker for the company. There wasn’t a scheme that keeps you buying diamond options like the ones where you need a certain number of followers.

Conclusion:

I’m not sure if they’ll continue the series, but if they do, I will probably check out the sequel.

Audiobook Promotions …

Were on Audiobookcrave.com (which just went under). Ones with links are relisted at Audiobooksunleashed.com.
5 Steps to Surviving Chemistry
Spirit’s Bane (Guardian Angel Files Book 1)
Kindred Spirits (Guardian Angel Files Book 2)
Violence in Vegas (Eagle Eyes Book 1) – not relisted yet
Rescue in Reno (Eagle Eyes Book 2)
Danger in Dallas (Eagle Eyes Book 3)

Devya’s Children Series Links:

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – short stories featuring Jillian.
The Dark Side of Science – official prequel to Devya’s Children; Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.
Ashlynn’s Dreams – Genetically altered Dream Shaper learns her gift.
Nadia’s Tears – Jillian tries to awaken her sister, Nadia, from a coma.
Malia’s Miracles – Jillian and her siblings try to save a friend’s mother.
Varick’s Quest – Jillian and Danielle get kidnapped. Nadia’s also in trouble.

Check out my other titles available on Audiobooks Unleashed:

Beyond Broken Pencils – contemporary, literary
Shadow Council Combo (Books 1-4)
The Individual titles are available but not yet listed on an ad site
SC 1: Money Makes it Deadlier
SC 2: Revenge Makes it Sweeter
SC 3: Christmas Makes it Chaos
SC 4: Treachery Makes it Tense)

Eagle Eyes – mystery thriller

Scratched Off – mystery, thriller; FBI agent vs serial killer, more intense than Shadow Council/Eagle Eyes

Awakening – Redeemer Chronicles Book 1, MG fantasy
The Holy War – Redeemer Chronicles Book 2, MG fantasy
Reclaim the Darklands – Redeemer Chronicles Book 3, MG fantasy

The Collins Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 1, Christian mystery
The Kiverson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 2, Christian mystery
The Davidson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 3, Christian mystery

Other titles:
5 Steps to Better Blurbs – for authors
Innova – Christian Dystopia
The Golden City Captives – short fantasy
Fatal Interest – short mystery/thriller

3.45/5 Stars Ratham Creek by Marie F. Martin

March 30, 2020March 18, 2020 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, drama, mystery Becky White, Marie F. Martin

Narrated by Becky White

Run Time: 9 hrs and 40 minutes

Summary:

Arianne Hollis’s husband dies, forcing her to sell the house. She moves away to start over in the Montana mountains.

Ross Ferrell, the de-facto heir apparent of a clan of fiercely opinionated mountain people, saves Arianne from a bear, but they part without exchanging so much as names.

She ends up moving to his neck of the Montana woods, so they’re neighbors. Arianne gets embroiled in the local rivalries and misunderstandings.

Additional Comments:

Main characters 4/5: Ross and Arianne are likable enough.
Plot 3.5/5: It felt surprisingly slow for something that had a lot packed into it, even at 2x speed. Maybe because much of the happenings were around the main characters, not to them. Many events while wildly unbelievable make the book like a book soap opera.
Side characters 3.5/5: The book is positively overflowing with characters. It’s really difficult to keep them all straight, though to be honest, you probably don’t have to keep them straight because they’re reintroduced as necessary. I can see the necessity of such a large cast, but unfortunately, that means my emotional investment was spread out so much that I didn’t really care about the horrible things that befell some of the characters because I didn’t know them enough to care.
There’s an emotional distance in the way the book’s written. For example, when describing the large family, you’ll hear what the women are doing and the men, but you don’t really feel attached to many of them.
Becky White’s performance is decent. There were too many characters to be able to distinguish everybody, and that’s fine. You could tell male from female, and the main characters had unique voices.
Content warnings: contains some casual cursing (I think) and some trigger topics like suicide.

Conclusion:

If you like a family drama set out in a small mountain town, check this out.

Audiobook Promotions …

Devya’s Children Series Links:

Check out my other titles available on Audiobooks Unleashed:

Eagle Eyes – mystery thriller

Scratched Off – mystery, thriller; FBI agent vs serial killer, more intense than Shadow Council/Eagle Eyes

Awakening – Redeemer Chronicles Book 1, MG fantasy
The Holy War – Redeemer Chronicles Book 2, MG fantasy
Reclaim the Darklands – Redeemer Chronicles Book 3, MG fantasy

The Collins Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 1, Christian mystery
The Kiverson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 2, Christian mystery
The Davidson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 3, Christian mystery

Other titles:
5 Steps to Better Blurbs – for authors
Innova – Christian Dystopia
The Golden City Captives – short fantasy
Fatal Interest – short mystery/thriller

4/5 Stars The Way Back Starring Ben Afleck

March 9, 2020March 7, 2020 Julie Gilbert drama, Sports Ben Afleck, sports drama

Summary:

Jack Cunningham (Ben Afleck), has some hard life stuff happen to him, and doesn’t exactly cope with it well. He becomes a raging alcoholic. Then, he gets the chance to become the head coach for his alma matter, a Catholic high school.

Additional Comments:

The trailer focuses on the struggling alcoholic coaching the boys basketball team aspect and doesn’t really touch on the other family drama aspects.
The movie feels like it was based on a true story. I guess the generic plot is basic enough to be applicable to several people’s lives.
Ben Afleck’s performance was indeed stellar.
Humor (4/5): There isn’t much of it in here, but I enjoyed a few touches. The funniest part to me was Kenny’s punishment when it’s revealed that he’s a romantic player as well as a basketball one.
There are certainly some tear-worthy moments.
Plot (4/5): Predictable but satisfying all the same. Some parts dragged out, but it got the point across.
Ending (4/5): While not everything is tied up in a neat little bow by the end, you get the feeling that things are well on their way to a better track for Jack.
Content Warnings: Quite a few instances of adult language. I think the f-bomb is dropped 3 times in the first 3 minutes.

Conclusion:

I’m not really a huge fan of the genre, but I enjoyed the movie.

Audiobook Promotions …

If any of the links are broken (not sure what’s up with Audiobook Crave as of 3/7/20), please email me your interest in the book, I’ll see what codes are left.

Feb Promos on Audiobook Crave.com (requires email sign in):
5 Steps to Surviving Chemistry
Spirit’s Bane (Guardian Angel Files Book 1)
Kindred Spirits (Guardian Angel Files Book 2)
Violence in Vegas (Eagle Eyes Book 1)
Rescue in Reno (Eagle Eyes Book 2)
Danger in Dallas (Eagle Eyes Book 3)

Devya’s Children Series Links:

Check out my other titles available on Audiobooks Unleashed:

Beyond Broken Pencils – contemporary, literary
Shadow Council Combo (Books 1-4)
(Alternately, the individual titles can be found on Audiobook Crave
SC 1: Money Makes it Deadlier
SC 2: Revenge Makes it Sweeter
SC 3: Christmas Makes it Chaos
SC 4: Treachery Makes it Tense)

Eagle Eyes – mystery thriller

Scratched Off – mystery, thriller; FBI agent vs serial killer, more intense than Shadow Council/Eagle Eyes

Awakening – Redeemer Chronicles Book 1, MG fantasy
The Holy War – Redeemer Chronicles Book 2, MG fantasy
Reclaim the Darklands – Redeemer Chronicles Book 3, MG fantasy

The Collins Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 1, Christian mystery
The Kiverson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 2, Christian mystery
The Davidson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 3, Christian mystery

Other titles on Audiobook Crave (but buried deep):
5 Steps to Better Blurbs – for authors
Innova – Christian Dystopia
The Golden City Captives – short fantasy
Fatal Interest – short mystery/thriller

Audiobook Review 3.45/5 Stars: Bebette by Joseph Barone

March 6, 2020February 23, 2020 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, drama, Family family drama, Joseph Barone, Kathleen Li

Narrated by Kathleen Li

*Spoilers possible

Summary:

A girl with a rare blood disease (not sure it’s ever specified) has an imaginary friend.

Additional Comments:

The story has a short story feel, but it’s on the long side for that.
Narration was well done.
I think I heard a different story by Joseph Barone (Prestigium), and I liked that much better.
I believe much of the story was meant be an epic journey of self-discovery, but it kind of sounded like a cycle of kid feels ill, kid chats up her imaginary friend or vice versa, mother worries, father tries to build stuff to deal with his worry, and kid goes on dream adventures with the imaginary friend.
The grandfather had great presence for a side character. He might be my favorite side character.
The book’s point of view made it a tad difficult to follow the family relationships.
It’s been less than a week, and I don’t remember the kid’s name. Had to look it up. Lily Fiore is a pretty name.
The town names were a tad over the top in terms of symbolism: Lily used to live in Reverie. She now lives in Salvation.

Conclusion:

Ha, my main problem with the story might be in the blurb: the book is existential. This poor author has no idea of my history with that horrible existential book about a guy who’s a bug (The Metamorphosis). (Story ticked me off in high school.) Guess I’m just not wired for existential journey things. If you like that sort of thing, check this out. There’s nothing inherently wrong with it. I just don’t like the style.

Audiobook Promotions …

Devya’s Children Series Links:

Check out my other titles available on Audiobooks Unleashed:

Eagle Eyes – mystery thriller

Scratched Off – mystery, thriller; FBI agent vs serial killer, more intense than Shadow Council/Eagle Eyes

Awakening – Redeemer Chronicles Book 1, MG fantasy
The Holy War – Redeemer Chronicles Book 2, MG fantasy
Reclaim the Darklands – Redeemer Chronicles Book 3, MG fantasy

The Collins Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 1, Christian mystery
The Kiverson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 2, Christian mystery
The Davidson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 3, Christian mystery