Marie Silk

4/5 Stars: Davenport House #6: House Secrets by Marie Silk

Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, historical, mystery, romance , ,

Narrated by Allyson Voller

Run Time: 4 hrs and 40 min

Summary:

Clara tries to push problem aside by hosting a masquerade ball. (Yay, the cover makes sense. Not always a thing in this kind of book.) Her husband’s still a shady cad. She’s still dumb, but circumstances might set her free.

Additional Comments:

  • Bridget (Fiona’s sister) comes home with a warning Clara absolutely won’t hear, but that’s near the middle/end of the story.
  • I get that the bad guy should be bad, but it seems like our antagonist has way farther reaching schemes than any normal person has a right to run. The connections and secrets and affairs and whatnot are enough to fuel any soap opera, though it’s all very clean and proper. That said, if you’re like most people, you’ll be counting the seconds until he gets his comeuppance.
  • It’s a series you can get invested in the characters, even if the genre’s not really your thing.
  • Ethan and Vollenti (sorry about spelling, I heard the audio) finally make peace.
  • For those new to the series, stop, go back and start at one or you’re probably going to be really confused.
  • If you get heavily invested in characters, be prepared to explain why you’re yelling at random if you listen in public.
  • I find it intriguing that in the midst of Covid-19 making people lose track of their senses, several book series I’ve been going through have mentioned pandemics.

Conclusion:

It’s an American Downton Abby. Drama left and right because half because people are dumb and half because life happens. If you like historical fiction, check this series out.

Audiobook Promotions …

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33 of my 41 audible titles are listed on Audiobooks Unleashed.
Whether you’re looking for mystery or suspense or fantasy, I’ve got a title for you. Never Again (mystery, suspense) and Reshner’s Royal Ranger (epic sci-fi) just made it there.
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

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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.

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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
5 Steps to Better Audiobooks – for authors/narrators, but mostly authors.
Innova – Christian Dystopia
The Golden City Captives – short fantasy
Fatal Interest – short mystery/thriller

3.5/5 Davenport House #5 by Marie Silk

Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, historical , ,

Narrated by Allyson Voller

Summary:

Phillip and Ethan are both off to WWI for different reasons. Meanwhile, Clara’s still being stupid. Oh, she’s fighting for women’s rights, then she marries the first arrogant thing to make her an offer.

Additional Comments:

  • I enjoyed most of the story line. It’s really part 5 of a longer story. It doesn’t really have the traditional book arcs of rising action, falling action. It’s more like character studies. While interesting, I don’t like all the characters, which made it difficult to listen to at times.
  • Clara has a lot of potential, but she makes repeated incredibly dumb decisions that make her hard to like. I’m hoping by the end of the series, she has her redeeming moment.
  • Did I mention I really dislike Lawrence? I have mixed feelings about disliking characters. It takes a certain amount of skill to write somebody that annoying, but still, the annoyance kind of overshadows the admiration.
  • About the only redeeming quality to Clara’s storyline was the preview to the next book, which fulfills my hope for Clara’s husband.
  • Mary becomes a midwife.
  • Abigail and Ethan have marital issues because he comes back from the war with PTSD.
  • The series is kinda an American Downton Abby. People who inherited more money and not so much sense living their lives with their house full of servants.

Conclusion:

If you enjoyed the previous books, you’ll like this one. If you’re in it for a standalone, avoid.

Audiobook Promotions:

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33 of my 41 audible titles are listed on Audiobooks Unleashed.
Whether you’re looking for mystery or suspense or fantasy, I’ve got a title for you. Never Again (mystery, suspense) and Reshner’s Royal Ranger (epic sci-fi) just made it there.
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

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.

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Audiobook Reviews 4.45/5 Stars Davenport House 3 + 4: A Mother’s Love; Heiress Interrupted

Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, historical , ,

Narrated by Allyson Voller

Length: 4 hrs and 36 mins

Summary:

The clean American counterpart of Downton Abby continues. Clara wants to prove she can handle stuff. William wrestles with more fever outbreaks. Abigail and Ethan wedding plan. Mrs. Davenport schemes from the shadows.

Additional Comments:

  • Pretty sure this book had about 6 reversals in it.
  • Kinda not sure what the title has to do with anything.
  • I had to stop listening at one point and take a three-day break because the characters (especially one of them) were being stupid.
  • The series has its ups and downs. I’d count the overall effect of this entry as an up.
  • Honestly, a few of the volumes could safely be combined to create a proper sized novel instead of this being novella status. The arcs don’t really have a beginning and end. They just sort of continue.

Conclusion:

If you’re in it for the whole series, awesome. If not, you’re likely just wasting your time unless you want to mentally slap a “they live happily ever after” tag on it.

4/5 Stars: Davenport House #4: Heiress Interrupted

Summary:

Nellie Whitmore survives the Lusitania attack and goes off to England to find love. Her mother is pregnant, so her inheritance is threatened.

Additional Comments:

  • This is kind of a side story, which is why I forgot to review it.
  • There aren’t many conflicts in the book. It’s more a comedy of errors.

Conclusion:

If there’s any book in the series that is skippable, it’s probably this one. If you read a detailed review of the book, you can probably figure out what you missed. The majority of the book focuses on Nellie, who is a friend of Clara and Mary.

Audiobook Promotions:

33 of my 36 audible titles are listed on Audiobooks Unleashed.
Whether you’re looking for mystery or suspense or fantasy, I’ve got a title for you. Never Again (mystery, suspense) and Reshner’s Royal Ranger (epic sci-fi) just made it there.
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

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. (Def US codes for this one, but not on AU. Find me on FB)
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.

Audiobook Reviews: 4/5 Stars Davenport House 2: A New Chapter

Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, historical ,

Narrated by Allyson Voller

Run Time: 5 hrs and 11 mins

Summary:

Mary, Clara, Ethan, and the crew are back. Following the events of the first book pretty tightly, Mary’s mourning her father’s loss. Cecelia is still scheming. Even Nellie’s back, sort of.

Additional Comments:

  • The main characters are interesting. It’s kind of amazing how much drama the “does he love me/does he not love me” thing can conjure.
  • More money. More problems. Though it’s probably more accurate to say the rich people still have problems, just different problems than normal folk.
  • I don’t listen to a lot of historical fiction, so this might be the first series I’m experiencing set in that era, at least that isn’t a Western or WWI story. Here the war’s a rumor of things happening elsewhere. (It’s 1915, so a few years before the US joined.)
  • Side characters are okay, but you don’t really know much about them. So, they remain in the stock category. I liked Fiona even though she just falls under the category of “competent, hard-working servant”
  • Warning: a few threads of story are wrapped up, but the book might as well end To Be Continued … so, if you want standalone, go elsewhere.

Conclusion:

If you’re coming off the first book and intend to go right to whatever book 3 is, then you’ll be fine.

Audiobook Promotions:

33 of my 34 audible titles are listed on Audiobooks Unleashed.
Whether you’re looking for mystery or suspense or fantasy, I’ve got a title for you. Never Again (mystery, suspense) and Reshner’s Royal Ranger (epic sci-fi) just made it there.
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

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.