Thursday, April 19, 2018

Audio Book Review & Prize Giveaway: Hunting in Bruges

Hunting in Bruges

By:  E.J. Stevens

Publish Date:  November 11, 2017, Audiobook Release April 3, 2018

Format:  Audiobook - 7 hrs 10 mins
Narrated By:  Melanie A. Mason & Anthony Bowling

Genre:  Urban Fantasy

Series:  1st in Hunters' Guild series

Impression:  Jenna's a focused hunter on a mission.

Synopsis:
The only thing worse than being a Hunter in the fae-ridden city of Harborsmouth, is hunting vamps in Bruges.

Being shipped off to Belgium sucks. The medieval city of Bruges is quaint, but the local Hunters' Guild is understaffed, the canals are choked with dead bodies, and there's no shortage of supernatural predators as likely suspects.

On second thought, maybe Bruges isn't so bad after all.

With a desire to prove herself, protect the innocent, and advance within the ranks of the Hunters' Guild, Jenna Lehane hits the cobbled streets of Bruges with blades at the ready. Someone, or something, is murdering tourists and dumping their bodies in the city's scenic canals. With the help of a mysterious stranger, Jenna begins to piece together clues that are dotted throughout the city like blood spatter.

Determined to stop the killings, Jenna delves into a bloody local history that only raises more questions—but some secrets are best left buried. Jenna must put her combat training to the test as she struggles to unearth the truth about an ancient enemy.

Hunting in Bruges is the first novel in the Hunters' Guild urban fantasy series set in the world of Ivy Granger.

First Sentence:
I've been seeing ghosts for as long as I can remember.

Purchase At:
Amazon  /  Barnes & Noble  /  Book Depository

Audible

My Thoughts and Summary:
*I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Melanie & Anthony are the same duo that's voiced the Ivy Granger stories. I might have liked a new voice for Jenna and the people she meets then works with, but they do well. As always they have clean audio with two voices. They break the characters as female and male, as expected. It's nice to hear the male voices voiced separately from the original narrator. Some of the characters have accents, which is portrayed by the narrators. Nice.

We start with Jenna and why she feels she's sent on this mission so suddenly. And getting to Bruges. This gives us a transition from Harborsmouth and Ivy to Jenna and Bruges We also learn about Jenna's ability to see and hear ghosts.

This story gives us insight into the Hunters' Guild. Interesting group of people. We start to get to see more of them with Ivy, but now we are in the inner loop.

The story feels tightly written. The case of the multiple dead bodies is something Jenna is on. She's determined to find the monster doing the work. But she also has to deal with the hunters guild here in Burge. She's quick to get started when she arrives in town. Though, she starts to make the current hunters look as though they are slacking with her quick work.

E.J. has a few red herrings tossed in there to get us to wonder about who is behind these events, but I figured it out from the beginning. And I was happy to see I was right in my thinking when I got verification in the end.

I like the chapter headings. It is a line from in the chapter, but it points out Hunter ways or Jenna's "rules". It's a neat way to highlight them and give us a feel of Jenna and a few other characters. Jenna's focused. And I get a feel she's modest yet aware of her abilities. She very much tries to follow the rules and takes being a hunter seriously. I like this about her. In the beginning Jenna came across as though she reminded me of another Ivy. As the story went, Jenna became her own person and I found I liked her. I really like she doesn't talk about herself like Ivy does, like she has to explain who she is. Jenna just does and knows who she is. I think I enjoyed Jenna and her story much more than Ivy's.

Jenna's quickly meeting people and making friends... and enemies. Grrrr. There is one man who is against all women in the guild along with supernaturals. He's a real jerk. I couldn't wait for Jenna to knock him down a peg, or five. Then there's Ash, he's a joy. I love her time with him although I want to shack her as she should have picked up the signs and hints about Ash right away. However, there is something different about Ash when he's with Jenna. I'm hoping we get answers to this in the future. But I do love Ash. He's a cutie.

All in all, I enjoyed Jenna's adventures. And would like to hear more of her adventures with her new crew. Sounds like these adventures could be interesting.



****If you found my thoughts helpful, please click Yes at Amazon and/or Audible. Thank you!



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Happy audiobook birthday to Hunting in Bruges! We're celebrating the audio release with a giveaway.

Hunting in Bruges Urban Fantasy Audiobook

Hunting in Bruges (Hunters' Guild #1, Ivy Granger Psychic Detective #3.5) by E.J. Stevens.  Narrated by Melanie Mason and Anthony Bowling.

The only thing worse than being a Hunter in the fae-ridden city of Harborsmouth, is hunting vampires in Bruges.


The medieval city of Bruges is quaint, but the local Hunters' Guild is understaffed, the canals are choked with dead bodies, and there's no shortage of supernatural predators as likely suspects.

On second thought, maybe Bruges isn't so bad after all.

With a desire to prove herself, protect the innocent, and advance within the ranks of the Hunters' Guild, Jenna Lehane hits the cobbled streets of Bruges with blades at the ready. Someone, or something, is murdering tourists and dumping their bodies in the city's scenic canals. With the help of a mysterious stranger, Jenna begins to piece together clues that are dotted throughout the city like blood spatter.

Determined to stop the killings, Jenna delves into a bloody local history that only raises more questions—but some secrets are best left buried. Jenna must put her combat training to the test as she struggles to unearth the truth about an ancient enemy.

Will monster hunter Jenna Lehane stop the paranormal predator behind the city's brutal murders before it's too late?

Start Listening Now

Learn more on Goodreads, Audible, and the author's website.  Keep reading for a chance to win a Hunting in Bruges prize pack.


Audiobook Release Party Giveaway

Enter to win a Hunting in Bruges Prize Pack, including a pen, custom earbuds, a Hunting in Bruges mini poster signed by the author, and a Passport to the World of Ivy Granger signed by the author and the audiobook narrators!

To enter, use the Rafflecopter form below.  This giveaway is open to the US/UK/CA.  Giveaway ends April 30, 2018 midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Want more fun?  Take a trip to Bruges with monster hunter Jenna Lehane in this Hunting in Bruges animated book cover video.  Watch a few times to find all of the effects!  Things to look for...
  • Sword
  • Jenna's hair
  • Clock
  • Jenna's arm and face
  • Clouds
  • Lights in Windows 
Did you find all of the special effects?


3 comments:

  1. My favorite thing about audiobooks would have to be being able to "read" whenever and where ever even if you're busy doing something else. And I was like omg another book I have to read by this author. I'm thinking I should just start this then binge her other series since I haven't started that yet :(

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm always looking for new audiobooks, and this one sounds interesting.

    I see you're listening to Renegades! If it's the same narrator that did Heartless and The Lunar Chronicles, then it's going to be great! I love Rebecca Soler.

    I found your blog via Bloggers Commenting Back! I'm following you on Bloglovin' now. :)

    Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear?

    ReplyDelete
  3. it's an author I really want to try

    ReplyDelete

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