Audio Book Review: The Kings

The Kings

By:  Kimberly Loth

Publish Date:  December 14, 2016, Audiobook Release October 6, 2017

Format:  Audiobook - 6 hrs 5 mins
Narrated By:  Angela Rysk

Genre:  Fantasy

Series:  5th in The Dragon Kings series; 1st Book ~ Obsidian, 2nd Book ~ Aspen, 3rd Book ~ Valentine, 4th Book ~ Skye

Impression:  The prophecy is heard and seen come to pass.

Synopsis:
Sid and his friends wake from a nightmare of a prophecy to find themselves right in the middle of a war they didn't even know had arrived. All three kings plunge right into the fray knowing only one will survive.

Out of nowhere, the war takes a terrible twist when instead of attacking dragons, the white witch goes after human cities, slaughtering hundreds of thousands. The humans band together and declare war upon all dragons.

With the arctic and canyon dragons bearing down on the rest of the dragons and humans coming after them with new weapons, the war seems all but lost.

Will they win the war? Or will all the dragons be wiped forever from the earth?

Don’t wait to read this exciting conclusion to The Dragon Kings. Full of exciting twists and turns, be prepared for an ending that changes everything.

First Sentence:
Sid blinked his eyes open.

Purchase At:
Amazon  /  Barnes & Nobles 

Audible    (Box Set of Series)

My Thoughts and Summary:

*I was given this free review copy of this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Angela finishes out the series for us as she returns to voice the final book. Angela brings the voices she's assigned to each character back for us. What sticks out in my head for this book is Aspen when she makes a point and tells she's the dragon queen. There was a strong feel to her voice here. Even Runa when she's excited or disappointed sticks out strong for me. There was one spot where there was a delay between characters speaking, but that would be a second longer than normal, nothing extreme. Thank you for carrying through with the series, Angela.

This story starts where Skye leaves off. And we get the prophecy!! Woot woot. We finally get to hear it as it is written. The story holds to the prophecy as well. We get to see how it all plays out in the end. Though, there is a small part that's different, who is prophesied to kill another does not come to be.

I listened to the whole story and remember getting Sid and Skye's POV. I think we get Val's too, but I can't remember now. Most of the story is with Sid or Skye that I remember. We do get to see through Aspen's eyes from time to time too.

Death is something that happens in this book, also in previous books, but it feels the characters are not as emotional when it happens. It felt like a lacking part in their empathy for me. I guess if you are going to rule, you can't feel strongly or show it to the world. I found I liked Skye's reaction to what they had to do to protect themselves, yes this is war but it fit.

I was bummed at the loss of life in this one, but the epilogue helps with that. There is one loss that I felt wasn't dealt with as I'd like to have seen how others reacted to it. I think there would be a rift with one person for what it.

This book brings an end to the series. It's hard but there is hope for the future as well. I wasn't sure what I expected at the end, but this had a few different takes to it. They work nicely.



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Audio Book Review: Skye

Skye

By:  Kimberly Loth

Publish Date:  October, 2016, Audiobook Release August 28, 2017

Format:  Audiobook - 5 hrs 26 mins
Narrated By:  Angela Rysk

Genre:  Fantasy

Series:  4th in The Dragon Kings series; 1st Book ~ Obsidian, 2nd Book ~ Aspen, 3rd Book ~ Valentine

Impression:  Skye can't love and danger is coming for the kings.

Synopsis:
Rowan Winters is completely in love. With a shifter dragon.

But the drop-dead gorgeous Skye only thinks of Rowan as her best friend. But when she turns up in his room in the middle of the night in tears, he yearns to do whatever he can to help her. Even if that means running away and letting his family think he’s dead.

Skye’s entire world turns upside down the day her scales turns black. She knows she’ll have to flee to find answers. But she wasn’t planning on Rowan coming too. She just wanted to say goodbye. He is so eager to help that she can’t leave him behind even though she knows she’ll never be able to love him in return.

Together, they fight off murderous dragons and uncover sinister plans. But can they find the answers Skye so desperately seeks? And can Rowan sacrifice everything he knows to win her heart?

First Sentence:
Nerves settled in Skye's belly as she and Rowan flew toward the council.

Purchase At:
Amazon  /  Barnes & Nobles 

Audible   (Box Set for Series)

My Thoughts and Summary:

*I was given this free review copy of this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Angela has returned to voice Rowan and Skye along with friends again. I've noticed I don't have a focus on her voice but on the story. That's a great thing in audiobooks because she's letting the story tell itself through her. The audio is clean and clear, easy to listen to.

Skye's story starts at the exact same moment that Valentine ends at.

I really like that Kimberly has taken a different approach to each dragon's story of finding out about Kings and finding their love. The variety fits the dragons and the story of the dragon war approaching.

For me, the beginning is a bit slow moving. It's basically a reiteration of how Rowan loves Skye and how Skye can't love anyone. A few times. We do get the explanation for Skye's inability to love though. The beginning focuses on Skye's comfort with Rowan and how he's her best friend then how Rowan loves Skye and would do anything for her, even if they are only friends. There's no real danger present yet, just Skye with questions. When things start to move, it picks up and goes.

Once into the story, we start to see the dangers present. We even see the potential danger in others, and don't trust them wholly. We see where trust is questioned between a few of the dragons, as it is one thing to hold dear with war on the horizon.

Skye comes across as a woman who needs someone with her, emotionally. She doesn't know everything in the human world so she does need help, but it feels like more with her. Skye even notes how she's not been alone before. She doesn't feel clingy needy, just that she likes to have a companion with her in the world. Rowan has started to figure out what to do to help with his anxiety, which he doesn't have his medicine for. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I agree in some cases what he does really helps, but I know of other cases where it does not. I do like how Skye and Rowan balance each other though. They bring a comfort to each other.

I do like the realization that comes to Skye when she finally talks to Rowan about her issue with love. This is a great turn for her.

This book does end with what leads into the next book, as each book has done. There is a small cliff hanger at the end. So it's a good thing I have to complete set in audio. On to the last book to see how things end with the war that's rising.



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Audio Book Review: Valentine

Valentine

By:  Kimberly Loth

Publish Date:  June 30, 2016, Audiobook Release June 14, 2019

Format:  Audiobook - 5 hrs 58 mins
Narrated By:  Angela Rysk

Genre:  Fantasy

Series:  3rd in The Dragon Kings series; 1st Book ~ Obsidian, 2nd Book ~ Aspen

Impression:  New couple, new adventure in love finding.

Synopsis:
Three kings will arise. One from the land. One from the sea. One from fire.
Hazel’s entire world is turned upside down after her brother Rowan goes missing. Everyone believes he was eaten by a dragon. Everyone but Hazel’s sister, Aspen, that is.
Hazel has never heard of the dragon prophecy before. She knew about dragons, of course. Her sister, Aspen, made sure of that even though Hazel would have preferred to stay ignorant of the vicious creatures. But the more Hazel learns about Aspen and their family’s connection to the dragons, the less she wishes she knew.
Val never wanted to be king. He never even considered it a possibility. But now the prophecy’s fulfillment has begun, and it starts with him. His journey begins by training with Obsidian. In the process, he learns secrets from his past that shatters everything he knows..
On the way to mainland from Hawaii, Hazel and Val’s worlds collide and will soon have to rely on each other to find Rowan and prevent a human-dragon war.

First Sentence:
It didn't matter how often she made this journey, Hazel didn't like the flight home or, for that matter, waiting in crowded airports.

Purchase At:
Amazon  /  Barnes & Nobles 

Audible    (Box Set for series)

My Thoughts and Summary:

*I was given this free review copy of this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Angela Rysk returns to continue narrating the series for us. She has given voice to the characters in previous books and continues on with the same voices, along with adding in Val and Hazel. The audio sounds seamless in narration. Angela has become a voice to the world by now.

Going into this book I had one huge question. How does a dragon that's NOT a royal turn into a human? It was said through the first two books that only Royal dragons can turn human. Skye had a small pass because she's half Royal. Valentine is not a Royal dragon. This is explained quickly in the beginning, how Val gets a human form. I'm not sure if I agree to the quick reason for it, I thought there was more to the transformation process, but we move on from there.

Valentine is a new dragon to view. He was mentioned at the end of the previous book, but the order of the story fits with Valentine next. I'm not one for instant love, and shortly after meeting it happens here. Though, it feels to work for Val. Val feels to be a genuine nice guy. He's not out to play all the ladies and he seems as though he's truly interested in Hazel and people. He has a humble feel to him.

This story is of Val finding his way as a king and finding his queen. I like that the story of Val falling for his queen, and she for him, is different than Aspen's. It would have been easy to repeat the same story, but it's different.

I noticed in listening that there are wrong names and pronouns in place. I'm thinking this is an editing thing on behalf of the author and not the narrator, but I don't know.

I like Hazel's evolution in this book. I think she still has further to go and much to learn, but she's got a fair mind about what she sees. Hazel is a tough girl to get close to though, and she has her reasons for this. Hazel questions everything, and gets frustrated when she doesn't get answers. I understand this feeling. I was getting frustrated for her too. But there is an order to things before you can blurt out the truth about dragons to someone who does not like dragons.

We do solve the human killing dragon issue in this book. And start to see the possibility of war among the dragons. This book ends with the arrival of a dragon and person that have been searched for in this book. That will be the next stories tale. I am curious about their tale and why they stayed hidden, so on to the next book I will go.

The series is arcing nicely with the troubles in each book and when the troubles get solved along with adding new elements to the danger list.



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Audio Book Review: Aspen

Aspen

By:  Kimberly Loth

Publish Date:  April 4, 2016, Audiobook Release May 30, 2019

Format:  Audiobook - 6 hrs 30 mins
Narrated By:  Angela Rysk

Genre:  Fantasy

Series:  2nd in The Dragon Kings series; 1st Book ~ Obsidian

Impression:  More in depth look at the dragon's world.

Synopsis:
Sid thought the deaths would end when Marcellus died.
But he thought wrong.
Reeling from the loss of those around him, Sid sets off, not only to avenge the deaths of those he loves, but also to find a way to save his own life.
But the closer he gets to answers, the more people he puts in danger.
Only Sid has the power to end the killer's reign. But it might cost him the one thing he holds most precious.

This thrilling follow-up to Obsidian is a journey of love, death, and betrayal and answers the one question everyone’s been asking:

Is Aspen alive?

First Sentence:
Snow started to fall as Sid drove into the parking lot.

Purchase At:
Amazon  /  Barnes & Nobles 

Audible    (Box Set of Series)

My Thoughts and Summary:

*I was given this free review copy of this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Angela Rysk returns to narrate the characters as we know them. It's always nice when a narrator returns to continue a series as we've gotten to know the characters in her voice, and she continues on with them as she did in the first book.

A few things going on in this book. Sid is in love with Aspen, and her him. They are not willing to give up that love, even at the threat of death. Sid is settled with the idea that when they are found out, he will die. But when a dear friend is sent to help him avoid Aspen he learns there could be another way to save his and Aspen's lives and rule the dragons. It's done with ancient magic and if the council found out...it'd be instant death for him and those involved. Also, they thought the deaths were over with Marcellus now gone, but there is still a golden dragon eating humans.

This book feels to explain much more in the dragon world and their ways. We get to learn more on the different species of dragons and what their gifts are. We even get a look into the Queen's position and her test. I liked learning these details as it feels to flesh out the world more.

This book felt to flow better than the first in events and why things happen. I would say give the second book a try if you liked the idea of the first book but felt there were some holes. The holes aren't 100% filled but the story feels more whole here. The story feels to be a simple one with Sid and Aspen and their fight for love. Sometimes I felt things were as I expected them to be, so I felt the story was easy in it's adventures in this way.

There is still a dragon out there, killing humans. I have my suspicion who that Golden dragon is. I've thought it was this person from the beginning. The small hints left do lend toward who I'm thinking, but we haven't gotten his name yet.

There is more coming in the dragon world. There's danger ahead for the king but it also seems the gods have prepared for that. Listen or read the book and you'll know what's coming along with how the gods prepared for it.

I enjoyed Sid and Aspen together here. They felt like a team and a great couple. There are still boundaries, and they are working on getting to know each other better.

I will be continuing on with the series to see what will happen. I have an idea as the whole series is out, but I look forward to the adventure.



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