Showing posts with label April Fernsby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label April Fernsby. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Audio Book Review: The Centaur's Last Breath

The Centaur's Last Breath

By:  April Fernsby

Publish Date:  July 3, 2017, Audiobook Release January 25, 2019

Format:  Audiobook - 4 hrs 45 mins
Narrated By:  Rebecca McKernan

Genre:  Paranormal Cozy Mystery

Series:  3rd in A Brimstone Witch Mystery series; Book 2 ~ As Dead As A Vampire

Impression:  Relaxing cozy mystery with magic

Synopsis:
A Paranormal Cozy Mystery

Cassia Winter is a witch. With the help of her cat, Stanley, she investigates crime in the magical town of Brimstone.

A centaur has died while out on a run. His death is confirmed as heart failure by a doctor. But the centaur’s father is adamant that his son was murdered and asks for Cassia’s help.

Cassia starts to investigate the centaur’s death and is soon convinced it was murder. Furthermore, she discovers the centaur had made many enemies in the lead-up to his death.

As Cassia and Stanley get deeper into the investigation, a stranger comes into their lives. This stranger is welcome, but things quickly take a turn for the worse and Cassia realises someone is out to cause her a great deal of harm.

First Sentence:
"There's been another murder."

Purchase At:
Amazon  /  Barnes & Nobles 

Audible

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

When I started the audio book, I had to stop and listen to Rebecca. She's a new voice for me. But I found as she narrated it sounded like she was speaking fast. She also doesn't do much of a difference in character or personality when the person speaking changes. As the book went on, I did pick up slight differences but it took me a little to get settled into her pace. I do like that she has the accent that feels to follow through with Cassia and others in Brimstone.

This book starts the next day after solving the case of the vampire death in book two. There are a few things going on in town. There's still dark magic seeping into the town that's agitating the residents and setting them to violent actions. Blythe thinks she knows who's behind the dark magic, but needs Cassia to tend to a new murder and the complaints from the residents of town. Blythe also asks Luca to help, which brings about another problem for Cassia. Astrid, Luca's girlfriend.

Cassia still doubts her magic. She thinks she'll make a mistake and that mistake will hurt someone. This is something she needs to work on, and starts with small steps. Cassia is growing with each case and contact with people. She's doing her best to not get mad and react, she knows this won't help things. Cassia does a great job of keeping calm.

Cassia does appear to be fair in her questioning for the case. She asks about everything and not jump to conclusions. I like this as she feels to be a true Justice Witch in this fashion, and a fair person. Although, there is more going on in town as people feel to be irritable and it might be impacting Stanley and Cassia.

I have my eye on Astrid though. There is something up with her and I wonder if it has to do with the dark magic seeping into the town or if there's more to her. I do enjoy Luca and him spending time with Cassia. He seems so kindhearted.

This is a relaxing mystery with paranormal twist as it's in a magic city. I kept track of the clues and what Cassia learns along the way and it feels to work out in the end. If you looked at the audiobook length, it's just shy of 5 hours. This book is written in a fashion that the story moves forward with each scene. There is no wasted time here. I love this, no wasted words.

I've enjoyed visiting Brimstone, and look forward to doing so in the future.



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

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Audio Book: As Dead as a Vampire

As Dead as a Vampire

By:  April Fernsby

Publish Date:  July 5, 2017, Audiobook Release June 19, 2018

Format:  Audiobook - 6 hrs
Narrated By:  Beverley Murray

Genre:  Urban Fantasy

Series:  2 in A Brimstone Witch Mystery series

Impression:  Cozy witch mystery as the witch grows internally too.

Synopsis:
A Cozy Mystery With Witches

Cassia Winter is a witch. She investigates crime in the supernatural town of Brimstone.

There’s an increase in the illegal use of black magic in Brimstone resulting in the crime rate escalating. Taking her gran’s advice, Cassia takes up residence in town so she can observe anyone who’s acting out of character.

It’s not long before Cassia comes across the murdered body of a vampire. Cassia discovers he was a particularly nasty vampire who had countless enemies – and there are many residents who are happy to see him dead. But which one of his enemies actually killed him?

First Sentence:
"Why have you packed my suitcase?

Purchase At:
Amazon  /  Barnes & Nobles 

Audible

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

Gran loves having Cassia home, but wants Cassia to stay in Brimstone for a few days to get to know the people in town. There is black magic in Grimstone making the residence do bad things they normally wouldn't do. By staying in town, Cassia will get to know the town folk and how what they are doing is abnormal. Then, with Cassia learning her powers as a witch, they can start to take on cases separately to solve and take care of events quicker. But, Cassia has a terrible feeling in her stomach at the thought of staying in Grimstone. Something very terrible will happen, and soon...

I was attracted to Beverley's accent straight away. She has a slight British accent that feels soft and natural for the character as she speaks. Cassia feels relaxed with her family, and learning about herself with being a witch. Beverley really brings Cassia's personality out in voice. I loved the feeling I got, and how it fit the story and characters. Beverley was clear and clean with her pronunciations and character feelings as she narrated. Lovely job.

This is a relaxing, cozy mystery story. It's clean of language and intimate moments. I enjoy a good, clean mystery book. It's nice with being in audio because I don't have to worry about language, sexiness, or anything being too much for co-workers if they walk into my office.

I know Grimstone is different, but I get the cozy feeling from it like I did from Halloween town in the Disney Halloween movies. I love this feeling. Of course, Grimstone isn't as safe as it once was and that's something to look into, but it feels homey. And it's full of supernatural creatures!

This story holds a few objectives/mysteries for us. The main objective of Cassia going to Brimstone is to get to know the residents better, observe them. This is so she can know when they are doing something out of character that's law breaking. So there will be more cases to solve in the future with breaking the law. But Cassia and Gran know there is something evil making the people do these things. This is the over all mystery that feels it will flow through the series. The case in this book, that Cassia comes across is a murder of an old vampire.

Cassia seems like a timid person. She's a little anxious about being in Grimstone, and we learn why. Cassia is also seems unsure about herself as her life has recently had a drastic change, which is book one. But as the story goes, she grows bolder and stronger in believing in herself. Even Stanley too. Stanley is Cassia's familiar and cat. He's adorable and fits her perfectly. Stanley and Cassia seem like two peas in a pod, so similar in personality, and both grow in this story as they meet people and become more confident in their selves.

This is book two in the series. Yep, I read it out of order. But, I didn't feel it deterred from the book at all. We understand the situation of Cassia, learning about her new discoveries from the first book. This is a case all of its own, so it doesn't affect the story-line. You are good to read this one before book one, and still enjoy the book.

I would like to go back and pick up book one now. And continue with the series as it goes. Also, I hope Beverley sticks with the story as she really felt to fit Cassia so wonderfully.



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