Audible Book Review: Marked in Flesh, The Others, Book 4 by Anne Bishop

This is another engaging story in this good series.
Marked in Flesh
A Novel of the Others, Book 4
By: Anne Bishop
Narrated by: Alexandra Harris

Length: 15 hrs and 21 mins
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Genre: Alternate History, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.5; Narration 4.5.

Publisher's Summary
Fourth in the "flawless" (The Reading Café) New York Times best-selling series from the author of Vision in Silver.
For centuries, the Others and humans have lived side by side in uneasy peace. But when humankind oversteps its bounds, the Others will have to decide how much humanity they're willing to tolerate - both within themselves and within their community....
Since the Others allied themselves with the cassandra sangue, the fragile yet powerful human blood prophets who were being exploited by their own kind, the delicate dynamic between humans and Others changed. Some, like Simon Wolfgard, wolf shifter and leader of the Lakeside Courtyard, and blood prophet Meg Corbyn see the new closer companionship as beneficial - both personally and practically.
But not everyone is convinced. A group of radical humans is seeking to usurp land through a series of violent attacks on the Others. What they don't realize is that there are older and more dangerous forces than shifters and vampires protecting the land that belongs to the Others - and those forces are willing to do whatever is necessary to protect what is theirs....
©2016 Anne Bishop (P)2016 Penguin Audio

Review:
Meg Corbyn is a cassandra sangue, a young woman who was trained to cut herself to bring forth prophesies. She managed to escape her handlers and stumbled into the Lakeside Courtyard. She was given shelter and a job by the community leader, Simon Wolfgard, a wolf shifter. The local shifters and elementals (the Others), like Meg and her ‘human’ presence has brought a favorable situation for other humans in the town.

There has been a power-hungry group of humans who want the land and control that have been kept from them by the Others. They have stirred up public sentiment dividing the humans between those who will live peacefully with the Others and those who want to boycott and harm the Others. The radical, hateful humans conspire to attack the Others not realizing the hidden forces that will be impacted and angered. The elementals and hidden forces have to decide ‘how much humanity they are willing to tolerate’. This has several meanings but the most dangerous will be the response triggered when the humans poison the sharks in the ocean and slaughter a pack of wolf shifters as a show of force.

Running in the background of the conflict between the humans and Others, Meg and other cassandra sangue are looking for a way to produce their prophesies without cutting themselves. Sometimes the prophesies are unclear and can be misinterpreted. The young women are finding ways to communicate with each other, as one is drawing images. Meg, with local human friends, realizes that she (as the recognized pathfinder) may be able to develop cards, similar to a tarot deck, for use by herself and others. This developing modification is needed to protect the young women and I like how it is changing through the books.

I enjoy the positive relationship between the Others and the humans in Lakeside Courtyard and the handful of other communities that are cooperative. The racism and hate of the radical group is horrendous. The story has good suspense that kept me interested and engaged. I highly recommend this book in the series. I do recommend reading the series in order to get a clear picture of the nature of the Others, elementals, and the variety of humans.

Audio Notes: Alexandra Harris continues to do a wonderful job on the narration. The voices and characters are clear and distinct. She conveys the emotions of the characters. The audio experience adds to my enjoyment of the story.

Source: 8/14/2021 July Audible Credit. This qualifies for 2022TBR and 2022Audiobook goals.

Audio Book Review: A Bargain for A Bride by Amelia Rose

I enjoyed this quick, sweet western romance.

A Bargain For A Bride
Written by Amelia Rose
Narrated by Charles D. Baker

Run Time 4h 10min
Release Date: June 15, 2016
Publisher: Gold Crown Publishing
Genre: Historical Romance, Western Romance
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.5; Narration 4.5.

Publisher Description
When Lady Moira Brennan leaves her home at Brennan Castle for the wilds of her own homestead claim in the Montana territory, she had no idea that a husband awaited her. Sold into marriage by her uncle, she arrives to find a bleak landscape of scarce farmers, all desperately trying to scratch out a living on their claims.
Pryor MacAteer came to Montana himself only three years ago, and his farm has prospered. All that he needs to make it complete is a wife and family, one whose passage he paid, and whose name is on the marriage contract.
Will Moira realize her dream of owning her own land and uncover the truth behind a marriage contract with her name on it?

Review:
Lady Moira leaves her Castle in Ireland rather than be forced to marry an elder nobleman at the direction of her uncle. Moira takes along her lady’s maid, Gretchen, to travel by boat to New York where she will pick up the paperwork for her homestead claim in the Montana territory. She has no idea how much work a homestead will take but she plans to heir local workers to help. Again, she has no idea how isolated the location is.

When Moira and Gretchen arrive in New York she manages to get the claim paperwork although the situation seems awkward. Then the women arrive in Montana to an empty train station. Finally, a man appears to pick them up and announces that Moira is to marry him. Pryor paid for a mail order bride since he has put the beginning work into his homestead, and he is ready to have a helpmate to begin a family. He is disappointed that Moira says “no” but he knows that he will have to help her if she is to survive the winter until she can return to where she came from.

Moira realizes that her uncle has somehow cheated Pryor with the false bride papers, but she isn’t going to submit to become a wife when that is why she left Ireland behind. She and Gretchen are willing to help cook and clean for shelter, and she has no intention of returning to Ireland. Moira soon realizes she is facing a daunting job to do the work necessary, including fencing, to complete the homestead claim. She had planned one use for the land, but her claimed land isn’t suitable.

Can Moira survive and get her land ready or will she have to return to Ireland? What can Pryor do to convince Moira to stay and accept his help?

I enjoyed these characters and their different but strong foundations of faith. There was interesting detail about the homestead claims and the struggles that the homesteaders had to face. Many did not get to keep the land because they could not fulfill the requirements. The plot has some twists and the romance is sweet. I recommend this to readers who enjoy historical, western romance.

Audio Notes: Charles D. Baker does a very nice job with the narration. He provides clear voices and fitting emotions for each of the characters. I am glad I had this on audio to listen to.

Source: 11/22/2020 Chirp purchase for $.99. This qualifies for 2022TBR and 2022Audiobook goals.

Sunday Post September 4, 2022/It's Monday! What are You Reading? Plus Mailbox Monday September 5, 2022

I am linking with Sunday Post at Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? now at The Book Date (at Wordpress)

What Are You Reading? is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week. It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

My internet router at home apparently went down and the IT fellow is out of town. I hope to get back on line in the next day or two. It has been frustrating not to have service at home. By the time I get home and eat dinner I have been too tired to even get on the computer so the reviews have not been done. I had to stop in the office Sunday to do the two posts.

We have most items moved back to my real office. There is still much unpacking to do and a bit more supplies and file cabinets to be moved.

Here are images of our front lobby although it is not fully set-up.
Lobby West Wall, paddle ceiling fan and barn door.

Lobby East Reception - hand made privacy desk.
The decorations need to be hung up.

The Sign
I had to turn the light off on the neon sign to make it readable.
My staff ordered that as a surprise.

We are all very excited!

I continue with my previous prayer lists.
Our temps may be a little cooler this coming week at low 80s to just 90 during the days. We are still getting regular summer downpours in the afternoons. 

I enjoyed three more audios.  I posted very little due to the lack of internet at home.
I visited 16 blogs last week.
No Shout Out today.

Audible offerings for free children's titles ended June 30, 2021.
Audiobooks.com is still sharing some free listens for children.

These were the posts last week:

• Sunday Post August 28, 2022/It's Monday! What are You Reading? Plus Mailbox Monday August 29, 2022.

• Sunday Words of Encouragement September 4, 2022 - Listen to the Voice.
  

Finished Reading:
1. Audio Audiobooks App Smartphone (ATBR)

Spellsinger [Dramatized Adaptation]
By Alan Dean Foster
Narrated by: Multi
Duration: 8 hours 1 minutes
This is a fun fantasy listen.
Source: 3/14/2021 Two for One Young Adult Credit Deal at Audiobooks.com.
Click on book title for full description.

2. Audible Smartphone (ATBR)

Double Share
A Trader's Tale from the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper, Book 4
By: Nathan Lowell
Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer
Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
Release date: 09-13-16
I like this series which provides an easy listen.
Source: 9/18/2021 Audible August Credit.
Click on book title for full description.

3. Audio Chirp App Smartphone (ATBR)

A Matter of Trust
Written by Lis Wiehl & April Henry
Read by Eleni Pappageorge
Run Time 9h 6min
This is an okay mystery.
Source: August 2020 Chirp Purchase at $3.99.
Publisher Description
When life is murder, who can you trust? One minute Mia Quinn is in her basement, chatting on the phone with a colleague at the prosecutor’s office. The next minute she hears a gunshot over the line, and Mia listens in horror as her colleague and friend Colleen bleeds to death.
Mia’s a natural for heading up the murder investigation, but these days it’s all she can do to hold her life together. As a new widow with a pile of debts, a troubled teenaged son, and a four-year-old who wakes up screaming at night, she needs more time with her family, not less-and working Colleen’s case will be especially demanding. But Colleen was her friend, and she needs to keep her job. So Mia reluctantly teams up with detective Charlie Carlson to investigate. But the deeper they dig, the more complications unfold-even the unsettling possibility that someone may be coming after her.
Lis Wiehl’s signature plot twists and relatable characters shine in this absorbing series debut … with an intriguing cameo from her best-selling Triple Threat series. ôA stunning crime series debut … Smart, suspenseful, and full of twists that only an insider like Wiehl could pull off”. (Linda Fairstein, New York Times best-selling author).

Currently Reading:

1. Audible Smartphone (ATBR)

After The Ending
The Ending Series, #1
By: Lindsey Fairleigh, Lindsey Pogue
Narrated by: Natalie Duke
Series: The Ending Series, Book 1
Length: 18 hrs and 10 mins
I went to the older TBR to get this post-apocalyptic.
9 hours in. A bit on the teen angsty side for me but I am interested in the supernatural abilities.
Source: April 2014 Audible Credit.
Publisher's Summary
The best-selling first audiobook in the emotionally charged post-apocalyptic romance series, The Ending Series.
The virus spread. Billions died. The ending began. We may have survived the apocalypse, but the virus changed us.
When people started getting sick, they thought it was just the flu. My roommate, my boyfriend, my family ...they're all gone now. I got sick too. I should have died with them - with the rest of the world - but I didn't. I thought witnessing the human population almost disappear off the face of the earth was the craziest thing I'd ever experience. I was so wrong. My name is Dani O'Connor, I'm twenty-six-years-old, and I survived the ending.
The virus changed everything. The world I knew is gone, and life is backwards. We've all had to start over. I've been stripped of my home, my dreams ...all that is me. I'm someone else now-broken and changed. Other survivors' memories and emotions haunt me. They invade my mind until I can no longer separate them from my own. I won't let them consume me. I can't. My name is Zoe Cartwright, I'm twenty-six-years-old, and I survived the ending.
We've been inseparable for most of our lives, and now our friendship is all we have left. The aftermath of the virus has stranded us on opposite sides of the United States. Trusting strangers, making sacrifices, killing - we'll do anything to reach one another. Fear and pain may be unavoidable, but we're strong ...we're survivors. But to continue surviving in this unfamiliar world plagued by crazies and strange new abilities, we have to adapt. We have to evolve.
And more than anything, we have to find each other.
This audiobook contains some adult content and language.

2. NetGalley App on Smartphone (NGA2022)

Until Someone Listens
A Story About Borders, Family, and One Girl's Mission
by Estela Juarez; Lissette Norman
Narrated by Estela Juarez
Listening Length: 11 minutes
I am interested to listen to this short plea.
Source: NetGalley August 2022.
When Estela Juarez's mom is deported to Mexico, Estela knows she has to speak up for her family. Told in Estela's own words, Until Someone Listens is a true story about a young girl finding her voice and using it to make change.
Estela’s family lives together in a happy home full of love. Or, at least, they used to… until their home was torn apart.
My mom had to go back,
to the other side of the river,
because she wasn’t born in this country.
For years her family fought and fought for permission for her to stay in the U.S. But no one listened. When Estela was eight, her mother was deported to Mexico.
Estela knew she had to do something. So she wrote letters: to local newspapers, Congress, the President, and anyone else who could help. She wrote and wrote and wrote until, finally… someone listened.
In this heart wrenching, autobiographical story, Estela Juarez's letters take her from the local news all the way to the national stage, where she discovers the power in her words and pledges to keep using her voice until her family―and others like hers― are together again.

I am sure I will get to another audio but I haven't decided yet. This time maybe a historical romance or space sci fi.


September 4, 2022 - I continue on track and enjoying the informative videos in The Bible Reading Plan is: BibleProject | One Story that Leads to Jesus. It really soothes me to read the pieces each day.
No new study this week.

I now have 8 books to review plus 7 children's books. I don't recall being this far behind before.

NETGALLEY STATUS-- One new short audio book being listened to this week.
My NG shelf is back to the three old ebook titles. I will probably end up letting A Place Called Armageddon go as DNF.
I don't have any author reviews in my queue right now.
(Plus a few that I received from Facebook links and newsletter sign-ups, not specific review requests.)
Still many titles through InstaFreebie and many new author requests I haven't replied to.

Welcome to Mailbox Monday.

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. This Meme started with Marcia at A Girl and Her Books (fka The Printed Page) and after a tour of hosts has returned to its permanent home at Mailbox Monday. Thanks to the ladies sharing hosting duties: Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit, me and new to the team, Velvet at vvb32reads. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.
No new review title this week.
No audio titles - no internet to be looking.
Two free Kindle titles this week.
Are your mailbox and TBR piles blooming?
***ATTENTION: Mailbox Monday is looking for a new host! If you’re interested, please email savvyverseandwit AT gmail ***

Review Titles

NONE

Won

NONE

Purchased

NONE

Free

9/2/2022 - Facebook link

Fallen Out: A Jesse McDermitt Novel (Caribbean Adventure Series Book 1)
Wayne Stinnett

9/2/22 Another Facebook link

Crossing Over
Paul Clayton

Two titles added to Kindle library. Free titles often found at Bookbub, Bookfun, Book Adrenaline, Ereader News Today, Inspired Reads, Pixel of Ink or Kindle ebooks.

Sunday Words of Encouragement September 4, 2022 - Listen to the Voice

I don't have internet at home so I decided to share this video that was shared by a church friend on Facebook.
So perfect!

Verses for Today:
John 10:27-28 ESV
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.


Lord, please help me dim the other voices and focus only on Your Voice!

Friday Pick Post Delayed 9/2/2022

I am suffering through another week without internet at home. UGH.

Limited time at office as we made the move back to renovated office this week so couple days without phones and internet. We are fully online again but have boxes everywhere.
(This image is for my office - not for my blog.)

I am a good three weeks behind on legal work. Yikes!

I'll post (hopefully) over the weekend from the office. 

Thanks for understanding.

Have a GREAT FRIDAY!!