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teenykins's review against another edition
3.0
2nd re-listen. Dropping my rating to 3 stars from the 4 stars that it was.
Christmas expansion of Dylan and Malic's story. There is a lot of relationship growth and maybe some character development but mostly from Malic's side. Dylan was still willful, annoying and a kid.
I get Dylan's family having issues with Malic being 10+ years older than Dylan but no one made an effort to make it better. Not Dylan's parents and sister (like she had room to talk), NOT Dylan and not Malic, not that Malic could do much since he was a guest!. The 180 that happened after Dylan talked to his family was too quick.
The best part of the story was seeing how Malic starts to depend more on his fellow Warders and even better we get hints about the series not ending just yet. We can only but wait.
Very good narration by Paul Morey with distinguishable voices for the multitude of characters and feelings coming across.
Christmas expansion of Dylan and Malic's story. There is a lot of relationship growth and maybe some character development but mostly from Malic's side. Dylan was still willful, annoying and a kid.
I get Dylan's family having issues with Malic being 10+ years older than Dylan but no one made an effort to make it better. Not Dylan's parents and sister (like she had room to talk), NOT Dylan and not Malic, not that Malic could do much since he was a guest!. The 180 that happened after Dylan talked to his family was too quick.
The best part of the story was seeing how Malic starts to depend more on his fellow Warders and even better we get hints about the series not ending just yet. We can only but wait.
Very good narration by Paul Morey with distinguishable voices for the multitude of characters and feelings coming across.
terriaminute's review
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
5.0
In the first part of this one, I wanted to smack Malic upside the head to knock the obtuseness out. But that's resolved before I got tired of it, and the rest of this one is good, if a little contorted around hiding weapons from normal people, then there's shouting as if they can't also hear. Well, it is a fantasy world.
teresab78's review
3.0
****Reviewed for Prism Book Alliance®****
I reviewed this series together. For GoodReads, I am breaking out each stories individual commentary.
Cherish Your Name, 3.5 Stars
While I liked seeing Malic and Dylan again, this novella was kind of all over the place. The situation in blurb was such a small part of the whole and happens near the end of the book. The rest was Malic, Dylan, and Dylan’s family. Though it wasn’t all roses and there was good relationship development, the book felt like a bit of a roller coaster between “yay! We’re happy!” and “oh no! Somethings wrong”. However, it was all done with Mary Calmes’ flair and you couldn’t help but go along for the ride.
Final Verdict: 4 Stars
Overall this is a good series with entertaining characters, an interesting world, plenty of action, and sexy times. Give it a chance!
I reviewed this series together. For GoodReads, I am breaking out each stories individual commentary.
Cherish Your Name, 3.5 Stars
While I liked seeing Malic and Dylan again, this novella was kind of all over the place. The situation in blurb was such a small part of the whole and happens near the end of the book. The rest was Malic, Dylan, and Dylan’s family. Though it wasn’t all roses and there was good relationship development, the book felt like a bit of a roller coaster between “yay! We’re happy!” and “oh no! Somethings wrong”. However, it was all done with Mary Calmes’ flair and you couldn’t help but go along for the ride.
Final Verdict: 4 Stars
Overall this is a good series with entertaining characters, an interesting world, plenty of action, and sexy times. Give it a chance!
ellelainey's review
5.0
Review will be included in a full Volume review of Warders: Volume 2.
~
This was a fantastic little snippet of an action packed Christmas.
It was really nice to see Malic's old insecurities about the age difference between him and Dylan, because that's not something that is easily resolved or just forgotten, no matter how hard a person might try. There are always niggles and doubts, especially during situations like those presented here. At the same time, it was nice to see Dylan getting jealous, when Malic found a new friend his own age and the hear the amazing way that Dylan's friends supported him when he most needed it.
Again, though, there was the issue of no clear POV label. I know I keep harping on about it, but if someone were to pick this up as a Christmas story, not knowing or seeing that it was part of a series, they'd have no idea for 4 pages who the POV was for. There are hints for those of us familiar with the series, but nothing for an accidental out-of-sequence reader. It would also make my life easier (as I have, medically, a terrible memory for names) to just have it pointed out to me in the first page who is talking, since there are so many characters in this series that it gets confusing trying to remember who is who and how they're related to each other.
I loved that this was a Christmas story, since it's the first of the series and pretty much needed. Just because I love Christmas, it's that time of year as I was reading it, and Christmas is always a special time of year. I was eager to see how it would be for Warders and loved how Ryan had the most natural reaction to being disturbed on Christmas Eve.
It sucked to hear the story of Dylan and Ethan. What Brad did to Malic was crazy but believeable and action-packed.
All in all, it was a great Christmas story with completely normal, human situations to cause drama and chaos, as well as the supernatural demon kind. The ending was great, too. But I can't help but feel that it's not the end. I'm not sure it ever will be.
~
Favourite Quote
““How do you like Christmas cookies?”
I squinted at him. “How should I know?”
He stopped walking and just stared up at me.
“What?”
“Didn't you make Christmas cookies with your mom when you were a little boy?”
“No.”
“Are you telling me you've never made Christmas cookies?”
“It wasn't something we did in my family.”
“You didn't make Christmas cookies and then leave them out for Santa on Christmas Eve?”
“Santa,” I scoffed.
“No?”
“No.”
Dylan turned and yelled at his mother. “Mom, you're not gonna believe this!””
~
This was a fantastic little snippet of an action packed Christmas.
It was really nice to see Malic's old insecurities about the age difference between him and Dylan, because that's not something that is easily resolved or just forgotten, no matter how hard a person might try. There are always niggles and doubts, especially during situations like those presented here. At the same time, it was nice to see Dylan getting jealous, when Malic found a new friend his own age and the hear the amazing way that Dylan's friends supported him when he most needed it.
Again, though, there was the issue of no clear POV label. I know I keep harping on about it, but if someone were to pick this up as a Christmas story, not knowing or seeing that it was part of a series, they'd have no idea for 4 pages who the POV was for. There are hints for those of us familiar with the series, but nothing for an accidental out-of-sequence reader. It would also make my life easier (as I have, medically, a terrible memory for names) to just have it pointed out to me in the first page who is talking, since there are so many characters in this series that it gets confusing trying to remember who is who and how they're related to each other.
I loved that this was a Christmas story, since it's the first of the series and pretty much needed. Just because I love Christmas, it's that time of year as I was reading it, and Christmas is always a special time of year. I was eager to see how it would be for Warders and loved how Ryan had the most natural reaction to being disturbed on Christmas Eve.
It sucked to hear the story of Dylan and Ethan. What Brad did to Malic was crazy but believeable and action-packed.
All in all, it was a great Christmas story with completely normal, human situations to cause drama and chaos, as well as the supernatural demon kind. The ending was great, too. But I can't help but feel that it's not the end. I'm not sure it ever will be.
~
Favourite Quote
““How do you like Christmas cookies?”
I squinted at him. “How should I know?”
He stopped walking and just stared up at me.
“What?”
“Didn't you make Christmas cookies with your mom when you were a little boy?”
“No.”
“Are you telling me you've never made Christmas cookies?”
“It wasn't something we did in my family.”
“You didn't make Christmas cookies and then leave them out for Santa on Christmas Eve?”
“Santa,” I scoffed.
“No?”
“No.”
Dylan turned and yelled at his mother. “Mom, you're not gonna believe this!””
eol's review
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
mrnnprsns's review
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
mishkamiro's review
2.0
I was sooooo happy to go back to Dylan and Malic. Dylan was very shades of Jory Harcourt for me for some reason... And that man is my favourite person in the entire non-world.
But I wanted to explore that whole memory loss thing!!! It was like 5 PAGES!!! Which made me sad...
Mary's characters are phenomenal to me. They are so real and witty. They all have very distinct personalities that she truly sticks to and as an aspiring author I envy that.
There were mentions in this book about Ryan and Leith "powering up" for a bigger battle. Date I hope to see more?!
I also hope that Jackson and Raph don't get screwed out of anything amazing because Raph is a kyrie. That would also be tragic.
Keep em comin Mary!! Your men warm my heart.
But I wanted to explore that whole memory loss thing!!! It was like 5 PAGES!!! Which made me sad...
Mary's characters are phenomenal to me. They are so real and witty. They all have very distinct personalities that she truly sticks to and as an aspiring author I envy that.
There were mentions in this book about Ryan and Leith "powering up" for a bigger battle. Date I hope to see more?!
I also hope that Jackson and Raph don't get screwed out of anything amazing because Raph is a kyrie. That would also be tragic.
Keep em comin Mary!! Your men warm my heart.
teenykins's review
4.0
2nd re-listen Dropping my rating to 3 stars from the 4 stars that it was.
Christmas expansion of Dylan and Malic's story. There is a lot of relationship growth and maybe some character development but mostly from Malic's side. Dylan was still willful, annoying and a kid.
I get Dylan's family having issues with Malic being 10+ years older than Dylan but no one made an effort to make it better. Not Dylan's parents and sister (like she had room to talk), NOT Dylan and not Malic, not that Malic could do much since he was a guest!. The 180 that happened after Dylan talked to his family was too quick.
The best part of the story was seeing how Malic starts to depend more on his fellow Warders and even better we get hints about the series not ending just yet. We can only but wait.
Very good narration by Paul Morey with distinguishable voices for the multitude of characters and feelings coming across.
Christmas expansion of Dylan and Malic's story. There is a lot of relationship growth and maybe some character development but mostly from Malic's side. Dylan was still willful, annoying and a kid.
I get Dylan's family having issues with Malic being 10+ years older than Dylan but no one made an effort to make it better. Not Dylan's parents and sister (like she had room to talk), NOT Dylan and not Malic, not that Malic could do much since he was a guest!. The 180 that happened after Dylan talked to his family was too quick.
The best part of the story was seeing how Malic starts to depend more on his fellow Warders and even better we get hints about the series not ending just yet. We can only but wait.
Very good narration by Paul Morey with distinguishable voices for the multitude of characters and feelings coming across.
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