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grapeapril75's review
4.0
Check out my other listens at Eargasms Audiobook Reviews
I am really digging this series, great characters, creative plots and yummy steam. Each book gets more into the intrigue and draws you into the series. Great mix of supernatural creatures, lovin the Urban Fantasy elements.
Aiden was a favorite from the first book, so I am happy to see his story. Things jump right off at the beginning of the book. I would have liked so sort of prologue to show us their past relationship. I prefer to see things rather than be told about them after.
Elise is a very interesting gal, she has been through a lot. She really had great strength, especially when it comes to her man or her child. I loved her empathy, it really went hand in hand with her healing. It would have been nice to see more of her struggle after the attack, it would have made her growth more impressive.
The dynamic between all the characters is great. The story progresses at a great pace, never a lull. The world becomes fuller and more detailed as the series continues. Love the mixed narrative, you get a much better feeling for the romance when you have both character's POV.
The steam is really delicious, even in the midst of all the drama. I love the yummy smexy action, this series gives plenty of delightful detail. This will seriously warm you up!!
I listened to the audio-book, the narrator, Gabra Zackman, does a great job. She has distinct voices for each character. She does a wonderful job of going with the flow of the story. I will definitely be looking for more read by her!
I can not wait to see the next books, you get hints at the lead couples in them. Next up is a delicious werewolf!!
I am really digging this series, great characters, creative plots and yummy steam. Each book gets more into the intrigue and draws you into the series. Great mix of supernatural creatures, lovin the Urban Fantasy elements.
Aiden was a favorite from the first book, so I am happy to see his story. Things jump right off at the beginning of the book. I would have liked so sort of prologue to show us their past relationship. I prefer to see things rather than be told about them after.
Elise is a very interesting gal, she has been through a lot. She really had great strength, especially when it comes to her man or her child. I loved her empathy, it really went hand in hand with her healing. It would have been nice to see more of her struggle after the attack, it would have made her growth more impressive.
The dynamic between all the characters is great. The story progresses at a great pace, never a lull. The world becomes fuller and more detailed as the series continues. Love the mixed narrative, you get a much better feeling for the romance when you have both character's POV.
The steam is really delicious, even in the midst of all the drama. I love the yummy smexy action, this series gives plenty of delightful detail. This will seriously warm you up!!
I listened to the audio-book, the narrator, Gabra Zackman, does a great job. She has distinct voices for each character. She does a wonderful job of going with the flow of the story. I will definitely be looking for more read by her!
I can not wait to see the next books, you get hints at the lead couples in them. Next up is a delicious werewolf!!
chllybrd's review
4.0
I very much enjoyed reading about Elise and Aidan. In the first about 30 pages I didn't think I was going to like it as much as I liked book 1 Motor City Fae but I was pleasantly surprised and happy to find out I was wrong. There was plenty of Action, Twists, Turns and Sexy scenes to keep me entertained and engaged. I also love it when series that have books about different characters continue including the previous book characters in the background so you can continue to follow there story and this did with Meagan and Ric.
shelleyrae's review
2.0
I thought Motor City Fae had some potential as the first book in a new paranormal romance series and so I welcomed the chance to review the sequel, Motor City Witch. This book continues the main story arc from the first, but shifts the focus to the relationship of Elise and Aiden.
Elise and Aiden's relationship is nicely developed and they are both likeable characters. Aiden is less arrogant than I was expecting, and I think Pape managed to show several sides of his character. Elise has strength, common sense and is a more coherent heroine than Megan was in Motor City Fae.
As a paranormal romance, the plot is secondary to the romance of the featured couple, however there is a reasonable balance of mystery, action to maintain interest. Pape has vastly improved the flow and pace of the story over the first, characters actions push the plot along rather than convenient coincidence.
I do feel that in general the writing style lacks sophistication and subtlety. In my advance copy I found a couple of errors that I assume will be fixed on publication. Pape has a talent for writing her initimate encounters though, they are steamy and tastefully explicit, though I think at least one of the sex scenes was poorly placed in the storyline.
Pape's world has so much potential with a mix of fae, werewolves, witches, djinn, trolls, goblins and even orcs but I don't think she provides enough detail to really immerse you in the fantasy world. She doesn't effectively explain how the worlds of Overhill and Underhill relate to each other, nor how the other paranormal creatures stand in the parallel system.
For me, Motor City Witch is a rather ordinary paranormal romance, but I think fans of the formula will be entertained by it. I hope that Pape continues to improve the series as it grows.
Elise and Aiden's relationship is nicely developed and they are both likeable characters. Aiden is less arrogant than I was expecting, and I think Pape managed to show several sides of his character. Elise has strength, common sense and is a more coherent heroine than Megan was in Motor City Fae.
As a paranormal romance, the plot is secondary to the romance of the featured couple, however there is a reasonable balance of mystery, action to maintain interest. Pape has vastly improved the flow and pace of the story over the first, characters actions push the plot along rather than convenient coincidence.
I do feel that in general the writing style lacks sophistication and subtlety. In my advance copy I found a couple of errors that I assume will be fixed on publication. Pape has a talent for writing her initimate encounters though, they are steamy and tastefully explicit, though I think at least one of the sex scenes was poorly placed in the storyline.
Pape's world has so much potential with a mix of fae, werewolves, witches, djinn, trolls, goblins and even orcs but I don't think she provides enough detail to really immerse you in the fantasy world. She doesn't effectively explain how the worlds of Overhill and Underhill relate to each other, nor how the other paranormal creatures stand in the parallel system.
For me, Motor City Witch is a rather ordinary paranormal romance, but I think fans of the formula will be entertained by it. I hope that Pape continues to improve the series as it grows.
schomj's review
2.0
category romance, urban fantasy-lite, plot moppets -- if that combination of things sounds appealing to you, I think you would like this. It really didn't work for me, though.
The good: Carina Press. The copy editing was really well done and the book was available in non-DRM ePub format, which means I could read it on my iPod or on my laptop with no problems. Win!
The ok: The plotting. It mostly made sense and was a fairly interesting storyline, although I do hope that at some point the author explains why the villain wants to take over Detroit. There was brief mention of other places in the world, but mostly my response was... Why Detroit? Why not Raleigh or Beijing or someplace else? I'm willing to roll with it, but I need to understand the strategic importance of Detroit in this world.
The bad: The world-building.
Very loosely sketched out. I never really got a feel for the cultures of the different races or any of the locations. It was like the author took a bunch of fantasy tropes, threw them in a blender, and came out with a mess. It might work for category romance, where the focus is more on the character development, but as an attempt at urban fantasy it was pretty much a fail.
The really bad: The characters. I won't go into the secondary characters, since even the primaries were so poorly sketched out as to be stick figures.
Dina, the daughter of Elise and the maybe-daughter of Aidan (although the answer to the maybe part is broadcast pretty loudly in the first chapter, which makes one of these characters look like a moron). Dina is intelligent, sparkly happy, and super powerful. She is also kidnapped through most of the first part of the book, thus bringing Elise and Aidan together again to search for her. So the question is, is Dina a plot moppet or a toddler MarySue? Having all of the reasons that Elise and Aidan broke up 5 years prior solved with the addition of Dina to the mix doesn't work for me, but given the number of Harlequin titles that work on this precept I imagine that it was a very deliberate characterization on the author's part.
The five-years-ago version of Aidan is described as a workaholic control freak. The present-day version of Aidan is a kind of schmoopy Fae lord with magical powers and a big bank balance. He apparently really regrets letting Elise go 5 years ago, but seriously, a really powerful Fae lord with a ton of money and servants can't find out his ex-girlfriend's phone number and give her a call? Yeah, she moved to Vancouver, it's not like she moved back in time.
Elise, though, is the one who bugged me the most. She's half-Chinese, half-Irish. The Irish part isn't discussed at all, and the Chinese part of her heritage is characterized by her fondness for wearing cherry blossom scented products and a reference to foot binding. Over 4,000 years of Chinese culture whittled down to cherry blossoms and foot binding. She doesn't even call her mother when her daughter is kidnapped or recovered. I mean, really? Really? Once again, there are telephones in Vancouver (which is, I assume, where her parents live. They're not really mentioned at all.) Other than that, she pretty much stands around and gets mad that Aidan tries to protect her.
Bottom line: I feel like there was so much potential in this book, but it was so poorly thought-out that none of it really worked for me. At the end it, my reaction is: needs improvement.
I received a digital ARC of this book through NetGalley.
The good: Carina Press. The copy editing was really well done and the book was available in non-DRM ePub format, which means I could read it on my iPod or on my laptop with no problems. Win!
The ok: The plotting. It mostly made sense and was a fairly interesting storyline, although I do hope that at some point the author explains why the villain wants to take over Detroit. There was brief mention of other places in the world, but mostly my response was... Why Detroit? Why not Raleigh or Beijing or someplace else? I'm willing to roll with it, but I need to understand the strategic importance of Detroit in this world.
The bad: The world-building.
Very loosely sketched out. I never really got a feel for the cultures of the different races or any of the locations. It was like the author took a bunch of fantasy tropes, threw them in a blender, and came out with a mess. It might work for category romance, where the focus is more on the character development, but as an attempt at urban fantasy it was pretty much a fail.
The really bad: The characters. I won't go into the secondary characters, since even the primaries were so poorly sketched out as to be stick figures.
Dina, the daughter of Elise and the maybe-daughter of Aidan (although the answer to the maybe part is broadcast pretty loudly in the first chapter, which makes one of these characters look like a moron). Dina is intelligent, sparkly happy, and super powerful. She is also kidnapped through most of the first part of the book, thus bringing Elise and Aidan together again to search for her. So the question is, is Dina a plot moppet or a toddler MarySue? Having all of the reasons that Elise and Aidan broke up 5 years prior solved with the addition of Dina to the mix doesn't work for me, but given the number of Harlequin titles that work on this precept I imagine that it was a very deliberate characterization on the author's part.
The five-years-ago version of Aidan is described as a workaholic control freak. The present-day version of Aidan is a kind of schmoopy Fae lord with magical powers and a big bank balance. He apparently really regrets letting Elise go 5 years ago, but seriously, a really powerful Fae lord with a ton of money and servants can't find out his ex-girlfriend's phone number and give her a call? Yeah, she moved to Vancouver, it's not like she moved back in time.
Elise, though, is the one who bugged me the most. She's half-Chinese, half-Irish. The Irish part isn't discussed at all, and the Chinese part of her heritage is characterized by her fondness for wearing cherry blossom scented products and a reference to foot binding. Over 4,000 years of Chinese culture whittled down to cherry blossoms and foot binding. She doesn't even call her mother when her daughter is kidnapped or recovered. I mean, really? Really? Once again, there are telephones in Vancouver (which is, I assume, where her parents live. They're not really mentioned at all.) Other than that, she pretty much stands around and gets mad that Aidan tries to protect her.
Bottom line: I feel like there was so much potential in this book, but it was so poorly thought-out that none of it really worked for me. At the end it, my reaction is: needs improvement.
I received a digital ARC of this book through NetGalley.
daisy87's review
3.0
Let me first say that faeries aren't really my thing, I discovered this when I read Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr. That said, the Fae didn't annoy me in this one (yay for the author!). I thought they were at time snobbish and egomaniacs, but well, I get that when I read about royalty as well, so that wasn't really a big deal.
I would however have liked if Pape had gone a bit deeper into the paranormal side of the story instead of the romance part. There are so many different paranormal beings to choose from: Fae, witches, werewolves, orcs, all come wirring past, but I felt like the story could have revolved around typical human beings and been just fine as a romance.
I liked Elise and Aidan as the main characters, though I would have liked to see Elise man up a bit more and not jump to weird conclusions sometimes. I also liked the girl, Dina, she was a bit mature for her age, but I like smart children and she was definitely intelligent. Although I thought her huge magical abilities were a bit too much for an untrained 4-year old.
Oh, and if you can't guess who the father is after reading the summary, you should probably read it again (it was pretty obvious).
I didn't really get why Elise's brother was so angry with Aidan, sure they had broken up and he should be all brotherly protective, but after about 5 years that should sort of pass, right? I also assume we'll get to see why he has such a strong dislike for werewolves in a book that centers around him in the series.
My rating: 3 stars (I didn't cry at the romance, so I can't give it more than this)
I would however have liked if Pape had gone a bit deeper into the paranormal side of the story instead of the romance part. There are so many different paranormal beings to choose from: Fae, witches, werewolves, orcs, all come wirring past, but I felt like the story could have revolved around typical human beings and been just fine as a romance.
I liked Elise and Aidan as the main characters, though I would have liked to see Elise man up a bit more and not jump to weird conclusions sometimes. I also liked the girl, Dina, she was a bit mature for her age, but I like smart children and she was definitely intelligent. Although I thought her huge magical abilities were a bit too much for an untrained 4-year old.
Oh, and if you can't guess who the father is after reading the summary, you should probably read it again (it was pretty obvious).
I didn't really get why Elise's brother was so angry with Aidan, sure they had broken up and he should be all brotherly protective, but after about 5 years that should sort of pass, right? I also assume we'll get to see why he has such a strong dislike for werewolves in a book that centers around him in the series.
My rating: 3 stars (I didn't cry at the romance, so I can't give it more than this)