Melanie
Written on Aug 16, 2016
I listened to the Mageri series when it was first released on audio back in 2014. I really enjoyed it. Simon was one of my favorite characters in that series, so when I heard Simon was getting his own book, I was really excited. So now I get to learn more about Simon Hunt, who is part of the Mageri Halo organization and a great strategist. He has always been a ladies’ man. I should point out at this series is UF, so the main character in the original five books takes a while to find her love. Here, Simon does it in one book.
So a council member asks Simon for a favor. It’s a big one. Novis, the council member, asks Simon to train a Learner of another council member. One that Simon can’t stand named Hannah. So, Simon shows up to talk to Hannah about it, he learns that Ella is deaf. She was at a party that was attacked and the injury isn’t able to healed because of something that was used during the battle. Hannah is embarrassed that her learner is “defective”. She isn’t progressing like she should be. Hannah will either have to live with the fact that she will have to take care of Ella for the rest of her life or “put her down”.
Simon agrees to help Hannah. One, Hannah is paying him a lot money. Two, a very powerful council member, in Novis, would own him a favor. He quickly learns that Ella isn’t nearly as “defective” as Hannah thinks she is. Once Simon starts to train her, her progress grows really quickly. Hannah is very protective of Ella and there is a reason for that (I won’t say why, so no spoilers). She has kept her sheltered since the accident and Ella is feeling suffocated. Once Simon is around, he takes her outside and out into the world.
Both Simon and Ella have a pretty brutal past. That past has both taken them to where they are now and it has brought plenty of baggage with it. This past has helped to bring Simon and Ella together. While training, Simon learns that someone is following them. He works with someone from the Chitah race to help track down who is following them. Chitah are a species that have animalistic qualities, but they aren’t shifters. They will grow claws and teeth, but that’s it.
This story is a nice paranormal romance with a ton of suspense. If you haven’t tried this series, I highly recommend it. I really enjoyed it. You can read this book without having read the Mageri series, but there are spoilers in this book for the previous five books, so it is really best if you read/listen to them first.
Narration
Nicole Poole narrated the first five books in the Mageri series, and continues to do well with this book. I really enjoyed her narration. She does a great job with both male and female voices. Also, Simon is British, so she had to do his accent, which I thought was pretty good. I really thought she added to the story.
**I like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.