Serpent's Touch

Serpent's Touch, Book 1

De: Marina Simcoe

Narrado por: Stefanie Kay, Tyler Donne

Mysterious and tragic, Madame Tan’s menagerie is the only home I’ve ever known.

It’s a place where two worlds merge; a twilight zone between Earth and the magical Kingdom of Nerifir.

The menagerie is filled with fantastic animals, but I discover that Madame captures and displays sentient beings too.

One of them is locked in a crate day and night, not seen by anyone, and one day I learn why—looking at him kills. Even talking to Kyllen is forbidden, but I break that rule.

I break many rules for him.

He wants his freedom and offers me a chance to escape Madame’s cruelties.

Little do I realize that with Kyllen, my heart is in even greater danger than my life.

Can I love a man whom I can’t even see?

Serpent's Touch is a slow-burn MF romance that contains graphic descriptions of intimacy and is intended for mature listeners. It is part 1 of a duet set in Marina Simcoe's world of the River of Mists. It ends with a HFN (Happy For Now), but the story continues in part 2, Serpent's Claim.

Cover art design copyright Marina Simcoe. Images and fonts licensed by Depositphotos.com.

©2022 Marina Simcoe (P)2022 Podium Audio

good but not what I expected

this was a cute story I would say this a good read for young adults the voices were great the story cute but there was no spice not really any real chemistry between the main characters I hate cliffhangers if I had known that was what this was I would not have used a credit but all in all if you like spicy hot love scenes this is not the book for you

The Best! ✨🌟

I can’t say enough how entertaining and unique this book was. I wish I read it earlier! I love the characters. Plus, the storyline held my interest. I can’t wait for the next book to come out on Audible; so I’ll definitely be reading ahead. However, I get the Audiable too come 12/27!

Hot!

Tyler Donne's voice is hot! The intimate scenes spicy! Crazy, but weirdly addictive. Looking forward to the next book.

A Good Start

Interesting take on a romance with a Gorgan...who thinks anyone with a head full of snakes...er..senties that could turn you to stone if you gaze at them could be found sexy? Well Simcoe made it work! Both performers did a good job and the story was really good. Unfortunately I feel it started out strong but ended with a whimper. Even so, it was good enough for me to get the 2nd part because I want to know what life in Kyllen's world is like and how Amira will cope. The love was Luke warm at best but gives hope that maybe in the 2nd part it will be more singe worthy. 3 Stars - I don't think I will listen to it again.

brilliant story and characters, loved it!

excellent readers and the author has an uncanny ability to draw you in and make you fall in love with the quirky characters. finished it in one sitting. cant wait to read no 2!

Just…odd

The narration is good. The story is fairly well-written but the subject matter is odd and off-putting. This sheltered, innocent, uneducated girl putting her life and sexuality into an experienced stranger’s hands feels like grooming. I think I’m on chapter 12 or so and am going to let this one go. It’s just uncomfortable.

Exceptional Story

I enjoyed this book so much for the amazing world building and unique plot. I was so thoroughly engaged in the book that I struggled putting it down. So worth a credit.

Loved this

I really enjoyed this book. Great characters and storyline. I did read the Madame Tan books first, which I also really enjoyed, and they give this book a lot of background so I would recommend that although you wouldn’t have to to enjoy this one. I just started book two in this duo and really looking forward to more of this story. I love a good romance in a unique world and this is all of that.

Lacking Sexy Excitement

i dont know when this book's story climaxed. I personally don't like virgin female leads. It makes sense for her story but I'd have given this a 5 star if everything was a little more spicy. Felt like a YA story.

Mixed Feelings

I am going to guess that this duology would work better as a single book (started book 2 and it easily could have been just part 2, imo).

I really liked Amira as a protagonist. I tend to prefer gentle & intelligent female protagonists anyway, but with the current popularity of mean girl/boss bitch female protagonists in romantasy, she felt even more like a breath of fresh air.
I also really like stories of healing and personal growth.

That being said, our male love interest? Temperament wise, he's so stereotypical that he could be easily switched with pretty much any other standard male love interest from a romantasy book, especially one of the SJM male fae protagonists. Arrogant and self-assured beyond belief. Proud. Possessive. The best warrior. The most handsome man in existence 🙄 I think that sounds quite familiar by now in the romantasy genre and I am sick and tired of it.

Also, while I am not usually bothered by pet names (and sometimes I can find them to be cute), sweet pea is definitely outside of my comfort zone. Who the heck wants to be called a sweet pea?!!

Steamy scenes felt pretty cringe-y to me. I was not enjoying them. I especially found the male narrator's moans to be uncomfortable to listen to. Additionally, and while I might have been naïve for not seeing this in advance (mostly because I didn't expect the snakes on his head to be that long), the steamy scenes definitely land into tentacle porn territory, imo. And that is not something I tend to enjoy.

While I cannot properly verbalize it, there was something about Amira being blindfolded in this new land that made me quite uncomfortable. Like, even though she openly consented to it, taking so much of her agency made me uncomfortable. Especially since blindfolding her could have easily been avoided by simply finding her a pair of glasses.

I listened to this book on audio and I found the male narrator, Tyler Donne, to be more or less ok, except in sexy scenes. The female narrator, Stefanie Kay, was very good, imo. She captured Amira's emotions and fears very well. I would gladly pick up something else she narrates.