A Game of Love and Betrayal

The Choosing Chronicles, Book 1

By: Elayna R. Gallea

Narrated by: Kale Williams, Meg Sylvan

He requires a wife. She needs to kill him. All's fair in pursuit of love and revenge.

What's a vampire to do when the fae who made her an orphan is searching for a wife? Make him choose her and end his life on their wedding night, of course.

Brynleigh has been carefully planning this for years. Her plan is simple: date Ryker Waterborn, the Fae Representative's son, make him fall in love with her, and kill him after they say, "I do."

Unfortunately, it will not be that easy. She won't be the only one going after Ryker's hand. Far from it. Two dozen men and women are competing in the choosing, each searching for their perfect partner. The catch? It's a blind selection process, and contestants won't see each other until they have made their choice.

Nothing will stand between Brynleigh and her revenge, not even a competition for love.

A Game of Love and Betrayal is the first book in The Choosing Chronicles, a captivating enemies-to-lovers, new adult contemporary high fantasy romance.

©2024 Elayna R. Gallea (P)2024 Podium Audio

Great story - female voice is rough

Male voicing is done well. Female voice is hard to get through. Story is worth is, did not expect it to end so abruptly as the book continues on as a set of stories.

Okay performance, not great plot or characters

After 10 hours of listening to the MFC be wishy washy and talk about the same stuff she was conflicted over endlessly, then immediately do the opposite, I was SO bored. I found myself skipping past a lot of her POV. Meanwhile MMC was more enjoyable, but I still found him lacking in personality. Maybe it was the setting. I despise reality tv type love game shows and I didn’t realize that was the setting for this book, almost DNF when I realized that. But I was promised a strong bad a** morally grey MFC so I thought I’d give it a chance and push through. It wouldn’t be the first series that had been like that.

But no. Finished this one and started the second and decided to be done after a handful of chapters. Our supposed assassin vampire bad a** morally grey MFC is just not that. Her character is inconsistent. The MMC is passive and dull at best.

I think it could have been better, even with the setting, had “the choosing” been only like the first third of the book, we got to see the characters interacting with their friends more and get to know them outside of their interactions with each other, and if the MFC had been more strong willed and consistent and… a little more heartless.. the more morally grey one. And if they had been more slow burn.

That all being said, the performance was Okay. I really hated the female narrator’s voice for the men. But I really liked the male narrator.

I hate to leave negative reviews. I’m sure some will love it. But if you’re looking for a strong morally grey MFC and a slow burn, this isn’t the one for you.

slow burn, wonderful world building, strong FM, cliffhanger

Ok, I was presently surprised by this book. There is a very interesting story line. The narration was good, though some of the extra character voices could have been better. The chemistry obetween
Ryker and Brynliegh wassmoking hot. The male voice was dreamy, deep, rumbly and the female voice was surprising plasing and raspy. This book ends on a huge cliffhanger, so beware if your reading it before book two comes out. I cannot wait to read book two and find out what happened

Great story, problematic name

I loved everything except the main character's name. Every time I heard "Brynleigh", I thought of my cousin, which was extremely problematic at times. Otherwise, what a great story with unexpected twists.

thought it would've been better

slow and predicable. not taking advantage with having both narrators read was kinda annoying.

Love it!

So ready to start the next one! Story left me wanting more! I can’t wait to see how their story continues on!

Fun listen

This book was a slow burn that was definitely worth it. You had a chance to get to know the characters before everything went down. I am a sucker for an equal power dynamic and a FMC who can fend for herself.
For the reviewers saying they were tired of Brynleigh 'whining'. My brother in Christ, there is a reason she was sent to kill the dude. That is not something you forget because the guys is hunky and says the right things!
I digress. This is a good listen and I devoured it in two days. Do yourself a favor and give it a go.

I need more!

I can’t tell you how disappointed I am to have to wait for the next installment. I need book 2!

Lack of character and plot development

I was so intrigued by a morally gray FML and the fantasy aspect of fae/vampire/wolves, etc. but this book is such a let down. There is almost not plot or character development. It feels as though nothing meaningful happens until the last 5 chapters, which ends on a cliffhanger. I don’t mind cliffhangers in themselves but I have no interest in the outcome bc the development of and between characters was so dull and lacking. So much potential, but very disappointing.

Could NOT get through it

The premise was interesting but the supposed relationship building was ridiculous, it came out of nowhere. All of a sudden he feels so protective of her? From what? It just felt forced and ridiculous.