Best Beast

An Enchanted Occasions Story

By: E.J. Russell

Narrated by: Kirt Graves

Being invisible makes it really hard to get laid.

When half-human Kai Schiffer steps into the Interstices—the post-creation gaps between realms—his supernatural half kicks in, and he literally disappears unless…well, don’t ask.

But in a stroke (heh) of good fortune, Kai finally has a chance to show his face (and other parts, stars willing) to his long-time crush Jovan Kos—Interstitial Law Enforcement agent, wolf warrior, occasional berserker, and best man at their mutual best friends’ Imbolc wedding.

Jovan, who’s half in love with Kai already, is grateful his best man duties are light enough that he can focus all his attention on Kai. After all, with Enchanted Occasions Event Planning handling the Olesson-Pakulski wedding, what could possibly go wrong?

©2021 E.J. Russell (P)2022 E.J. Russell

Fun, sweet story

I really enjoyed this trip back to the Enchanted Occasions universe, although I don't think this one would work well as your first foray into the world, as there is minimal history or background for the organization or many of the side and background characters. However, the MCs were well described and they were both so sweet (yes, even the berserker). The wedding scene is a hoot, but I definitely sympathized with poor Chef. I enjoyed the story and look forward to hearing more stories about Andy and the Enchanted Occasions team.

The narration by Kirt Graves was enjoyable, and I didn't have any trouble distinguishing the various characters' voices.

I received a free review copy of this audiobook and am voluntarily leaving this honest review.

Love the Beast

This was such a fun book the listen to. The different species that are in this were hilarious. Kai and Jovan were so sweet. Listen to them bumble their way to confessing their feelings was great. Hearing them try to make their friends dream wedding come true showed how much they cared for them.

Fun and funny whirlwind

Fast-paced, witty and full of humour this is a great quick read. Great, dynamic and colourful characters and a fun twist on a few wedding disasters. The narration is fantastic and elevates the story!!

Cute story, Good Narration

This was a cute entertaining story. I liked both Kai and Jovan they were interesting characters and good together, I wanted more time with them. The wedding mishaps story was ok, but not my favorite part of the book. I liked the world and all the different species and will check out other stories in Enchanted Occasions universe. Narrator did a great job with all the voices and the story, he made this story an entertaining listening experience.

A lovely listen

Jovan and Kai are hands down my favorite couple!

The plot was exciting and there was so much happening overall.

I didn't want this book to end

The narrator did an amazing job on this one.

Definitely recommend this series

Sweet Friends to Lovers Romance

Another extraordinary, imaginative tale from the very fertile mind of EJ Russell, my go-to “otherworldly” author. Kai is a half-human who presents as invisible on this side of the veil that separates our world from his. He has a major crush on Jovan, a law enforcement agent, wolfen-warrior, and “best beast” at their mutual best friend’s wedding. What Kai doesn’t know is that Jovan is also crushing on him, but like Kai, he believes the crush can go no further than that and friendship will be their only future path.

As stated in the blurb: What could go wrong with a wedding planned by Enchanted Occasions Event Planning? Well, as I listened to this story, I learned that plenty could go wrong—and did! There were mishaps with the bride and the groom, misunderstandings, magical happenings, and a very spiteful and undermining bridesmaid.

Throughout the two days of this story, both Kai and Jovan needed to intervene to try to make the wedding happen, and while doing so, the two friends spent a lot of time together. Listening to them realize the truth of their friendship and attraction to each other gave me the “warm fuzzies” I was hoping for. (No pun intended toward Jovan’s hairy self.)

EJ Russell most definitely took the time to inform readers about the universe and its characters as the story advanced. So, although I haven’t read other stories in the series and I would have liked to know more about this world before listening, I got the big picture through the author’s well-thought out descriptions and explanations.

This was performed by Kirt Graves, one of my favorite narrators. Unfortunately, I was not always able to hear a clear distinction in the main characters’ voices here, so I could not determine who was speaking without paying close attention to the content of what was said. Some of the secondary characters also sounded quite similar, and there were so many crowd scenes that I often had to stop to try to sort out which character was speaking.

But on the whole, I enjoyed Best Beast and my introduction to this world. There’s a sweet friends-to-lovers romance with humor and magic, a bridesmaid I loved to hate, a groom whose heart was laid bare in more ways than one, and a very happy ending for both the bride and groom and for Kai and Jovan. I recommend this for those who’d enjoy being witness to a paranormal romance blooming amidst wedding chaos in a new and interesting universe.

MM Fantasy

This follows the Enchanted Occasions Event planning, for the Wedding of Olesson- Pakulski. Jovan is Best man and he needs Kai's help to save the marriage. it was a clusterf*ck of getting them to the aisle, whilst realising he was in love
Well written and narrated

Romance between the Realms

This was a lot of fun to listen to. It's actually my first book from this series but I'll definitely be going back to read/listen to the previous books.
Kai and Jovan have become really good friends over the past couple of years as they joined their best friends for movie and game nights. It didn't matter that Kai was invisible to everyone whilst in the Interstices, a bond grew between them along with quite a big crush, on both sides. When on Earth's side, Kai is fully visible and the two have the chance to be together, fully, for the first time. What ensues after, when it comes to the wedding of their best friends, is absolute chaos! It reminds me of a comedy caper where everything that can go wrong, does go wrong but from the influence of others.
It's such an entertaining story, both from the relationship aspect and the overall plot of the story. Kai and Jovan are from different worlds and are seen as outsiders even by their own people but together, there is attraction, happiness and love. The wedding is just, insane. No one is safe from the groom to the musician, all happening but not for the reasons I was expecting.
I really enjoy E.J's writing style as she brings characters and the supernatural to life.
Kirk's narration is spot on throughout the story. The voices provided match the the character personalities and I found myself laughing along while listening to all the goings on that they endure.

Enchanting & Entertaining! Fabulous Story & Listen

E.J. Russell takes you on a wild ride into her fascinating “Enchanted Occasions” world, a world filled with imaginative and equally fascinating paranormal beings. This novella sized book packs a punch and a whole lot of story. I adored the two lead characters, Kai Schiffer and Jovan Kos, Kai is half human but his other half takes over when in the supernatural world, making him invisible to others, with only one exception, he becomes visible for a doomsday situation. Jovan is an Interstitial Law Enforcement agent and a wolf warrior/berserker but currently he is the best man for his friend Ole, who is marrying Radka. Enchanted Occasions event planning is handling the affair so you can expect some bizarre situations and SNAFU, but beyond that there are more than usual mishaps. I loved the chemistry between Jovan and Kai, so happy they got spend time together and Jovan got to actually see Kai. This is a fast paced and cleverly plotted story, there is plenty of drama, humor and witty dialogue, twists and turns, heartfelt emotions and some steamy romance. E.J Russell, thank you for another entertaining story.

🎧📚🎧 And for the fabulous narration, E.J. Russell cast the perfect narrator to bring her story and characters to life. Kirt Graves is a talented narrator and a versatile voice artist. He is awesome at covering the roles of all the different characters, giving each their own distinct voice, making it easy to follow along and tell who is who. His portrayal of the characters is spot on and he is believable in every role he plays. He sets the perfect tone for the story, handles to witty dialogue with ease and handles the humor effortlessly. He also captures all the character’s emotions and projects them into his performance and has you feeling every single one. Kirt Graves is an entertaining storyteller and a pleasure to listen to. Thank you for another amazing listen.

Invisibly in love

I loved this story Kai was really funny and interesting and I felt a bit bad for him because of the prejudice against him within his best friends family and that community in general and a bit bad for jovan to I loved their best friends and the plot against the wedding was really fun and creative to try and figure out as well as deplorable on the person trying to destroy its part I loved when jovan first got to see Kai it was really sweet and I really enjoyed kirt graves voice in this and Ej Russel is a great writer