Blazing Glory

Havoc's Crew, Book 1

By: Angelique Voisen

Narrated by: Peter Verbena

No one can hold a candle to Blaze. He's the only pyromancer in Havoc's Crew, and everyone knows Havoc's Crew is the best magic outfit in Lyon City. When an accident leaves Blaze disfigured, all he wants to do is disappear. When a wave of zombies threaten the city it's up to him and bear-shifter Levi Black to clean the mess up, but the shifter seems more interested in him than the mission.

Blaze isn't the kind of man Levi would normally take on any of his runs, but he doesn't have a choice. The conceited pyromancer is supposedly the best, but the last thing he expects is a broken shell of man able to bring his protective animalistic instincts to the surface. Getting rid of the undead is the easy bit. The hard part is convincing Blaze he loves him even with his scars.

©2015 Angelique Voisen (P)2015 Angelique Voisen

Not bad

There are a zillion paranormal m/m romances out there involving shifters and magic for one very simple reason; they're popular. I have read many over the years. This is not one I would remember for the rest of my life.

The writing was very decent, but the story was lost in a sea of similar ones for me. It was good. Not great, but good. I found myself paying attention to other things because it didn't suck me in. I didn't fall in love with the characters. It was definitely worth listening to, but I can't say it had anything mind-blowing in it.

Peter Verbena did a very good job. I could tell the characters apart, the voice was pleasant, and the pacing was comfortable. There was a good amount of emotion in it and I would happily listen to other books from this narrator.

Short, And Entertaining.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

If your short on time and just want a quick read, then this is short and entertaining.

What did you like best about this story?

I am a sucker for tortured characters. That Blaze practically went hermit because of his burns and Levi not caring about them, was the best part for me.

Did Peter Verbena do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Actually I thought Peter was the weaker link. Its not because of how he reads, that was fine. He ready with a smooth flow of words. But his voices weren't different enough. His Narration voice and Blaze's voice blended together. Only Levi had a distinct voice to me.

Any additional comments?

I don't normally read books this short. Its just to hard to develop the characters enough to make you really care what happens to them. I also didn't like the cliff hanger ending, but not to discourage anyone, the main characters story wrapped. The cliff hanger Is for the next book and the next set of characters to get their own story. However, I was screaming no at the end so its not all bad. I wanted to know what happened next. I also thought the story was different. Elementalist, Shifters and Zombies? He doesn't love that?

*I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review via AudiobookBlast dot com".

A Short Read That Never Went Very Deep

***I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review via AudiobookBlast dot com.***

It's the nature of short story romances that you have very little time to get the main characters together and off to their happily-ever-after. One of the best ways is through a "fated mate" scenario where we don't have to get a lot of build-up to them making it work: they're fated to be together, so we just have to see how everyone accepts that and see what happens next.

In Blazing Glory, I think Angelique Voisen had a good idea for a set-up. These two men meet and something goes wrong, unleashing a problem on the city that they have to make right. These two men also happen to be fated mates, one a bear shifter and one a pyromancer. That seems like it could go a lot of interesting ways. Sadly, that's not the case here.

The characterizations were not only shallow but also contradictory. Bear shifter Levi was supposed to be all gruff, and he was, being demanding and controlling, even to the point of saying what he'd be doing to his mate whether his mate wanted it or not (gross!), and then, not to much later he says he's not going to do anything pyromancer Blaze doesn't want. I mean, that's great that he said that, but totally contradicts the several times he made it seem Blaze had no choice. It was things like that with both main characters that felt inconsistent. I just didn't believe in them, and I didn't believe in their romance.

The action with the zombies and defeating the main bad guy were fine. It wasn't anything spectacular, but it was handled okay. By that point, I was just waiting for the end of the book really.

This was book 1 in a series, but I didn't realize that until after I finished it. Honestly, it felt like I was in the middle of the series. I felt like there were things about the whole set up with Havoc's crew that I was supposed to know and didn't.

Also, I have to talk about the epilogue because it really bothered me. Maybe this isn't true for everyone, but I feel like an epilogue should wrap up how things are going with the main characters and, in a series, give us a little taste of what was coming up in the next book. Of course an author wants to whet your appetite for more. We had gotten glimpses of an apprentice named Heath and his connection to another of Havoc's crew, Volt,but then during the epilogue it was basically one bit with Levi and Blaze where they're being loving, and then rest is Heath's inner monologue about how he's in love with Volt, and then a lead-in to the next book. It just felt cheap to me, very cliff-hanger type stuff. If I had been entertained by book 1, I would have already been interested in Heath and Volt, I didn't need a cheap ploy to get me to book 2. The strong writing and entertainment value of the first in the series is what leads me to the next, not that kind of stunt. If I'd already had a high opinion of the story at that point, it would have dropped.

As for Peter Verbana's narration, it's the only bright spot in this book. He managed to give different voices delivered well. Considering what he had to work with, I could actually understand times when he didn't feel convincing. I think he did better in the beginning than the end, but I honestly put that down to how the characters started sounding. He got a bit of a whiny sound and started making Blaze sound over-the-top. On the whole, really solid, and if it was something outside of this series, I would definitely listen to him again. It's a 3.5 rating rounded to a 4, because I feel it was the material. Sadly, I cannot recommend this one, even to hear his narration.

Steamy paranormal MSM romance

What did you like best about Blazing Glory? What did you like least?

Blazing Glory is a MSM story about Blaze, an elementalist, who performs magic and is disfigured with an accident. He meets Levi, a bear shifter, and is able to overcome his insecurities of his disfigurement to find love.

What could Angelique Voisen have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

While I enjoyed the book, the story was disjointed and I had to go back to understand what happened.

Have you listened to any of Peter Verbena’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not listened to Peter Vebena before but thought he did a fantastic job.

Any additional comments?

I i received this book in exchange for an honest review.

conflicted...

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I enjoyed the narration but the story itself left something to be desired.
Peter has an easy to listen voice.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Blaze constantly called Levi "Bear", his animal type not his name...doesn't sound like he can be bothered to learn or use his lover's name.
Dialogue between the 2 MC's seemed to consist of "f@ck you" or variations of "do what I say"
A little more character and world building wold be nice

What does Peter Verbena bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

In all honesty I possibly would have DNF'ed the book if I had read it. It just didn't hit my buttons even though it's a genre I love. Peter's voice is definitely one I could listen to again.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Not without a lot of editing

was an interesting ready

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com." The story had potential if had more of a story line. it felt rushed the narrator did a ok job giving what he had to work with

Interesting premise, lackluster execution

I like urban fantasy, I like m/m fiction, alas, this one does not work for me.
The characters are okay, though not really that interesting, I felt they were not too fleshed out in interaction.
The biggest problem I think is that everything feels really rushed, both the relationship and the action in the plot. We get a few timeskips, which I think wasted perfectly workable stretches of plot.
Some of the lines between the characters and how their relationship was built up felt rather cringy and alas not even in the kind of cheesy way that. even when you know it is a bit constructed or cliche, still tugs at a part of you that wants just that.

Better pacing and more time to make the characters come alive would have greatly helped.