Burned by Magic

The Baine Chronicles, Book 1

By: Jasmine Walt

Narrated by: Laurel Schroeder

In the city of Solantha, mages rule absolute, with shifters considered second-class citizens and humans something in between. No one outside the mage families are allowed to have magic, and anyone born with it must agree to have it stripped from them to avoid execution.

Sunaya Baine, a shifter-mage hybrid, has managed to keep her unruly magic under wraps for the last 24 years. But while chasing down a shifter-hunting serial killer, she loses control of her magic in front of witnesses, drawing the attention of the dangerous and enigmatic Chief Mage.

Locked up in the Chief Mage's castle and reduced to little more than a lab rat, Sunaya resists his attempts to analyze and control her at every turn. But she soon realizes that to regain her freedom and catch the killer, she must overcome her hatred of mages and win the most powerful mage in the city to her side.

©2015 Jasmine Walt (P)2016 Jasmine Walt

looking forward to book 2!

I listened to this book on days when my eyes were tired but my brain wasn't.

Great start to a new series.

First things first, I have to say that the cover of this is very eye catching! Then we have a plot that sounded kick ass and put them together..... you get a great start to what is sure to be a brilliant series.

Plot wise, this was pretty much non stop the whole way through. Someone is poisoning shifters and when someone very close to our MC, Sunaya, gets poisoned, she knows she has to get to the bottom of it. But things don't go according to plan and Sunaya does something that gets her thrown in jail and brought to the notice of the Chief Mage, Iannis. He isn't someone to trifle with and her freedom, and life, are put into his hands. She needs to get him onto her side in order to survive and to solve the shifter killings. I really enjoyed the meshing of shifter and magic in this book. The author has created a captivating world and one I want to explore more of.

Sunaya is a half shifter half mage, which I really liked. She kind of has the best of both worlds!! She was snarky, strong, brave and willing to do what she can to solve the murders that no-one else seems to care about. She also drives a bad ass bike!! ;) All the characters in these were extremely likable and easy to root for and I can't wait to see more of them in future books.

In all, this was an action packed, well written and enjoyable read. I will definitely pick up book 2 to see what happens.

Laurel Schroeder was really good with Sunaya. She got her attitude and snarkiness perfectly, but I found her to not have enough different tones for other characters. Sometimes I got a little lost trying to follow who was talking. Other than that, she was a solid 4 stars and read the book well.

*I received this from the author. This in no way affected or influenced my thoughts.*

Amazing hooked!

There is nothing I cash say I dislike about this book I was literally hooked from the beginning. The story and characters were very interesting the story really was interesting and the story seemed to truly come alive. The narrator in this was perfect for the story. I really want to know what happens next I'm in love with this series it was always hard to press pause.

Not too bad...

Cover art is second rate. Price is a bit high for the length of the novel. Performance was ok. Story itself is nonetheless very good.

Fun and frustrating

I enjoyed this book, it was a fun read. The characters were engaging and colorful and overall it was a nice journey. I enjoyed the pacing and the world it painted. Many of the secondary characters were absolutely loveable and made me want to learn more.

However, the mystery aspect lacked many twists and turns and I reached the climax with a thought of "that's it?" Secondly the main character lacks much depth aside from overly emotional, stubborn and sexual. I understand that her "race" meant some of that was necessary but i found myself often shouting to no one in particular "What is wrong with you? Are you blind?" and other thoughts, aloud.

Overall it was enjoyable if a little shorter than i hoped. I was still left for a desire for the sequel. I plan to continue with the series and hope the protagonist manages to enlighten herself further than "Everyone is my enemy and I'm the victim here."

Okay

I got a little tired of the Heroine's attitude. It became tiring to the point of being unrealistic. The ending was vaguely unsatisfying. The story almost reached its climax when suddenly they're at dinner talking about it in the past tense and the reader/listener is left to assume what happened.

Looking forward to so much more~

I'll give this a 4.5 start because it's the first book in the series and all of his build a solid structures within the book. Not only are we introduced to quite a few interesting characters two of which are Sonata shifter / Mage mix and Iannis, the chief smash but also a variety of promising support characters that a great depth and told World of Magic, the maze, shifters and yes even humans. In a world where the major above all other shifters and humans have a resistance looking to make everyone equal.... Not so unlike our own world :-) not only do we have a resistance there was a drug killing shifters and a promise of romance maybe. After reading or listening in my case to this book I have to say the Lord does not do the story Justice and that the magic of the book has me eager to continue on with the series. The Other has left us with a great building block into which I'm sure she will lead us has some great Journeys and as I have said a possibly a promise of a romantic entanglement. I won't share who I'm rooting rooting for at this point but I already have my mind set. So to review semicolon first book 4.5 Stars, characters five stars, and a promise for so much more Adventure five stars. And I'll give the narrator her do with a 4-star rating.

Sunaya Baine Kicks Butt!!

I really like the start of this new series it is an amazing mix of shifters and mages with humans. In a sort of Steam punk type of world. And Sunaya Baine is a Mage/ Shifter but she grew up never knowing that she is part mage. And she is also an enforcer basically a policeman/ bounty hunter. I cannot wait to hear what comes next. And especially what happens with the resistance. And to find out if they really are the good guys or the bad. And what is the resistance real agenda. So many questions!! But one thing I do know is Sunaya will definitely be in the middle of it kicking butt!! Can't wait to hear the next book!!

Fascinating!

steampunk, urban-fantasy, paranormal, shifters, magic.
A very busy intro novel with lots of twists and turns populated by some very interesting characters. Held my interest throughout, and compelled me to skip the housework.
Laurel Schroeder did a fantastic job of differentiating characters and moods.
Lucky to have gotten it as Whispersync on the cheap.

Comment on voice

I am fine with most voices but recognize others are not. I checked several times to see if I accidentally had playback speed on 1.25. I didn't. However the slightly frenetic voice does actually fit the character who is emotional, impulsive, and aggressive. For those sensitive to voices, you may want to listen to sample and see if it works for you. The voice does add to the performance and is appropriate for the books character.