DaR

Darverius, House of DaR Series, Book 1

By: Jennifer Julie Miller

Narrated by: Emily Sutton-Smith, Tor Thom

Kira: In the blink of an eye, my whole world has collapsed around me. Headed towards my dream vacation, I was snatched right out of the air. My husband, the love of my life, was destroyed right in front of my eyes. He fought bravely trying to protect me from a horror neither one of us could have ever imagined. I find myself standing in the spotlight on a stage. Mutilated and tortured, the blood from my body flowing freely down my legs along with my will to live. Piercing yellow eyes emerge from the darkness, but even the shadows can't hide his imposing form. Gentle, but terrifying arms reach out for me, and within their embrace, can I find the will to live again?

DaR: I am a badass, known throughout the galaxy for my brutality, as a ruthless and feared commander. With that being said, somehow I still got coerced into purchasing a slave. My eyes fall upon a small female whose very essence and eternal light is leaking out of her onto the floor below her. I walk up among the beings surrounding her and pull her from the stage, daring, or should I say hoping they try to do something about it. The moment I put her in my arms, everything changes.

Contains mature themes.

©2021 Jennifer Julie Miller (P)2022 Tantor

I was completely surprised

This book was so much better than I expected. Tor Thom did the job expected from him (great) and I found Emily great also at the female voice. the world and the direction this story took was believable. lots of trauma but it is necessary for the effect of the relationship growing in this book. the description is no way as good as the book really is worth a credit. worth the Read

Dar

Interstate store along, some very cute sweet moments are included. Enjoyable to listen to the end.

The kindest of heroes

Such a strong, but kind and gentle hero. Loved the things he said and did to help his little human process losing her husband. Great second-chance at love story.

Love, loss, and love again

This book deals a lot with overcoming the loss of a loved one. It could be rough for those still processing grief of this kind (I had my moments for sure).

The story is pretty brutal at the beginning and the violence/torture was graphic, but there is no rape or sexual assault scenes. The universe that is built seems to be very dangerous for everyone, however after the initial setup, there isn't really much more in the rest of the story and none at that same intensity.

It is a really good slow romance with a mature (40+) female main character which brings a new dynamic to the typical abducted by aliens theme. This is about overcoming loss of not just a loved one, but of everything familiar and learning how to move forward and embrace the new. Solid sci-fi romance with a nod to fantasy, but not erotica. Again, this is a slow building relationship story.

I enjoyed it and was very surprised at the ending as I was expecting some of the characters to be the next stories in the series (and maybe they will), but it ties a lot of them up in a bow enough for this to be a solid stand-alone book.

My only criticism is of Tor Thom's narration. His voice is so very rich and masculine that his female and child characters sometimes sound too rough and similar. I really wish they had done a duet narration style for this book as I think it would have been more effective for the storytelling.

Loved It!

I loved this book. It was my first from this author and I will definitely be continuing this series! Great world building and wonderful characters. My heart broke for the horror, suffering, and loss Kira endured at the beginning of this book. Honestly I'm impressed she didn't break. I loved DaR. He was powerful, respected, but also caring. I loved his relationship with his sons- at least those closest to him. It was unique. I loved how different each one was and I cannot wait to read their stories. She made his dwelling a home, and he gave her family. I also loved Sage- what I wouldn't give to have a dwelling like her! And her little pet was adorable. I want one of those, too!

Emily Sutton-Smith and Tor Thom did a wonderful job with this audiobook. Tom has a perfect deep, masculine voice. While not as good at softening when he has to voice female or child characters, is perfect for our alpha. I liked Emily for Kira and loved her southern accent.

Overall: 5 stars
Performance: 5 stars
Story: 5 stars

Definitely worth the listen!

Don’t really have anything negative to say because I truly enjoyed listening to the book.

must read

this is worth the credit, it is absolutely great read once you started you can't put it down.

DaR is a Perfect Gentleman

Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️.5
Heat Rating: 🔥🔥🔥
Narrator Performance: Female: 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧 Male: 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧

Having never read Jennifer Julie Miller before I had no clue what to expect from this book. I was looking for shorter listens and when I saw that this was under 6 hours and in the + catalogue I couldn’t help but grab it. Boy am I thrilled that I did. I absolutely loved this book. The world building was superb and the action packed beginning drew me in with a quickness. The storyline was rather compelling and the romance was realistic. It wasn’t a slow burn romance. There was no burn at all. Instead, because DaR was a perfect gentleman, we got a romance that was heartfelt, genuine and respectful of Kira’s loss.

There were a few minor things that I found missing in the book. Firstly, Kira’s grief had holes in it. As she learns to live in her new surroundings she only seems to morn certain things. Secondly, this series is obviously going to follow DaR and his sons. What I’m not getting is why all of his children are boys. There was no reason given for that. The third thing that I found odd was a proclamation made by one of DaR’s sons. It was obviously put in the story to lay the groundwork for a future book however I found it suspect that nobody reacted or questioned him about what he said.

Both narrators blew me away with their performances. Tor Thom’s voice seemed especially deep as he portrayed DaR’s steely control and dedication. Emily Sutton-Smith delivered Kira’s southern accented words with easily felt emotion. I look forward to hearing more from them both.

* Jennifer Julie Miller must be a Battlestar fan

meet DaR of Darverius and a tiny human woman

Love this introduction to a new series and its inhabitants. I loved most that this female lead is older and not able to have children. Kira was ripped away from her life after watching her husband die to protect her. She was mutilated, tortured, and at the edge of life. She was rescued and cherished. She was to be free and cared for. She was valued for being female, but he valued her because she was a woman. She was a slave. She was to become part of the house of Daverius. Not knowing what any of it meant. She chose to run. This run was not wise. This run almost cost her, her freedom and her life. DaR was the protector of many. He was already a father to 28 sons. He did not need a breeder. He was feared in some circles. He was something more than a warrior. DaR was not looking for a slave. He was not looking to be a hero. He gets a prophecy from a little child. He knows that now his life will be changed. He is just not sure in what direction the change will take him.

Kira makes DaR’s home a real home. He makes Kira his. Unwittingly he makes the pronouncement to the whole of the universe. Kira is just a mere human who will be the mate of DaR. DaR the most ruthless and feared commander. Now everyone will be gunning to take him down through his Kira. They will be in for a fight because taking what belongs to DaR will be harder than they think. Ms. Kira has more than just DaR watching out for her safety

I found both narrators, Emily Sutton-Smith & Tor Thom, did a good job. The duo introduces us to the world of Darverius. I enjoyed the cadence of both narrators. Tor made DaR come to life while giving each of the males differences.

Reasons I enjoyed this book:
Entertaining Great world building Wonderful characters Easy-to-read

loved it

adorable story of an "older" (she's mid/late 40's) human that got kidnapped and then rescued/bought at a slave market. a little love story of getting over the grief of losing loved ones. I do feel like some questions went unanswered... some things could have been fleshed out more. Like ... was she his true mate? Is that why his black lines (forgot what he called them) shared themselves with her? Or did they just do that because he fell in love? What about the animals on that planet not attacking her? I still have questions! I feel like there could have been more world building. So I'll be going to the next book to find out how Dars sons end up with their mates and hopefully get some answers.