Heart of the Fae

The Otherworld, Book 1

By: Emma Hamm

Narrated by: Siobhan Waring

Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Once upon a time...

A plague sweeps across the emerald hills of Ui Neiill, leaving a young midwife's father with months to live. To save her people, Sorcha makes a deal with a dangerous Fae. She must travel across the sea, through merrow and kelpie lands, to find a forgotten king on a crumbling throne.

Born king of the Seelie Fae, Eamonn fought battles unnumbered to uphold honor, duty, and freedom - until his twin brother sank a blade between his shoulders. Crystals grew from the wound, splitting open skin and bone. His people banished him to a cursed isle for his disfigurement, now king of criminals and fools.

With the help of brownies, pixies, and will-o'-the-wisps, Sorcha battles to break through his crystalline shell and persuade him to take back his stolen throne.

This determined beauty could come dangerously close to stealing his beastly heart.

©2017 Emma Hamm (P)2018 Emma Hamm

Fairy tale fantasy

This book was not what I expected. The author puts her own take on beauty and the beast. My only negative view is that I found it slow going at times. However, there is some action/adventure, intrigue and romance.
Interested to see what happens in book two.

Best BOOK EVER!!!

I could not put it down! This was by far the best book I’ve ever read, every minute was an adventure, every second was me sitting at the edge of my seat waiting for what was gonna happen next. I was sad when it ended but excited to start the second book! I recommend this book to anyone!

great read for me.

the story was entertaining and well written in my opinion and the chosen narrator was a perfect fit to me.

Thoroughly enjoyable!

Absolutely one of the best books of this type I have listened to. I was glued to this book and didn't want to stop listening. At the end I was wishing I had book 2 so I could continue with this story. I loved the characters and wanted to find out what was going to happen to them. The storyline was engrossing and the narration was well done. This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Unique retelling of old fae legends

This was a very enjoyable listen. Many of the old Celtic myths are woven together into an original plot line. It has a clever, self-sufficient protagonist, unique world-building, adventure, and romance. This is well-crafted fantasy and worth the credit! Fans of Sarah J Maas would likely enjoy this, though it the story is nothing like Maas's work. Will definitely be listening to the second book - just wish that the rest of the series was available on Audible.

What a Wonderful Book

Wonderful fairy tale, narration was beautiful.

I love a strong women, but dislike when they act childish by never listening.

Both Eamonn and Sorcha were good characters.

The brothel theme was strange, making Sorcha’s behavior strange and uncharacteristically unbelievable.

I’ve listened twice, and am sure I’ll listen to this book again.

My first Emma Hamm book, but won’t be my last.

Magical tale

Great mix of Celtic mythology and Beauty and the Beast, absolutely loved this listen. Great story and characters that kept me hooked from start to finish. Fantastic narrator as well. I received a free review copy of this audiobook at my request and I have voluntarily left this review.

It was okay

Another reviewer said that this book was very predictable and... it totally was. To be honest the story was pretty boring to me. I have listened to another title from the author and I really enjoyed it, this one was a little too elementary in its plot and character development for me. It's definitely not horrible.. I just have zero desire to purchase the second book and that's unusual for me.

Slow to start but worth the build up!

This was a delightful Celtic beauty and the beast retelling. A healer strikes a deal with the fae to try to end a plague threatening the lives of those she loves. Once the bargain is struck she ventures forth to a mysterious island which only appears every seven years. There lies a banished Seelie King who is her salvation, that is if she can get him to leave his exile and travel with her to the mainland. Cursed and full of self loathing the once great king begins to befriend the human woman even though she vexes him. Together they begin to heal each other and secret pasts and heritages are discovered.

This book has so many good things about it. The mythology is on point and the eerie island holds many creatures that are well written and imaginative. The MCs banter is on point. The FMC is a FIRE CRACKER and does not put up with any shit from anyone especially if their argument is rooted in sexism. The MMC is broody and morally gray with eyes only for the FMC. The book has a slow burn romance that does include spice. And not only that but it is a female dominated spicy scene where she is confident and takes ownership of her desires.

My only hiccup with this book is that it is a slow start, you really need to wait to judge this book till after she makes it to the island and there is a ton of build up before that which can feel slow. It's worth it though, especially since the ending is such a combination of plotlines and cliffhangers. Also, there is a bit of insta-lust in this book but it's written well so it's not so jarring.

Story ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice 🌶️🌶️ (I loved it though, the slow burn was lovely)
Audio 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧 ( FANTASTIC AUDIO!!! The narrator does an excellent job with the voices and the accents)

Not a Beauty and the Beast Retell. That's GOOD!

I don't know why some reviews are relating this listen to Beauty and the Beast. I don't see it. Other than Seelie, the male love interest, being "deformed," there were no other similarities.

This listen was unique. Socha needs to save her family from a blood beetle infestation and travels to the other side of the world to do so. In the process she meets Seelie, and faeries, and evil twin brothers, and a brooding sea captain, and a raven with an attitude. The quest did not end in book one but that did not make this listen incomplete.

The narrator was wonderful. I mean, like, off the chains wonderful. This material could have easily been overlooked or not as impressive if not for the deft voice of Waring.

It's a long listen but is very much worth it. I'm looking forward to book two.