Stained

Volume 1

By: Jessica McBrayer

Narrated by: Valerie Gilbert

Thorn works after dark. That's when she combines her gifts as a tattoo artist and her powers as a natural born witch to weave magick into her ink. Her tattoo parlor, Stained, on Berkeley's quirky Telegraph Avenue draws clients from all walks of life. Her work is in high demand from the supernatural community and the undead. With her raven familiar, Thorn's been on the run all her adult life. She won't talk about why. She only wants to practice her art in peace. But when a murderer targets her clients, Se, a tall, dark and Irish detective is assigned to investigate. Can they learn to trust each other and survive the cat and mouse game that ensues.

©2011 Jessica McBrayer (P)2013 Jessica McBrayer

OMG! fabulous

I loved everything about this book. I love that Thorn is so bad ass. and I love Raven. don't ask me why but he is funny and awesome! I think the writing was fabulous and the narration was superb! a great listen for any paranormal romance lover! I can't wait to find out what happens in Ireland!

To catch a killer

I really liked it. Just now I looked at a review and the person thought that there was not enough angst from the killer--pooh! They rarely think that they will get caught or else they simply think that they are immune to punishment (former jail nurse). I was interested in the way that the author treated the issue of witchcraft, and found the romance angle to be a bonus. I read the audio edition and really enjoyed the performance by Valerie Gilbert.

Battle of the Witches

Where does Stained rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of my favorites!

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

She brought the characters to life. Valerie has a way with words and accents that pull you in and make you fall into the story.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

I loved this book! It's a story about a tattoo artist/witch who is being stalked for her magical abilities. The story line is unique, yes it's a witch story but how the author chose to go about it is quite fascinating. The characters are people you want to know and feel attached to. I am excited to find out what happens next in this series. I listened to the book on audible and was sucked in by the narrator. She did an amazing job bringing the characters to life. Her voice matched what you imagined in your head. This is a great power duo of author and narrator.

was a great "bubble gum" for the brain book!

was a good easy listen & this author is.new to me but will be listening to all her books! Good narrator as well!

It Must Be Magic!

I finished listening to the first audio but I'm still somewhat confused from listening to the first short novella to this complete story. Narrator and author Valerie Beth Gilbert has done a great job with this story. She's not the author of this story though. I think the honors go to Jessica McBrayer. Overall, this one gets 5 🌟.

A Magical Adventure

A hunky cop, a sexy witch on a motorcycle, and a talking raven make for a magical adventure. When a serial killer targets Thorne's paranormal tattoo clients, she and hunky cop Se must hunt down the villain before everyone Thorne cares about is endangered. Attraction between the cop and the witch sizzles right into my earphones. What I love about this book is that unique use of the tattoos, which use special inks for paranormal clients and are interwoven with magical talismans. This special element, along with delectable characters, brings Stained far and above most urban fantasy/paranormal offerings.

A good read

If you like a good romance than this hit all the points. I liked the way the author ended the story but gave room for the next book. I am also glad the villain did not get more attention than the male lead.

wow that narration

Story is ok and fairly engaging.
Now the issue,
The narration of this book is awful, the speech patterns and cadence are all over the place. It's like the halfway point between words taken out of context and reordered into the different sentences and a really bad secondary school poetry reading contest, with random stops and huge emphasis placed on random words in the passage.

For me this made the book basically unlistenable after the first hour, which is a shame as i would like to have finished it. I might get it in kindle form when i have the time to read again.

Horrible Narration

I couldn’t get through the book. I can’t even tell you how the book is. The narrator was that bad!