The Ashes of Ackonir

De: Jennifer Cody

Narrado por: Shannon Gunn, Jason Takumi Lee

Sparrow

Life beyond the walls of Eoam, the commune where my mother raised me, has never tempted me. My needs are fulfilled as long as I work, and if my life is full of more sorrow than most, it's because I was born for it. But even I have my limits, and when the people who've raised me do the unthinkable, I burn the walls down and walk away.

My first steps away from the commune led me straight into the company of someone I barely knew existed. Edrick was once married to my mother, but the life she lived in the palace never touched me, and I was surprised when Edrick brought me there.

I thought I'd be walking into a world similar to what I'd been taught, but the more I see of Maldrin, the more I realize that I was made powerless by the people who were meant to love me. As my anger stirs, so does Edrick's, and he decides to empower me with a title, tutors, spies, and maybe even real, actual love.

I've never known what love is, but if anyone can convince me I was born for more than sorrow, it's Edrick Dastropha, the Emperor of Maldrin.

Edrick

I never got to live in my wife's company for more than a few months at a time, and as much as I wanted her to myself, I couldn't keep her wild heart caged in the palace. She lived in a commune with her other lovers when she wasn't with me or traveling, but she kept that part of her life private because she knew my ability to control my jealousy had limits. Now, more than a decade after she's gone, she has one last surprise for me.

Sparrow is as beautiful as his mother was and far more tempting. I invited him to live with me to honor her, but when the first thing I notice about the young man is how needy he is and how beautifully he fits in my arms, the best I can offer is my solemn oath that he will always have a place under the wing of my protection.

Preparing him for life in the palace requires more than I expected, and as I spend time with him, it becomes clear that the commune I allowed to exist because my wife loved it hurt him in infuriating ways. I will do everything in my power to give him what he needs, even if that means making another sacrifice to the god of blood and seduction.

If anyone can rise from the ashes of Ackonir, Sparrow was born for it.

The Ashes of Ackonir is an MM steampunk fantasy romance between an emperor with vampiric tendencies and the tempting little lost lamb with blood that sings to him. This book includes a heavily imbalanced power dynamic, political intrigue, war, and other complex tropes. For mature listeners.

©2023 Jennifer Cody (P)2024 Podium Audio

Romantic porn angle didn't not working for me....

I have never been a fan of romance posing as erotica. I feel like this may have done better maybe as a podcast on porn****? I can't imagine what this reads like I started with the audiobook... definitely porn and definitely disappointed from what I usually would expect from this author. Not sure if they're trying out something new which is fine because no one should be put in a box however this is not working. Narration was enthusiastic...?

Not what I was expecting

This was one weird book. I was expecting a sweet romance when it was mostly weird sex and weird storyline with not a lot of explanations. I love the authors other series so assumed this would be sorta similar. Nope, not at all like Murder Sprees series. Weird BDSM type moments, with an almost DD/LB but also not. Weird world building that was confusing or just strange. Not a bad book and I toughed it out to finish it hoping it would eventually turn out good. But nope. 75 year old vampire sex king gets with his wife’s 25 yr old child from another relationship, and the 25 yr old is addicted to sex, uses a pacifier and has been locked into a commune abused and uneducated. Just weird premise and not what it seemed like from the blurb.

Weak plot

The story definitely lost the plot after the first couple hours and it mostly became about sex, if you want a book with mostly smut then this is for you but if you want plot then I would skip, performance was amazing though