Publisher: Audible Originals

Review: A Farewell to Charms by Molly Harper

Posted May 25, 2022 by Holly in Reviews | 1 Comment

Reviewer: Holly
A Farewell to Charms by Molly Harper
Narrator: Jonathan Davis, Amanda Ronconi
Series: Mystic Bayou #6
Also in this series: How to Date Your Dragon (Mystic Bayou, #1), Even Tree Nymphs Get the Blues, How to Date Your Dragon, How to Date Your Dragon, Selkies are a Girl's Best Friend, One Fine Fae, Shifters in the Night
Publisher: Audible Original, Audible Originals
Publication Date: January 13, 2022
Format: Audiobook
Source: Audible Plus
Point-of-View: Alternating Third
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Length: 7 hours and 26 minutes
Add It: Goodreads
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Series Rating:

Queen of paranormal romantic comedy Molly Harper delivers love and laughter in this magnificent series finale—available in audio first!
Eva Boudreaux keeps the truth about her life before arriving in Mystic Bayou a carefully guarded secret, flying under the radar as a talented boat mechanic. In the swampy little town filled with powerful supernatural beings, Eva never expected to strike up a charged flirtation with one of the Bayou’s human residents.
Alex Lancaster is far too polished for Eva’s taste—not to mention the danger that comes with his high-ranking position in the League, which could expose her secrets. Trouble is, she can’t resist his disarming sense of humor or the chemistry that crackles to life whenever he’s near. Will Alex be able to handle a woman like her? Or will her difficult past keep them apart?
Either way, they’ll need to join forces to solve one final mystery in Mystic Bayou. The fate of the town—and their hearts—depends upon it.
©2021 Molly Harper, LLC (P)2021 Audible Originals, LLC

A Farewell to Charms by Molly Harper is the 6th book in the Mystic Bayou series. These are Audible First releases (meaning they are released only in audio first) and I really enjoy the narrator. The series is fairly light with a lot of humor. I really enjoyed Eva in the previous books and I was anxious for her story. Sadly, this was my least favorite Mystic Bayou novel to date.

Alex is the League Director in Mystic Bayou. As a result, he has a hard time making connections with the others in Mystic Bayou. While they include him in their activities, he’s kind of socially awkward and knows he has to maintain some distance since he’s their boss. When he meets Eva, he has a hard time staying away. She’s so wonderful he just wants to be with her all the time. Which is why, when he looks into her past and and inadvertently finds out some of her secrets, he makes a mess of things for Eva with the others in Mystic Bayou.

Eva has always been attracted to Alex and she thought he felt the same, but she should have known better. She’s never had great luck with men, and Alex is out of her league. He proves that when he looks into her past and she realizes he was only interested in her to find out her secrets.

I wanted to like this book, but Alex’s actions in the beginning really squicked me out, and then Eva acted like an idiot toward the end of the novel. I enjoyed seeing some of my favorite people from previous books and I liked that gender reversal (Eva is stronger than Alex, who is a mundane human), which is why I gave it 2 stars, but there wasn’t a whole lot else to recommend it.

This felt like the end of the series. I’m not sure if Molly Harper plans to continue it or not, but if this is the end, I am sad it ended like this.

Rating: 2 out of 5

Mystic Bayou

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Tagged: 2.0 Reviews, Audible Original, Holly's Reviews, Molly Harper, Mystic Bayou, Paranormal, Reviews

Review: Pause by Kylie Scott

Posted July 5, 2021 by Holly in Reviews | 0 Comments

Reviewer: Holly
Pause by Kylie Scott
Narrator: Andi Arndt
Publisher: Audible Originals
Publication Date: April 13, 2021
Format: Audiobook
Source: Audible Plus
Point-of-View: First Person
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
Content Warning: View Spoiler »
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 6
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges: Holly's 2021 Goodreads Challenge
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An unpauseable new romance from New York Times bestselling, Audie Award winning author Kylie Scott!

When Anna wakes up from a coma after a car crash, she discovers life has gone on without her. Her husband has been unfaithful—with her best friend—and she’s been long since replaced at work. While her old life is a distant memory, her new life feels like an empty shell. Then she meets the stranger who saved her life during the crash, and he changes everything.

Leif Larsen—tattooist, joker, and player—has his own scars thanks to the crash that put Anna in a coma. Helping her move on from her failed marriage, and create a new life, sounds like a perfect distraction. So when he needs a new roommate, he invites Anna to begin her new life with him.

Although their lives may have been put on pause, together they just might find a way to heal.

Pause, an Audible first release, follows Kylie Scott’s hit novel, Repeat. This is the story of Leif, Ed’s brother. He was an engaging character in Repeat and I’m so glad we got a story for him. I was a little disappointed that this is told strictly in first person from Anna’s POV. I would have loved to see more of Leif and explored more of his trauma from the previous book. As it was, he felt like a totally different character than the one we met in Repeat. I was pretty bummed about that. That’s not to say I didn’t like him, because I did. He was funny and real. He didn’t hide from hard truths, or try to shy away from his friendship with Anna. He was also dealing with some trauma from

I was immediately pulled into the story. Anna’s issues and the betrayal she suffered had me all in, but as the story went on I became less enamored of her and her struggles. Especially since the focus of the story was her attraction to – and relationship with – Leif. I’d have liked to see her focus more on figuring herself out after all the major changes that came about in her life. I wanted to see her focus on dealing with being in a coma for 7 months and the demise of her marriage as a result more than I wanted to read about her waffling over her attraction to Leif.

Still, I loved their friendship and how open they were with each other. I also enjoyed the story as a whole. It’s just hard not to compare it to Repeat (a very rare 5 star read for me) and find it wanting.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

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Tagged: 3.75 Reviews, Audible Originals, Contemporary, Holly's Reviews, Kylie Scott, Romance

Review: One Fine Fae by Molly Harper

Posted March 31, 2021 by Holly in Reviews | 1 Comment

Reviewer: Holly
One Fine Fae by Molly Harper
Narrator: Jonathan Davis, Amanda Ronconi
Series: Mystic Bayou #4.5
Also in this series: How to Date Your Dragon (Mystic Bayou, #1), Even Tree Nymphs Get the Blues, How to Date Your Dragon, How to Date Your Dragon, Selkies are a Girl's Best Friend, Shifters in the Night, A Farewell to Charms
Publisher: Audible Originals
Publication Date: December 8, 2020
Format: Audiobook
Source: Audible Plus
Point-of-View: Alternating Third Person
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
Genres: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Length: 3 hours, 10 minutes
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges: Holly's 2020 Goodreads Challenge
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books

Series Rating:

Publisher's Summary

Take a trip to the beloved supernatural town of Mystic Bayou in this brilliantly funny new stand-alone novella - written for audio-first!

Charlotte McBee knows she’s in for a challenge when she accepts a job as midwife for a dragon and a phoenix shifter. Being a fairy herself, it isn’t the supernatural world that scares her. It’s the thought of delivering a giant metal dragon’s egg, which has her gritting her teeth in pain for poor Jillian, the anxious mother-to-be.

While preparing for the big event, a handsome town resident catches her eye. Leonard is kind, charming, and a little bit mysterious. He’s also suffering from a highly unusual condition brought on by an ancient fairy curse, and he’s too wary of Charlotte to allow her to get close.

Will love overcome fear before the end of her assignment?

©2020 Molly Harper (P)2020 Audible Originals, LLC.

Charlotte is a midwife to magical creatures. Mystic Bayou has been home to magi for years, but thanks to a rift that opened due to a magical artifact, humans and magi alike have been gaining strong magical powers. Charlotte is hired to help the residents with their pregnancies, a prospect she’s pretty thrilled with. Leonard is Fairy-Cursed. Any time he gets stressed, he turns clumsy, which causes all kinds of calamites to happen in his presence. Charlotte and Leo are attracted to each other, but her magic makes him nervous, which means his curse kicks in even more when she’s around than normal.

This was a cute short story. I don’t believe it stands alone well, since it heavily features characters from previous books. The new romance was sweet and I liked seeing some of my favorite characters pop up again. I don’t love the male narrator, Jonathan Davis, but the female narrator, Amanda Ronconni, is a favorite. I definitely recommend this for fans of Molly Harper and Mystic Bayou.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5