jbronderbookreviews

Author: Caryn Larrinaga

Narrator: Jessica McEvoy

Length: 9 hours 54 minutes

Series: The Soul Searchers Mysteries, Book 1

Released: Aug. 1, 2017

Publisher: Twisted Tree Press

Genre: Supernatural Cozy Mystery

“Grief can change us… rewire our brains and shift the way we look at the world…” After returning home from her father’s funeral to find her boyfriend in bed with another woman, Mackenzie Clair is looking for a fresh start. She thinks she’ll find it in her favorite childhood vacation spot, but returning to Donn’s Hill awakens more than nostalgia. Mac regains a lost psychic ability to talk to the dead, and the poltergeist haunting her apartment is desperate to make her use that gift to find his killer. Aided by her new roommate – a spirited Tortoiseshell cat named Striker, and the ghost-hunting crew of the nationally televised show Soul Searchers, Mac struggles to learn how to use her powers. But she’d better get a handle on them fast, because someone in town is hiding a deadly secret. If Mac can’t somehow divine the truth, Donn’s Hill will never be the same.

Caryn Larrinaga is a Basque-American mystery and horror writer. She has been a Dragon Award finalist and won multiple awards for her work, including the League of Utah Writers Silver Quill (Donn’s Hill, 2017) and the Cat Writers Association Certificate of Excellence (Donn’s Legacy, 2020). In 2021, she was named Writer of the Year by the League of Utah Writers. Watching scary movies through split fingers terrified Caryn as a child, and those nightmares inspire her to write now. Her 90-year-old house has a colorful history, and the creaking walls and narrow hallways send her running (never walking) up the stairs. Exploring her fears through writing makes Caryn feel a little less foolish for wanting a buddy to accompany her into the tool shed. Caryn lives near Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband and their clowder of cats. Caryn is an active member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, the Cat Writers Association, the League of Utah Writers, and the Utah Chapter of the Horror Writers Association.

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Between peddling video games and teaching yoga in her home state of Arizona, Jessica McEvoy attempts to conduct a career as a professional voice actress. This, however, is moderately undermined by the fact that she records in a dimly lit closet with her microphone balanced on a stack of old board games (Junior Scrabble and Powerpuff Girls Monopoly form a strong foundation), but she hopes that no one holds that against her. Though her main work consists of narrating audiobooks, her first dive into the voice world was through the NoSleep podcast after answering a post from the LibriVox forums. Having been raised on horror movies and scary stories, she was beyond excited to be able to work on the show. Many stories, tortured screams, deranged villains, and creepy little girl giggles later, Jessica hopes to work on the podcast for seasons and seasons to come.

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Q&A with Author Caryn Larrinaga

• How closely did you work with your narrator before and during the recording process? Did you give them any pronunciation tips or special insight into the characters?
  • The first thing everyone has to learn how to pronounce is usually my name (it’s “Kuh-rin” but most people try to say it like “Karen”). 🙂
  • Jessica is amazing, so it was super easy to work with her on all three of these books. We talked about how certain words should be pronounced, especially the names of Elder Futhark and Ogham runes in Donn’s Legacy. For the main characters, we talked a little bit about their personalities and how they should sound, but overall I left it up to Jessica to decide how she wanted to bring each character to life. It was the right call – she’s a genius at packing a character’s spirit into their voices.
• Were there any real life inspirations behind your writing?
  • Spookily, yes! A lot of the ghosts Mac encounters are inspired by the actual experiences of friends and family (like the poltergeist my mom encountered). And Striker the cat is pulled straight from real life – she’s the immortalization of my sweet tortie cat who was feisty and playful until she passed away at 20.
• How do you manage to avoid burn-out? What do you do to maintain your enthusiasm for writing?
  • There’s one piece of advice I’ve heard again and again but still always need to hear: celebrate everything. Every milestone of the writing process, every email from a reader who loved a story, every opportunity to connect with other writers and new readers. They’re all worth marking and savoring. It’s a habit I fall out of sometimes, but it seems like right when I need it most, there’s a writing conference or a speaker’s bureau night with someone like Tim Waggoner where I’m reminded about it.
• Are you an audiobook listener? What about the audiobook format appeals to you?
  • Definitely! My favorite thing about it is that my husband and I can experience the book together. We love listening while we’re in the car or to wind down at night. I’ve gotten him into supernatural romance and
• Is there a particular part of this story that you feel is more resonating in the audiobook performance than in the book format?
• If you had the power to time travel, would you use it? If yes, when and where would you go?
  • Oh man, I would want to do so much! I’m assuming I wouldn’t be allowed to change anything (I don’t want to Homer Simpson myself into a world where it rains donuts… or do I?). So if all I could do was be a spectator at some event, I’d go back and sit in on one of the seances Houdini’s wife held after he died because I bet they were deliciously spooky.
• How did you celebrate after finishing this novel?
  • The last couple of weeks of writing a novel are a massive sprint for me. The words come more easily but they also sort of come all at once, and my brain needs a break after. So I like to take a week off from writing, play way too much Civilization 5 while eating chocolate covered orange sticks and pickle flavored Lays, then come back with a fresh mind for editing.
• What gets you out of a writing slump? What about a reading slump?
  • When I’m feeling stuck on my longer projects, I like to switch to writing short stories and get that sweet sweet dopamine hit from finishing something. Try it! It also helps me to finish a big chore I’ve been putting off, like reorganizing the Closet of Mysteries in my den while I listen to some synthwave. Using my hands and letting my brain roam free can sometimes unlock whatever barrier has me slumping.
  • I definitely get into reading slumps too. Genre hopping helps me with that. Last spring I got super into reading romances and tore through all the Bridgerton books before switching back to paranormal horror and cozy mysteries, haha.
• What bits of advice would you give to aspiring authors?
  • I’d say to start by focusing on building a good writing habit. Pick an attainable word count (for example, 500 words per day) and work toward hitting that. Then work on hitting it every day for a month. That’s been the most important thing for me, and that daily habit is how I get things done.
• Do you have any tips for authors going through the process of turning their books into audiobooks?
  • Don’t rush the process of finding the right narrator. Take your time and keep looking for the right fit. That’s how you end up getting to work with someone as phenomenal as Jessica.
• What’s next for you?
  • My collection of short horror stories, Dread Softly, just released last month. One of those stories (“The Bump”) will be coming out in audio as part of the Untold Tales Podcast, and later as an animated special from TKMV Studio. I love this story and the children’s voices in it are soooooo creepy. I hope folks will check it out!

• Mackenzie Clair (aka Mac) is a wanderer at heart. For Mac, home is where the people she loves are, and at the beginning of the Soul Searchers Mysteries, everyone she loves has either left this life or betrayed her completely. She’s used to starting over, and her willingness to dive head first into uncharted territory serves her well as she discovers the return of a lost psychic ability to see the dead. Mac has dark, curly hair and tends to have shadows under her blue eyes from staying up late reading. Her sweet tooth can get out of control, and her favorite snacks include lemon bars and homemade chocolate chip cookies. She loves a good cup of tea but will take coffee if somebody else made it.
• Striker is a small tortoiseshell cat who found her way into Mac’s life just when she was needed most, as cats have a way of doing. Fond of games and cuddling, she takes care of Mac as well (or better) as Mac takes care of her, and her inquisitive nature has a way of leading her human both into and out of trouble. Favorite snack: crunchy treats from Mac’s landlord’s breast pocket.

Mackenzie Clair is starting over after catching her boyfriend with his assistant. She remembered Donn’s Hill from her childhood with her mother and decided to start over there. After a rough start she finds a great apartment, a tortoiseshell kitty, and an odd job with Soul Searchers, a local paranormal research group/television show.

But Mac seems to have creepy things happening around her and is seeing ghosts. But when the body of a very prominent resident, Tom Bishop is discovered, things take a turn for the worst. It seems he was involved in scrupulous dealings.

I loved this story! Mac is a good person that has found herself in hard times. I loved the whole paranormal abilities and festival. That would be a blast to attend. Of course, I was left guessing who the killer was and I kind of felt sorry for her too. It doesn’t make what she did right, but I could understand part of it. I also felt Jessica McEvoy did a fantastic job of narrating this story. She drew me right in and didn’t let me go until the end.

I strongly recommend this mystery to those that like a little paranormal twist to a mystery. I’m really excited that I signed up to review all three books. I can’t wait to jump into Donn’s Shadow.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Caryn Larrinaga. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

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Congratulations to author T.R. Slauf on the release of the second installment in the Legends of Lightning series, Redemption! Read on for more details!

Redemption (Legends of Lightning #2)

Publication Date: November 2nd, 2021

Genre: Fantasy

“Blood seems to be the only thing flowing in this Realm. The day I found out the truth of who I was, was the day I died.”

“Sometimes you must die so you can be re-born.”

Esther escaped the horrors of Castle Rose, but at a cost. Believing her lost guide is still alive deep in the bowls of Adam’s dungeons, she aims to save him, but the other Huntsman are not so sure he’s alive… Desperate to rescue Oisin, Esther makes tempestuous allegiances with dangerous foes. Walking a fine line between enemies and allies, life and death, she rages war against the monsters of the Hidden Realm.

Esther’s journey continues in this heart wrenching sequel as she navigates the politics and grudges of ageless Queens. By night, she’s haunted by what she’s seen fighting in a war that was never hers. What she’s done to survive in the Hidden Realm will haunt her forever and she’s terrified of losing herself in the darkness without a star to guide her. Will Esther be able to save Oisin and the lands before the shadows of her mind overtake her spirit?

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Esther stifled a scream. A sheen of cold sweat dripped from her face and soaked her clothes. Gathering her wits, she looked around. It was early evening, and she was in a dark cramped room full of sleeping bodies at Auburn Keep.

Her heart pounded; she was safe. There were no Faye ravishing her body while the shadows laughed, there were no beasts torturing her while the misshaped yellow eyes of the gremlins watched. The sound of rushing waters and Oisin’s screams were only in her mind

Available on Amazon

Hidden Realm (Legends of Lightning #1)

“The next Realm Walker will bring with them a storm. Lightning must fight the Crimson Shadow, or the lands will be cast into eternal darkness.”

When she was a child, Esther was plagued with vivid nightmares. Now they have returned to haunt her. Bloodthirsty monsters chase her through a forest of dead trees while a mysterious hooded figure stalks her. After waking with fresh wounds from her dreams, Esther searches for the truth about who she is and the Hidden Realm she is destined to save.

Join Esther on her journey of self-discovery as she travels into a world long forgotten. Unsure if she can trust her hooded guide, she is hunted by unknown enemies and smothered by expectations of grandeur. Deciphering friend from foe she travels the lands, trying to unite kingdoms torn by pride

About the Author

I have always been torn between two halves of myself; one half revels in all things scientific and longs to explore the secrets of the universe, while the other half finds solace and excitement within the arts. When it came time to choose a college degree, I put aside my creative hobbies and perused a career path in biochemistry. For me, college was an expensive privilege, thus I decided a degree within STEM was the most logical route for my costly investments. Through my years in college I still tried to enjoy the arts, reading novels and drawing in my sketchbooks when time permitted.

Five long years later, I graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry and molecular biology. I immediately began working full time in an academic research lab, it was miserable. I quickly grew weary and depressed in the toxic and hostile work environment created by our supervisor. I begun interviewing for other jobs and exploring my creative hobbies again when my congenital heart condition required me to have another open-heart surgery.

In the months before my operation, I became determined to finish my first novel; I had started and abandoned several over the years. Once I was well enough, I continued writing during my recovery. Nine months after my operation, I left my job at the research lab and invested more of myself in my novel. It wasn’t an easy transition and it did not happen over-night, but I decided to start a new career as a novelist.

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My Review

5 stars

Esther may have survived Castle Rose but she is torn up with guilt about Oisin and leaving him behind. She still has to unity the Huntsmen and the Queens if they are going to be able to fight the Red Witch. But Esther is distracted and danced along the line closer to the enemy than to the hero.

I admit that I tried to start reading this book and quickly realized that you need to have read Hidden Realm first otherwise you are going to be lost. I love how this is a dark twist on Grimm’s fairy tales. Esther is supposed to be the hero, but she didn’t fully understand her role in this battle. She is going to have to sacrifice all just to survive this world.

Although Esther is supposed to be the hero and fight the Red Witch, I find that she is too distracted by different things. Don’t get me wrong, my heart went out to Oisin and I just hoped that he would make it through his ordeal. Having said that this story had some great battles and I think does a great job of gearing up for the next chapter of the series.

I really enjoyed Redemption. I do recommend reading Hidden Realm first since this one picks up right away. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.

Paperback Copies of the Legends of Lightning Series

Giveaway

Book Tour Organized By:

I would like to thank R&R Book for the opportunity to read and share this book.

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