Audiobook Review: Sweep in Peace by Ilona Andrews

 

Sweep in Peace (Innkeeper Chronicles #2) by Ilona Andrews

Publication Date: November 13th 2015 by NYLA

Pages: 315

Audio Book Length: 10hrs 50min

Narrator: Renée Raudman

Source: Purchased

Rating: ★★★★½

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

 

Re-read 6/13/25 for Books of My Heart read-long. So good!

I didn't write much of a review the first time I listened back in 2016. I appreciated the story more the second time around, especially since I recently finished reading The Edge series and so remembered George, Jack and Sophie a lot more, and I'd now recommend reading that series before this one.

Dina is a little bored and lonely since Sean left, but that quickly changes when Arbitrator George Camarine requests her in host peace talks, at Gertrude Hunt, between the Vampires, Merchants and The Otrokars, aka "The Hope-Crushing Horde", all engaged in a bloody war for Nexus.

A very risky proposition with lethal delegates, but Dina needs the money and it'll Gertrude Hunt's reputation if it goes off well. But that's a big "IF".

The Innkeeper Chronicles is a wonderfully imagined fantasy world with well-developed characters. Mystery, danger, betrayal and just a bit of romance all blended into this exciting installment!

5/9/2016:

I want the next one!

4.5 Stars

Book Description:

Dina DeMille doesn’t run your typical Bed and Breakfast. Her inn defies laws of physics, her fluffy dog is secretly a monster, and the only paying guest is a former Galactic tyrant with a price on her head. But the inn needs guests to thrive, and guests have been scarce, so when an Arbitrator shows up at Dina's door and asks her to host a peace summit between three warring species, she jumps on the chance.

Unfortunately, for Dina, keeping the peace between Space Vampires, the Hope-Crushing Horde, and the devious Merchants of Baha-char is much easier said than done. On top of keeping her guests from murdering each other, she must find a chef, remodel the inn... and risk everything, even her life, to save the man she might fall in love with. But then it's all in the day's work for an Innkeeper...

Audiobook Review: Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews

 

Bayou Moon (The Edge #2) by Ilona Andrews

Publication Date: September 1st 2010 by Tantor Audio

Pages: 447

Audio Book Length: 15hrs 32min

Narrator: Renée Raudman

Source: Purchased

Rating: ★★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

The Edge is a place where magical powers and creatures exist. It sits in between the Broken, our world, and the Weird, a place where magic thrives and where a royal society rules.

 

Cerise Mar’s parents are abducted as part of a land grab in the Edge by a rival family. Their abduction was at the urging of The Hand, a deadly group of unnaturally enhanced humans led by the ruthless and power-hungry, Spider. Cerise has to reclaim her land and get her parents back. Her plans and mission collide with William’s.

 

William was born a changeling and brought up to be a soldier. He left that life when the government turned against him and he’s been living a quiet, solitary existence in the Edge, until the government needs his help again. They have the perfect motivation for William: capture Spider, the killer responsible for the mass murders of changeling children. He’s eager for vengeance!

 

I adored William and Cerise’s first meeting! “The Hobo-Queen” and “Lord Bill” had me cracking up! They had plenty of chemistry, and longing from afar. I thought their romance was well done and in the right amount considering all the danger they were in. I loved the big, crazy extended Mar family and how they *mostly* welcomed William in!

 

Parts really creeped me out, especially the bits in Spider’s POV!

 

My heart went out to Lark (Sophie), Cerise’s younger sister, who had a traumatic event shape her. Lark appears in future installments of The Edge and The Innkeeper series, as does George and Jack, Rose’s younger brothers, so it was nice to reread her introduction. I loved seeing her, George and Jack again and they continue to be some of my favorite characters of Ilona Andrews’ stories!

Renée Raudman's narration is excellent! I highly recommend the audios!

 

I read Bayou Moon back in 2015, and re-read it again for a read-along I’m participating in with Anne @Books of My Heart. I loved it even more the second time around!

5 Stars

Book Description: 

The Edge lies between worlds, on the border between the Broken, where people shop at Walmart and magic is a fairytale–and the Weird, where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny…

Cerise Mar and her unruly clan are cash poor but land rich, claiming a large swathe of the Mire, the Edge swamplands between the state of Louisiana and the Weird. When her parents vanish, her clan’s long-time rivals are suspect number one.

But all is not as it seems. Two nations of the Weird are waging a cold war fought by feint and espionage, and their conflict is about to spill over into the Edge—and Cerise’s life . William, a changeling soldier who left behind the politics of the Weird, has been forced back into service to track down a rival nation’s spymaster.

When William’s and Cerise’s missions lead them to cross paths, sparks fly—but they’ll have to work together if they want to succeed…and survive.

Audiobook Review: On the Edge by Ilona Andrews

 

On the Edge (The Edge #1) by Ilona Andrews

Publication Date: September 29th 2009 by Tantor Audio

Pages: 384

Audio Book Length: 12hrs 8min

Narrator: Renée Raudman

Source: Purchased

Rating: ★★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

I read On the Edge back in 2013, and just read it again for a read-along I’m participating in with Anne @Books of My Heart and loved it even more the second time around! If you’re looking for a strong female character, clever banter, and a slow burn romance look no further. Their Kate Daniels series won me over as a fan, and The Edge series only increased my love of their writing!

Rose lives in the Edge, a world in between the Broken: our normal world, and the Weird: a world where magic dominates. She lives with her two younger brothers, having to take over the role of parent since her mother died and her father took off. Rose makes barely enough money in the Broken to care for their needs, and she struggles to keep her brothers behaving while trying to provide. Behaving takes special restraint when you have magic powers like Rose’s little brothers do. Rose is also gifted magically, not that this has made much of a difference in her life so far, other than making her a target for unwanted advances.

Enter Declan, an aristocrat from the Weird. He shows up demanding things of Rose and used to being in charge, but Rose isn’t just going to listen to some stranger. However, there’s something in the Edge killing, so she reluctantly teams up with him.

This was such a strange and different story, in the very best way. Rose is a wonderfully crafted heroine with some pretty cool powers. No TSTL. She works with what she has and tries to get by. I was touched by Rose’s caring relationship with her younger brothers. The boys as well as Rose’s grandmother were well fleshed-out secondary characters that you grow to love.

On the Edge is first in a series, but this story wraps up nicely, and the next one focuses on another secondary character. You can’t go wrong with Ilona Andrews! I’ve loved everything they’ve written!

As for the audio narrator, you can't go wrong with Renée Raudman! She won me over with her performance of Kate Daniels and she was wonderful here as well!

5 Stars

Book Description:

Rose Drayton lives on the Edge, between the world of the Broken (where people drive cars, shop at Wal-Mart, and magic is a fairy tale) and the Weird (where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny). Only Edgers like Rose can easily travel from one world to the next, but they never truly belong in either.

Rose thought if she practiced her magic, she could build a better life for herself. But things didn’t turn out how she planned, and now she works a minimum wage, off the books job in the Broken just to survive. Then Declan Camarine, a blueblood noble straight out of the deepest part of the Weird, comes into her life, determined to have her (and her power).

But when a terrible danger invades the Edge from the Weird, a flood of creatures hungry for magic, Declan and Rose must work together to destroy them—or they’ll devour the Edge and everyone in it.