5+ Stars!!!

If you could sum up Forging the Future in three words, what would they be?

Awesome. Sexy. Suspenseful.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Forging the Future?

When Jin and Logan are reunited.

Have you listened to any of Sean Crisden’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes - I love him! This was comparable to the other wonderful work he has done.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

This shifter story has bite!

Any additional comments?

This had it all: action, romance, betrayal, hot sex...I think it's by far the best of the series - and that's saying something as I absolutely LOVE this series.

Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

I was both terribly excited and horribly nervous about this story. I love Jin and Logan and the blurb for this did not a good portent make. But, ultimately, I had unshakeable faith in Mary that she wouldn't let me down or leave me without a HEA. (Spoiler: I was right.)

I don't understand why they keep messing with Jin. As Crane points out:
“They keep testing you, and for what reason, I do not know. There may be no limit to your power, but certainly, why would we want to push you and find out?”

I liked the fact that in the end you know the "bad guys" are all ruined. That they'll all, with the exception of Russ who will be killed quickly in the first challenge, have to live with their actions in misery and hopelessness. Death is too quick for those motherfuckers. The best revenge is they will stew in it for the rest of their lives.

I just loved every part of this. It worked for me in every way. Mary Calmes knocked it out of the park.

5 people found this helpful

A final? chapter to the Change of Heart series

I so far have listened to all the previous books, they are enjoyable m/m romances with a dash of action and modern fantasy (of sorts) thrown in which is a good mix on its own.

I always liked weres and gay werepanthers were a must read / listen for someone who is fascinated by big cats.
First of all, I would not recommend starting with this volume as the characters and history will be rather puzzling without any prior knowledge.
Thus, to the book from the standpoint of someone knowing the others (and if you don't, do try Change of Heart, it is a fun listen!):

The story picks up five years after Crucible of Fate, so be prepared for quite a few things having happened in the meantime. And be prepared to start worrying like mad what could have thrown Jin into his current situation, on his own, memory lost and taken in by some other tribe.

The book takes its time to keep you guessing and that is definitely good for suspense.
Not spoiling anything, things look quite a lot better again after a while, but be prepared for some very hard hits just when things seemed to be going well again.

Feeling rather invested in the characters, I admit I found many of the turns of the plot rather painful, Forging the future hits the reader hard, maybe too hard.

Characters we came to know show aspects of themselves we hoped they overcame and again, we do get reminded of what a harsh world the werepanthers live in.

How the story develops is not per se implausible or out of character, but it is in some cases pretty much things going the worst way possible.
Listening to the end did make me kinda wish for the next sentence being "it was all just a dream!", but that it is not.

The plot overall relies a lot on the drama and unlike the first book, where everything ends for the better, this time, some things don't.

One downside is that the action ends up, like in the previous book, be more buildup than resolution, it all seems to go for a big epic clash and then things diffuse...

I would have preferred the series to get a more lighthearted, adventury last chapter, more adversity from outside, more loyalty from within, more action and a bit less of a dark mood.

Sean Crisden still delivers a nice narration, but I have to subtract points for some vocie inconsistencies, it is weird if a character is voiced that differently in some cases, especially Danny seems weird now.

Still, it is a decent book, maybe not one I will have as much fun revisiting as the others though.

3 people found this helpful

Ties together the Change of Heart theme nicely

When I first started listening to this series I was not so sure about it. I wasn't so keen on the idea of the shifter sub-genre, particularly within the m/m romance arena - one too many bad werewolf books I suppose. Ultimately though, I was won over for a couple of reasons.

One - I liked the fact that the idea of a pre-destined mate was addressed within the narrative - the absurdity of it, the problems and pitfalls of such a thing, and especially the idea of the removal of individual choice and identity that the very concept kneecaps.

Two - in spite of the fact that there does tend to be some hmmm, heavy-handed repetition of salient points at times - I really enjoy Mary Calmes writing style, world building and most especially character building. Simply put, I fell in love not only with the two main characters, but with the entire cast of characters. I wanted to be a part of Logan's pack. *laugh*

Every book in this series has had moments I loved and moments that ... not so much. It has been awesome to see the characters develop, change, grow, stumble and fall, fail, connect, disconnect, and ultimately either thrive or shrivel away. I love that this book fit perfectly within the series, and the story arches, but 5 books in, it was not just more of the same.

Some characters are not at all where I expected them to be, and others are exactly where I wanted and expected them. I love that in the plot of this book we get to circle back to that earliest theme of how having a predestined mate shapes, and doesn't shape Logan and Jin's relationship, and I love that I still get to discover things in this world, fall in love all over again with a whole cast of characters and the world they live in.


I will say, not super jazzed with the treatment of fathers as a rule within this series, but that is a totally personal thing.

I have listened to this series over and over again, and will be happy to add this latest (and possibly last?) book to the rotation. If you like the series, then this book is a good addition. If you haven't read the series ... don't start here ... there is too much history that goes into the fabric of this world, these characters, and ultimately this plot.

3 people found this helpful

Gah - so hard to see this end!

Wow oh wow! When I saw the excerpt for this I just knew Mary was gonna give us the ugly cry!

We start off with Jin separated from Logan and with no memory of him, his life, his powers, or even his SON!

(Mary – why do you separate our boys like that – it kills me!!!)

There is some weird tribal stuff that happens and apparently it is figured out that Jin belongs to someone and someone important. Finally, Crane comes around and Jin doesn’t even recognize him! (Oh, Mary, cruel, cruel Mary!)

Apparently Jin has to prove he and Logan are mated by recognizing him without being told who he is – another stinkin’ test! – but of course he does! However … he still doesn’t have his memory back – he just knows Logan is HIS!

(I love it when they go all MINE! on each other- so sexy!)

It has been rough on Logan to have Jin gone for so many months. His tribe is questioning his strength. His a-hole family is stirring trouble and it looks like there is going to be a big ol’ fight sooner rather than later to determine who is the rightful leader of the Mafdet tribe.

In addition, Domin has been trying to lure Logan to Egypt to lead a tribe there that would be both benefited by his leadership and serve to help Jin and Ilia train their own powers.

When Jin finally does regain his memory (So, so touching!) there is a huge fight and big trouble and much bloodshed. At one point I found myself yelling at Mary – NOOOOOOO! – but it all worked out in the end – as we knew it would.

**

Mary is my hero. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. She can write such amazingly diverse subject matter and do it so well. Kudos!

There is no way this story will mean much to you if you haven’t been reading the series, so I’m assuming you are all fans, like me.

I adored catching up with Jin and Logan and Crane and the gang. There are some new romances on the horizons, new babies, new deaths, more heartache – life.

I felt the end was a bit rushed for my taste. I got the abbreviated version of what’s happening with everyone in Egypt and a rough idea of what Jin and Logan will be doing there – I’m assuming (read: hoping!) that there is another book coming to take us through that experience more fully.

I highly recommend this to all the fans of the series 5 of 5 hearts

Audio

The narration of this series is mostly done by Sean Crisden (books 2 and 3 by Jeff Gelder). Sean – by far – did the best job IMHO and I’m always sad when a series isn’t done by the same narrator especially when they are doing a fabulous job, but that is neither here nor there.

Sean did his best work with this, by far. It’s a very complex story with so many people and so many different accents and voice types and regionalities. Women, children, older people, younger, anger, crying, passion – you name it. Add to that the very complex names and places and I’m sure it was WORK to do this so well.

(I had the luck to see/meet Sean at GRL this year and he’s agreed to answer some questions about this narration – so look for that to follow!)

I love Sean’s Alpha growly voice that he gives to Logan. It absolutely makes my toes curl. When Logan is on the plane and tells Jin how sorry he is for doubting him and he’s all choked up… yep. Tears. It’s very moving.

I also liked what he did with Crane’s voice in this narration, it seemed more natural. I’m amazed that he can go from an American to British to Egyptian to… you name it, so smoothly and flawlessly. They are all in this book and he did them all very, very well.


So, as you can probably guess I’m giving this a big 6 of 5 stars for an absolutely amazing book, series and narration. Highly recommended.

2 people found this helpful

And ending to one of the best shifter series

If u loved the series this book is a must read. But you should read or listen to the rest first since it can not stand alone and even the latest book in this series where the MCs are Dom and Yuri and not Jin and Logan have to be read first to really get the full story and the "rigthness" of this ending to the series. Loved the series - have a solid place in my top ten and if u like shifter series then u will enjoy this one. And sean crisden is one of the best of the narrators in m/m romance department.

2 people found this helpful

I cried

I love this book, I wanted to know about Jin and how the family fell apart. Now they came back to be stronger. Love it

2 people found this helpful

love love love this book

this story is a testament of true love and passion. the stories about Jin who forgets who he is. with the help of another tribe he discovers who he is where is from , that's where the Love Story begins.

1 person found this helpful

Disappointed! Author ruins series!!

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
Sure, for those who have read the series they'll probably want to read this but for me it's the narrator that I listened to the audio for. I really enjoy listening to Sean read, he's excellent.

What was most disappointing about Mary Calmes’s story?
A Fire cracker question! So much is disappointing, it's beyond belief that she's so ruined some lovely characters. In this Peter Church and Ruslan Church have been turned into monsters, cruel and vicious. So, so wrong! In the earlier books Peter struggles with misunderstandings of Jin and Logan's relationship but he is close to Jin, very much so and depends on Jin throughout the later stories to hold things together.

Ruslan simply wanted to have a normal life in the earlier book/s and Jin helped him achieve that, Russ was not an evil character and poor Koren-what has Mary done! Koren has been fun, sweet and a little bit mixed up sexually but he has always been Logan and Jin's, always aiding them and friends with Crane, Domin, and the rest, not once was there a falling out, but now Mary has completely scrapped this character and shattered the other characters, too. This is the most horrific end to a series ever, in fact, I think Mary should go back and do another ending to this series, she needs to completely re-work her plot on this and bring back some sensitivity to the book as she had in the earlier stories! She completely lost me in this one. She upset and enraged me so much.

What about Sean Crisden’s performance did you like?
Sean always reads so well, his voice is so modular and soothing as he reads, even during the most horrible parts. It was Sean that held me to the audio of this story.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?
No! It disappointed me too much.

Any additional comments?
Mary Calmes needs to write another book to the series as she completely botched this one!

3 people found this helpful

quite read

I've almost always like this writer work and this was no different I enjoy this book and look forward to more work like this

1 person found this helpful

Wow!

Absolutely loved this.
It’s safe to say Koren is just an idiot. He ruined a life he could’ve had with Domin then with Danny. Both men were ready to risk it all for him. Ivan did risk it all for him.
If there’s one more book it’ll be safe to say he’ll be insanely miserable. I she does write another just make Koren suffer.