Radiance

An unexpected and awesome surprise!!!!

Wow. I can't believe how much I enjoyed this book. I can't wait for anything else by this author to be released in audiobook. This is a great paranormal/fantasy romance with great world building and good character development. But what I really liked was the fact that it didn't focus on how broken the main characters were and how much they needed to be fixed, there was no angst over being forced to marry. No stupid decisions by the characters or frustrating plot twists. No drama over psychological scars from their pasts, well not much. It was just a good fantasy with two mainly well adjusted characters learning how to love despite their differences. With all the other new releases in the romance genre lately, this was as refreshing as it was we'll done.

I highly recommend this one and it may actually be a multiple listen for me.

67 of 71 people found this review helpful

Something Special...

Any additional comments?

...and it's right in so many ways.
There's no instant lust in this one, but there is instant chemistry, and a warmth that's not found in every romance. It makes the eventual love even better.
Loved Ildiko and Brishen. Loved to hate Brishen's mother.
The world building is nicely done. Just the right amount of detail to make it real, although I suspect that there are a couple of things that will be fleshed out when needed. This is a tightly written book: no filler to tune out. And the twist at the end is jaw- dropping.

When something special comes out in audio I hold my breath to see what the narration will be like. No worries there: Gabrielle Baker is perfect. I may or may not re-read this, but I will be re-listening to it many, many times.I have the tentative release of book 2 marked on the calendar. Please bring it out on audio and don't change the narrator!

43 of 47 people found this review helpful

Great story, odd narration

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

No. Read the printed book. It is excellent. The audio is frustrating. The narrator has a nice voice, but her reading inflections were odd. Not sure if it were the performance or the engineering. But it was distracting to wait through long pauses to get to the next sentence. What was clearly supposed to be a pause (comma) in a sentence was read as a full stop. Then you had to wait for the next word. It felt like the audio was spliced together because you didn't get a natural breath, you got what felt like dead air until the next word.. Not a lot of great narrative flow. Very frustrating to listen to. I finally gave up after an hour of listening.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Was pleasantly surprised....

I saw this and put it in my wishlist for later and now I'm mad that didn't read it sooner. I am a sucker for good romances but find that I get burnt out when I read too many in close succession because the stories just meld into one with the same story just different character names. Radiance stood out like a beam of individual and unique light. I adored the love story in this. No TSTL heroine and no stoic "I'm too strong to say my feelings so I will just push you away" hero. Both come together in a mutual friendship despite their forced marriage and make the story extremely delightful rather than frustrating. Honestly I think after listening to it for a day and a half from start to finish I'm ready to read it again!

19 of 23 people found this review helpful

a surprisingly wonderful story,

I had never heard of this author or the story but picked this one based on great reviews. I'm so glad I did. not only a great story but all the better because it was unexpected. listened to it twice so I could savor it the second time.

10 of 12 people found this review helpful

Wonderful!

I wasn't sure I was going to like this book. I like paranormal, but not aliens or time travel. Lucky for me, this really wasn't either. It's a beautiful love story of two "spares" who very quickly become EVERYTHING to each other. I'm upset that I will have to wait for the next book, but once it comes out, it will give me an excuse to reread this book to catch up to the next book and refresh my memory. I truly loved this book and want to read some of the authors other books to see if they reach the same caliber. I even bought the book in Audible so that I could listen on my way to and from work. Well done!

10 of 12 people found this review helpful

Loved the story, audio could have been a bit better.

I thoroughly enjoyed this tale. I didn't expect much from it but I was blown away by this book. The romance wasn't rushed but didn't drag. There was no cliche instant lust between Ildako and Brishen which I was very pleased with. The building of friendship to lovers between them was so real and so tangible. This is the first book to make me laugh out loud in the literal sense. Author was very skilled in incorporating humor with romance and a bit of bloody action into this. Lovely writing and lovely story telling.

The narrator was a decent performer. Wish she wasn't so monotoned throughout the piece. She does have a heavy English accent so some parts I had to relisten to to understand what she was saying. The recording wasn't spectacular either. I could hear birds and cars in the background every ones in a while along with a constant buzzing sound. Don't know how avoidable it was when recorded. Splicing of the audio could have been a bit better as well. Long gaps in some areas and the buzzing sound changed a lot with the different audio. Therefore I give 3 stars.

Otherwise I absolutely loved this story. Definitely worth a shot.

10 of 12 people found this review helpful

Loved this book! Impatiently awaiting the next!

What did you love best about Radiance?

It was a different story than I expected, if I'm being honest. I've had it in my library for awhile now, and I can't remember what first drew me towards the book, wether it was on sale or whatnot. I originally thought it would be more of a Beauty and the Beast type book, where they are disgusted by each other at first (haha which they are, but it's done in a much different way than expected), and then fall in love eventually. It was so unlike my expectations, and so much better for it! I honestly fell in love with the characters right from the first, and became enamored with the story. It was full of romance, mystery, and action. I'm actually very sad that the next book isnt out yet, and I'm guessing by the epilogue, and some setting up of 2 other charactors for a romance, that there will definately be at least one more book. I am hoping it turns into a series.

What other book might you compare Radiance to and why?

Honestly, I can't think of another I've read that was quite like it. It had elements of a lot of other books in it, like the couple being forced to marry, but I cannot think of another like this book. I found it rather unique, and quite enjoyed it because of that fact.

Which character – as performed by Gabrielle Baker – was your favorite?

It's difficult to pick. I think she did a good job at narrating because the voices were different enough to recognize who was speaking and when. I thought the accent given to the main heroine to be a little off putting at first, but I soon became accustomed to it, and it stopped bothering me. I think I liked the hero's voice the best, but that may be because I loved his charactor the most.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Oh yes, very much so. Unfortunately I was unable to do so, and that made me rather sad haha, but I listened to it as quickly as I could manage because I was enjoying it so much.

Any additional comments?

I think this book is definitely worth a credit, and I'm rather disappointed that this is the authors only book that is on audible right now. I'm extremely eager for the rest of the series, but going by the publishing date it's likely to be awhile before I am able to listen to the next one. But this series and author is getting added to my automatic purchase list! Get it, you'll enjoy it! And hey, if you don't, you can always return it!

Note: this romance does contain some adult scenes, so if you hate books with those in them, you'll likely want to pass this over. Though, I will say, you will be really missing out if you do. And it's not erotica, where every other scene is an adult scene. There are only a few in the book, and they are married after all, and they care for each other very deeply. It's not s*x just for the sake of s*x or anything like that. So I would encourage you to take a chance on it!

9 of 11 people found this review helpful

Meh - Lisp

I couldn’t get past the lisp. Aside from that I just found this book difficult to get into. The writing itself was good but that’s about all I liked. I had higher hopes for this book.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Loved it!

Everything Grace Draven writes is amazing and I have read everything I can get my hands on. I was delighted to see Radiance as an audiobook. The narrator was wonderful. It took me about a chapter to get used to her voice (and hint of lisp) but she has such a beautiful voice I wouldn't want a different narrator. Now Audible needs to get Master of Crows read and Grace Draven needs to write faster!

4 of 5 people found this review helpful