Storm in a tea cup book series#

But it was fatiguing to me as a listener. I’m not sure if the voice was an attempt at a Southern drawl or an attempt to portray a hard-ass attitude - both of which would be very true to the character, don’t get me wrong on that point the voice was appropriate. Second, the voice Benson chose to use for Ayala didn’t work for me at first. I know plenty of people who would argue against me on this point, so I know it’s a subjective thing. World-building is important to me so I wanted to know more up front. I struggled to understand what Mediators were, what the Summit was, whether or not Ayala’s boss knew she had a second “job,” that nighttime hours were normal for Mediators, etc. First, the world-building didn’t go fast enough for me. Two things contributed to the rough start. While I had something of a rough start with the series, I’m glad I stuck with it.

Storm in a tea cup book series#

Having seen Storm in a Teacup on Amazon and Goodreads several times, and being familiar with Amber Benson (narrator) from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I decided to review the series for Audible Studios. This series is really worth a read if you're into urban fantasy leveled with a certain amount of humour. The world building here reminded me a lot of the Hollows series by Kim Harrison and Ayala as a character shares some of the traits of a lot of urban fantasy heroes but despite all this I found some nicely original ideas and a lot of moments of humour and genuine humanity. She is flawed, she makes snap judgements and mistakes which ultimately makes her much more interesting. Ayala is part of a collective of people who have exactly her attributes and her only real distinguishing feature is being slightly more obsessive than them. I'm so glad I decided to read this anyway based on another of the reviews because I could not have been further from the truth. I had fairly low expectations coming into this book, a combination of the exotic name, the purple eyes and the special warrior status reminded me very strongly of a certain kind of fan-fiction (where the main character would turn out to be Snape's daughter and Harry's one true love). I'll be getting the rest of the series in print. Lorelei King, Anna Fields, Scott Brick and most particularly Amber's Buffy co-star James Marsters all are able to do more with characters and nuance than she shows in this book. Amber is a respected actress and I've enjoyed her other work, but when you compare this narration to others in her weight class I feel that Amber comes up short. I can't imagine an actual person ever sounding like that! Maybe it was poor direction. Her rendition of Hazel, Ben and Grifflet in particular are grating and annoying. She does a fine job with Ayala, but many supporting characters are given horrible cartoonish voices that are distracting and make them sound flat and one-dimensional. Unfortunately, I thought Amber Benson's narration was inconsistent at best. The plot is fun and fast-paced with interesting supporting characters and many twists. I really liked this story, it was a great urban fantasy read! The world is rich and well thought out and Ayala is a strong character with a highly ingrained moral code. And I think I like the progression of their relationship from hostility (mostly on Ayala's part) to friendship to lovers. I like how (in my opinion) Ayala and Mason's first meeting is definitely not the instant attraction type.

This is a book for fans of the paranormal fantasy genre who like romance but aren't too keen on reading or hearing about explicit sex scenes. Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting? I love how versatile her performance is depending on the character. I've listened to another of Amber Benson's performance 'Zeroes.' Thus, I think she's done a great job yet again. What about Amber Benson’s performance did you like? In my opinion, this just made the romantic parts more endearing and sweet. We really get to know what type of person she really is and how despite her shortcomings, she's still a decent person. For the first half, the author really took time to build the world and the situation that Ayala is in.

Where the character doesn't gush and gush on every other page on how hot hot hot the guy is. I liked the fact that the romance part only gets introduced halfway into the story. Unlike some novels wherein the character would go into detail about their partner's.parts, I like how the relationship isn't subsumed in physical attraction. But what I love about this book is that it doesn't submerge the plot in erotic love scenes. Because I love the character dynamic between Ayala and Mason. Would you listen to Storm in a Teacup again? Why? Paranormal Urban Fantasy without the explicit sex