Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Fated Hearts
SERIES: Shadow Bound #1
AUTHOR: Garrett Leigh
NARRATOR: Dan Calley
PUBLISHER: Fox Love Press
LENGTH: 6 hours, 50 minutes
RELEASE DATE: April 21, 2020
BLURB:
“He’s not a wolf.”
Devastated by the death of his best friend, Zio is a soldier with one thing on his mind: revenge. Consumed by a conflict that’s raged as long as he’s been alive, he’s had little time or inclination to learn the legends of the shifter world he was raised in. And he certainly doesn’t have time to deal with a shifter of a different kind, even if it’s for the good of the war effort. For the good of his pack. The fact that he’s already crossed paths with the new face in his unit is almost irrelevant.
Almost.
Do no harm. Give life not death: it’s the oath Devan was reborn to live by, so when he’s sent abroad to embed with a wolf pack as their resident healer, he doesn’t hesitate. In the supernatural world, some bonds are instant—soldiers become brothers, pack become family. But others run deeper and before long, Devan’s at the mercy of instincts he can’t control.
Zio’s inner wolf is desperate to be with Devan, while Devan struggles to keep the pack safe. But as the war escalates, and new love is tainted by anguish and pain, the battles within might prove the toughest of them all.
“I won’t let him die.”
REVIEW:
Garrett Leigh is a master o writing stories about tortured souls, tackling mental illness and trauma and every kind of relationship. She’s written some terrific stories and when I saw she was branching put to the paranormal genre I was intrigued.
By now many of us have read countless of shifter stories and most of them tend to blend together, few bring something new to the genre. I do think Fated Hearts had some really interesting ideas and new twists and it made me want to find out more. At first the story was gripping and interesting, and I was eager to learn more. But it wasn’t long until that need fizzled out and I was just meandering along a world and story that needed more anchoring and fleshing out. There was so much of it that was either very superficial or didn’t really make sense, much that I had trouble connecting to a coherent picture. Too much of it was missing. It’s also why I’m having a hard time describing it more than in general terms.
A good narration can elevate a so, so story, just as a poor one can break the best of them. This time around it did neither, but was kind of on par with the story, both had their issues. The story failed to catch my attention and sadly the narration was the same. We all have personal preferences in terms of narrators and what we like and don’t. One listener will love a narration another just can’t cope with – just like readers will love and hate the same book. Personally Calley’s style of narration isn’t for me. I mean he is brilliant with different accents and he has a pleasant voice that is easy to listen to, but for me that just isn’t enough to carry the narration for the entire book.
Calley is a reader and not a performer and that’s all well and great. All narrators have their own style and way of narrate, but what I can’t get past is that he sounds bored with his reading, even during the intense moments and for me that’s a big problem. I also had a hard time following many of the dialogues and keeping track of the characters. They were all portrayed with the same voice and tone, and it was hard to distinguish one speaker from the next. I also missed a clear enunciation, it wasn’t uncommon for much of the dialogue to be mumbled so I had to really concentrate to hear what Calley actually said. Sadly it threw me out of the story and made me focus on all the wrong things.
I know Calley has a great fan base and many love his narration. I also wish I was among them – he has narrated some pretty great books in the past and I’d love to have listened to them. But sadly I think I have to pass on that. However, if you are a Calley fan, you have many books to look forward to.
RATING: 
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