Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE:  Nothing Gained

SERIES:  The Chosen One, Book Four

AUTHOR:  Macy Blake

NARRATOR: Michael Dean

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  7 hours and 26 minutes

RELEASE DATE:  February 23, 2022

BLURB:

Sawyer Smith’s life is a hot mess. 

Hot, because he’s found six of his eight mates. To say things are heating up between them is putting it mildly. 

A mess, because he’s the Chosen One, the son of a goddess with no powers of his own, tasked with fixing the broken magic in his world….And he has no clue how to do it.  

With every new layer of mystery that’s revealed, Sawyer’s doubts about his abilities get stronger. To complicate matters, Sawyer is growing weaker by the day. Meanwhile, his newest guardian, the one he’s calling Yellow Eyes, refuses to reveal himself. 

With time running out, Sawyer’s desperate enough to make a daring move — one that’s potentially deadly for him and his mates. Because at the end of the day, if there’s nothing ventured, there’s nothing gained.

REVIEW:

Nothing Gained, the fourth book in Macy Blake’s completely addictive The Chosen One series, continues the riveting storyline of Sawyer Smith and his guardians/mates in their high-stakes supernatural mission to defeat the bad guy (you know who he is) and fix the broken magic in the world.  Ms. Blake outdid herself with this story, deftly combining heat, humor, mystery and peril with the found family dynamic of Sawyer, his guardians/mates, and their extended families, packs and clans.  It’s a mesmerizing mixture that enthralls, especially as Ms. Blake doles out numerous reveals which are as fascinating as they are frustrating. We’re right there figuring it all out alongside Sawyer, and the rollercoaster ride is thrilling.

As I mentioned in my review of book three in this series, Next to Nothing, Ms. Blake’s Chosen One universe includes two series that run in parallel: this Chosen One series and the Hellhound Champions series. The books run contemporaneously, and the plots and characters are interwoven.  It’s essentially the same story being broadly told from two different vantage points – Sawyer and guardians/mates in this series and Meshaq and his pack in the Hellhound Champions series.  

On her website, Ms. Blake provides a recommended reading order, and she suggests that you read books two and three of Hellhound Champions – Hell to Pay and Give Him Hell – before reading Nothing Gained.  I wholeheartedly agree with that recommendation, especially as it pertains to Give Him Hell, which provides essential context that Nothing Gained builds on, and  introduces Sawyer’s brother Nick. Nick plays a role in Nothing Gained and is also pivotal to Ms. Blake’s Magical Mates follow-on series. Unfortunately, Michael Dean hasn’t gotten his hooks into the audios for the Hellhound Champions series yet, but even reading them in ebook form is super fun and very helpful.

Speaking of audiobooks, that’s where I want to spend my time in this review of Nothing Gained.  I refuse to spoil anything in the book by telling you more about the plot than I already have.  However, I am happy to tell you about the audiobook because, as is the case across the board in this series, Michael Dean does an excellent job.  Here, he gives a noteworthy performance that shows off his mastery of his craft.  

Mr. Dean delivers a performance worthy of the theater.  He’s highly invested in capturing the essence of these very different characters, and he gets it right every time.  I can’t find any missteps in his thoughtful choices in assigning voices to the many, many characters in this story, nor in his consistent, distinctive, spot-on characterization and vocal delivery for each one.  

His vocal performance colorfully interprets Ms. Blake’s carefully crafted words while giving the characters dimension.  You’ll hear a full range of voices, pitches, timbres, pacing, and inflections from Mr. Dean on this title: deep and robust, mid-range and growly, slow-paced susurration, faster pacing for more animated characters, higher-pitched voices for women and youthful for the kids …  I could go on and on because he tackles just about everything and meets with overwhelming success.  

I highly recommend the audiobook of Nothing Gained.  It’s a thrilling story paired with spellbinding narration.  I cannot wait to see what Ms. Blake and Mr. Dean have in store in the final audiobook installment – book five, Stop at Nothing.  My Chosen One universe binge continues because I’ve already got that one queued up and ready to go.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

Audible 

Amazon