Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Best Beast
SERIES: Enchanted Occasions
AUTHOR: EJ Russell
NARRATOR: Kirt Graves
PUBLISHER: Reality Optional Pres
LENGTH: 4 hours and 22 minutes
RELEASE DATE: May 4, 2022
BLURB:
Being invisible makes it really hard to get laid.
When half-human Kai Schiffer steps into the Interstices—the post-creation gaps between realms—his supernatural half kicks in, and he literally disappears unless…well, don’t ask.
But in a stroke (heh) of good fortune, Kai finally has a chance to show his face (and other parts, stars willing) to his long-time crush Jovan Kos—Interstitial Law Enforcement agent, wolf warrior, occasional berserker, and best man at their mutual best friends’ Imbolc wedding.
Jovan, who’s half in love with Kai already, is grateful his best man duties are light enough that he can focus all his attention on Kai. After all, with Enchanted Occasions Event Planning handling the Olesson-Pakulski wedding, what could possibly go wrong?
REVIEW:
Jovan and Kai are attending the wedding of their best friends. Kai is invisible when he visits the Interstices – the spaces between the realms where this wedding is taking place. In fact Jovan has had a crush on him since they’ve been friends through their friends, the bride and groom, Ola and Radka. They are there to make sure the wedding goes off without a hitch. The tradition requires the Groom to be kidnapped by the bridesmaids the night before the wedding to keep the couple apart. Jovan and Kai aren’t too sure about all this as Radka’s family is not too excited about these nuptials.
When Ola is off with the bridesmaids, Kai and Jovan have time on their hands. Kai has had a crush on Jovan too. They managed to find someplace where they can spend time together – Kai’s hotel room in fact 🙂 And Jovan FINALLY gets to see what Kai looks like. And boy dos he like what he sees 😉 They spend a fabulous night together and would like to try for more maybe?
Jovan gets back to the wedding venue to discover things are in absolute chaos. Enchanted Occasions is being tasked with ridiculous asks – like finding a goat, etc. And then there is the horrible “prank” the bridesmaids have played on a miserable Ola. Then there is the unexpected and unwelcome guest who shows up eager to stop the wedding. What else could go wrong? When Kai gets there, it’s clear that they are going to need a LOT of help to make sure that this wedding goes off. But once it’s over, what will happen with Jovan and Kai? Can they figure out a way to be together? Jovan isn’t so sure he can manage that with his job at the ILE. It’s gonna take a lot for them to find their way.
For me, the audio didn’t add much here and I’m giving this a recommendation with some reservations. This is most likely a case of it’s me, not the book. I didn’t really feel the excitement or joy here. I just wasn’t bowled over by the performance. I’m extremely picky with my audiobooks and there were times here when I wasn’t exactly sure which character was speaking. Part of this is because there are quite a few characters here and they appear sporadically throughout the story. I had a bit of trouble keeping track of everyone in the first place and when I didn’t get distinct voices, I struggled with the larger cast here. My favorite scenes were definitely the scenes with the two MCs – and those voices were distinct. They are adorable as they share their feelings for the first time. This book definitely is a tall order because of the variety of “beings” and larger number of characters. I almost feel like I should have read the book first. If you’re a fan of the series, the author and have read the book previously, I think you’ll probably enjoy this.
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