Flora reviews… Heartache by Annie Bellet. Book five in her urban fantasy series, The Twenty-Sided Sorceress.
What’s Heartache about?
This post contains affiliate links (marked *). If you buy the book using that link, I'll receive a small commission from the sale.
My Rating: Title: Heartache by Annie Bellet
Series: Twenty-Sided Sorceress #5
Published by Self-Published, Annie Bellet on 7 April, 2015
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Narrator: Folly Blaine
Length: 4 hours 34 minutes
No. of Pages: 249
Gamer and sorceress Jade Crow's psychotic ex-boyfriend shows up for a final showdown, and nothing in Wylde will ever be the same.
Source: Bought
Formats Available: Audiobook, eBook, Kindle with Narration, Paperback
Purchase Links: Books2Read - Universal Link ¦ Audible* ¦ Book Depository*
What did I like about it?
Heartache, Desperation, Frustration, oh my!
I’m already a fan of Annie’s writing style and this urban fantasy series. Heartache is the 5th book and aptly titled. 😉 I should stress that the books in this series need to be read in order to understand the plotline.
I downloaded the narration by Folly Blaine for my Kindle.
However, I ended up listening to most of the story through Audible rather than reading it. I like the way Folly reads the narrative, it’s good. The story is told from Jade Crow’s perspective and Folly’s performance mirrors our protagonist’s personality. However, Folly has a very limited number of accents or voices. Many of the characters sounded the same, making scenes with more dialogue than narrative harder to follow.
The plot in this book felt less full of hope and lighter moments. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the tension of waiting for Samir to strike or the feeling of “out of the frying pan and into the fire.” Plus of course, Annie is really good at writing dynamic fight scenes, especially those with magic. I was definitely holding my breath a lot. However, I missed being uplifted. Plus it ends on a rather depressing cliffhanger which is why I’ve sulkily rated Heartache 4-stars not 5. However, there are still geeky references and nerdish quotes sprinkled throughout this book that warmed my heart and put a smile on my face.
Keep reading to find out more about this series and its author.
Twenty-Sided Sorceress Series by Annie Bellet
This series is about comic store owner, Jade Crow. A native American sorceress who loves gaming but has escaped to the quiet little town of Wylde, Idaho, to hide from her murderous ex. Hiding in plain sight amongst Wylde’s shifters, paranormal community and unique magical landscape.
Books in the Series
If you haven’t read any of these stories yet, what are you waiting for? Click the links below to read my reviews or buy them yourself.
- Justice Calling (Twenty-Sided Sorceress #1) (2014)
- Murder of Crows (Twenty-Sided Sorceress #2) (2014)
- Pack of Lies (Twenty-Sided Sorceress #3) (2014)
- Hunting Season (Twenty-Sided Sorceress #4) (2014)
- Heartache (Twenty-Sided Sorceress #5) (2015)
- Thicker Than Blood (Twenty-Sided Sorceress #6) (2015)
- Magic to the Bone (Twenty-Sided Sorceress #7) (2016)
- Harper’s Tale: Tribes (Twenty-Sided Sorceress #7.5) (Expected Dec 2020)
- Dungeon Crawl (Twenty-Sided Sorceress #8) (2017)
- River of No Return (Twenty-Sided Sorceress #9) (2018)
- Balancing the Scales (Twenty-Sided Sorceress #10) (2020)
The series also has a few box set editions:
- Twenty-Sided Sorceress: Books 1-3 (Justice Calling; Murder of Crows; Pack of Lies)
- Level Grind: Twenty-Sided Sorceress Volume One (Books 1-4: Justice Calling; Murder of Crows; Pack of Lies; Hunting Season)
- Boss Fight: Twenty-Sided Sorceress Volume Two (Books 5-7: Heartache; Thicker Than Blood; Magic to the Bone)
Buy any of the above titles in print, audio and ebook formats:
Amazon UK ¦ Amazon US ¦ Audible
About Annie Bellet
Annie Bellet is the USA Today bestselling author of The Twenty-Sided Sorceress, Pyrrh Considerable Crimes Division, and the Gryphonpike Chronicles series. She holds a BA in English and a BA in Medieval Studies and thus can speak a smattering of useful languages such as Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Welsh.
Her interests besides writing include rock climbing, reading, horse-back riding, video games, comic books, table-top RPGs and many other nerdy pursuits. She lives in the Netherlands with her husband.
And as I listened to the audiobook, here’s Folly’s bio too.
About Folly Blaine
Folly Blaine writes fiction, narrates short stories and audiobooks, and is an avid photographer living in the Pacific Northwest.
She attended the Clarion West Writers Workshop in 2014.
Thank you for taking to read my thoughts today. I hope you buy Heartache for yourself.
I really enjoy Annie Bellet’s stories, she’s earned her place on my Favourite Authors’ Page. Before you go, check out all the amazing authors I’ve listed.
Bye for now,
Flora x
