Hello, fellow audiobook listeners. It’s day 16 of 🎃 31 Days of Halloween 🎃 my version of #Blogtober. Today, I’d like to share my thoughts about Three Half Goats Gruff & Dragons Don’t Eat Meat written by Kim McDougall and narrated by Hollie Jackson. The first audiobook in Kim’s urban fantasy series, Valkyrie Bestiary. My thanks to the publisher, Tantor Media, for the audiobook in exchange for a candid review.
What’s Three Half Goats Gruff & Dragons Don’t Eat Meat about?
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My Rating: Title: Three Half Goats Gruff & Dragons Don't Eat Meat by Kim McDougall
Series: Valkyrie Bestiary #0.5, Valkyrie Bestiary #1
Published by Tantor Audio on 27 April, 2021
Genres: Action & Adventure, Dragons & Mythical Creatures, Urban Fantasy
Narrator: Hollie Jackson
Length: 9 hours 12 minutes
No. of Pages: 291
Kim McDougall presents the prequel and first book in her Valkyrie Bestiary series:
Three Half Goats Gruff: Who is the mysterious captain of the Guardians? Kyra Greene, pest controller of fantastic beasts, takes on a rock troll and meets the man who will haunt her dreams for the next 321 nights.
Come sing around the campfire with satyrs, and discover how Kyra found one little lost cephalopod who will win your heart.
Dragons Don't Eat Meat: Someone is killing dragons. And the killings point to a civil war brewing among the fae. When Kyra Greene finds an abandoned baby dragon, she doesn't want to bring him home. But until she can hunt down his thunder and stop the dragon killers, she's on babysitting duty.
Along with a quirky cast of misfits and unruly critters, Kyra leaves the safety of Montreal Ward and travels through the dangerous Inbetween - the land beyond the protected city states, where magic is the only rule of law. Can she reunite the lost dragon with his thunder and stop a new and sinister force from invading their home?
©2020 Kim McDougall (P)2021 Tantor
Source: ARC
I received this ARC for free in exchange for an honest review. This doesn't affect my opinion of the book or influence the content of my review.
Review Format: AudiobookPurchase Links: Amazon* ¦ Audible*
Listened To: 7th – 12th September 2021
What did I think about it?
Two Fabulous Stories For The Price Of One!
Kim McDougall is a new-to-me author and I really enjoyed these action-packed urban fantasy stories. The future world that she has created is a rich, fantastical tapestry that still feels real and believable. I enjoyed Kim’s pacing and the twists and turns in both plotlines. The humour in her stories was fantastic; it felt natural and had me smiling and chuckling out loud many times. There’s a varied selection of characters in both stories and I loved the personalities that Kim created for each one. There are some wonderful ones that warmed my heart and others that I would enjoy seeing eaten by a chimaera. 😘
Kyra Greene ticked my boxes – a heroine capable to kick arse with a heart of gold.
As our protagonist, Kyra exhibited many of the personality traits that I love. She’s intelligent, has integrity and will fight against injustice. I loved seeing how she dealt with the challenges that sprung to confront her in these stories. Kyra loves expanding her knowledge about the creatures that now inhabit the world and uses her skills to deal with them humanely. I love that she writes a blog – Valkyrie Bestiary – and shares her knowledge and experiences throughout these stories. Kyra has captured my heart and I’m looking forward to listening to more of her adventures.
Hollie Jackson is one of my favourite narrators.
Hollie did a great job pulling me into these stories. The pace she read felt right to me and the emotions and inflexions she used throughout heightened my enjoyment. Hollie’s performance brought Kyra and the other characters to life. She has a wealth of accents and voices; she creates just the right one for each character she reads. I never felt lost when multiple characters were in conversation. Hollie transported me into each and every scene in these stories.
Three Half Goats Gruff & Dragons Don’t Eat Meat is a fantastic audiobook and excellent value for money.
Kim’s written two tales that are great examples of character-led urban fantasy stories. I’ve already downloaded audiobook 2 – Dervishes Don’t Dance. I need to listen to the next adventure and find out what Kyra encounters next.
Has my review of Three Half Goats Gruff & Dragons Don’t Eat Meat encouraged you to find out more? I bet it has! Click on any of my links to check it out yourself.
Keep reading to find out more about Kim McDougall. But first, let me share some info about this series.
Valkyrie Bestiary by Kim McDougall
A pest controller with a soft heart can easily end up with an apartment full of rescues. 😘
Book 1, Dragons Don’t Eat Meat begins with Kyra Greene finding an abandoned baby dragon. She doesn’t want to bring him home, but until she hunts down the brute trying to kill all the dragons and start a civil war among the fae, she’s on babysitting duty.
With each subsequent book, Kyra engages in more adventures and encounters other “pests” that she has to deal with and (usually) rehome.
Books in the Series
- The Girl Who Cried Banshee (Valkyrie Bestiary #0.4) (2021)
- Three Half Goats Gruff (Valkyrie Bestiary #0.5) (2020)
- Dragons Don’t Eat Meat (Valkyrie Bestiary #1) (2020)
- Dervishes Don’t Dance (Valkyrie Bestiary #2) (2020)
- Hell Hounds Don’t Heel (Valkyrie Bestiary #3) (2021)
- Grimalkins Don’t Purr (Valkyrie Bestiary #4) (2021)
- The Last Door to Underhill (Valkyrie Bestiary #5) (2021)
Amazon* ¦ Audible* ¦ Book Depository*
Now as promised, here is Kim McDougall’s bio and social media links.
About Kim McDougall
If Kim McDougall could have one magical superpower, it would be to talk to animals. Or maybe to shift into animal form. Definitely, fantastical critters and magic often feature in her stories. So until she can change into a Griffin and fly away, she writes dark paranormal action and romance tales.
She is also passionate about fiber art, photography, children’s literacy, rescue animals, nature, and genre-bending fiction.
WHY 3 PEN NAMES?
Am I a secret agent trying to hide my identity? No.
Pen names are important for managing reader expectations.
I write Supernatural Suspense as Kim McDougall and Paranormal Romance as Eliza Crowe.
Paranormal Romance stories depend on the romance to carry the plot.
Paranormal Suspense relies more on intrigue, mystery and the fantastic worlds I build (though there may still be some kissy-kissy stuff).
Also, some like it hot. And some don’t. To be sure my readers get what they expect, I separated the genres by pen name. You can also check the heat level rating on each book page.
Finally, I write adorable children’s books as Kim Chatel. I illustrated my award-winning Rainbow Sheep picture book with fiber art, and I love bringing it to craft fairs to sell alongside my needle-felted creations. If you’d like to learn more about my children’s books, please visit KimChatel.com.
And because this is a review for an audiobook, here is Hollie Jackson’s bio and links too.
About Hollie Jackson
With over 200 audiobooks narrated and produced, Hollie Jackson has worked with both indie and USA Today bestselling authors across a wide range of genres. Hollie's voice brings characters of all types to vibrant, compelling life, allowing the listener to sit back and enjoy the story.
Growing up in a military family, Hollie found herself lost in the world of poetry and prose, and truly enjoys sharing that joy with others through spoken and written word. As an author, she understands the importance of drawing the reader into the world of the story. As a voracious reader, she enjoys an eclectic range of genre and carries that over into the studio: from contemporary romance to paranormal thrillers, historical fiction to epic fantasy, from erotica to tamer New Adult/Young Adult titles.
Everyone has a story to tell, and Hollie loves to bring those stories to life, one word at a time.
Thank you for stopping by and for taking the time to read my thoughts about Three Half Goats Gruff & Dragons Don’t Eat Meat. Have you read this one or any others by Kim McDougall? Are there any of Hollie Jackson’s narrations in your collection? Drop a comment below so we can compare notes. 😘
My love of audiobooks has grown over the last few years. Before you go, check out my Audiobook Challenge 2021 page!
Bye for now
Flora x
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