Seven Years by Dannika Dark 

Narrated by Nicole Poole

Seven Years is a paranormal romance (PNR) that promises to be the start of another addicting, shifter/werewolf based series! Both the story and the narration are fantastic, reminding me of why I became obsessed with PNR when I first started listening to audiobooks. There is just something magical about a well told, original fantasy that you can settle into based on the narration and can allow it to transfix you into feeling as if you were actually being transported to another world. When you further factor in a convincing, heart melting romance with a sexy alpha hero, and plenty of twists and turns and spine tingling suspense, then, in my book you have the perfect recipe for a must listen. Seven Years fits this mold perfectly.

Tragedy struck Lexi Knight’s household, and her heart, seven years ago when her brother died. Not only did she lose her brother, but also his best friend, Austin Cole, who had practically grown-up in her house, and who she had secretly held a crush for as long as she could remember. He disappeared after her brother’s funeral without a word.

Then on the seventh anniversary of her brother’s death, Austin turns up out of nowhere. He is no longer a boy, but a grown man, and there is no doubt that the attraction she felt for him has only multiplied. However, Lexi believes that she could never forgive Austin for abandoning her and her family when they needed him most.

Austin, however, has good reasons for his absence. Dark, life-altering secrets, the least shocking of which, unbelievably, is that he is a shifter and now the alpha leader of his pack, form the basis for his needed departure. As Austin begins to reveal the other secrets, secrets that will forever change her memories of her brother, her family and even herself, Lexi soon starts to discover that Austin may just be her salvation.

But Austin is not the only one who wants to save Lexi. There is a rival alpha leader, Lorenzo, who has set his sights on Lexi, even if she doesn’t know who or what he is yet. As danger lurks and threatens to consume Lexi and her family, will she be able to keep her family and herself safe? Moreover, when past secrets are fully revealed, who will she entrust her heart to?

This was my first experience with Nicole Poole and I loved it! Ms. Poole has the perfect deep voice to render both believable male and female parts. Additionally, she expertly produces varied intonations for each one of the numerous characters of each sex, so that there is no need to rely on dialogue tags.

Perhaps my favorite part of her rendition was Lexi. Ms. Poole imbued Lexi’s lines with just the right amount of depth and confidence to accurately convey her important role in taking care of her family, while at the same time managing to communicate her vulnerable side, which has left her susceptible to the charms of Austin and Lorenzo. When it came to Lexi’s interactions with Austin, you could just hear the angst and deep felt longing that she had always held for this important man in her life, even during those times that she had harbored deep resentment for what she attributed to his betrayal. In her dealings with Lorenzo, you could feel her conflicted response, wanting to both like him but questioning his motives.

Austin’s dialogue was equally well delivered. In his interactions with other males, you got the sense that although younger than many of his rivals – and thus his less gritty or husky tone – Austin is an alpha hero true and true and in control of any situation in which he is cast. Even in his interactions with his older brothers and packmates, Ms. Poole’s performance highlighted the respect and undeniable pull that caused them to obey Austin, even when they would have preferred not to.

Ms. Poole’s delivery and pacing of the plentiful action-packed and suspense-filled scenes also added greatly to the impact of Seven Years. Without a doubt, this is one of those stories, that I would have enjoyed in either audio or eBook format, but I think it is an especially good choice in audiobook format, as the performance helped heighten the magnitude of the overall effect.

I am officially addicted to the Seven series! The good news is that there are already three other entries (two in audio format) that have been released in this series, so I have plenty of material to discover. In that regard, I can’t wait to move on to Book 2, Six Months, asap!

BJ

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Narration:  A

Book Content:  A

Steam Factor:  For your burning ears only

Violence:  Domestic Violence

Genre:  Paranormal Romance

Publisher:  Tantor Audio

 

Seven Years was provided to AudioGals by Tantor Audio for review.

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