Kinked by Thea Harrison

Narrated by Sophie Eastlake

Kinked is a full-length novel, sixth in the Elder Races series, featuring two of the Wyr lord Dragos’s sentinels – Quentin, a shape-shifting panther and Aryal, a harpy (which is also a shape-shifting being). Quentin is the only sentinel who is not also avian or maybe just can’t fly (are they all avian?) – just a factoid I learned from the book. The two have hated each other forever and have a public knock-down, drag-out fight that gets them called into Dragos’s office for a reprimand. Their punishment is to be assigned to a journey together to a land, Numenlaur, whose inhabitants (elves) had been enthralled and murdered/tortured, leaving the land unguarded. They are to secure the land and report back.

One of my challenges with paranormal in general is keeping track of the world-building. I often prefer to read a book first, to get it in my head, before I listen, so that if my mind wanders – like changing lanes on the freeway – I can find my way back. I hadn’t read this, and I did have trouble keeping track of all the magical powers, like which being had which kind of powers, and where all the different lands called “demesnes” were. This land – Numenlaur, which was pronounced Newman-lore – was first described as being reached through North Carolina, I swear, but they went to Prague, Czech Republic, to get there. As you can see, that means I got the details confused. Maybe.

Harrison’s world, at least for Aryal and Quentin, was extremely violent, and I think the title Kinked was to tip you off that the two of them enjoyed a little BDSM as well (very little, and very tame). They start off with so much negative passion, it’s hard to know how they will turn it around, and Harrison writes it well. You don’t find it to be just old-movie bickering-turned-to-love; they are truly antagonistic with bone-crushing, blood-drawing, fight-to-the-death attitudes. Of course, you start the journey with them, already knowing they are the protagonists of a romance, so they are going to change. But the change doesn’t mean any real modification of attitudes or personalities. They both stay true to their passionate beliefs but are able to open up to each other. It was well done and genuine. They find true horrors in Numenlaur which bring up emotions and feelings from deep inside – when the elves were enthralled, they turned on each other and they left behind animals and children and weaker inhabitants to die, something that touches each of them in different ways. And Harrison doesn’t just allow the two to find the villain and vanquish it, she drags them through more personal hell as they try to recover from the journey and the battle scars before allowing them a much-needed and well-deserved HEA.

Sophie Eastlake is becoming one of my favorite narrators. She undertakes the task of describing the worlds and being the voice of all the various Wyr beings – dragons, elves, dwarves, avian and mammal shape shifters – as though it were just another twenty-page children’s book, sounding perfectly at ease with the language and descriptions of fantastical situations. She differentiates extremely well between all the characters, with a lower, husky sound for males, and clearer, higher pitch for females. She also takes on the accents that Harrison describes – for the shadow wolves, for the witch, for various other characters, and makes them her own. Her pacing is excellent, and she’s great at conveying the mood of the narrative – battles, love scenes, heightened and normal emotions. Overall – and shockingly – I’m now actually wanting to go back and start the series from the top!

Melinda

Narration: A

Book Content: A

Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in – not much burning, really

Violence: Escalated and graphic (paranormal) fighting

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Tantor Audio