Happy Monday! We have Carrie’s Mini Review of the next installment in Nazri Noor’s Urban Fantasy Romance series.
Narrated by Zachary Johnson
Glamor, glitter, and gold.
Jackson Pryde and the great guilds of the Black Market are recovering in the aftermath of the fae attacks. With Xander Wright at his side, Jackson finds the strength and spellpower to rebuild.
Yet the fae keep coming, infiltrating under cover of illusions and glamor. And then there’s the upcoming Grayhaven gala, a gathering that’s sure to attract their destructive appetites.
Whispers speak of a strange and powerful candle, one that will help Jackson find the source of the fae and stop their attacks forever. Where are the fae coming from? Who is sending them to spread chaos?
And most important of all: where will Jackson find the time and courage to propose?
I’ve listened to all the Arcane Hearts books and they are clever, funny, and action-packed. Hand of Glory is definitely funny, sometimes clever, and has some action, but not much actual plot. In short, this book seems to be suffering a bit from middle-itis. While there’s talk of the fae and how to defeat them, there’s not much forward momentum and only one real action scene related to it. This feels more meandering and less focused than the previous books. At one point a new character is introduced who then has an adventure with Jackson. It’s entertaining, but it feels like a short story dropped into the middle of the book. What we do get is a lot of Jackson thinking about his love for Zander, plus several sex scenes in more-than-usual detail, which I’m still not sure fits with these stories.
As always, Zachary Johnson does an excellent job with the narration. He’s been amazingly consistent in voicing the large cast of characters and is equally adept at infusing his narration with realism and life.
I do hope the next book gets back on track and this isn’t a case of stretching the story arc to fill an 8-book series when 6 books would have worked.
Carrie
Buy Hand of Glory by Nazri Noor on Amazon
I just finished listening to this and agree with you that the Flint sub-plot could have been omitted without losing anything – it’s just filler. The set pieces are good and I liked that Reza FINALLY gets a clue about Nico :) But this one feels like it’s treading water a bit, especially as the previous book was so very good.
“Treading water” is a great way to put it. I enjoyed it because I like spending time with the characters and I enjoy the writing, but it didn’t advanced the main story arc. I’m probably going to listen to the next one soon, so finger’s crossed.