Audiobook Review: Five Minutes Longer by Victoria Sue Narrated by Nick J. Russo #Review #Giveaway

Book: Five Minutes Longer

Series: Enhanced #1

Author: Victoria Sue

Narrator: Nick J. Russo

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Cover Artist: AngstyG

Release Date: September 25, 2017

Length: 7 hours 36 minutes

Reviewed by Morningstar

Blurb

Talon Valdez knew when he transformed into an enhanced human, his life and his dreams were finished. Reviled, mistrusted, and often locked away, the enhanced were viewed as monsters, despised by the public, and never trusted to serve in the military or any law enforcement agency.

Years later he gets a chance to set up a task force of enhanced to serve in the FBI, but with one proviso: each enhanced must partner with a regular human.

Finn Mayer dreamed of joining the FBI from the time he was fourteen and made every possible sacrifice to make it happen, including living with his selfish mother and bullying, homophobic brother and never having a boyfriend. But his undiagnosed dyslexia stopped his aspirations dead in their tracks. His last chance is to partner with Talon, an enhanced with deadly abilities who doesn’t trust regular humans with their secrets and wants Finn to fail.

Four weeks to prove himself to the team. Four weeks for the team to prove itself to the public. And when another group threatens their success—and their lives are at stake—four weeks for them to survive.

Buy Links

Dreamspinner Press

Amazon

Review

Since getting this audiobook to review I’ve listened to it a couple of times, that is how much I fell in love all over again, not just with the story, but with all the characters. I am not one to be drawn to cops or FBI type stories but you add enhanced humans and Finn Mayer, and I am THERE!

I read this book when it had first came out, and I was hooked and couldn’t wait for the next one. Nick, the narrator, made that feeling grow even more! Talon and Finn are by far one of my favorite couples in a romance book hands down. I cannot get enough of this unique story that the author has created.

The cast of characters in this story is fantastic. From each enhanced having their own special ability; some official, some not. To Drew the “regular” who I cannot quite trust. Then there’s the Gregory the “regular’ that leads the team and Deputy Cohen who is at best a complete douche canoe.  Each of the enhanced has their own well developed personality that adds to the dynamic of the group, and their backgrounds are as different as night and day. But they all have their reasons for wanting to be part of this team. Gael has to be by far my favorite, but I am thoroughly intrigued by Eli.

The world she built was wonderfully constructed with details given as part of the story and given in small pieces without overloading the reader. Building a whole new type of human is complex, and she handles it without any issue while still allowing the story to flow and build around the characters. The detail makes sense and adds to complete the whole story. None of this surprises me since I have read both her paranormal and historical romances that required this as well.

Nick has long become one of my favorite narrators to listen to. He has a way of creating the right tone and voice for each character with every emotional inflection coming through loud and clear. I listened while I designed covers for books and while I designed projects for school getting so lost in the story that I could sit for HOURS and not even realize it.

I hope he’s doing Who We Truly Are!!

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Book of the Week: Five Minutes Longer by Victoria Sue #Review

Author: Victoria Sue
Book: Five Minutes Longer
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Publication Date: December 2, 2016
Length: 228 pages

Synopsis
Talon Valdez knew when he transformed into an enhanced human, his life and his dreams were finished. Reviled, mistrusted, and often locked away, the enhanced were viewed as monsters, despised by the public, and never trusted to serve in the military or any law enforcement agency.

Years later he gets a chance to set up a task force of enhanced to serve in the FBI, but with one proviso: each enhanced must partner with a regular human.

Finn Mayer dreamed of joining the FBI from the time he was fourteen and made every possible sacrifice to make it happen, including living with his selfish mother and bullying, homophobic brother and never having a boyfriend. But his undiagnosed dyslexia stopped his aspirations dead in their tracks. His last chance is to partner with Talon, an enhanced with deadly abilities who doesn’t trust regular humans with their secrets and wants Finn to fail.

Four weeks to prove himself to the team. Four weeks for the team to prove itself to the public. And when another group threatens their success—and their lives are at stake—four weeks for them to survive.

Buy Links

Dreamspinner Press

Amazon

Review

What can I say I LAVA this book! Victoria Sue has been one of my go to paranormal authors for a long time and now reading an urban fantasy by her, she doesn’t disappoint in this either. I am not one to be drawn to cops or FBI type stories but you add enhanced humans and Finn Mayer and I am THERE!

I loved that we got introduced to Finn first. Although he is a strong character all on his own; Talon is this larger than life guy who can overshadow him without even trying. Finn, at his core, is strong and determined to make it, anyway he can, into the FBI. Of course he never saw the special task force with enhanced humans as being that way but it’s better than not reaching his dream. And getting him away from his brother and mother is just a huge bonus. He never lets his fear in any situation get the best of him. The easy path in life is just not in him to take. This guy just wanted to belong to something, to be part of a group that accepted him, and a once long ago visit to his school by some FBI guys set him on the path of wanting what they said. Every time he would get that determined face on during the story I was cheering for him with all my heart.

Talon is an enhanced human with connections in high places it’s his life goal to save other enhanced humans from the humiliation of being rejected by their families, and being viewed as monsters to all the “regulars”. As a big guy, just walking into a room makes people fear him. Add the mark on his cheek that marks him an enhanced, along with his history, doesn’t soften him to most people. Finn is not most people. Talon is one of those damaged guys that holds most others at a distance. He has no trust in regulars, only for his team. And he absolutely doesn’t think small town guy Finn can or should make it as part of the team. The reasons for that, changes even if he isn’t willing to admit that to himself or to Finn.

The cast of characters in this story is fantastic. From each enhanced having their own special ability; some official, some not. To Drew the “regular” who I cannot quite trust. Then there’s the Gregory the “regular’ that leads the team and Deputy Cohen who is, at best, a complete douche canoe.  Each of the enhanced have their own well developed personality that adds to the dynamic of the group and their backgrounds are as different as night and day. But they all have their reason for wanting to be part of this team. Gael has to be by far my favorite but I am thoroughly intrigued by Eli.

The world she built was wonderfully constructed with details given as part of the story and given in small parts without overloading the reader. Building a whole new type of human is complex and she handles it without any issue while still allowing the story to flow and build around the characters. The details make sense and adds to complete the whole story. None of this surprises me since I have read both her paranormal and historical stories that required this as well.

Victoria killed me in Chapter 22 but I will forgive her because it was the type of intense and emotional scene that I love. You make me feel that level emotion for your characters and you are golden in my book.

The ending for these two guys is definitely a happy one but sort of cliffhanger for the overarching storyline of the enhanced humans; which just makes me want to read the next one even more. Now the question is which one of these guys are up next?