Crucible of Fate Audiobook by Mary Calmes Narrated by Sean Crisden

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Blurb

Change of Heart book 4

In the secret city of Sobek, Domin Thorne is making his way as the newly chosen semel-aten, the leader of the werepanther world. He aspires to make sweeping changes – he’s set goals for himself and the people he chose to bring with him, modeling his reign after that of his friend, Logan Church. But Domin may have set too lofty a goal: His normal leadership style isn’t working.

While juggling a homesick Crane, a moody Mikhail, a bullwhip-wielding Taj, servants with murderous intentions, a visiting ex, and a mate on a dangerous goodwill mission, Domin has to figure out his new role alone. He also must determine how to deal with a conspiracy, all the while falling hard for a man who, for the first time in Domin’s life, reciprocates that love.

Whether Domin is ready or not, Fate has stepped in to teach him a lesson: Internal threats are just as dangerous as external ones.

Review

(From previous site.)

Most of this book is Domin learning about his new role as semel-aten and making wide spread changes to the way things are run. There are some pretty intense battle/kidnapping scenes and some moving relationship building between him and Yuri.

We get to see a bit of Logan, Jin and Crane, but most of the book is Domin, showcasing his growth as a leader, a man, and a mate.

There is no way you could understand or appreciate this book without having read the first three, and even having read the first three, it is tough to keep all the “foreign” phrases and terminology straight. I highly recommend reading all four books in a row to fully appreciate this book.

Before this, Yuri and Domin had gotten together, but it was a tenuous relationship. Some of the best, most emotional parts of this book are Domin and Yuri cementing their relationship with one another. Mary writes excellent sex and there are some scorching scenes in this story.

The politics of the changes Domin works toward are fascinating, but very complex. In many ways this is a departure from Mary’s works in that Yuri and Domin are not the exact center of this book, but an integral piece. This really feels like a book that ties up loose ends and focuses on Domin and the entire were-panther world more than anything else, his relationship included.

I loved this book as a giant epilogue to the series, but wished for more of the heart-wrenching, tender relationship scenes between Yuri and Domin.

While it is not my favorite Mary Calmes book, nor even the favorite of the Change of Heart series, I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it to anyone who read the first three books.

Audio

Sean Crisden did a great job with all the “foreign” words, the dialects, the different characters… his voice for Domin’s doctor was fantastic!

I really enjoyed listening to this book in audio format. I think, sometimes, the new words were hard to understand in audio format and I found myself sometimes looking to the book to see what he was talking about, but if you only ever heard the entire series then the words would make sense to you. Since I read the first three books, I had to look some up while listening to the audio book for book four.

I give the book a 4 of 5 hearts, the narration a 5 of 5 hearts for an overall 4.5 of 5 hearts