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Venom & Vanilla

The Venom Trilogy, Book 1

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Venom & Vanilla

By: Shannon Mayer
Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
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About this listen

Successful Seattle baker Alena Budrene doesn't want to die. But when she's infected with a lethal virus spread by supernatural beings, her only chance for recovery is to make a deal with the devil - or in this case, a warlock.

Though he saves her life, it looks nothing like the life she once knew - and neither does she. Alena is a new breed of "Supe" no one has ever seen before. Even the supernatural police don't know what she is. Now exiled to the northern side of the Wall, which marks the divide between humans and Supes, Alena is thrust into a dark and magical new world.

But just as she begins to adjust to all things supernatural, she realizes that her transformation is the least of her worries - and it was no accident. She was chosen...to be killed by a Greek hero trying to make a name for himself once more.

Alena was brought up to be subservient, preferring creating to fighting, and vanilla and honey to blood. But that was then. Now, to survive, she must stand up for herself - and this time she's got fangs. But will she be ready to use them?

©2016 Shannon Mayer (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved Fantasy Fiction Magic Paranormal Greek Mythology Mythology Ancient History Ancient Greece

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I really like Alena, she has a great mix of innocent and unbelieving without smacking you over the head with it as some authors do. She struggles with her beliefs etc but accepts what’s in front of her and what’s changed when she should.

There are some entertaining characters in this trilogy, I seriously want to kick Roger in the nuts!

The story is really fun and engaging, the idea of a ‘monster’ trying to change things for the better and the perceived ‘heros’ actually being a-holes is not lost on me.

Well worth the read, looking forward to the rest of the trilogy.

Another character worth listening to/reading from the worlds of Shannon Mayer

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yes yes yes absalutly love Ur audibles
, I work outside so need a good listen for the day fantastic as
always thankyou

vanilla

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Really enjoyed listening to this. Different to other books in the genre, or at least the ones I've read. Looking forward to seeing where the story goes.

something a bit different

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Alena Budrene has weeks to live. A victim of the Aegrus virus which killed her brother Tad five years before, her only comfort is fellow patient Dahlia who has even less time to live. Her husband Roger has already moved on, having moved his long time girlfriend into their home and helped himself to her inheritance. To add salt to injury he has also sold her beloved bakery to her competitor. Now all Alena can do is wait for the inevitable gruesome end that will see her body waste away.

Suddenly Dahlia offers Alena hope. A warlock by the name of Merlin, is offering a cure - for the right price. However Alena is a Firstamentalist and fearing she will go to hell if she takes up Merlin’s offer - which has apparently been already paid for by a mysterious benefactor - tells Merlin to cure Dahlia in her stead.

With Dahlia now gone, Alena is in despair. Unexpectedly, Merlin returns with a new offer - to make her ‘special’ a one of a kind supernatural that no one has seen before.

“Beautiful. Powerful. Exotic. Cured. And no one will ever know who you are by looking at you.”

Alena decides to accept his offer unaware that Merlin has got his own agenda and that she has been chosen for a specific reason.

Venom and Vanilla is the first instalment of the Venom trilogy and was also my first introduction to the author. From the offset I found myself sympathising with Alena’s plight and outraged at her self centred husband’s betrayal and callousness. Alena comes across as an endearing and caring individual who readers won’t help rooting for. The secondary characters were equally appealing. Dahlia, Remo, Officer Jensen, Ernie the Cherub and Yaya were my favourite.

Alena stems from fundamentalist religious background. Her parents are Firstamentalists and it’s for this reason that Alena initially rejects the cure as it goes against her morals and upbringing. Her evolution from a meek church mouse into a fearsome Drakaina - a woman siren capable of shifting into a venomous snake at will, was interesting to see.

I was equally impressed with the authors world building. We have a world in which humans had initially been oblivious to the vampires, werewolves, warlocks and Greeks gods walking amongst them. That is until the Aegrus virus began to spread. Although the virus originated from the Supes themselves, it only presents itself as a cold or at worst the flu in them. For humans however, contracting it leads to certain death within weeks of becoming infected - their bodies slowly shrivelling up into husks. The government has quarantine protocols in place for those infected which has victims separated from their loved ones and isolated in a specially built hospital on Whitney Island. There’s no cure unless one takes the route that Alena and Tad did. Alena later discovers that the virus is only susceptible to humans who had supernatural blood in the genetics and comes to learn that her parents are hiding something in their family tree. Supes are separated from humans by a Wall that is patrolled by police in both sides of the divide. Those who wish to visit the human side are chipped by the supernatural police to track their movements. They have no rights as humans refuse to acknowledge their existence.

All in all I found this to be an engaging read with an unique twist on Greek mythology. We find ourselves rooting for the monsters instead of the gods and heroes. The book was fast paced with never a dull moment. It’s a light hearted read with lots of humour and definitely not one to be taken seriously. Judging by her hints of a family curse and the fact that their parents are keeping secrets, the author has paved the way for an interesting sequel and I’m looking forward to exploring their backgrounds further.

I listened to this book in audible form which was narrated by Saskia Maarleveld. I was impressed by the way she was masterfully able to bring each character to life with their own unique voice, switching effortlessly between characters and accents.

I recommend this for fans of vampires, werewolves, warlocks, shifters, sirens, Greek mythology and baking!

Unique twist on Greek mythology

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I just love this author's work. She never fails to both entertain me and keep me on the edge of my seat. Another creative expansion of the same universe of Riley, Larkspur and Zamira (but not with those characters). Enjoy!

Another winner from Shannon Mayer

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Avoid this one if you can. I am struggling to believe Shannon Meyer actually wrote with rubbish. No swearing church going lead female role with Greek gods and vampires? Ridiculous plot, no twist or turns to keep you engaged. Stick to the Rylee Adamson series and do not waste a credit on this nonsense.

Terrible

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