Audio Review: Hot Blooded by Amanda Carlson

Hot Blooded

Jessica McClain, #2
Amanda Carlson

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Narrator: Thérèse Plummer
Date of Publication: April 23, 2013
Abridged or Unabridged: Unabridged
Length of Production: 10 hrs and 15 mins

Available at the following retailers:
Amazon     Audible   Downpour

The second novel in the Jessica McClain series is a full on action adventure featuring one angry Goddess and plenty of monsters, demons, and a few newly risen beasties...

It hasn't been the best week for Jessica McClain.

Her newly found mate has been kidnapped by a Goddess hell-bent on revenge, and Jessica is positive she can save him.

But being the only female werewolf in town comes with its own set of rules and powers... if only she understood them.

Aided by two vamps, two loyal Pack members, and one very reluctant human, Jessica must rescue her man while coming to terms with what being a wolf really means.

This is the second book in the Jessica McClain series by Amanda Carlson. I was liked the overall story of the first book, Full Blooded, but really disliked the narrator.  Apparently, I wasn't the only one!  But all is well, it seems that the production team listened to the hue and cry and found a much better narrator in Thérèse Plummer.  She was everything that the first one wasn't; enthusiast, engaging, emotive, and best of all, entertaining. I was able to fully commit to the plot instead of counting how many dialogue stops and starts that was this chapter.

The story opens with Jessica McClain planning beside her father. After finding the rarest of rare, a True Mate, he was snatched from her.  She has bargained for assistance in locating the treacherous goddess who stole him away. But she knows going in that is really a trap, and is trying to plot and plan accordingly. Jessica knows instinctively that she has a limited time frame to reach him, or he could die, leaving her to pine forever for him. The journey is tough, and as a new born wolf, she is still learning much about herself and her abilities.  This trip will test her over and over again.

The entire book takes place over approximately 4 days time. There were some interesting challenges thrown at the characters, and even though they basically went from one conflict right into the next one, I was happy to see that things like eating and sleeping weren't brushed aside and forgotten in the rush to get to the next big fight. Things like exhaustion and changes of clothes made kept the story grounded. Additionally, I was worried with the way Jessica keeps gaining power that she was going to become too MarySue-ish, but her self-doubt, stringent sense of justice and her ability to ask for assistance and advice help to this at bay. We find out more about the Prophecy in this book, and how it applies to Jessica. I enjoyed this book and gave it 4 stars.