The Servant

Title: The Servant
Author: Mary Calmes and Greg Tremblay (Narrator)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press LLC
Release Date: March 18th 2016
Genre(s): M/M Paranormal Fantasy
Length: 5 hrs and 8 mins
Reviewed by: Belen
Heat Level: 3 flames out of 5
Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5
Blurb:

After saving his younger brother’s child, Daemon Shar is cursed by a witch and runs far from home, a stray who will seemingly never be anything more. But destiny is hard to outrun, even for a man who is now more cat than man beneath his robes and cowl. A chance battlefield meeting between he and Ehron, a foreign lord, gives him purpose amidst the darkness of his accursed life. Soon Daemon finds that his true nature cannot be corrupted no matter the form he inhabits.

As Ehron’s consul, Daemon plots and plans to shape his new lord’s future so that he may leave it blessed when he runs away yet again. But he never counted on his soul hungering for Ehron’s brother Gareth or for his past to catch him by the tail at last.

I love Mary Calmes. I am quite vocal in the fact she is one of my favorite authors. I love Greg Tremblay. I am equally vocal in praise of his stunning talent as a narrator. I reread and re-listen to both their work often. Seriously, really often.

So it is with a heavy heart and a stunned sadness that I say this story on literally no level whatsoever worked for me. I was lost, confused, and befuddled for most of the story.

From what I was able to cobble together, and I could be wrong, because like I said I was confused for a lot of this, Daemon Valian Shar is one of three brothers. Two of whom are fighting to reign over their kingdom of Narsyk. When he saves the infant son of one of his brothers from a witch’s blade, Daemon Valian is cursed to take the form of a cat.

Daemon runs from Narsyk to the neighboring country of Rieyn, and, keeping covered at all times, finds himself the right-hand Consul to Ehron Terhazien. He plots and schemes for ten years (off page) to advance Ehron politically. When the war that Ehron has been fighting in is over, Daemon returns with Ehron to Ehron’s home, the holding of Deshal Mar in the barony of Kasan, where Daemon meets and becomes much beloved by all of Ehron’s family, including his younger brother Gareth who claims Daemon as his own.

There are a lot of characters, and they all have difficult names, and the places are all fantasy-named and it was all really confusing for me.

Then there was the narration. Which was good for the most part, except for the accents. Greg’s ease with accents was his undoing in this for me, because everyone, it seemed, had a different accent. Which made no sense to me within members of the same immediate family. I didn’t get it. How could a mother, father, brothers and sister all sound so completely different from one another? Or most servants within the household? I spent a lot of my time listening to the story wondering why certain accents were chosen and why there were so many.

I even went and bought the book thinking reading it would be an easier time, and while I could then suss out names a lot easier, it didn’t help me to enjoy the story at all.

Bottom line, I didn’t enjoy this story or the narration.

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