Welcome to one of the January 29th stops on the blog tour for The Bloodstone Quadrilogy by Calinda B., specifically part four of the tour for book four, Stones End. This tour was organized by Audiobookworm Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, audio excerpts, character interviews, guest posts, author and narrator interviews, and reviews! (Previous reviews: Book One, Book Two, Book Three)
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About the Book
Stones End
The Bloodstone Quadrilogy Book Four
by Calinda B
Published 8 August 2019
Page Count: 218
Audiobook Published 6 October 2020
Length: 6 Hours 23 Minutes
Narrator Alex Black
Genre: Dark Fantasy Romance
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Magical creatures are the stuff of fantasy. I thought they were unreal…until one of them started stalking me.
I’m William Ward. Moving back to Ballynagaul, nothing could have prepared me for meeting evil head on. Does it have anything to do with me falling for a vampire? Can’t tell. Does it have something to do with the rift between me, my twin sister, who shares my freakish abilities, and my family and friends? Not sure about that, either. But when something starts stalking me, wrapping its bony fingers around me, I’m suddenly in over my head. Now I’m talking to kittens, praying to a dead goddess, and defending my right to love the undead.
Things are about to get crazy. I only hope I get out of it alive.
Yes, a trilogy is a set of three but this book begged to be written. There were too many loose ends to tie up. Stone’s End is the exciting epic conclusion to the Bloodstone Trilogy, a three part tale of vampires, monsters, myths and mayhem set in Ireland. This series should be read in order. Contains mature themes.
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My Review
My Rating: 4.5 Stars
Consider “liking” my review on Goodreads.
Story: 4.5
Performance: 5
Overall: 4.5
I was granted complimentary access to the complete Bloodstone Quadrilogy audiobook set to review for a tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. Thank you to all involved for this opportunity! This has not swayed my opinion; my thoughts are my own and my review is honest.
While book three (Iron and Stone) was mostly about Marie and Paul, book four (Stones End) focused on William and his love for the former vampire who plagued Ballynagaul, now a disoriented woman from centuries past who seems to still be afflicted with a curse. Many in the town, including Paul, want the former vampire dead, but William is determined to save her. Is it possible? What sort of truths will be unveiled in seeking the answer, and what might be undone by freeing her?
Stones End is by far the best book of the quadrilogy and a pleasure to read/listen to. If you’ve followed my reviews of this series, you’ll know I struggled with certain aspects. I didn’t like Lassie, the main character of the first two books. I was annoyed by certain words and phrases used far too frequently. I was put off by unexpectedly graphic sex scenes that appeared to have been included for the sake of including graphic sex scenes. Book three was a breath of fresh air as the storyline lept two decades into the future to follow the children of Ballynagaul as young adults. I like these characters a lot more, the sex scenes have simmered down, and the words and phrases I was getting annoyed with have been used less. Now in Stones End, all of those things are even more true!
If this book had a couple of extra chapters at the beginning summarizing books 1-3 and was then presented as a stand-alone, I think it would do really well. I’m disappointed by the scant number of reviews for this title on Goodreads, and I suspect that’s because earlier books lost a lot of readers. Had I not been committed to the entire quadrilogy for a tour, I would have been one of those dropout readers. Thank goodness I continued on!
My half-star deduction on platforms that allow such things, such as my blog, is because I am still quite repulsed by the (albeit rocky) relationship between Marie and her 19-years-her-senior GODFATHER. That’s still icky and weird to me. The age gap is large enough that he could be her biological father without having been scandalously young and she’s grown up with this man in a position of authority and mentorhsip. Since this book focuses so heavily on William, I really don’t think much would change about the book if that relationship hadn’t survived through to the end, and I would have wanted to give this book an extra half-star rather than deduct one had that happened.
I can’t really say in much detail what I enjoyed about this book because I feel like it would all be spoilers, but let me just say that this book is a whirlwind of twists, turns, and reveals that kept me on the edge of my seat. As usual, Alex Black’s narration is spot on and made me want to listen to more of his work.
About the Author
A New York Times, USA Today and #1 Amazon bestselling, award-winning author, Calinda B writes kick-ass heroines who don’t know their own strength. When she’s not writing, she’s been known to fall off ice cliffs; fire walk with Eastern Europe fire officials; or wake up from a six weeks coma, wondering how she got there in the first place. She’s been stuck in currents at Deception Pass in her kayak, and loves to swim with sharks. She greets every day with gratitude and an openness to what might be around the next corner.
She’s also an EMT serving her local community as a volunteer. Her tagline is, “Let’s go save some lives!”
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About the Narrator
Alex Black is an articulate, engaging, and versatile narrator based in Cambridge, Vermont. He’s worked in theatre, film, audio production, and appeared on radio. As an accomplished audiobook producer with over 90 titles, he’s worked closely with independent authors and publishers.
He’s received more than 500 5 star reviews and specializes in Romance, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Apocalyptic, Mystery & Thriller, LGBTQ+, and Memoirs.
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