A Unique Paranormal World! War of Hearts by S. Young [ALC Review]

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

A standalone adult paranormal romance from New York Times Bestselling author Samantha Young writing as S. Young.

Thea Quinn has no idea what she is. All she knows is that her abilities have been a plague upon her life since she was a child. After years of suffering at the hands of a megalomaniac, Thea escaped and has been on the run ever since.

The leadership and protection of his pack are of the utmost importance to Conall MacLennan, Alpha and Chief of Clan MacLennan, the last werewolf pack in Scotland. Which is why watching his sister slowly die of a lycanthropic disease is emotional torture. When Conall is approached by a businessman who offers a cure for his sister in exchange for the use of Conall’s rare tracking ability, Conall forges an unbreakable contract with him. He has to find and retrieve the key to the cure: dangerous murderer, Thea Quinn.

Thea’s attempts to evade the ruthless werewolf are not only thwarted by the Alpha, but by outside dangers. With no choice but to rely on one another for survival, truths are revealed, intensifying a passionate connection they both fight to resist. At war with themselves and each other, Conall and Thea’s journey to Scotland forces them to face a heartrending choice between love and betrayal.

War of Hearts is a standalone paranormal romance.

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I had heard a lot of amazing things about War of Hearts by S. Young (Samantha Young) but I did not expect this book to blow me away!

I don’t read a lot of paranormal romance books, and I also didn’t read a lot of detailed reviews of the book. So, when I saw that this was offered as an ALC, I decided to request it and I do not regret it one bit!

War of Hearts is a new take on the paranormal world that is set in the real world. There are still the usual paranormal beings – shifters and vampires – but this world includes the fae and a new origin to these shifters. I was hooked! I literally listened to this book in two days and I was amazed at how fantastic the world-building is!

While the book does spend a bit of time building the world and introducing us to the characters, I did not feel that it was full-on data dumping. I liked how the world was revealed to us, the same way as the world was revealed to the heroine, Thea. Because she did not know what she was, we discovered the world as she did, which really helped a lot in keeping the plot going.

I loved the relationship between Conall and Thea! I liked both character developments and how their romance developed especially since Conall was sent to capture Thea in the first place.

The third act in this book really surprised me because I was not expecting who the villain turned out to be. It really caught me by surprise which doesn’t happen that often.

War of Hearts also brought me to tears! I love Thea so much and the dilemma and mistrust she showed to Conall really hit me in the feels.

Thoughts on the Audiobook

The audiobook was read by Mhairi Morrison and she used a Scottish accent for the whole book – except for Thea’s American accent and some of the characters that were American/non-Scottish. But for everything else she used the Scottish accent. I have to be honest and say that it took me about a chapter to get used to her accent. After that, I didn’t have any problems following along and understanding what she was saying.

Mhairi Morrison is a fantastic narrator. Her pacing and the different voices that she used were perfect for War of Hearts and the overall feel of the book.

Who is your favorite narrator?

Do different accents bother you when listening to audiobooks?

What is your favorite PNR world?