Clean Sweep

By: Ilona Andrews

Narrated by: Renee Raudman

Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

On the outside, Dina Demille is the epitome of normal. She runs a quaint Victorian Bed and Breakfast in a small Texas town, owns a Shih Tzu named Beast, and is a perfect neighbor, whose biggest problem should be what to serve her guests for breakfast. But Dina is...different: Her broom is a deadly weapon; her Inn is magic and thinks for itself. Meant to be a lodging for otherworldly visitors, the only permanent guest is a retired Galactic aristocrat who can’t leave the grounds because she’s responsible for the deaths of millions and someone might shoot her on sight. Under the circumstances, "normal" is a bit of a stretch for Dina.

And now, something with wicked claws and deepwater teeth has begun to hunt at night....Feeling responsible for her neighbors, Dina decides to get involved. Before long, she has to juggle dealing with the annoyingly attractive, ex-military, new neighbor, Sean Evans - an alpha-strain werewolf - and the equally arresting cosmic vampire soldier, Arland, while trying to keep her inn and its guests safe. But the enemy she’s facing is unlike anything she’s ever encountered before. It’s smart, vicious, and lethal, and putting herself between this creature and her neighbors might just cost her everything.

©2013 Ilona Andrews, Inc. (P)2014 Ilona Andrews, Inc

The narrator is tedious and ruined the story for m

I love the writing team that is Ilona Andrews and their Magic series. Kate is a strong, smart female lead who is also balanced with humor and softness. I expected something similar coming into Clean Sweep. The idea is a good one - a magical inn and innkeeper who is supposed to maintain neutrality amidst the magical goings-on outside her property's boundaries.

I just never felt invested in this story or any of the characters. Dina is in no way equal to Kate (from the Magic series) - this character is markedly weaker and wishy-washy with none of the sarcastic humor from either the Magic or Edge books. Additionally, the narrator was verging on ridiculous and obnoxious constantly which definitely took me out of the story. She has an overly fake sweet tone that grates and then she over accentuates the Southern accent to the point of parody - almost as if she were trying to be offensive. I found myself just not wanting to finish the book at all as a result. I may try again later

Becoming one of my Favorite Author Narrator combin

I pretty much bought the book without really reading the discription. I did it because I love the Kate Daniels series. So I was expecting a book about a witch. So now comes the part that is probably said too much but here goes anyways. New twist on the vampire werewolf love triangle. The fact that they are not human hybrids but instead aliens was interesting and refreshing. It combines the two genres rather seamlessly. In some ways it makes more sense that vampires are aliens rather than a human with a disease.

I love the Inn and am completely jealous of it. I want my house to do what I tell it. Plus it kind of felt like its own character almost like a big dog.

Dina is not like Ilona's other main character Kate. She shows that she has a soft warm side from the begging. You learn about her tough as nails other side slowly. I could see myself being friends with her.

Sean on the other had does remind me a little of Curran. Which may be unavoidable with the whole Were thing. This is not a bad thing though. It is nice to see a guy give a crap. Plus it makes for some funny moments between Dina and him.

Renee does a great job once again of making the book come to life. Sometimes I have problems listening to a narrator who voices a series I have listened to voice a new one. Sometimes it can make it a little confusing. It actually knocks me out of the story when the voices sound too much like another character from a different book. I did not run into this with Clean Sweep. Renee did a great job.

I am hoping that this will become a series because I really enjoyed the characters I would love to get to know them better. I do hope that the triangle thing ends quickly I am not a huge fan of love triangles. By this review you can probably see which guy I hope she picks.

story a bit slow

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The narrator spoke slowly but I kept thinking she was an older woman, and it sounded not as interesting to me personally. I would recommend a more sparkly voice.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Sean the wolf and the beast the dog, They kept my interest,

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Renee Raudman?

I don't know someone that sounds young and vibrant

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

no

Any additional comments?

The book was okay, I found myself doing other things while I was trying to listen to it. It for me was not exciting like wayward pines, kind of a let down

This a wonderful story but voice is off.

The male performances and others was very good but she is supposed to be 24 years old but she sounds a lot older. When the voice of a 40 year old character at the beginning sounds younger. She does much better in latter books. But the story is so good I got used to it. I would read it more than listened but this book about an inn for extraterrestrials is great. The writters bring the characters to life. After a while I got used to the voice. The inflections were good. I will have more info on the kindle review but it was nice to listen to if I was doing housework and didn't want to put the book down.

REFRESHING STORYLINE

I got this book to try out and have been totally captivated by it. It has a very different, refreshing storyline. A lot of laughs and very tense moments. Love the narrator too. I have also purchased the second book in this series and look forward to listening to it. If you want something different and innovative, listen to this book.

Fun book, hate the narrator

The story was a fun Sci Fi/Urban fantasy for the over 20's readers who still like the youthful, light-hearted stories. The main character was mature but still youthful enough to want to prove herself. She is at an age where she can make informed and rational decisions about who she wants to be in the world and stand up to potential consequences. I don't like spoilers, but I will say this is a great personality to follow around an urban fantasy.

The narrator unfortunately nearly killed the whole thing for me. The main character is in her 20's with spunk, backbone, and a measured and rational approach to crisises that can be handled with a few jabs of a spear. But the narrator sounds like a slow, calm, 80 year old southern grandma. This made romantic and action scenes... awkward or boring. I literally nearly fell asleep on the road listening to her. Speeding up to 1.20-1.30 made the story just barely tolerable.

I don’t get the attraction

There’s no way I can sit through more of these books. Narrator was boring and didn’t do a great job with male voices. The direction was for a slow Southern drawl, but ugh.
The story has very clever world-building. I enjoyed that Dina was already well-versed in her world. The guy playing catch-up was werewolf, Sean.
But there’s a thread of immaturity in this novel and the authors’ work in general that makes me crazy. As if I’m reading a YA book where it isn’t appropriate to be graphic for the tender, young readers. It’s all just too sweet.
The reviews were so rave that I thought I would love it. But I just wanted to scream when will the adults show up?

Yawn, yawn, yawn

I've heard Ilona Andrews name A LOT with people loving to read her books. I don't know if it was the narrator that even speeding up didn't improve or if this was just a boring book. I think it might be the narrator. I might try reading this instead of trying to finish the listen. There are so many great books available, this isn't one of them

Narrator is way off.

Will have to get books from my friend that recommended this series.

Narrator is so slow in reading and gives this character, that's supposed to be 25, a 80 year olds voice. It's terrible. Should have listened to other reviews.

New Favorite Series

I love anything Ilona Andrews writes. So I wasn't surprised that I enjoyed this one so much. The characters are well thought out. The world they write about has my imagination working overtime. Once I start I have to make sure I have the time to finish because there is no way I'm putting it down til it's finished. I need the second book like yesterday.