The Burn of the Underworld

Of Shadows and Fire, Book 1

By: Meg Xuemei X

Narrated by: Gwendolyn Druyor

Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Escaping hell is nothing compared to the mating fever. One just feels a lot better.

My name is Calamity. My past is dust, and my future is a life to fight to the death in hell. I never expected this to change, but then, three smoking-hot warriors - a primordial vampire, a fae prince, and a Sváva archangel - arrive in my wrecked world. They claim I'm the lost queen and their fated mate.

They come to return me to the great Atlantis to claim my stolen birthright, despite the fact that no one has ever escaped the underworld.

I don't trust anyone, but I can't deny the terrifying power awakening inside me...any more than I can deny my fatal attraction to the immortal males who fight with me.

Excerpt form the book:

"What's happening to me?" I breathed out as I shivered in want.

"You're going into heat," Elijah whispered, his eyes shining liquid blue, his face twisting with restraint. "The mating call is in my blood, too. My control is slipping."

His words didn't make sense, but it no longer mattered. Lust burned through me like wildfire. In its wake, nothing could survive, except my savage need for this archangel.

I must take him raw and hard until he couldn't take it, and then, I'd still have him, marking him as mine over and over. He'd beg and scream, but I still wouldn't stop.

Warning: This is a full-length reverse harem fantasy romance that features one hell of a hybrid woman warrior and her four powerful mates. It contains battles, explicit love scenes, curses, magic, dark fae, vampires, shifters, fallen angels, and a lot of demon assholes.

©2019 Meg Xuemei X (P)2020 Meg Xuemei X

Great book

love this book it has it all. Love, adventure, fighting, and it all run smoothly together looking forward to book 2.

Terrible Narration

The narrators voice is too mature for the main character and also makes the love interests voices sound very creepy. Could not get past the first two chapters. Shame as I love author and have enjoyed her choice in other narrator’s.

Reverse harem with twists and turns...

The Burn of the Underworld (Of Shadows and Fire, Book 1) by Meg Xuemei X and narrated by Gwendolyn Druyor is a good story with decent narration. Recommend if you’re looking for a supernatural reverse harem. 4 stars all around.

Calamity is a female slave in the Underworld and has been concealing her identity since she was a child in order to avoid forced work into the brothel. Her brother is supposed to fight in the pits, but he is sick and she volunteers to take his place. During a fight it is revealed she is a female. From there, the story picks up and doesn’t let up. There are twists and turns that help make it stand out. I’m going to leave it at that due to spoilers. The focus is either on the story or on the sex and while it feels a tad disjointed, it’s still worth the listen. Initially I thought I wouldn’t make it through (it’s a bit slow to boot), but once it got going, I wanted to learn more and didn’t want to put the book down. The MC is turning out to be a strong female lead.

The narrator, Gwendolyn Druyor, is a decent narrator. Pace is good, emotions good. My only complaint is a couple of the voices, but maybe you’ll feel different.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and will be checking out the second book in the series.

Parental guidance/trigger warnings: The story takes place in the Underworld and it’s a reverse harem. Women are treated as sex slaves, anything goes, death, weapons, violence, sex (pretty graphically detailed), and other like things occur.

*I was given a free review copy of the audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. Thank you for allowing me to listen and review the book!

So So Feel

I took a bit to get into this story. I think because I couldn't get past the narrator's take at a male voice. It was really hard to listen to. Once the story was being told by the female character it was better, but when it got to the male voices it was hard to listen to. Even the sexy signs we hard to listen to because it sounded to bad. The story seems like it is an interesting one, but it's too bad they had this narrator taking on the male. They should have hD an actual male doing it. but who knows why they choose who they choose. I like this writer's style and other books, that is why I got this one.

Wow!!!! hot!!!

I received this book for free for a honest review. Steamy, hot, sexy!!!! I loved the characters and storyline.  it flowed very well and held together.  The narrator did an excellent job of bringing the characters to life.  reccomend

Slow start but great ending.

Takes a little while to get into the story but worth the detailed intro.

Burn of the Underworld

This book was very good but it took me a while to get into it. I hung in there and the story is well worth sticking with it. You will not be disappointed. Gwendolyn Druyor did a great job with the narration. I received this free copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

fierce warrior queen leaves you hungry for sequel

Enjoyed the premise of the story and the way the characters and world was built up so you could feel exactly what she felt towards the demons that had enslaved the people in the underworld. narration was good and I'm definitely going to have to follow up on her further adventures and life with her fated mates

The Burn of the Underworld

Such a fun listen! A reverse harem with so many magical characters and the drama of a hidden queen making her way to finding out who she really is... what more can you ask for. The narration of this book was done beautifully. I am excited to see where this goes in the future.

Annoying female lead

I’m a big fan of the author, I’ve listened to most of her books. But if you’d like her female leads sassy, that is true for this lead. But also them intelligent and witty then you will be disappointed. Yes she is strong but she also easy to trust others and then stubbornly mad after and for a short series it’s just frustrating.

I’m a fan of the males in this book, sadly there is little from their point of view. The story was also an overly quick ending that leaves you feeling a little empty. There is closure but no epilogue which it felt like it needed one. A much better series by author is The Bride Trials.