From Russia with Fangs (Unabridged)
-
-
4.0 • 1 Rating
-
-
- $17.99
Publisher Description
Between her family's drunken antics and vicious verbal attacks from her so-called friends, Irina Sudenko Volkov is having the worst night ever. And that's before she's widowed. Volatile, cheating, no-good Sergei's death by assassin unleashes chaos in the werewolf criminal underground. Irina's panicked papa assigns beta wolf Viktor Zhukovsky to Irina's security detail until her husband's killer is found.
As Irina's world crumbles around her, the perfect princess mask falls away, and Viktor meets the sharp, passionate woman underneath. Their initial chemistry gives way to a deeper attraction when Irina begins to see the decency underneath Viktor's gruff, tattooed exterior, despite his insistence that it doesn't exist. Their tendency to find themselves seminude and in enclosed spaces is a source of amusement to her sister, Galina, but each of them knows of the deadly consequences if their relationship is brought to light.
Things get even more complicated when Papa Sudenko begins to matchmake Irina and Andrey Lupesco, who also happens to be in a secret relationship with Galina. Family dinners are awkward. With danger closing in on all sides, Irina has to find her claws and learn to howl.
In the much-anticipated sequel to From Russia with Claws, listeners get a new perspective of the lusty exploits of the untameable Sudenko family. Gia Corona and Jacey Conrad craft a delightful tale of the anything-but-average human Irina and the libidinous lycanthropes in her life.
Customer Reviews
Stars: Overall 4 Narration 4 Story 4
AudioBook Review:
Stars: Overall 4 Narration 4 Story 4
Irina Volkov, recent widow of Sergei is the adopted and very human sister of Galina and Alexei. Her father, Ilya has never really treated his daughters as people, more seen them as pawns that he can use to gain advantages in the business world, and that can often be rather dirty. Head of the Russian Mob in Seattle, he had married her off to Sergei to secure one faction, and now feeling she needs protection, he assigns Viktor to protect her. Irina isn’t a shrinking violet however, and we get to relive many moments from book one (From Russia with Claws) as we get the story from her perspective, told in 3rd person.
With the abusive and not so bright Sergei gone, Irina doesn’t feel much but relief, and a touch of intrigue where Viktor is concerned. Most of all, she wants some breathing room and time to make her own decisions while she (along with the others) moves through the events and power struggles following Sergei’s death. It’s a wonderful perspective on the first book, filling in moments that Galina only ‘thought’ and giving us another person’s view on the events.
Personally, Irina has a very solid and believable attraction to Viktor, and he’s determined to protect her. She’s an anomaly in this family of werewolves, but she’s not lesser, just different – and wholly devoted to her sister. Alexei is another matter, however, as his behavior is becoming more erratic and uncharacteristic of the role of leader he hopes to step into. His attraction for Irina is startling to her, although his past behavior doesn’t signify the best judgment. Family is all important here, and often meddling, and there are so many different elements brought around to keep the mystery feeling fresh and the threats real, especially considering Irina’s fragility when compared to her were siblings.
Narration for this story is provided by Sophie Eastlake, and she does a wonderful job in flowing neatly from Russian flavored accents, to younger west-coast females, to wry observation. Distinct delivery, tone and pitch changes mark each character with as easy to recognize, and the pacing, inflections and variations in speed and volume were all perfectly suited to what had to have been a particularly difficult reading. A wonderful story that is perfectly in keeping (and best listened to after) the first book in the series.
I received an AudioBook copy of the title from Audible for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.