Hexbreaker (Hexworld #1)

Title: Hexbreaker (Hexworld #1)
Author: Jordan L. Hawk and Tristan James (Narrator)
Publisher: Widdershins Press LLC
Release Date: August 3rd 2016
Genre(s): M/M Historical AU
Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
Reviewed by: Belen
Heat Level: 3 flames out of 5
Rating: 3.83 stars out of 5
Blurb:

Will a dark history doom their future together?

New York copper Tom Halloran is a man with a past. If anyone finds out he once ran with the notorious O’Connell tunnel gang, he’ll spend the rest of his life doing hard time behind bars. But Tom’s secret is threatened when a horrible murder on his beat seems to have been caused by the same ancient magic that killed his gang.

Cat shifter Cicero is determined to investigate the disappearance of one friend and the death of another, even though no one else believes the cases are connected. When the trail of his investigation crosses Tom’s, the very bohemian Cicero instinctively recognizes the uncultured Irish patrolman as his witch. Though they’re completely unsuited to one another, Cicero has no choice but to work alongside Tom…all the while fighting against the passion growing within.

Tom knows that taking Cicero as his familiar would only lead to discovery and disaster. Yet as the heat between them builds, Tom’s need for the other man threatens to overcome every rational argument against becoming involved.

But when their investigation uncovers a conspiracy that threatens all of New York, Tom must make the hardest decision of his life: to live a lie and gain his heart’s desire, or to confess the truth and sacrifice it all.

Set in an alternate universe populated by witches and their familiars, Hexbreaker is lushly described, the world building pretty incredible and the characters authentic to the time period.

Tom Halloran is a copper who has tried to bury his past by becoming the best man he knows how to be, but when a Hex turns up that possibly brings his past to meet his present he can’t ignore it and keep to his new status quo, because that’s not the kind of man he’s become. So he opens communication with the New York Metropolitan Witch Police “MWP” and is assigned a temporary partner, of sorts, to investigate the Hex.

Cat shifter Cicero is a familiar who is being pressured by the higher ups to bond with a witch, but Cicero is determined to only mate with his fated witch, as he’s seen and heard the horror stories of bonding to the wrong person. Of course, he’s also seen firsthand his best friend’s pain at finding his witch and being rejected.

So when Cicero is partnered with Tom he knows two things, he instinctively recognizes the Irish copper is his witch, even though Tom’s hiding his abilities from everyone, and Cicero is afraid the much bigger Tom will end up hurting him, either physically or emotionally when he realizes Cicero is a lover of other men.

The two grow closer as they investigate the murders and Hexes and it’s a roller coaster of emotion as the two come together only to risk it all when they realize the threat is far larger than they thought.

Tristan James just gets it. He paces the story in such a way that it weaves a world for the listener and doesn’t just mechanically read from a page. Tristan infuses emotion, pulls off terrific accents for the characters, and keeps all of his character voices distinct. One of the things I rarely have to worry about when listening to Tristan is a bad accent. I loved the almost crisp, foppish, British accent for Cicero with the wonderful Italian asides, and Tom’s Irish accent was wonderfully done.

I have one complaint about the narration: there were a couple of words that seemed mispronounced to me and every time I heard it took me out of the story (for example – “twining” was consistently pronounced “twinning”).

Otherwise, once again, I was consistently entertained by the narration and enjoyed the story. I’m looking forward to hearing Tristan narrate more of this series. For those who like historical and/or, paranormal romances with a strong mystery plot, rich world building, and entertaining narration you should definitely check this out!