Risk by Dannika Dark Narrator: Nicole Poole
Length: 10 hours 6 mins
Series: Mageri World #1
Published by Dannika Dark on August 14, 2016
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 278
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WHEN A GAME OF LOVE BECOMES A FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL.
Simon Hunt is a masterful Mage when it comes to knives, solving puzzles, and women. But when a Mageri Councilman asks for a personal favor, his skills are put to the test. He reluctantly accepts the impossible job of training a young Learner who is beyond anyone's help. She's beautiful, cunning, and disabled. If he succeeds, he'll receive a hefty paycheck. But if he fails, more is at stake than merely his reputation.
A compelling tale about two lost souls with dark secrets and the unique connection they share. Simon is her last hope... and perhaps she is his.
Has Simon finally met his match?
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Risk is a story based in the Mageri world. It features Simon Hunt, the Mageri’s bad boy. Or so he’d like you to think. In Risk, a favor is called in and Simon ends up training a learner with some special needs. Ella is deaf and her creator doesn’t think that she will survive independently in their world but is giving Simon a chance to train her to see just what her potential could be.
It was hard to imagine Simon in a serious training position. He’s always been the daring, smart ass, tough guy who was more interested in board games and women than being serious in life. Simon takes his role as trainer seriously, but still keeps those smart ass qualities that I love about him from the series. His way of training is not like how others would do it, and he is much more tolerant of the sneaky little things you can do in a fight. Any of Ella’s little distraction tricks, like a certain little wet willy, were frowned upon. Simon enjoys them and is eager to see what other tricks Ella will pull.
Ella is downtrodden after basically being shunned by her creator after the accident that caused her deafness. She still tries to train herself, but most days is left in her room without a lot of interest paid to her. Where she used to receive all kinds of attention and high praise, now she’s expected to be out of the way. This terrible treatment and lack of help with her problem leaves her frustrated and not really come to grips with getting along while deaf. It doesn’t take much for Simon to bring out the strong, determined girl hiding behind the long, plain dresses she’s been given to wear.
I enjoyed seeing Ella grow. It was satisfying to see her get so strong and capable. She picked up things fast and with Simon as her teacher she learned the world was not all prissy white like her creator made it seem. The pair grow towards feelings for each other, but no commitment gets made. I classified this as urban fantasy as the romance side is played down considerably.
Ella brings changes to Simon that really broaden his character. You see more of him and what is truly behind the playboy act. The story line was interesting and kept my curiosity up throughout trying to figure out everyone’s secrets. I got some good laughs, which is to be expected from Simon. I didn’t feel like this book held up to the status of the Mageri books. It didn’t really feel as action packed as the main books.
Still it was a lot of fun to have a Simon story and get to know him better. You can’t help but laugh at most of what comes out of his mouth. I hope we do get more of the story between Ella and Simon in a later book or novella. I felt the two were left in a precarious, unknown position. I definitely have to see how that ends up.
About Dannika Dark
Dannika Dark is the USA Today Bestselling Author of Urban Fantasy Romance and Paranormal Romance books. Her books have sold more than 2 million copies worldwide, and she is a 2016 Audie Awards finalist. In addition to writing about supernatural worlds, Dannika is passionate about graphic design and creates all her own covers and series art. When not writing in her cave, she enjoys indie music, reading, Netflix, heaps of chocolate, and unleashing her dark side.
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