I love this author and was very excited to see that she has a new series!

Kembral Thorne is a Hound. She travels to different echoes for various reasons, usually to find someone and bring them home. An echo is a different layer of reality. The further down the echo, the more dangerous it is.

Kembral is on a leave of absence since she recently had a baby. She's exhausted and misses adult interaction. Seeing this, her sister offers to babysit so Kembral can go to a party.

At the party, there is a strange clock. After it chimes, Kembral notices that the ballroom looks different. She can sense something wrong. Then it dawns on her. They are in an echo.

I had a great time with this! The characters are fantastic. Kembral and Rika are a treat. I found the echoes fascinating. I will definitely continue the series.

As always, Moira Quirk did an amazing job with the narration. I love listening to her. She does a great job with the different characters and she's very good at snark.

The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso

Looking for a true escape into a magical, slightly confusing world of monsters and a kick-ass mom?

This story was so fun. Kembral is excited and nervous to spend a couple of hours away from her new baby at a New Year’s Ball. But the party quickly turns deadly and she is forced to save the world - and all of the echo worlds below it - before the clock strikes 12.

I loved all the details of this world and the characters. The new mom, the rising tension between her and her friend turned enemy, the echo worlds, the variety of deals made and what to believe. It was a wild adventure with smart and funny dialogue.

Can’t wait for the next book.

Thanks to @hachetteaudio for my audio copy, the narrator was fantastic and really brought the stress and excitement to life. This one is out on November 19th!

#netgalley #orbitbooks #hachetteaudio #melissacaruso #thelasthourbetweenworlds #reading #audiobooks #audiobookstagram #audiobookreview #audiobookrecommendation

4.25 Stars

Groundhog Day meets murder mystery inside a world with multiple layers of reality.

✨ What I enjoyed ✨
- This was fun, I thought the world and concept were unique, and I always enjoy reluctant heroes.
- I related to Kembral being a new mother so much - exhausted, house a mess, not remembering how to interact with adults, dealing with changes to your body, etc. The mom guilt is something fierce when even considering returning to work, but you don't have to stop being who you are.
- I appreciated the world-building wasn't a huge info dump - you kept learning more bits and pieces along the way which prevented me from feeling overwhelmed
- There was the right amount of humor (I was giggling and cackling), mystery, and fascination with the world
- I loved the side characters (especially Jaycel & Blair) and hope they are more involved in the rest of the series, which I am looking forward to reading
- I did a mix of the audiobook solo and reading along with the audiobook because I loved the narrator so much (accents are always a bonus, too)

✨ More thoughts ✨
- Although I appreciated the reliability of being a new mother, it was laid on pretty thick at the beginning. It did lessen after the first chapter, but we did get some repetitive phrases that could have been eliminated.
- I was hoping the layers of reality would get a little more crazy the further down they went
- I will admit I found myself trying to recall if certain aspects had been explained and I somehow forgot, or if they just weren't explained at all.

✨ Quotes ✨
- I only had a few hours of freedom, so I had to make them count - but blood on the Moon, I’d forgotten how to talk to people.
- No one had yet invented a liquor that could keep Jaycel from the flawless execution of a bad idea.
- Did friends drug you and leave you under a pile of trash in a tenement cellar, and then refuse to apologize for it? ...when enemies did that sort of thing, it didn’t hurt so much.
- I’ve seen jobs with lousy payment before, but ‘ I’ll only murder one person ’ sets a new record.

Consider picking this up if you enjoy:
✨ Reality bending magic
✨ Mystery
✨ Sapphic pining
✨ New motherhood

This is such a cool concept and the world that Caruso has come up with is wholly original and wild - unfortunately, the way the book is written the reader is thrown into everything without much world-building, and it's tough to figure out what's going on and stay engaged when you get dropped in the deep end like that... I actually went back and googled to be sure I wasn't on book 2 (or more) of a series. It literally just starts with a party - characters are introduced constantly, Things Start Happening, and there are allusions to backstories and relationships that are confounding because there's no context for any of it. I couldn't get a handle on what was happening or why, and the minutiae of cocktail party conversation and gossip felt like window dressing without any sense of why I should care of what it might mean. I just couldn't find my way into this one...

A fun, action packed, high stakes romp through time and space.

Really loved the idea of multiple layers of reality and trying to solve the mystery in a locked room but time keeps resetting layer by layer. The two FMC had a lot of chemistry and I was really rooting for them the whole time! The only thing is that there are SO many characters and I had a bit of trouble keeping them straight since I was listening to the audiobook.

Definitely more of a light fantasy with a groundhog day-esque plot. A fun palate cleanser between heavier books.

Wow! This book was absolutely fabulous. It takes place on one night, but the main character and some others are living through various stages of echos as the night progresses. Kembral Thorne is spending the night out at a party after just having had a baby. Unfortunately, there won't be much to enjoy as people start dropping dead and therefore, she will need to put her work hat on to save humanity. Rika Nonesuch is the nemesis of Kembral and they must work together, including a magical clock, in order to solve this case. I loved the characters in this book, and not just the main ones. I usually don't like books that relive the same hour over, but this one changed drastically as the story progresses. It was a fast-paced book that keeps you on your toes trying to figure out who did it. If you think you have it figured out, more complications are added to the story. An excellent fantasy/sci-fi read.

I would like to thank the publisher for giving me an audio-arc in exchange for an honest review through NetGalley.

This was a really cool concept and I loved how it turned out.

Kembral goes to a New Years party, the first time she's been out since she had her baby. But this isn't an ordinary party. And the night is just getting started.

The plot is basically Groundhogs Day meets a murder mystery with horrifying monsters. And each time the party resets/the further away from reality it gets, the murders get increasingly more violent. This is a wild ride from start to finish. And the enemy/rival turned love interest is just as interesting.

There were so many twists and turns and I was hooked.

I received an audio arc and the narrator knocked it outta the park, this was so engaging and I listened to it in a day. This has such a unique magic system and compelling plot.

The 2 FMCs have a great dynamic and I enjoyed seeing their relationship progress throughout the story.

I also loved how real the author got about new motherhood and balancing being a mum and being an independent human!

A fast-paced, exciting, and tension-filled adventure where the stakes continue to rise with each toll of the grandfather clock. This is such an interesting take on the locked room mystery, where the room is a house that continues to fall through different layers of reality in the middle of a deadly game. Even though we are experiencing the same period of time over and over again, it is still exciting and different each iteration. Our main characters are interesting and capiable, making them interesting to follow. The tension comes both from the external forces threatening their lives and their own history and internal problems they aren't willing to speak about with each other. I'm excited for book 2!

The audiobook was a great way to experience this story.

That was super interesting it had twists and fun characters magic portals violence and more I really loved this book

Set in a world where our reality is known as "Prime" and there are 11 other sub-realities under this one, each weirder and more dangerous than the last, a New Year's Eve house party is dragged into a game between immortals and mischief makers. Kem is a hound, basically a detective who investigates missing people (or dogs) that sometimes fall, or are pulled into other worlds, she goes and retrieves them. The setup for each hour of the story is the same, Kem arrives at a party, various outside forces try and enter the party and kill somebody, chaos ensues. Then the clock resets and the whole things starts again but with influences from the new world they are situated in as the entire party is dropped through layers as the clock strikes.

I loved the slow unfolding of the background of the characters and general world building that occurred over the course of a very protracted party. Although the general setup was the same, there was so much nuance and intrigue and breadcrumbs being sprinkled that made me want to keep reading to try and get to the bottom of what was going on and why.

I thought Kembral was a fantastic protagonist, it made a really nice change to see somebody over 25 being the main character and as well as being a total bad-ass at work and having rare abilities and skills, she had real life worries she was constantly dealing with. The other characters felt well fleshed out and how they interacted with each other and their various back stories being revealed was excellent.

As always Moira Quirk can do no wrong and her narration was exceptional, really adding another dimension to these characters.

I absolutely enjoyed this novel.

Kembral is a new mother who takes a tiny break from motherhood to join and hopefully enjoy an end of the year party. She used to work as retrieval agent, but has been on maternity leave. When the party turns into a "Groundhog Day" scenario Kembral seems to be the only one who recognises that the party/the mansion is slowly sinking into the echoes (parallel worlds that are similar, but not the same as the "prime" world).

I liked Kembral as the main character. She seems fully fleshed out. She knows her strengths, but also her weaknesses, especially after having had a baby only two months before the party. She doesn't shy away from confrontations and has a deep desire to help - or to paraphrase the story: She's the one to get the dog and bring it home when no one else dares to.

The story could have become repetitive, but each repetition of the party has higher stakes. Kembral needs to find allies, who help her puzzle out how to get all of the people attending the party back to their world without any of them dying, but who will believe her and who can she trust?

The ending of the book is written in a way that it could work as a standalone. Yet, it's a bitter-sweet ending and I am curious to see where the sequel takes Kembral.

I had the chance to not only get an eARC for this novel, but also received the audiobook ARC. Moira Quirk narrates the audiobook and she does a wonderful job, I didn't want to take my earbuds out.

I don't even know where to begin with this review. Just start shouting about how absolutely brilliant and consuming it its? The world building in this story is so lush and intricate without being overbearing. It also is ever changing, I was super drawn into the different layers of echo and the way that the landscape and the beings that lived there changed. I also loved that the party was ever changing in small subtle ways in some echos and more noticeable ones in others. The characters i felt were well fleshed out and written. There is a noticeable arc and development with our FMC Kembral. She went through so many emotions and had to face so many things that she had been keeping buried down and I found it cathartic to watch her slowly let go forgive and forge on. I really did like Rika even tho sometimes she puts her self out there as being cold and withdrawn. Blair was a gem and I wish that he had gotten more page time, I hope that he returns in the rest of the series. I also loved the clock maker and the earnest way that she tried to help and make things right. The magic system in this book is fascinating, I love the different guilds and their roles, the echos and echo born. I think that Kembral's blink stepping is a super cool skill. The entire concept of the game and the time loop as they descend from echo to echo. I really cannot wait to see what is next for this series.

Moira Quirk did a phenomenal job of bringing this book to life. Her narration really made you feel as if you were in the middle of the drama instead of just an outsider looking in.

The Last Hour Between Worlds follows Kembral Thorne, who goes to a party and ends up stuck traveling through layers of reality. People start turning up dead, and her (sort of, but not really) nemesis appears. What can she do to get out of this loop alive?

Unfortunately, this story wasn't for me. It might be best to read as much at once as possible, because due to the ground hog's day, world within worlds timeline of it all, it can be very confusing to jump in and out of. I also struggled to keep track of characters and wished that the main character had a wider range of traits. We know she is a new mom, an investigator, and has confused feelings about Rika, but who is she beyond that? There are more books planned in this series, so maybe that question will eventually be answered.

I enjoyed the audio version of this book. The narrator has a nice voice and speaks clearly enough that it can be sped up without issue.

Thanks to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for an ALC of this audiobook for an honest review.

To be honest I had little desire to read this book before I saw the audiobook on NetGalley and saw who it was narrated by. And honestly I’m so happy I requested it and I had the opportunity to listen to it early. Moira Quirk is the perfect fit for this book and in my opinion only made it beter. They embodied Kembral so well and I honestly this just gave the book the perfect finishing touches.

I really liked the fact that it basically started mid action and not too much backstory at the beginning. We know the basic facts and we slowly add to those. The world was very intriguing and the time loop held up well. Any predictability was satisfying instead of annoying and the romance just the right amount without it feeling forced.

I loved both Kim and Rika and I liked seeing the chaos increasing along with their complicated relationship.

The Last Hour Between Worlds is the first book in the Echo Archives where we’re introduced to Kembral, Kem, who’s simply trying to find her way with a two month old at home. I loved that Caruso added this take to the story since those initial months can be really difficult to navigate your identity. I also loved the banter and tension between Kem and Rika. I also really enjoyed the different distinctions between the Hounds and Cats. In terms of plot, I was hooked pretty early on with wanting to understand the time loop especially after what happened in the first iteration. I will say, it got a little repetitive after a while. We certainly learn new things in the loops, some of which were absolutely shocking, but I didn’t feel like there was enough at times to keep my attention. By the end, though, I was fully drawn back into the story especially as all the threads started tying together. I combo read the ebook and audiobook. I will say, the audio is definitely the way to go. Moira Quirk is an incredible narrator, and her narration helped me get through the slower parts of the book. Quirk brings so much energy and emotion to the role that you want to keep listening. Overall, I ended up enjoying the story, and I’m curious to see where the next one goes.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Narration
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 Story

Moira Quirk did an absolutely phenomenal job as narrator of The Last Hour Between Worlds.
I can’t think of another narrator better suited for this story.
She brought to life every single character in this story, giving them unique voices and personalities. It felt like an entire cast in one narrator, which is SO difficult to find.
She fully immerses you into the story.

The story itself was fast paced, unique and such a fun read.
My full review on the story will be on the ebook page for this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Audio for this audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review

The Last Hour Between Worlds was a cool concept, kind of like Groundhog Day with a fantasy/magical twist. Each time loop drops the characters deeper into a dangerous alternate reality, adding a strange and unique twist to the ongoing mystery. The world-building is solid and unfolds without spoon-feeding, which keeps things intriguing, but some elements, like the magic system, could’ve been more fleshed out.

Kembral, the main character and a new mom, is likable but falls a bit flat with repetitive mentions of her exhaustion and work-life balance, you don't really get to learn much about her other than who she's dated in the past and that she is a mother. The cast of supporting characters is interesting, but the dialogue can get campy, and the plot felt very repetitive. While it’s a fun setup this one just fell flat for me.

I found myself absolutely captivated with this story, it’s fast paced and the world building is so vibrant you can’t help but be sucked into the story. This book isn’t science fiction but it had a very similar vibe. I was really impressed by the amount of world building Caruso was able to do considering 85% or more of the book takes place in a single room. I really like Kembral’s character, she just comes across as very human and relatable. I also liked that she wasn’t the best at her job because she was born special/different. She became the best through a sheer stubborn refusal to quit.

I think that Moira Quirk did an excellent job narrating the book. We meet a wide range of characters throughout the story and Quirk did a great job at giving each character a distinct voice that fit their character. This made it easy to follow conversation and events, it also just helped bring the story to life in my mind. I was also impressed by her vocalization of the various non-human sounds in the book. (clock bongs, animal growls, etc.) This world is really visually intricate and I think listening to the audiobook allows you to sit back and let your imagination go.

I enjoyed this book and I’m interested to see where the sequel goes. This book is great for people that enjoy sci-fi, murder mystery, enemies to lovers, sapphic romance, and complex fantasy.

Okay, first of all, I will listen to any audiobook that Moira Quirk narrates. She is probably my favorite narrator in the audiobook game right now, and she brought so much to this story with a stunning array of voices for different characters that made it SO easy to identify each one by sound alone.

In terms of the story itself, this was such a pleasant surprise. A sapphic enemies to lovers story with a time-traveling, universe-bending mystery to solve, I didn't know what to expect going in but I was so invested I had the audiobook running during every free moment I had. Kembral Thorne, Hound known for her amazing ability to slip between steps of reality and new mother, is trying to enjoy herself on her first outing without her newborn at the turning of the year ceremony. It would be easier if her one time-maybe-romance-turned-enemy, Rika Nonesuch, a Cat, wasn't also present. But then guests start getting brutally murdered in a game played by ancient lords of the Echoes (the other levels of reality), and Kem can't help but doing her job - even if she keeps telling everyone she's on leave. And she'll need Rika's help to solve it before it's too late.

Seriously, the overall plot of this book was SO good. I was invested from the first hints of something nefarious at play, and following Kem as she fights to save the other party-goers and solve who is behind the murders, is so fascinating. She's snarky and overtired and so much fun to follow. And how often do we genuinely get books about new moms as heroes? Rita is equally fun - and snarky - and even though her plot reveals were largely predictable, they were still fun to follow along with.
Genuinely the only thing I think was a sticking point was the romance itself. It just felt like it lacked depth at its conclusion - though I could hope that this is built upon in sequels... But I would love to see stories focusing on some of the other quirky side characters we saw in this first book!