Category: Audio Books

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Audiobook Review: The Solstice Prince (Realms of Love #1) by S.J. Himes and Joel Leslie (Narrator)

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

This is a very sweet, angst-free story about a young healer who was rescued from slavery and the prince who sees beyond the servant to the heart of the man beneath.

Jamie Buchanan was sold into slavery when his father passed away with tremendous debt. When the slaver’s ship takes on water, it makes port in the kingdom of Pyrderi, a kingdom totally opposite his homeland. This country is ruled by a kind king and his sons are no different, so when Prince Maxim spots the scars made by the chains that bound him, he tries to help the young man but instead scares Jamie away. Until circumstances make it clear that he is the young healer who has been reported missing from the academy and Jamie’s good fortune begins.

As the winter solstice ball approaches, Jamie and Maxim become closer and it’s very evident that the young prince wants Jamie by his side forever. Honestly, there was no conflict in this story at all. It was like listening to a fairy tale, especially given that it was told in the inimitable voice of Joel Leslie. I could listen to him for hours—and I have, many times! This time, he told Jamie and Maxim’s story beautifully and, of course, they did get their HEA.

There’s really not much more to be said. It’s a sweet romance, and I gave it 3 stars because it wasn’t highly complex and there were quite a few misplaced modifiers that I think I would have cringed at if I had read the book, but Mr. Leslie smoothed over them nicely and I was so caught up into the sweet romance that I just kept going. The additional ½ star, making it 3 ½ stars overall, is due to his outstanding narration.

Those who love a sweet, easy listening story should definitely pick this one up in audio. Heartwarming and recommended.

The attractive cover is done in bright colors with caricatures of the two principal characters: the prince and the healer. It depicts the story and grabs attention.

Sales Links: Amazon | Audible

Audiobook Details:

Length: 6 hrs and 1 min

Audible Audio
Published April 30th 2018 by Tantor Audio (first published November 24th 2017)
ASIN B07CGRWH98
Edition Language English
Series Realms of Love #1

An Ali Audiobook Review: The Quarterback by Mackenzie Blair and Greg Boudreaux (Narrator)

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Matt Lancaster is the star quarterback at Bodine College, a small Southern Division II school with an ultra-conservative Dean of Athletics. Matt is also very much in the closet, and he thinks he’s kept his secret well hidden. Until his best friends take him to a happy endings massage parlor and request a male masseuse for him.

In walks Trevor Kim, a gorgeous, pierced, tattooed fellow Bodine student who does massages—without happy endings—to pay for school after his family kicked him out for being gay. Trevor takes one look at Matt and breaks all his own rules about mixing business with pleasure.

Matt needs to keep his scholarship, win the National Championship, and survive his asshole father. Instead, he falls in love. Trevor needs to accept that the football god is meant to end up with him rather than a perky cheerleader. It’s time for a happy ever after for both of them.

I think I may have enjoyed this book more had I read it years ago when I first started reading this genre.  Now, all I could focus on were the never ending stereotypes and the less than politically correct statements.  (The side characters are all kind of horrible every time they open their mouths.)  I feel like in today’s age this type of stuff is not ok and I’m not sure how half of the stuff in this book slipped past editors, especially editors from a LGBTQIA publishing house.   
 
As for the plot itself, it was enjoyable.  Both of the MC’s were likable and I thought their romance was really sweet in places. 
 
This was narrated by Greg Boudreaux and I thought he did a really good job.  I liked his work with both of the MC’s as well as all of the side characters. 
 
I feel like I should have more good things to say about this because the story itself was not bad.  It was in fact pretty good in a lot of ways.  At the end of the day though I just couldn’t get past my annoyance at the stereotypes.  I’m giving it a middle of the road rating because although I found a lot of the dialogue offensive that might not be the same for other readers.
 
Cover:  I think the cover is nice but it does not stand out from many other covers out there.
Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing | Audible
Audiobook Details:
9 hrs 35 mins
Audible Audio, 10 pages
Published April 17th 2018 by Riptide Publishing (first published September 9th 2017)
Original TitleThe Quarterback
ASINB07C7MYH7X
Edition LanguageEnglish

An Ali Audiobook Review: Crescendo (Song of the Fallen #2) by Rachel Haimowitz and Giles Barron (Narrator)

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Bridging the hatred of centuries did not come easy for Freyrík Farr and Ayden Vaska. As prince of a war-torn human province, Freyrík could ill afford to fall for an enemy. And Ayden, an elven warrior with three hundred years of bitterness in his heart, wanted no part of love. Yet they came together despite themselves and the wills of their peoples, joining hearts and minds to fight a race of Dark Beasts threatening the extinction of mankind.

Yet the Dark Beast threat pales beside the dangers of a summons to the human High Court, home of the Aegis Exalted and the harshest test yet of Ayden’s and Freyrík’s fledgling love.

When the Aegis strips Ayden of his magic, Freyrík is forced to choose between his love for elf, Aegis, and king, all the while seeking the one uncertain path that might save his doomed race. Time is fast running out for mankind, and only by making peace amongst themselves and with their ancient elven enemies can they end the Dark war—and undo the tragedy that’s plagued humans, elves, and Dark Beasts alike for the last three hundred years.

This was an action packed and super emotional sequel to Song of the Fallen.  It picks up a few weeks after the end of the previous book.  They are headed to see the human king and when they arrive things go poorly.  Freyrick and Ayden are separated and Ayden is made a slave.  From this point on things go from bad to worse.
For much of the book the two are not together.  Freyrik is working through his own issues and how he feels about the behavior of other humans and Ayden is trying to figure out how to free the other elf slaves.  It wasn’t until the very end that I was sure things were going to work out for the two men.
 
I think this would have been a higher rated book for me if it weren’t for the rushed ending.  This was a pretty long book and as I previously said, the two MC’s weren’t together for much of the story.  Then all of a sudden we get an epilogue with a HEA.  It felt abrupt to me and I felt like between books one and two I had spent a lot of time with this couple.  I wanted more of the happy ending with them.
 
The audiobook was narrated by Giles Barron who I thought did a great job with both of the main characters as well as the many side characters.  This is not the same narrator as book one but it I took a really long time between them so this was not as issue for me.  I’m just noting it for people who are doing the books back to back. 
 
Overall I really enjoyed this book and felt it was a good conclusion to this story.  I highly enjoyed the audio version and would definitely recommend that.
 
This cover was done by Simone and I think the cover is really well done and it fits perfectly with the cover for book one.  
Audiobook Details:
Audible Audiobook
Listening Length: 11 hours and 2 minutes
Program Type: Audiobook
Version: Unabridged
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Audible.com Release Date: April 12, 2018
Language: English
ASIN: B07C325RN6

A Lila Audionook Review: Kill Game (Seven of Spades #1) by Cordelia Kingsbridge and Wyatt Baker (Narrator)

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Homicide detective Levi Abrams is barely holding his life together. He’s reeling from the fallout of a fatal shooting, and his relationship with his boyfriend is crumbling. The last thing he’s prepared for is a serial killer stalking the streets of Las Vegas. Or how he keeps getting thrown into the path of annoyingly charming bounty hunter Dominic Russo.

Dominic likes his life free of complications. That means no tangling with cops—especially prickly, uptight detectives. But when he stumbles across one of the Seven of Spades’s horrifying crime scenes, he can’t let go, despite Levi’s warnings to stay away.

The Seven of Spades is ruthless and always two moves ahead. Worst of all, they’ve taken a dangerously personal interest in Levi and Dominic. Forced to trust each other, the two men race to discover the killer’s identity, revealing hidden truths along the way and sparking a bond neither man expected. But that may not be enough to protect them.

This killer likes to play games, and the deck is not stacked in Levi and Dominic’s favor.

Kill Game is an interesting police procedural with a good amount of comedic relief & romance.  It’s not totally dark, but it has enough grim to make the reader guess the outcome. The book has a fulfilling ending, but as a series ends in a cliffhanger. Not enough to disappoint, but enough to want to listen to the next installment immediately.

I really enjoyed the main characters’ imperfections. Neither of them is a demi-god, superhero combo with perfect bodies or lives. They are down-to-earth men, truthful to their jobs and lovely with their friends and families. They wanted to do better for others even when their lives were less than perfect.

Their relationship is more than slow. By the end of the book they are finally coming to terms with their attraction, but even then, they took the time to get to know each other, providing the space they needed to be better before moving forward. I hope the next couple of books show us more of their relationship.

All the secondary characters were fleshed out and the victims interesting enough to carry the suspense angle. I like the Seven of Spades and the way it plays the game with Levi and Dom. Showing how much they learned from each other.

This is my first audiobook by Wyatt Baker and it didn’t work for me. I’m glad the story was solid and kept my interest. I had trouble following who was talking. At least, thanks to the author, I had enough clues to figure it out. Definitely, not looking forward to another of his narrations.

The cover by Garrett Leigh shows the main clue in the story and goes with the dark theme.

Sales Links:  Riptide | Audible | iTunes

Audiobook Details:

Narrator: Wyatt Baker
Length: 7 hours and 56 minutes

Published: April 20, 2018 (Audio Edition) by Riptide Publishing
ASIN: B07CG9XC8Y
Edition Language: English

Series: Seven of Spades
Book #1: Kill Game

 

An Ali Audiobook Review: An Ali Audiobook Review: Dirty Deeds (Dirty Deeds, #1) by SE Jakes and Adam North (Narrator)

Rating:  4 stars out of 5

Two seasoned operatives finally meet their match: each other.

Cillian works for the mysterious Special Branch 20: an organization that runs black ops commissioned by the British government. His specialty is deep undercover assignments with virtually no support. He’s been alone for so long that he no longer knows anything else.

Mal’s also used to being alone. Wanted in several states and even more countries, he’s not allowed in the vicinity of any of his former Navy SEAL teammates. And his current assignment is to track Cillian in order to discover the spook’s endgame. Except he’s no longer sure which one of them is getting played.

Cillian isn’t about to let the mission that’s consumed him for the past several years crumble because an outsider is poking around where he doesn’t belong. But Mal forces his way through Cillian’s defenses—and into his heart—exposing a devastating betrayal that could destroy them both.

I have enjoyed SE Jakes series that are connected to this one, Hell or High Water and EE, Ltd and I liked this just as much.  But it’s a cliff hanger and no real date in sight of the next book….

Cillian and Mal have both been seen in other books but this is the first focused on them.  These two both have deep pasts that are only partially delved into in this book and I hope we learn more about them.  They are connected far more than they ever though until the end of this book and we can see the connection.  Both of these men have been damaged and I couldn’t help but feel for them and there is no disguising that their jobs aren’t the easiest either.

Dorian Bane did a wonderful job narrating this story as always.  I loved the voices he used for the characters and how easily it helped to understand them.  I could feel their emotions and connect with them easily.

I really like the cover art by LC Chase and I like how it’s just similar enough to the other connected books but different at the same time.

Sales Links:  Audible | Amazon | iTunes

Audiobook Details:

Audiobook, 2 hrs 30 min
Published: April 12, 2018 by Riptide
Edition Language: English

Series: Dirty Deeds #1

An Ali Audiobook Review: Free Falling (Extreme Escapes, Ltd.) by S.E. Jakes and Dorian Bane (Narrator)

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Sometimes falling in love is the most dangerous thing of all…

Blue’s a thief who lives for adrenaline and danger. When he meets Mick, a mercenary and a hitter, he feels an immediate attraction. But Mick reneges on a bet they’ve made, leaving Blue pissed and confused.

When they meet again a year later, Blue’s in terrible danger after having walked into the middle of one of Mick’s jobs. Mick saves him, and although the two men have fallen for one another, they have no idea how to handle that kind of intimacy that’s been forced on them.

But when Mick goes missing on a job, Blue’s the one to go after him, determined to save the man he loves no matter the cost.

I very rarely do re-reads and there’s a reason for that.  This book reminded me of why.   I find that over time my tastes change and things I really liked before often don’t hold the same appeal years later.  This series used to be one of my favorites though so I thought there was a good chance it would hold up.  It wasn’t a fail per se but I also wasn’t wow’d.
The two men have met in the past and now again a year later when Blue finds himself in the middle of one of Mick’s jobs.  The story is fast paced as is the love story.  It was very insta-love which was probably my biggest peeve with the story.  That didn’t used to bother me but has become a plot device I don’t care for anymore.  Also, the story is filled with sex scenes.  Too many for the length of the book in my opinion.  I felt like the story relied on their chemistry in bed more so that building an actual relationship between them.
This story was narrated by Dorian Bane.  I thought he did a good job on both MC’s.  I had never listened to a book by this narrator so it was a pleasant surprise.  I’m always looking for new narrators that I enjoy and I will be adding this one to my list.
Cover:  This book’s cover was done by CrocoDesigns.  I like the cover and think it looks really good.  It’s a really eye catching design.
Audiobook Details:
Kindle Edition, 134 pages
Published March 8th 2014 by Riptide Publishing (first published December 5th 2012)
Original TitleFree Falling
ASINB00IWAI7OQ
SeriesExtreme Escapes, Ltd. settingBogotá (Bogota) (Colombia)