Category: Audio Books

A Paul B Audiobook Review: Black Balled (Black Balled #1) by Andrea Smith and Narrator Eva LeNoir

Rating Overall:  3.5 out of 5 stars

  • Rating for Story 3 out of 5
  • Rating for Narration:  4 out of 5

black-balled-audiobookLarson Blackburn is an author who is published by an independent publisher.  He has been trying to get his life back together after the death of his father, caring for his mother, and the disappearance of his sister Kennedy.  He believes that his newest novel will help move his life forward.  When influential online reviewer Babu savages not only his book but himself personally, he does the only thing he can think of doing.  Start an online war with the critic, a term he uses loosely.

Tony Babalonia, Babu to the hundreds of fans of his online reviews, is known as a savage critic, and that suits him just fine.  The Simon Cowell of the literary world, he does not hesitate to call a book garbage if he thinks it the term fits.  However, what he views as candor has sent many an author out of the business.  What he did not expect happened two years previously when one of those authors met him in a crowded elevator and stabbed him in the chest, causing his lung to deflate.  This caused Tony to become both a recluse and avoid elevators at all costs.  He cannot believe the audacity of one author, an L Blackburn, to challenge him and the critique he gave his book. 

The two continue their online war via Babu’s review site and personal emails, detailing their own sexual conquests with women.  Then Larson’s ex-wife comes to Babu and hands him information that suggests Larson plagiarized the novel from another book.  Things come to a head (literally) when the two meet at a literary convention.  The two, along with a woman that Larson was taking to his room, become trapped in an elevator at the hotel the convention was being held.  As they were attending a Halloween masquerade ball, neither man knew the identity of the other when sexual hijinks take place.  Will this lead to hurt feelings being eased or ramp them up to greater levels?

When I received the blurb for this audiobook, it said that it was a tale of two dominant alpha males.  I found the two MCs to be more like assholes the first two thirds of the book.  I could really gather neither sympathy nor empathy for either character.  Both characters try to one-up the other in either tales of what one will do to the other or what they have done to women, complete with video to prove it.  The ex-wife, who should be the main antagonist, comes of flat.  When the two men take the revenge on Noelle, it borders on cruel and sadistic.  I must say the sex scenes, especially between the two MCs were hot and well done. 

Narrating a novel from two MC’s points of view can be difficult but Joel Leslie does ad admirable job of doing so.  If I had to stop listening, when I returned, I could tell which of our MCs was currently speaking.  I am not sure if his narration made the MCs seem more distasteful that what was written but he seemed to bring out the true nature of the characters to me. 

Cover art is eye catching and draws you to pickup the story just as it should.

Sales Links

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Book Details

Audiobook, 9 hours 28 minutes, 55 chapters
Published:  June 8, 2016 by Andrea Smith

Audible Audio
Published June 8th 2016 (first published April 27th 2015)
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesBlack Balled #1

An Alisa Audiobook Review: Sweetwater by Lisa Henry and Dorian Bane (Narrator)

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

sweetwater_audiobookWyoming Territory, 1870.

Elijah Carter is afflicted. Most of the townsfolk of South Pass City treat him as a simpleton because he’s deaf, but that’s not his only problem. Something in Elijah runs contrary to nature and to God. Something that Elijah desperately tries to keep hidden.

Harlan Crane, owner of the Empire saloon, knows Elijah for what he is—and for all the ungodly things he wants. But Crane isn’t the only one. Grady Mullins desires Elijah too, but unlike Crane, he refuses to push the kid.

When violence shatters Elijah’s world, he is caught between two very different men and two devastating urges: revenge, and despair. In a boomtown teetering on the edge of a bust, Elijah must face what it means to be a man in control of his own destiny, and choose a course that might end his life . . . or truly begin it for the very first time.

I haven’t read many books set in this time period so I was eager to give this a try.  I felt the setting was done really well and I could totally picture this western town as if I was there.  There were a host of characters all of which were felt realistic and added to the overall world building.  The majority of the story was told by Elijah who was a really different type of character but I struggled with him a bit.  He had a hard life and was very much a victim.  It was totally realistic and believable but as a result I don’t think I ever really warmed to him.  He annoyed me each time he did not stand up for himself.  I felt sorry for him but it was hard for me to find him a believable romance partner.  I didn’t see what Grady saw in him.  Even though parts of the story were told through Grady’s point of view I still didn’t feel the connection.  Elijah felt more like a child who needed a caregiver not a man who needed a romance partner.  So, I liked it as a fiction story but not so much as a romance.  The writing was really well done and this author is generally one of my favorites.  This was just not the book for me.
The book was narrated by Dorian Bane who I had never listened to before.  I thought he did an excellent job on all of the characters.  This was a big cast and I thought he did each of them equally well.  This is an audio that I would definitely recommend.
Cover by L.C. Chase:  I love the cover.  I think it fits the story perfectly.
Sales Links
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Audiobook Details:
Audible Audio, 8 pages, Listening Length: 7 hours and 39 minutes
Published August 5th 2016 by Riptide Publishing (first published September 29th 2014)
ASIN B01JO64IAS
Edition Language English

An Alisa Audiobook Review: The Burnt Toast B&B (Bluewater Bay #5) by Heidi Belleau and Rachel Haimowitz with Dorian Bane (Narrator) andTobias Silversmith (Narrator)

Rating:  4 stars out of 5

 

the-burnt-toast-b-b-audiobookAfter breaking his arm on set, Wolf’s Landing stuntman Ginsberg Sloan finds himself temporarily out of work. Luckily, Bluewater Bay’s worst B&B has cheap long-term rates, and Ginsberg’s not too proud to take advantage of them.

 

Derrick Richards, a grizzled laid-off logger, inherited the B&B after his parents’ untimely deaths. Making beds and cooking sunny-side-up eggs is hardly Derrick’s idea of a man’s way to make a living, but just as he’s decided to shut the place down, Ginsberg shows up on his doorstep, pitiful and soaking wet, and Derrick can hardly send him packing.

 

Not outright, at least.

 

The plan? Carry on the B&B’s tradition of terrible customer service and even worse food until the pampered city boy leaves voluntarily. What Derrick doesn’t count on, though, is that the lousier he gets at hosting, the more he convinces bored, busybody Ginsberg to try to get the B&B back on track. And he definitely doesn’t count on the growing attraction between them, or how much more he learns from Ginsberg than how to put out kitchen fires.

 

Derrick is miserable, he never wanted to take over his parents’ B&B, but falls into it after he was laid off and his parents’ passed away.  He has never been very comfortable in his skin, even if he won’t admit it to others.  Ginsberg is perfectly comfortable with himself and has worked hard to be the man he is today and isn’t going to change that for anyone.

 

This story was told from both characters’ points of view, which made understanding their thoughts a bit easier.  It’s easy to see Derrick struggling with keeping up and being what he thinks a man should be even if sometimes you just want to give him a slap across the back of the head for being an idiot.  Ginsberg looks at the world as the glass is half full and is slowly able to show Derrick that everything isn’t as bad as he thinks.  Derrick takes awhile to get with the program, but once he does he is all in.

 

Dorian Bane and Tobias Silversmith did a nice job narrating this story.  I could connect with the characters through the voices and emotions they portrayed.  This is the first time I have listened to a story with separate narrators for the two main characters, I can’t say that it either helped or hurt the story, it was just different and I still enjoyed listening to them.

 

Cover art by LC Chase is nice and follows the pattern for the series.

Audiobook Sales Links

Riptide Publishing

351e4-audible

 

Audiobook Details:

Audible Audio, 7 pages, Listening Length: 6 hours and 22 minutes
Published August 2nd 2016 by Riptide Publishing (first published January 3rd 2015)
Original TitleThe Burnt Toast B&B
ASINB01JDGDXLY
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesBluewater Bay #5

 

Winner: Best Transgender Book in the 2015 Rainbow Awards!

Winner: Best Transgender Romance in the 2015 Rainbow Awards

An Ali Audiobook Review: Desert Heat / Native Tongue (Desert Heat #1 – 2) by Lucy Felthouse and Narrator Joel Leslie

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Desert Heat & Native TongueRead the whole story – both books bundled for your reading pleasure, and great value!

Desert Heat:

Their love is forbidden by rules, religion and risk. Yet still they can’t resist.

Captain Hugh Wilkes is on his last tour of duty in Afghanistan. The British Army is withdrawing, and Wilkes expects his posting to be event-free. That is, until he meets his Afghan interpreter, Rustam Balkhi, who awakens desires in Wilkes that he’d almost forgotten about, and that won’t be ignored.

Native Tongue:

They may be back on British soil, but the battle isn’t over.

When Captain Hugh Wilkes fell for his Afghan interpreter, Rustam Balkhi, he always knew things would never be easy. After months of complete secrecy, their return to England should have spelt an end to the sneaking around and the insane risks. But it seems there are many obstacles for them to overcome before they can truly be happy together. Can they get past those obstacles, or is this one battle too many for their fledgling relationship?

I enjoyed both of these stories.  Desert Heat is the first part of this couple’s journey.  As it says in the blurb the two men meet while in Afghanistan. Hugh is a soldier and Rustam works an interpreter. They are attracted to each other but have little time together due to the circumstances of their situation.  Despite the dangerous situation they are in the two men can’t seem to stay away from each other and after months of attraction they end up sharing a night of passion.  They know they can’t continue to be together while they are there, but they also can’t imagine giving up their relationship.  This part of the story was well written and I really enjoyed the chemistry of the two men together.
The second part of the story, Native Tongue, takes place when the men are back England,  Rustam is pursuing his medical studies and Hugh is stationed close by.  After being apart since Afghanistan, the two men feel nervous as they try to have a real relationship.  This part of the story was also well written and was both sweet and steamy.  It was lovely watching these two as they try to deal with being in a place where they can actually date.  They have some things they need to work through and I thought these were realistically presented and worked through.
Overall I really enjoyed both stories.  I liked the characters and the unique plot.  I listened to this on audio and I thoroughly enjoyed the narrator.  He did both of the main characters well and I never had a difficult time telling them apart.  I also liked the various side character’s voices.  I had not previously listened to this narrator but I will definitely look for his work in the future.
Cover:  I liked the cover a lot and felt it fit the stories well.
Sales Links
Book Details:
Kindle Edition, 154 pages
Published May 14th 2015 (first published January 29th 2015)
ASINB00X2UX08E
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesDesert Heat #1 – 2

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Audiobook Review: Misfits by Garrett Leigh ~ Audiobook narrated by Craig Beck

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

misfits_audiobook2400Restaurant owner Tom Fearnes has loved his partner Cass for as long as he can remember, but their work often keeps them apart. When he meets a striking young man named Jake on the vibrant streets of Camden Town, their heady first encounter takes an unexpected turn.

Jake Thompson can hardly believe his luck when he wakes up in Tom’s bed. Tom is gorgeous, kind, and…taken. Tom’s explanation of his open relationship leaves Jake cold, but Tom is too tempting, and when hard times force Jake to accept Tom’s helping hand, he finds himself between two men who’ve lost their way.

Cass Pearson is a troubled soul. He loves Tom with all he has, but some days it feels like he hasn’t much to give. Jake seems like the perfect solution. Cass risks everything to push Jake and Tom together, but Jake resists, wary, until the darkness of Cass’s past comes to call. Then Jake finds himself the last man standing, and it’s time to dig deep and shine a light for the men he’s grown to love.

Without a doubt, this is one of the very best ménage stories I’ve ever read, and I’ve read quite a few. After thinking it over, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s because the established couple did not set out to take on a new man, and it wasn’t all about sex at all. Not even a little.  It was about compatibility, need, circumstance, nurturing, and finally love. 

When Tom first met Jake, Jake was super prickly about being helped in any way.  His Tourette’s Syndrome was flaring and Jake was cursing a blue streak. But Tom was attracted despite the TS and wanted to act on his attraction to Jake, so he pursued him until he got him in bed.  Tom and his partner Cass have an open relationship, each recognizing the need for a different bed partner once in a while. So when Cass walks in on Jake the next morning, after Tom has left for work, he thinks nothing of it. Jake, on the other hand, is freaked out and departs as quickly as he can.

Eventually, Tom convinces Jake about his relationship with Cass, and his continued offers of helping Jake find employment finally take root when Jake admits his TS is the underlying cause of losing jobs, despite the legalities against that.  He and Cass form a tentative friendship via text once Jake starts working for the company co-owned by Tom and Cass, and it’s Cass who finds Jake the day Jake is booted from his apartment for failure to pay his rent.  The stubborn man had refused to take payment from Tom for the work he’s doing on one of their new ventures, and Cass is the one who realizes why he’s now on the street and goes to retrieve him.  From then on, Jake lives with both men, though there’s no ménage sex until near the end of the story. 

What there is, however, is a bond born of friendship between all three men, one that grows and blossoms into more until they reach the point where they all can acknowledge their strengths and weaknesses, their support for each other, both emotional and physical, and their need for the strength they get as a threesome. 

I am going to listen to the audiobook again very soon. The narrator was very good, giving each man a different voice, but it was mostly the story itself that impressed me and made way for this trio to worm their way into my heart. 

I highly recommend this book and audiobook for hours of listening and/or reading pleasure. 

The cover by Garrett Leigh features the lower face and tattooed chest of Jake. The dragonfly tattoo symbolic of the name of the new restaurant the trio opened for which Jake was the project lead.  Very nicely done.

Sales Links

Riptide Publishing | Audible |  Amazon | iTunes

Audiobook Details:

Audible Audio, 7 pages, 6 hrs 43 mins
Published August 18th 2016 by Riptide Publishing (first published March 16th 2015)
Original Title Misfits
ASINB01KI5XGIE
Edition LanguageEnglish

Winner: GLBT Menage in the 2015 Romance Reviews Reader’s Choice Awards!

Finalist: Best Gay Romance in the 28th Annual Lambda Literary Awards!

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Audiobook Review: Like a Lover by Jay Northcote – audiobook narrated by Mark Steadman

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

 like-a-lover-audiobookJosh has a plan: get through uni with a good degree and no debts. Focused on his goals, he’s working as an escort to pay his way. He enjoys the no-strings sex and doesn’t have the time or inclination for a relationship. Falling in love definitely isn’t part of the deal—especially not with a client.

When Rupert meets Josh in a bar, he’s smitten on sight. He’s never paid for sex before, but when Josh propositions him, he can’t resist. He should have known one night would never be enough. Luckily for him, he has an inheritance to support his addiction to Josh, because his job in IT wouldn’t cover the cost.

With each appointment the lines get increasingly blurred. Something is developing between them that feels more like a relationship than a business transaction, but they come from different worlds and to go from client-and-escort to lovers seems impossible. If they want a future together, Josh and Rupert have a lot to overcome.

This book is a complete story and can be read as a standalone.

Josh happens to be a flatmate of Jez and Mac, the young men we met in Helping Hand. Josh always seemed to have his act together, out and proud, with plenty of dates, staying out late at night a few times a week, and no one suspected that his real job as a rentboy.  He decided to pursue a professional interest in what he’s good at so he’d not only have rent and food, he’d also have tuition fees so that he could finish uni on his own since his deadbeat father refused to help him.

When his favorite client stands him up, he settles for hooking up with a good-looking guy who caught his attention at the bar where he was waiting, and the two pursue an evening of sexy times in the hotel room the first client had prepaid.  From here, Rupert, the new client, continues to pursue Josh, paying him every time, even though he’s starting to fall for his rentboy.  The issue is that Josh is also falling for Rupert and is afraid that they can’t have a future based on their rocky foundation.

I enjoyed this audiobook immensely.  Not only was the story very good, the narration was outstanding. Mark Steadman brought the characters to life.  All characters, including Rupert’s high society mother, had different voices, and that’s a treat I enjoy but don’t always find.  Both MCs were well-developed and I found myself coaching each on how to win the other over.  Thankfully, I live alone because I found myself literally talking to them when they were too obtuse to move forward. 

I recommend this to all who enjoy a lighthearted MM UK-based romance.  Kudos to both the author and the narrator.  By all means, pick this one up in audio.

The cover features a black-and-white close-up photo of the side profile of a handsome, young, bare-chested man, who fits the description of Josh perfectly.

Buy links:
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Audible.co.uk
Amazon.com
Apple

Audiobook Details:

Audiobook, Listening Length: 4 hours and 47 minutes
Published August 15th 2016 by Jaybird Press (first published August 14th 2015)
Original TitleLike a Lover
ASINB01KAF9USC
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesHousemates #2 settingPlymouth, England (United Kingdom)

An Alisa Audiobook Review: Ben (The Atherton Pack #2) by Toni Griffin and Narrator Nick Flint

Rating:  4 stars out of 5

 

Ben audiobookTommy Morgan’s life was turned upside down at the hands of his Alpha. Now, another one is claiming to be his mate. He’s not ready to jump into a relationship with anyone, still suffering from nightmares due to the abuse he experienced. Instead, Tommy moves in with his brother, Declan, hoping for the space he needs to heal.

Pennaeth Alpha, Benjamin Taylor, has his hands full dealing with all the packs across Australia. When he finds his young mate battered and bloody, he knows Tommy is going to need time to recover and come to terms with everything. Ben is more than willing to give his mate anything he needs. Even if that means them living apart for now.

When passion finally ignites with unexpected consequences, Ben knows he’ll do anything, fight anyone, to keep his mate safe.

 

I love this series, shifters, mates and male pregnancy, what could be better.  Tommy’s life is thrown another wrench when he learns that his mate is an alpha, after the abuse he suffered at the hands of his previous alpha this isn’t wonderful news.  Ben will do anything to keep his mate safe and happy, even if it means being apart, for now.

 

This story is told from both character’s points of view, so it is nice to get both of the characters feelings.  Ben is perhaps one of the sweetest alpha’s I have seen and he has to keep that side hidden so much due to his responsibilities it is a relief when he can let his guard down around his mate and Tommy is honored to see the side of his mate that others don’t.  What I love about most of Toni’s shifter stories is that they are not insta-love, both of the characters feel a connection to the other, but work to grow their relationship before claiming the other.

 

Nick Flint did a wonderful job narrating this story.  I could connect with the characters through the voices and emotions he portrayed.  Even though this is a book I have read it felt new to me listening to him tell it.

 

Cover art is nice and follows the pattern for the series.

 

Sales Links

 

 

Audiobook Details:

Audiobook, 2 hrs 6 min
Published: July 20, 2016 (ebook, 2nd edition, published August 23, 2014) by Mischief Corner Books
Edition Language: English

Series: The Atherton Pack #2