Category: LGBTQ Audio Books

A Paul B Audiobook Review: The Autumn Lands by J. Scott Coatsworth and Narrated by Vance Bastian

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

autumn-lands-audioJerrith, a human boy from the Vandis city of Althos, has had a rough life.  His mother died when he was four.  The only thing he has to remember her by now is the leaf pendant he now wears around his neck.  His father has become an alcoholic and abusive since his wife’s death.  The only saving grace for Jerrith has been his apprenticeship at the blacksmith.  However he might have thrown even that away after he is caught kissing an elf boy in the town square.

Caspian has had things just as rough recently.  A prince of the land of Nevis, he has had his wings removed and forced into exile in the land of Vandis.  As part of the exile, Cas’s memories of what forced the exiled have been wiped clean, so he has no idea WHY he is in Vandis.  To make matters worse, members of the royal guard are keeping an eye on him.  He has no idea what compels him to kiss the cute Vanders boy, but he does.  Having been caught and beaten, Cas now awaits his fate in the dungeon.

Learning that the boy he kissed is in trouble and knowing he has no future in Althos once word gets out about him kissing the Nevers boy, Jerrith decides to rescue Cas.  Using what little magic he know chanting “I’m not here” over and over, he makes himself, and anyone in contact with him, disappear from view.  Having broken free, the pair must now travel back to Caspian’s home in the Autumn Lands on Nevis while trying to elude the royal guard on their tail.  Once there, they will have to confront the king as to the reason for Cas’s exile and hopefully stay alive in the process.

I was totally captivated by this story.  The author does a great job of building the worlds of Vandis and Nevis.  The dull drab world of Vandis stands in contrast to the metallic, futuristic world of Nevis.  The mythology of how the Autumn Lands serve not only to tell the history of the two lands but also compels the actions of our two protagonists.  Jerrith has an “Alice in Wonderland” type moment when his first sees the capital city of Nevis.  The happily ever after ending is not quite what the reader/listener would expect but it is satisfying.

Vance Bastian narrates this tale and I really enjoyed his style.  His voice is a little different from the other audiobooks I have listened to in that it is not quite as deep as the others I have heard.  He deftly moves between character voices and gives Jerrith a voice I would imagine him having.  I hope to have an opportunity to listen to more of his narration.

Sales Links

Mischief Corner Books

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Book Details:

Audiobook, 3 hours 12 minutes, 12 chapters
Published:  July 12, 2016 by Mischief Corner Books

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

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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!