Tag: Riptide Publishing audiobook

An Alisa Audiobook Review: Pulling Leather (Pickup Men #3) by L.C. Chase and Dorian Bane (Narrator)

Rating:  4.5 stars out of 5

 The toughest ride of his life is all in his head.

 PullingLeather_audiobookBull rider Scott Gillard has a reputation for quick fists and harsh words. What no one knows is where that anger comes from. After a shocking incident sends him into a tailspin, he knows he needs help: he’s been fighting a battle he could never win. Now he’s trying to navigate a new life and embrace his true self, but some days are easier than others.

 

Pickup man Cory Ackerson has suffered his share of harassment, but his light still burns bright. He doesn’t let anything or anyone keep him down, so when he meets the rugged cowboy with a battered chip on his shoulder and regret in his dark eyes, all he wants to do is help.

 

As their unlikely friendship grows into something deeper, Scott must overcome his past to be the man Cory deserves, or lose his best chance at his own happily ever after.

This was a great story.  Scott has been so conflicted throughout his life by what happened when he was a kid with his parents and then how it followed him into adulthood.  Cory has never been ashamed of who he is and is more than willing to give Scott the chance to prove that he isn’t what he used to be.

Their relationship starts slowly and Cory really gives Scott the opportunity to get comfortable in his own skin for the most part.  I could just feel how Scott was struggling during the book and the acceptance he was looking for from those around him.

This is the first audiobook I have ever listened to.  I had read the other books in the series and had this one sitting around awhile and figured this would be a great chance to actually get to the book. I loved being able to listen to the story while at work and around the house.  The narrator did a great job of showing the characters personalities during his reading and just added to the story with the different voices he used.

Cover art by LC Chase is great and I wouldn’t do anything different.

Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing | Audible | Amazon |  iTunes

Audiobook Details:

Audiobook
Published March 24, 2016 (ebook first published September 1, 2014)
Original Title: Pulling Leather
Series: Pickup Men #3

Its Back to Bluewater Bay with Selfie by Amy Lane (special audio links and giveaway)

Selfie_600x900

Selfie: A Bluewater Bay Novel by Amy Lane
Published by Riptide Publishing
Art by L. C. Chase

 

For the Selfie blog tour, Amy Lane has written a few monologues from Vinnie’s video blog, set prior to the crash that takes his life. These monologues, performed by Nick J. Russo of Dark Night Sound, correspond to scenes or memories reference by Connor in Selfie, giving you a unique look at this off-screen character.

Please visit http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/selfie and select the extras tab for all six monologues, which will be updated there as they are published.

Enjoying Bluewater Bay? All Bluewater Bay titles are being produced in audio, starting with Starstruck, written by L.A. Witt and narrated by Nick J. Russo, coming soon!

About SelfieBWBlogo_Web

One year ago, actor Connor Montgomery lost the love of his life to a drunk driver. But what’s worse for Connor is what he still has: a lifetime of secrets born of hiding his relationship from the glare of Hollywood. Unable to let go of the world he and Vinnie shared, Connor films a drunken YouTube confession on the anniversary of Vinnie’s death.

Thankfully, the video was silent—a familiar state for Connor—so his secret is still safe. He needs a fresh start, and a new role on the hit TV show Wolf’s Landing might be just that.

The move to Bluewater Bay may also mean a second chance in the form of his studio-assigned assistant. Noah Dakers sees through Connor’s facades more quickly than Connor could imagine. Noah’s quiet strength and sarcastic companionship offers Connor a chance at love that Hollywood’s closet has never allowed. But to accept it, Connor must let Vinnie go and learn to live again.

About Amy Lane

Amy Lane exists happily with her noisy family in a crumbling suburban crapmansion, and equally happily with the surprisingly demanding voices who live in her head.

She loves cats, movies, yarn, pretty colors, pretty men, shiny things, and Twu Wuv, and despises house cleaning, low fat granola bars, and vainglorious prickweenies.

She can be found at her computer, dodging housework, or simultaneously reading, watching television, and knitting, because she likes to freak people out by proving it can be done.

Connect with Amy:

 

About Nick J. Russo

 

Nick J. Russo has been a professional performer for over a decade, but has been voicing audio books for the past few years. He has voiced several titles throughout the romance, sci-fi, supernatural, and thriller genres, and has recently started his very own sound studio; Dark Night Sound. On top of voice acting, Russo manages Dark Night Sound with his fiance and works with a staff of four up and coming narrators. In his free time, Russo is a drummer in a pop/rock cover band, loves to travel, and dreams of one day being able to voice a role in an animated comedy series.

 

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Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Selfie, one lucky person will receive e-copies of Amy’s entire backlist with Riptide, and an Amy Lane t-shirt. Leave a comment to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on April 23, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

An Ali Audiobook Review: Frat Boy and Toppy (Theta Alpha Gamma #1) by Anne Tenino and Nick J. Russo (Narrator)

Rating: 4.5 star out of 5
Frat Boy and Toppy AudiobookBrad is great at meeting other people’s expectations. But his own? Not so much. Take the gay thing. Okay, so yeah. It took a morning meeting with a frat brother’s hairy, naked ass for him to admit it, but he knows the truth about himself now. Let the gay life commence.

Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. He hasn’t quite determined how to come out to anyone, even Sebastian, the geeky-hot TA in his history class. Sebastian is everything Brad is not. Intellectual, suave, hairy. Out. And he doesn’t seem interested in Brad, even when Brad makes a fool of himself trying to catch his notice.

Score one for foolery: Sebastian does more than notice Brad; he takes him to bed. Brad’s been with plenty of girls, but with Sebastian, the sex is something else entirely—hot, mind-blowing, affirming, and a little domineering in a way that drives him wild. But when great sex turns into something more—dare he admit the “L” word?—Brad must face the crushing realization that Sebastian doesn’t feel the same. Unless, of course, he does. After all, even grad students can be idiots about matters of the heart. 
What a fun read this was. These two characters were just great. They both had depth and were likable and funny. Watching them begin a tentative relationship was great. Neither trusts the other’s social group and they live different lifestyles. Brad still hides his sexuality and Sebastian very much does not. Despite their differences they find they have enough in common to build a friendship and eventually love. 
This was one of my first reads in the m/m genre and when I had the chance to review this on audio I was honestly a little worried. My tastes have changed and I wasn’t sure if this would hold up to the test of time. I’m happy to say I loved it just as much this time around. I adore both Brad and Sebastian as they fumble their way into a relationship that neither saw coming. There’s some funny dialogue, a sweet love story, little angst and some smexy times. 

I liked the narrator a lot and I thought he did a great job on all the voices. He really sounded like what I thought Brad & Sebastian would sound like (Sebastian’s “yeah?” at the end of his sentences was super charming and kind of hot on audio). The sex scenes were really smoking hot on audio. I mean really hot.( Like I felt guilty listening to this at work hot). This is one of those books where I think the narration actually adds to the story and this is one I highly recommend be done on audio. 
Cover artist L.C. Chase‘s cover is perfection.  I  wouldn’t change a  thing.
Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing  |  Audible | Amazon |  iTunes

Audiobook Details:

Audiobook
Published (first published March 25th 2012)
Original TitleFrat Boy and Toppy
SeriesTheta Alpha Gamma #1
CharactersBrad Feller, Sebastian DeWitt settingPacific Northwest (United States)

 

A BJ Audiobook Review: Catch a Ghost (Hell and High Water #1) by S.E. Jakes and Adam North (Narrator)

Rating:  4.25 stars out of 5

Catch A Ghost AudiobookEveryone knows that Prophet—former Navy SEAL, former CIA spook, full-time pain in the ass—works alone and thinks only about the trouble he can cause. But his boss, Phil Butler of Extreme Escapes, LTD., has just assigned Proph not only a new partner but also a case haunted by ghosts from Proph’s past. Suddenly, he’s got to confront them both head on.

Tom Boudreaux—failed FBI agent, failed sheriff, full time believer in bad luck—is wondering why the head of a private contracting firm has hunted him down to offer him a job. Still he’s determined to succeed this time, despite being partnered with Prophet, EE, LTD’s most successful, lethal, and annoying operative, and even though the case is also resurrecting his own painful past.

Together, Prophet and Tom must find a way to take down killers in the dangerous world of underground cage matches, while fighting their own dangerous attraction. And when they find themselves caught in the crossfire, these two loners are forced to trust each other and work together to escape their ghosts . . . or pay the price.

If you enjoy alpha males and need heat in your m/m books, look no further! Grab this series right the heck now! If I had three words to describe this story, they would be “intense” and “flaming hot.”

Prophet and Tom together are like a volcano gouging out steam and flames and hot, sizzling lava. Okay, yeah, sometimes the refractory time is really short and their uh, hardiness borders on unrealistic. But there is no doubt at all about their chemistry, and both are well-realized characters with complex backstories which come strongly into play in this series. A few times the backstory on Prophet got a bit complex for me to follow easily, especially given the often fast pace of the storyline. There were a lot of people and details and twists and turns to keep track of… especially as it neared the end. This ending is left largely unsettled as far as the relationship, so its not a HEA/HFN. But  it totally makes me want to read on in the series and get to know what happens with these guys.

I’d already read the book and rated it four stars, but since I’d purchased but not yet finished reading the whole series, I was intrigued when it came out on audio. The narrator was new on audible, but I decided to take a chance and see if the narration would add another dimension to this previously enjoyed story. It totally did! I adored Tom’s Cajun accent… and both men sounded pretty much as I’d imagined. I had no trouble telling the speakers apart. It’s sometimes hard for me to say whether I prefer the audio or reading experience, mostly because only rarely do I partake of a story in both formats. Overall, I enjoyed the audio and the one small part where I felt the book was a bit better had pretty much nothing to do with the narrator. Near the end, in the parts there’s a part where a lot is going on, it was even harder for me to take in and visualize when heard than when reading. Probably because in print, I can read back over a sentence here or there if there’s a need to ground myself more firmly in the details. Since I’m most often driving when listening to audio, rewind isn’t something I do.

The audiobook cover is basically the same as the book… and it’s perfect for the story. The tattoo is just as imagined and love the nipple bar! Beautiful, sexy, hot cover.

Sales Links: Riptide Publishing | Amazon |  Audible  | Buy It Here


Book Details:  

Audible Audio, 9 pages, 8 hrs 3 mins

Adam North (Narrator)
Published December 16th 2015 by Audible Studios (first published September 7th 2013)
Original TitleCatch A Ghost
ASINB016DW5VUC
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesHell or High Water #1, Extreme Escapes, Ltd.December 16th 2015 by Audible Studios

An Ali Audiobook Review: Touch & Geaux (Cut & Run #7) by Abigail Roux , J.F. Harding (Narrator)

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars                    ★★★★★
Touch & Geaux audiobookAfter having their faces plastered across the news during a high-profile case, FBI Special Agents Ty Grady and Zane Garrett have become more useful to the Bureau posing for photo ops than working undercover. Just as Zane is beginning to consider retirement a viable option, Ty receives a distress call from a friend, leading them to a city rife with echoes from the past.

New Orleans wears its history on its streets, and it’s the one place Ty’s face could get him killed. Surrounded by trouble as soon as they land, Ty and Zane are swiftly confronted with a past from which Ty can’t hide—one with a surprising connection to Zane’s.

As threats close in from all directions, both men must come to terms with the lives they’ve led and the lies they’ve told. They soon discover that not all their secrets are out yet, and nothing lasts forever. 
 
This was a re-read for me but the first time I have listened to it on audio.  This is another of my favorite books in this series.  This is probably the most emotional of all the books.  Ty and Zane head to New Orleans with the Sidewinder guys for a weekend of fun and end up in a complicated case involving both of their pasts.  In some ways I think this part of the plot is over the top but really the most important part of the story is Ty and Zane’s relationship.  Both of the them have issues which we’ve known from the start of the series.  In this book though, the tentative hold they’ve had comes crashing down on them.  And when it comes crashing down it comes down hard.  Not only does it come crashing down hard on them, it comes crashing down hard on the reader.  There are some emotionally charged scenes in this book and I remember how devastated I was at parts of this the first time I read it.  Even on re-read it was very hard to go through with them.  It’s our first detailed look at the Sidewinder guys and that part is a great set up for the branch off series with Nick and Kelly.  
 
Audio:
 
I really love this narrator and I felt like he did an excellent job.  As stated above this is an emotional read anyways but hearing this on audio was very difficult.  The narrator captures all the emotions, both good and bad, that the guys are going through in this.  There were a lot of scenes that just broke my heart.  It was brutal hearing the things they were saying to each other. There’s one scene where one of them starts to cry and the narrator just nailed the scene perfectly.   In addition there are a lot of side characters in this story and I felt the narrator did a great job on all of their voices.  Extra enjoyable were Digger’s Cajun and Liam’s British accents.  If you are a fan of audio books I highly recommend listening to this book.
 
Cover art by L.C. Chase. This is one of my favorite covers in this series.  It captures an important part of the story.  These covers are simple but are classics and I would hate to see them  change.  
Audiobook Details:
Touch & Geaux: Cut & Run Series, Book 7
By Abigail Roux
Narrated By J. F. Harding
Series: Cut and Run, Book 7
Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins
Release Date: 12-15-15