Havan_IronOak

A Tale of Two Packs - Robby's Story

Reviewed: 12-30-23

The third installment in the Green Creek series, this might has well have been called "A Tale of Two Packs" it certainly contains the best of times and the worst of times. This epic series is as addictive as they come and at times as sweet and genuine as they come but at other times is almost unbearable to listen to.

This one keeps us wondering just how reliable the narration is for a LOT longer than I found comfortable. While it might have made the tale more dramatic, I felt it maddening.

T.J. Klune seems to have a fondness for allowing the "big bad" to speak his (or her) piece just before the "big boss battle." It may be a personal quirk of mine, but having endured four years of hearing the Orange Abomination spew his bile, I just don't have the patience required to hear anyone who's thoroughly evil spouting off.

But, as I said, these books are addictive. The good so far outweighs the bad that a little fault like that isn't going to stop me from listening. The first book was endearing and pulled us in. The second book just deepened that, making the world being created just that much richer and satisfying. This, the third, continued that trend adding yet more more layers of meaning and detail to an already rich fantasy world.

I especially like the character development here with Kelly being ACE and his and Robbie's relationship really reflecting that. It was interesting (and refreshing to see) but of course it kept the flames level on this one down a bit more than in the earlier volumes.

I'm really starting to wonder what TJ Klune's relationship with his dad was like... three books in and three villainous fathers so far. Also someone seems to have a bit of haircut kink.

So it's on to book four, and hopefully an end to some of the evil in the world and just perhaps the prospect of a complete happily ever after.

As always Kirt Graves does a great job with the narration. Each book is narrated primarily from one character's POV, but most of the characters have their own distinctive voices. The men and the women here are all well represented in the dialogue sections with vocal inflections that highlight aspects of their characters.

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Wishing ewe were here?

Reviewed: 12-12-23

When I first came across this book (almost 10 years ago) I liked the story setup but had just read a spate of Australia-based books and decided to put this one on my wish list. (Back then it was still paperbacks and the occasional Kindle book)

I tend to be a sucker for stories about cowboys and ranchers, so Renae Kaye's story appealed to me right away. Coming from a mostly rural upbringing, seeing the way these guys were closeted was perfectly understandable and had me pulling for them from the beginning.

A while back when this was featured in an Audible sale, I decided to pull the trigger and finally get it. I'm finally getting around to listening.

Dave Gillies does the narration, and for a Scot, his Australian accent seems pretty legit. (At least to this "Yank") Another reviewer that I follow criticized the narrator's choice for his "Dr. Elliot voice" suggesting that the character's voice didn't fit the guy in the story. The voice is a bit "whispy" but I feel that it kind of fits someone who'd been dominated by an overbearing mother as Dr. Elliot recounts. I can see someone from that environment having just the kind of voice we get here. This is made even more minor in that the tale here is told almost exclusively from Hank's point of view.

There ia a bit of "slippage" which sometimes happens in audiobooks. That's where a solo narrator temporarily gets the wrong voice for the wrong character. In this case, there are a couple of spots where Elliot sounds a bit like Hank and even one spot where Hank sounds a bit more like Elliot than I would have expected.

As mentioned previously, I'm a sucker for cowboy stories and despite the Aussie main character here dealing with sheep instead of cattle, that's not at all as offputting. (Brokeback Mountain anyone)?

I enjoyed reveling in the "bushy" feel of this tale and the frequent "Aussieisms" made this story even more fun. Mentions of the unfamiliar like "sunnies" and "mosies" and having to translate those terms on the fly to "sunglasses" and "mosquitoes" kept me engaged on yet another level. The casual phrase "Mid-D and his rousies" sent me down a Google rabbit hole until I remembered the earlier scene where Hank and Elliot herded a mob of Hank's rams by shouting and waving their arms at them.

The double-entendre teasing that these two engaged in was great. It makes the reader feel like they're in on a group joke,unlike the other characters in the story. And at one point the transition from teasing to phone sex was the most organic I'd ever encountered.

I also has an LOL moment when Hank comes out to the old doctor. He says that he's never come out to his mates because he was afraid no one would hire a gay sheep shearer. The old doc just asks "Why? Do gay people shear sheep differently from straight people?" I just couldn't get a Gary Larsonesque image of a sheep with a giant poodle cut out of my mind. Particularly the anthropomorphic one of the poodle lady reading a book in her hornrimmed glasses.
And the guys' conversation about counting sheep was anything but somnifacient.

This is one of those easy-to-enjoy books that will clearly become a frequent re-listen. I'll definitely have to check out more of this author's work.

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Cowboys, Christmas and Coming-out

Reviewed: 12-08-23

Cowboys and Christmas and Coming-out in the American West. How's this not already a Hallmark Christmas movie?

Joshua Braintree is like the canonical soft-spoken cowboys of yore there's more under the surface than what's immediately apparent. His best friend is in Afghanistan and Joshua, as tight-lipped as ever is balancing several needs that he is unable to talk about. He's concerned for his buddy but more so for the buddy's father and Ben the kid brother, who have been left behind. Ben was always brash and apparently quicker to act than to think. Now he's gone and become involved in an internet porn business. Word's gotten back to their small town and while the kid's a shooting star, he's had to leave their small town and his now forlorn father behind. Joshua can't quite work out how he can help solve this issue and it certainly messes up his dreams of finally getting up the courage to pair up with the younger brother.

This is a fun 2 hour listen for those looking to sate their seasonal need for sweet stories about good guys. With just the teeniest bit of sexy time thrown in. Michael Stellman does the narration does a credible job both as narrator and in voicing the main characters with authentic-sounding dialogue.

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Nick Podehl made this better than the text

Reviewed: 07-20-23

From my review of the text...
I found that I didn't enjoy this installment as much as I had the others in the series.
While it moved the plot along, Mags spent too much time alone in this one for me (and in drug dreams)
I find that my favorite Valdemar tales involve deepening the Valdemar lore, and seeing the characters interact.

This book was a bit thin on both of these.

An update... just listened to the Audiobook version of this as narrated by Nick Podehl and the drugged dream sequences are quite as tedious with someone else reading them.
I'll stick with my earlier judgment though; this book doesn't dwell in those areas that I find to be the most enjoyable aspects of the Valdemar mythos.
...And who knew? Karsite Firecats of that era have such thick Russian accents!

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Newly retired attorney meets neurodivergent chef

Reviewed: 04-01-22

Danvers was a successful lawyer who got a bit of a wake-up call when his thrill-seeking ex-best buddy and law partner died in a parachuting accident. They were ex-best friends in the sense that they’d been friends since childhood. But Danvers coming out as gay, and his law partner’s homophobic reaction ended their friendship and, to a large part, any professional partnership they had. As executor of his estate, Danvers discovers that his partner had a neurodivergent child whom he’d abandoned but for whom he’d left a trust. However, after meeting him, Danvers realizes that he may have found his perfect companion in Ethan.

This audiobook is rather brief, clocking in at just under four and a half hours, and is not intended to be a lengthy depiction of a relationship. In truth, it barely covers approximately a week’s worth of time. However, it does an amazing job of portraying what it could be like to start a daddy-boy relationship with someone who is neurodivergent. Some have unfairly criticized this story for its insta-love aspects. Both characters ARE decisive and both are used to taking action. Both are comfortably well off and at points in their lives where quick action doesn’t carry tremendous risk. To me the guys attractions to each other and the reasons behind them felt perfectly natural and credible.

In many respects, the two are made for each other, and the story swiftly becomes a fantasy come true. The story is portrayed from Danvers’ and Ethan’s perspectives. Both of the main characters having their own different speaking styles. In the audio-book version of this Michael Dean’s yoeman-like narration and voice acting make it a fun adventure.

Some readers have criticized how Ethan portrays neurodivergence. I gotta disagree. I’m a big admirer of the TV show Atypical, which stars Keir Gilchrest as a neurodivergent character. The similarities are obvious here. So are the distinctions that one might expect. After all, there is a reason that this is referred to as a spectrum.

It’s also kind of a light treatment of the whole daddy-boy scene focusing on the two’s vertical relations more than their playtime which is fine by me as that’s one kink that sometimes feels a bit silly to me.

There’s also been some criticism in reviews of how the neurodivergent character is portrayed. I believe both the author and the narrator did an excellent job. One tiny aspect that I did consider a bit off-putting was the way that chapter 2 starts with dialogue from Jordan, one of Ethan’s employees with a significant stutter. Jordan plays no real role in most of the story but, particularly as voiced by Michael Dean, does “get in the way” of us learning more about Ethan early on. Once introduced, I kept wondering if we’d ever get more details about this guy, and fearing it a bit as stutters CAN so easily be overdone in audio-books. Somewhat to my relief he never re-appears but I would be curious about his story and how he came to work with Ethan.

I tend to be drawn to any story where the main character sees the world differently than I do. Perhaps it’s because I see my own upbringing as happy but a bit boring in the way that only a late boomer white midwestern male might do. While that fostered a sense of entitlement in many of my contemporaries, in me it fostered a curiosity and a love of diversity. I’m always curious about new experiences whether they be new foods, new cultures or new viewpoints and perspectives.

Michael Dean not only does a great job with the basic narration and the voice acting for the primary characters but gives voice to Ethan’s mother, one of Ethan’s friends, and one of Danvers’ friends and they’re all distinctive and “in character” whilst remaining innocuous enough to not detract from the story. Overall this is satisfying audio encounter.

I’d recommend this and will probably re-visit it from time to time. It’s a short work and doesn’t dig as deeply as I sometimes wish it had, so it’s probably not bound for my most frequent re-listen list. But it’s still a pleasurable trip.

*** Note: I am voluntarily reviewing this after receiving a complimentary copy ***

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D&D (Dapper & Droll?) Dressed for Sucess

Reviewed: 02-15-22 Listener received this title free

First let me make the disclaimer that I joined this series already in progress. I’ve not read Natural Twenty the first book in this series. To be fair though, nothing in the book blurb suggested that it was required to enjoy the second book, and I’m pretty well still convinced that its not.

That said, this one initially felt a bit flat to me. As much as I loved the banter, and by-play, it felt a bit too sex-centric for me. The sex was very front-and-center and began as hate-sex but quickly went beyond that. OK, the fellatio amidst the flounces & furbelows was fun. But I found that the details of the two main characters lives, outside cos-play were much more interesting to me than their in costumed lives. Their insta-hatred was pretty much joined already in progress.

The “back seat author” in me feels compelled to say that this whole tale might have worked better for me if the backgrounds of the characters had been more fully developed early on. Edward in particular was hard for me to warm up to, but later, as we learn about his dysfunctional family, and why he is the way he is, he becomes a much more sympathetic character.

Izzy and Edward as a couple are fun to hear about. The scenes where the boys are out with their celebrity friends were some of the most interesting. I for one would be really interested in reading about how their buddies, actors Nate and Cayden had gotten together. Also there’s a laugh out loud moment when Edward quotes Elizabeth Bennett. It’s just the perfect “Edward” thing for him to do. Almost as good is his realization that they were really in love. “There was only the clear confidence that I’d found the man I wanted to annoy for the rest of my days.”

But this is supposed to be primarily an audio-book review…

Joel Leslie is a great narrator and his Aussie accents are second to none, but I felt he slipped a little bit in this one.

Chapters are narrated in the alternating viewpoints of his two main characters, staid and somewhat prissy Edward, and charming but earthier Izzy. For some reason the Edward voice seemed to keep intruding on the Izzy chapters. Perhaps I’m just used to more blue-collar Brits, but Edward’s voice (and attitude) were a bit grating at times.

The pacing overall was fine, the two main voices were very distinctive. They were clearly indicative of the characters they represented. The supporting character voices were good as well, but there wasn’t a lot of scope for their development here.

Having not read the text version of this tale, it’s only conjecture but I’d opine that the audio-book version is actually an improvement on the written word version. It was easy enough for me to listen through the less interesting bits where I might have set the text version aside prematurely.

*** Note: I am voluntarily reviewing this after receiving a complimentary copy ***

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Young Vet meets young man mourning old guide dog

Reviewed: 01-16-22

I've always loved stories that allow me to walk a mile in someone else's moccasins. For whatever reason, I've also been drawn to stories with blind main characters. I love being able to gain a new perspective and really admire how someone deals with blindness. The mix of vulnerability and their invariably sensible ways of coping with the additional challenges always leaves me feeling a bit in awe.

Here Isaac lost his sight aged eight as the result of an auto accident that claimed the life of his mother and contributed heavily to his father's death due to alcoholism. Now pushing 30 and teaching at a school for the blind, Isaac loves to project an aura of capability and confidence but in some ways have never completely healed his wounded inner child.

That's most pronounced in his inability to form loving relationships. After the the aging and eventual death of his first guide dog he went two years without a dog until he finally gave into his sister and got a new dog. As great as the new dog, Brady, is, Isaac is afraid to show the dog any affection fearing the pain that he knows will come when he too grows old and passes away.

Enter Carter, a newly minted vet who's taking over the practice of Isaac's old vet. Carter's immediately attracted to Isaac and the building desire was tantalizing. but Carter also noticed the lack of affection shown toward Brady and is bothered by it. Carter's gentle handling of Isaac is unimaginably sweet. Having to balance Issac's need to be independent with his still somewhat childish bottling up of emotions puts both guys, and even the dog through the wringer.

Yet, here we have three souls that are meant to be together and all three are smarter than average. While that means they're smart enough to get themselves into trouble, you just know that they're also smart enough to work it all out in the end.

In the long run, this is a none too angsty, feel good story. I really enjoyed it. Michael Pauley does a good job with the narration and gives all of the main characters their distinctive voices without being too flashy. He makes the audiobook an easy to listen to experience.

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A post 9/11 allegory

Reviewed: 12-08-21

I volunteered to listen to this and review it with a profound sense of trepidation. While it’s been 20 years since the events of 9/11, I was worried that they might not be treated with the respect that they deserved. I lost friends and co-workers in the attacks. In fact, if I’d gone into work early that day, I’d not be here now. My office was on the 94th floor of Tower One. All my co-workers that had already gotten to work were lost.

That said, this book uses that event as just an opening event in a whimsical and telling tale about angels and saving lives. It isn’t disrespectful of what happened on that day. In fact, the tale revolves around an “Angel of Death” that is stripped of his wings for lowering the body-count that day. As a result of his punishment, the angel finds himself a homeless man on the streets of NYC. Now it’s a year after the fateful events and this tale revolves around the drag queen that took him in.

Doug is slightly overweight drag queen and hairdresser who takes in this fallen angel, calling him TAD. Though Tad is beautiful, he’s asexual. He has no sexual desire and doesn’t quite understand human desire.

While this is partly an allegory it is also a tale of humanity. With the advantage of being partly from the viewpoint of an innocent, unworldly outsider, one can see and say things about the human condition that we insiders seldom realize. Who’s better to explore what it means to be human than someone who never has been?

In spots this is a poignant portrait of man’s inhumanity to man. In other’s it’s a portrait on just one man’s life. They say that “Fate works in mysterious ways”, but when Fate asks for Doug’s help in this tale, one questions where it will all lead.

This tale out of time lacked some of the cohesiveness of more standard plot-lines. At points it’s confusing, and one feels like it should be better ordered. But then, that’s true of life as well.

This audiobook is narrated by Steve Connor in an upbeat manner that reveals his history as a children’s book narrator. The prose narrative is clear and well paced and the different character voices are distinct without being over-done. Connor’s narration style wouldn’t work for every tale, but it’s perfect for this one. It adds emphasis to the “moral fable” aspects of the story. This Audio-book is outside the norm in a number of ways, and won’t be to all tastes.

I really enjoyed it, and I expect that those for a taste for things outside the norm will as well. It's one of those books that gives one a fresh perspective and perhaps a deeper understanding of life.

*** Note: I am voluntarily reviewing this after receiving a complimentary copy ***

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Interesting to hear- This kink is not for Me...Ow!

Reviewed: 11-15-21 Listener received this title free

When I lived in NYC, I had a (hyper-masculine?) ex-Navy buddy who was into, poker, pup play, and attending the opera in full leather. I met him through poker nights, which I’ve always enjoyed, though I never fully understood the appeal of the latter two.

I’m a BIG fan of diversity. So, although I don’t “grok” it, I have always been curious to better understand why pup play might appeal to others. When I got the opportunity to review this, I figured it was just one step further; I’ve always been more of a dog person. I thought that reading about it might help me understand the scene better.

I suppose in some ways I do now understand it a bit more, but it’s still not something I’d be interested in participating in. That said, this is a fun story that really explores this area of kink. Given that it’s presented from the POV of a cat person, it does it in a charming, and at times funny, way.

Brad is a take-charge person, and a friendly good guy. When he gets involved in a recreational kickball team, he naturally becomes the player/coach. While it’s never really made clear how he makes his money, it’s clear that he works for himself, and has been moderately successful.

Harley works as an actuary and loves statistics more than people. If you’ll forgive the pun, not to be mean but his deviation is not at all standard. He likes kitten-play.

Brad’s personality seems to that of a “dog person” outgoing and easy going. He’s an adult who seems to like being a caretaker, as much as a friend and lover. He had a pup, for a time, but the pup abandoned him for another “master.” Now he’s looking to fill the void.

Harley is more of an introvert and (like a cat). He seems to barely tolerate most of those he must share the planet with. But it’s clear that Harley is lonely as well. If only he could find someone to share his life with that was at least tolerable.

That said, and given his perspective, Harley’s use of the word “Owner” seems a bit weird. I’ve always thought one might own a dog, but cats view their room-mates are barely acceptable help.

There was a laugh out loud moment there when Harley admits he got into the kink through “kitty porn.” There was also a LOL moment when Harley is presented with a large empty box. And before you ask... No the box didn't contain an even more expensive item meant for Harley to enjoy.

Christopher Solon does the narration here. Each chapter is from one of the main character’s points of view. Chris does very different voices for Harley and Brad, and both seem appropriate. This is a solo narration, audio-book. So, we don’t get the dissonance of hearing the same character voiced by two different narrators as often happens in dual-narration audio-books.

This book is certainly not for everyone. The pet play kink is central to the story, and the less curious may find this to just be silly. But others will disagree. The sex does pretty graphic. If you’ve been curious about this scene, I’d recommend this as it might be the ideal intro.

*** Note: I am voluntarily reviewing this after receiving a complimentary copy ***

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Smart Stuttering Sub meets Darling Dominant Daddy

Reviewed: 10-30-21

This is a sweet low-angst tale of a wealthy, dominant daddy-type who’s grown tired of the gold-digging opportunists that are all he’s encountered. When he meets and is smitten with a sweet young man with a debilitating stutter, he’s warned against him by his friends. But when he encounters that lad again on a chat site, he decides that maybe they’re perfect for each other. That is if Brave Boy really is the boy he thinks he is…

This book’s been reviewed before in print form so I’ll try to primarily be focus on the audiobook aspects. But that said, I do have to admit I did learn something new listening to this book. When the guys go to a BDSM kink-club they attend a “demonstration” of Shibari. I wasn’t familiar with the term, and now I’m curious to learn a bit more. Our boys here were really just naughty, not knotty.

For an audiobook. This has more frequent, more explicit sexual content than most of the titles I’ve listened to. I have a young straight roommate who’s open minded and is fully aware that he’s living with an older gay man. Still, I found myself turning the volume down on this a bit when he was around, just in order to preserve his modesty.

There are lengthy sections where “dirty boy” Emerson describes his sexual fantasies at length. The Emerson character also writes erotic fiction and even reads an excerpt or two. So, that “dirty” quality is on full display here. The couple even visit a sex kink club at one point, and unlike most of “what happens in Vegas,” that scene doesn’t “stay in Vegas.”

Tim Paige & Liam Dicosomo share the narration here with chapters presented from alternating points of view in the standard “he said/he said” format. I was worried, given that this book deals with someone who’s a severe stutterer that this aspect would be poorly done making this painful to listen to. But Liam Dicosomo, who mainly voices Emerson, does a credible job portraying the stutter without letting it become mawkish or overdone. Of course part of the credit for that, goes to the material itself which has Emerson engaging in a lively inner monologue without actually giving voice to most of his many, many thoughts. Tim Paige does a great job as well. His character, Kiernan, is a somewhat older, somewhat wealthier character who generally says what he feels. But he also has a LOT of internal monologue going through his head. The characters do text a lot, so there was plenty of opportunity for this to get confusing in an audio-format as to what had been said, what had been texted and what had just been contemplated. Both guys managed this amazingly well. There was little to no confusion here as that issue which I have encountered (and complained about) in other audio-books.

My big problem here is that this was book two in a series, and I haven’t been exposed to book 1. While this one is completely enjoyable on its own, it really has me curious as to the characters from book 1 that we meet here. I REALLY want to know more of their back-stories and book one is narrated by the same two guys. Now I’m torn between diving into it as an audio-book, listening to something unrelated as a sort of audio-sorbet, or getting the e-book version of book 1, and sparing the sensibilities of my straight room-mate.

***Note: I am voluntarily reviewing this after receiving a complimentary copy ***

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