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Wide Eyes, Big Ears!

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High testosterone police in sizzling romances!

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 19-12-2024

The men of the elite Atlanta PD Narcotics Task Force work hard and play harder. They’re big muscly men who punch first and ask questions later—and that’s with each other as well as the bad guys! The task force is jointly headed by LTS Cashel “God” Godfrey and Leonidis Day and the two men are partners at work and at home. Each book in this series centres on a different m/m pair, one or both of whom work in the task force:
Book 1: Nothing Special (Lts God and Day, Ro and Johnson)
Book 2: Embracing His Syn (Sgt Syn and mechanic Furi)
Book 3: Here Comes Trouble (Enforcers Rux and Green)
Book 4: Don’t Judge (Sniper Michaels and bondsman Judge)
Book 5: Nothing Special V (Steele and Tech, God and Day)
Bonus Novella: Rux & Green’s son Curtis & God’s brother Genesis

These are high heat / high testosterone action-romances. The characters’ actions don’t always make sense but it’s hard to care about that with so much alpha beefcake! 🎧 Aiden Snow has a really DEEP voice that totally suits the characters and the high level of heat! The box set of the first five books is great value!!

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Great characters, interesting cases, slow romance!

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 13-12-2024

The mummified body of a woman pulls Dets Everett Larkin and Ira Doyle into the latest case involving the mysterious “Sender”, a master manipulator behind countless killings. After so many entanglements, Larkin is starting to understand the Russian doll patterns of the Sender. While they’ve still got a ways to go, Larkin and Doyle are also starting to understand each other’s traumatic background and that’s enriching their blossoming relationship as they navigate their way through countless hidden obstacles.

I’m thoroughly enjoying this series, I love the two main characters and the individual cases. I also like the overarching case and how each time Larkin unmasks another killer, there’s much more to discover. However, I’m a little tired of Larkin always having to rescued by Doyle when he’s facing imminent death—surely Larkin is competent at more than just the cerebral stuff? I suppose this does have a bit of a Holmes and Watson dynamic, with Larkin as the drug-addicted mega-brain with Doyle acting as sound board and muscle.🎧 Voice artist Kale Williams gives another excellent narrative performance on the audio!

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Another exciting Larkin & Doyle case!

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 11-12-2024

Despite being a member of the NYPD Cold Case Squad, Det Everett Larkin is asked to investigate a grisly slaying in the subway when a message from the purported killer addressed to Larkin is found at the scene. Of course, Larkin requests the services of forensic artist Det Ira Doyle and the two manage to save a young teen being held by one of the killer’s associates who supplies people with death portraits with victim specifications made to order. Can they track down the person pulling the strings? Meanwhile, Larkin has moved in with Doyle after the implosion of Larkin’s marriage but Larkin is still popping Xanax like Tic Tacs.

Another exciting case as Larkin and Doyle navigate their nascent relationship / friendship. While both men have experienced tragedy, Larkin is still learning to trust Doyle and is concealing the extent of his drug dependency. I really appreciated the personal stories of the two men but I was pleased it didn’t swamp the investigation—this was well-balanced! I’m also enjoying the NYC setting which features throughout. 🎧 Voice actor Kale Williams does another excellent job on the audiobook!

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Sweet and hot enemies-to-lovers romance!

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
3 out of 5 stars
Story
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-12-2024

Even though they find each other attractive, when Lex does some electrical work for Theo, they get off on the wrong foot and every subsequent interaction just makes things worse. Both men enjoy flirting with sympathetic anonymous guys on a hookup app but when they finally agree to meet in person, Theo is horrified to find he’s been flirting with Lex (and vice versa). How can the person they each hate be so different online?

This was a classic enemies-to-lovers romance with some nice hot size difference and sub/dom stuff thrown in. I enjoyed the fact that Theo was the huge, muscly sub while Lex was the slim, shorter dom—nice role reversal! I also liked the backstories of both guys which explained why each got their button pushed by the other, it made sense. This my first Katherine McIntyre romance and I’m definitely hunting for more! 🎧 Dylan Rockwell gave an enthusiastic narrative performance. I felt he could have dialled it down a bit, but didn’t mind it overall.

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Satisfying conclusion to a steamy action series!

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
3 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-12-2024

Ever since they used their combined mage magic to help Salino, the Vampire Archduke of Chicago, overthrow his Emperor, things have snowballed for private investigator Adrian Elias and lion shifter king Sage Tamir. Killing the Emperor allowed the Dark God to enter the mortal world and he’s been rapidly converting humans and supernaturals into powerful zombies. Adrian, Sage, and the other members of the Echelon Imperial of Mages are frantically searching their grimoires in a race against time to find spells powerful enough to defeat the God and his minions. They’ll also have to convince some of the other supernatural leaders to combine their essences to empower the mages for the spells.

I liked the humour and ideas in this series finale and it wrapped everything up in a very satisfying way, but it didn’t wow me as much as the previous two books. It was still fun and worth reading (in order), but there was less action and heat and much more focus on logistics and preparing for the final showdown and I found that more prosaic. The final battle was great, I just wish there had been more scenes like that. 🎧 The first two books were narrated by Keith Folz who was excellent. I’m sure Nicholas Bella would have preferred to use the same narrator throughout but that’s not always possible. But it’s hard to adjust to a new narrator, I didn’t mind Matt Williams’ narrative style but the characters all sounded different and Matt reads at a much faster pace—not bad, just different.

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Another Franklin U winner!

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 27-11-2024

Perry’s half-brother, Ty, has always had their father’s attention. Perry has moved to San Luco CA to get to know Ty but he isn’t expecting to meet a very drunk Theo at a frat party. Perry finds drunk, flirty Theo cute and can’t wait for a date and hookup when he is sober. Only they’ve got their wires crossed: despite the mixed signals, Theo is adamant that he is straight and the two become friends. Theo has been dumped by yet anther girlfriend and maybe it’s time to face those feelings about Perry that he keeps hidden inside.

I’m SO glad there’s a second Franklin U series! I really enjoyed every book in the first series and this is another firm favourite. Perry and Theo are great together and their mutual friendship and attraction give both men the strength to get past the daddy issues (Perry) and the struggle to learn (Theo). Although it takes a while for them to show all their cards, there’s no frustrating game playing between the two. 🎧 The always-excellent JF Harding gives another stellar performance on the audio!

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Lots of conflict in this hard-won romance!

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 18-11-2024

Alex Larson has always had a crush on Remi Duval, the older bother of his best friend, Bailey. Unfortunately, Bailey has never forgiven Remi for outing their father’s secret affairs and ending their parents’ marriage and Alex has struggled as the meat in the angry sandwich. When Alex and Bailey join the Franklin U swim team, it puts them in close proximity to Remi who has been studying art there for the last two years and there’s constant tension between the two brothers, especially when Alex secretly starts a FWB arrangement with Remi.

This sports / family drama romance is definitely the most serious of the FU series, most others are way more fluffy. Often the “best friend’s brother” trope has a fairly weak excuse for the secret relationship but Bailey’s irrational blaming of Remi felt strong, even though it was irritating at times. Christina Lee often makes her sweet and tender moments hard won and there’s a lot of conflict here: Bailey isn’t the only one damaged by the divorce; Remi finds it very hard to believe that any relationship will last and that puts Alex and Remi’s sizzling FWB chemistry under strain at times, even though they are really good together. 🎧 Audio narrator Iggy Toma was the perfect choice for this tense book, he always heightens the emotions with his vulnerable, sensitive voice!

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Patient older guy wins over a small yappy guy!

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
3 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 12-11-2024

Pint-sized Kevin is physically attracted to the big and beefy Hank but he can’t forgive Hank for treating his best friend, Lukas, badly when they were boyfriends. Even though Lukas has long-forgiven Hank, Kevin has taken it upon himself to continue to hold the grudge. Luckily Hank is extremely patient, even admiring of Kevin’s loyalty to his best friend. But each time Hank thinks they’ve made progress, Kevin falls back into the same pattern.

It’s been a while since I listened to the previous audios in this series so I didn’t have strong views about Hank—here he seems almost saintly in his patience, whereas Kevin comes across as belligerent for no good reason. The author does eventually explain Kevin’s state of mind, however, and that does confirm to Hank that he should stay the course. There was a lot of contrast between Hank & Kevin: unflappable vs emotional, two size-differences, age-gap, and financial gap and there were some great steamy scenes, but I found Hank’s constant flirting and terms of endearment to an angry Kevin a little creepy, not my cup of tea. 🎧 I also found Kirt Graves’ audio narration less enthusiastic than usual—something that’s never happened before. I’m perfect willing to accept that I mightn’t have been in the right frame of mind for this but, for now, it was my least favourite book in the series.

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Convoluted but enjoyably gripping!

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 25-10-2024

Patrick Davis has always wanted to be a screenwriter but an egocentric actor kills his first big break and the pending lawsuit isn’t helping. Patrick and his wife are going through marriage as well as financial difficulties and to top it all off, Patrick starts receiving anonymous messages and unsettling video of himself in private moments. When the perpetrator starts getting Patrick to jump through their hoops, things quickly spiral down for him.

Without giving anything away, I felt this was an overly convoluted plot but I really enjoyed the peek behind the tinsel curtain and the mystery underpinning all the hoop-jumping. I quite liked that Patrick is an Everyman without special abilities or training who fights to extricate himself from seemingly unwinnable situations. I think the thing I like most about Gregg Hurwitz’ writing is the genuine humanity he puts into his main characters—you really feel their pain and suffering. 🎧 Actor Scott Brick gives another perfect performance. The writer and narrator are totally in sync in Hurwitz’s stories!

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Warm and moving exploration of Appalachian life!

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 17-10-2024

Clay grew up in the tiny mountain town of Free Creek, KY, working in the mines and avoiding the Pentecostal church, despite his aunt’s fervent exhortations. When he was little, his mother was killed by an angry ex-lover and the town rallied around to raise him. He’s never really dealt with that fateful day but when he falls in love with a married woman, everything is brought to back to the surface.

Clay is a thoroughly decent character and the people in his life love him dearly. I saw Clay’s quilt as a metaphor for his local community, that patchwork of people who love, cherish, and look out for him—something provided to him rather than something he creates himself—but Clay also joins that patchwork himself, extending his care to others around him. However, despite the supportive warmth the town wraps Clay up in, author Silas House avoids being overly sentimental. He paints Free Creek as a violent place where women are fearful of flawed, possessive men, where guns are used to settle differences, often fatally, and religion can bring comfort and purpose, or cold isolation and judgement. Everything goes into the mix of that rich interconnected tapestry of life that leaves the characters bruised at times, but not beaten. 🎧 The late US actor Tom Stechschulte provides the perfect audio narration, he truly connects us to the people in this Appalachian town.

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