Review: The Barbarian's Vow

The Barbarian's Vow by Keira Andrews and Michael Ferraiuolo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Cador only married a pampered prince from a faraway land to save his people. He never expected he’d grow to respect Jem. He never expected to find comfort with him. Now Cador must secure his people’s future and win Jem’s heart. For without it, he has no future at all.

The Barbarian’s Vow is the second and final action-adventure romance in the Barbarian Duet. Wed to the Barbarian must be read first.

 

This was a great story and ending, not at all predictable. I liked all characters, their flaws, and their growth, and was captivated to find out what would happen next. The plot kept changing but never got incomprehensible. The narration was great.

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Review: Breaking Point

Breaking Point by N.R. Walker and Sean Crisden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As guilt plagues him, Matthew Elliott’s world begins to spiral out of control. The harder he holds on, the more it slips through his fingers, and he’s helpless to stop it.

Entering into the underground cage-fighting scene, he starts out fighting for what’s right. The deeper he gets, the more guilt consumes him – the more pain he takes for his penance, and he’s soon fighting for more than justice.

This novel can't be read without listening to book #1, where Matt and Kira find love. In this novel, the mandatory trouble in paradise occurs. Sometimes, hurt is what I want to read about, and this is a favorite go-to. The fight scenes are harsh, so I skip parts.
Narration is good.
 

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Review: An Unsuitable Heir

An Unsuitable Heir by K.J. Charles and Matthew Lloyd Davies
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

On the trail of an aristocrat’s secret son, enquiry agent Mark Braglewicz finds his quarry in a music hall, performing as a trapeze artist with his twin sister. Graceful, beautiful, elusive, and strong, Pen Starling is like nobody Mark’s ever met—and everything he’s ever wanted.
Pen doesn’t want to live as any sort of man, least of all a nobleman. The thought of being wealthy, titled, and always in the public eye is horrifying.
But there’s a killer stalking London’s foggy streets, and more lives than just Pen’s are at risk. Mark decides he must force the reluctant heir from music hall to manor house, to save Pen’s neck.

 
Book 3 of 3.

I did not like Mark or Pen and was not really interested who the killer was. I missed several motivations to keep reading. Does the heir get his coronet? He doesn't even care himself. Finding long lost family? No one wants to be related to these criminals. Does the estate run well and are the workers cared for? No mention of that. It also does not mention wealth and what one can do with it. And there is some unknown psychopath killing people for reasons only he himself knows, which is hard to make into an arc other than dead bodies turning up.
What I liked was the non-binary protagonist but as a cis-woman, I can not judge if this is a convincing representation.
The narration was great.

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Review: An Unnatural Vice

An Unnatural Vice by K.J. Charles and Matthew Lloyd Davies
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Crusading journalist Nathaniel Roy is determined to expose spiritualists who exploit the grief of bereaved and vulnerable people. First on his list is the so-called Seer of London, Justin Lazarus. Nathaniel expects him to be a cheap, heartless fraud. He doesn't expect to meet a man with a sinful smile and the eyes of a fallen angel - or that a shameless swindler will spark his desires for the first time in years.

Justin feels no remorse for the lies he spins during his séances. His gullible clients simply bore him. Hostile, disbelieving, utterly irresistible Nathaniel is a fascinating challenge.

But Justin and Nathaniel are linked by more than their fast-growing obsession with one another. They are both caught up in an aristocratic family's secrets, and Justin holds information that could be lethal.

 
Book 2 of 3.

Although this audiobook is a well-written story with complex characters, the story did not grasp me. In my opinion, this is a redundant volume between book #1 and #3, because mystery-wise not much changes, and romance-wise I was disappointed. There was too much talking and (as is common in more English historical romances) the lovers were more polite than passionate.
The narration was good.

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Review: An Unseen Attraction

An Unseen Attraction by K.J. Charles and Matthew Lloyd Davies
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lodging-house keeper Clem Talleyfer prefers a quiet life. He’s happy with his hobbies, his work—and especially with his lodger Rowley Green, who becomes a friend over their long fireside evenings together. If only neat, precise, irresistible Mr. Green were interested in more than friendship...

Rowley just wants to be left alone—at least until he meets Clem, with his odd, charming ways and his glorious eyes. Then the brutally murdered corpse of another lodger is dumped on their doorstep and their peaceful life is shattered.

 
Book 1 of 3.

KJ Charles knows how to write about Victorian England and her characters are well-developed. I liked both protagonists in this historical gay fiction and how they were careful not to move to quickly into a relationship. The professions of both men were original. I never came across a male lodging-house keeper nor a 'stuffer', before. The narration of this audiobook was marvelous. Because of the narration, this novel is a relisten option for me. I just have to stop myself from grabbing book #2 every time, because this one ends with a bang and I find the next book boring.

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Review: Here Comes My Man

Here Comes My Man by Lauren Blakely and Shane East, Teddy Hamilton, and more.
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Let me just say this - fake dating the cocky movie star was not my idea. Especially since he’s my former roomie and, gulp, my secret ex. But my agent tells me I have no choice since I’m ridiculously overdue with turning in the next big blockbuster love story to my publisher.

Falling for the smooth-talking English hottie once upon a time - fine, twice - were huge mistakes that I shouldn’t repeat, but pretending to like the guy who broke my heart is my only chance at saving my job.
That is, as long as no one finds out that every date we go on, every smile we flash each other for the cameras, and every hot, desperate kiss on the streets of Manhattan is absolutely fake.

Book 2 of 2.

 

I liked the first part of this audiobook, where the couple gets over their hurt feelings. But then they become friends again and more than half of a novel has to be written. It would have been better if the first part of this novel was included in book #1, and the rest deleted. There was just some outside drama I did not care about and the moment the protagonists decided not to care about it, took way too long.

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