Showing posts with label marvelous audio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marvelous audio. Show all posts

Apr 17, 2023

Review: Icecapade

Icecapade

Icecapade by Josh Lanyon and ~
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

(Part of His For The Holidays Anthology)

On the eve of the new millennium, diamond thief Noel Snow seduced FBI special agent Robert Cuffe, then fled into the dawn. Now a successful novelist, Noel uses his capers as fodder for his books, and has modeled his hero's nemesis (and potential love interest) on Cuffe. Though he leaves Robert a drunken phone message every New Year's Eve, Noel hasn't seen or heard from him in a decade.

So he's thrilled when his former lover shows up at his upstate farm one Christmas Eve. Elation quickly turns to alarm when Robert accuses Noel of being responsible for a recent rash of diamond heists.

I had a hard time following the story in the beginning, when novel, past and present were mixed together. Icecapade was the best of the Anthology. Maybe even 4 stars, because I loved the hurt and longing. 

Narration was marvelous.

View all my reviews

Apr 16, 2023

Review: Christmas Kitsch

Christmas Kitsch

Christmas Kitsch by Amy Lane and Nick J. Russo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Rusty Baker is a blond, rich, entitled football player in a high school full of them—just the type of oblivious jock all the bullied kids hate. And he might have stayed that way, except he develops a friendship with out-and-proud Oliver Campbell from the wrong side of the tracks. Rusty thinks the friendship is just pity—Oliver is very bright, and Rusty is very not.
Oliver Campbell is the best thing that’s ever happened to him. Rusty’s parents disagree, and Rusty finds himself homeless for the holidays. Oliver may not have much money, but he’s got something Rusty has never known: true family.

 


Because of the title I always thought this was a holiday story, but I would disagree. It spans 6 months and ends with Christmas. The focus is on starting to live on yourself.

Rusty has to be perfect for his parents and because he is not bookish enough for college, he tends to call himself stupid all the time. He is the only point of view.
Oliver is in love with Rusty and is patiently waiting until Rusty is ready to come out and have sex and move in together. It is Oliver who makes me love this novel.

The narration was very good.

View all my reviews

Apr 10, 2023

Review: Point of No Return

Point of No Return

Point of No Return by N.R. Walker and Sean Crisden
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

 

Matthew Elliot is one of LA's best detectives. He's been labelled the golden boy of the Fab Four; a team of four detectives who've closed down drug-rings all over the city.
Enter Kira Takeo Franco, the new boxing coach at the gym. Matthew can't deny his immediate attraction to the man his fellow cops know as Frankie. But in allowing himself to fall in love with a man known to his colleagues, Matthew risks outing them both.

This is a favorite re-listen, as is the very different book #2. I love this audiobook because it focuses on Kira and Matt being in love. Warm fuzzy feelings and well-developed protagonists and secondary characters for more than half of the story. After that, suddenly the crime plot explodes, which in my opinion could have been better balanced throughout the story.
The narration is marvelous. Sean Crisden has the right voice for this and he chose to perform this as a stream of consciousness.
 

View all my reviews

Apr 1, 2023

Review: An Unsuitable Heir

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.

View all my reviews

Mar 30, 2023

Review: An Unnatural Vice

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.

View all my reviews

Review: An Unseen Attraction

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.

View all my reviews

Mar 27, 2023

Review: The Ghost Slept Over

The Ghost Slept Over

The Ghost Slept Over by Marshall Thornton and Jason Frazier
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

When failed actor Cal Parsons travels to rural New York to claim the estate of his famous and estranged ex-partner, he discovers something he wasn't expecting...the ghost of his ex! And worse, his ex invites Cal to join him for all eternity. As Cal attempts to rid himself of the ghost by any means, he begins to fall for the attractive attorney representing the estate. Will Cal be able to begin a new relationship or will he be seduced into the ever after?

 I listened to 30% of this audiobook and decided to ask for a refund. I did not recognize a single thing as funny. I was really bored by the 'theater' plotline and thus was annoyed whenever it took the focus away from the gay romance I was waiting for. All three of them (Mac, Dewey, and Cal) had not had one flattering thought of the others after 2 hours of listening and I couldn't care less if any one of them found love.

The narrator was marvelous.

View all my reviews

Review: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz and Lil-Manuel Miranda
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Dante can swim. Ari can't. Dante is articulate and self-assured. Ari has a hard time with words and suffers from self-doubt. Dante gets lost in poetry and art. Ari gets lost in thoughts of his older brother who is in prison. Dante is fair skinned. Ari's features are much darker. It seems that a boy like Dante, with his open and unique perspective on life, would be the last person to break down the walls that Ari has built around himself.

But against all odds, when Ari and Dante meet, they develop a special bond that will teach them the most important truths of their lives, and help define the people they want to be.


Book 1 of 2.

Perfectly narrated and a compelling story about two gay boys. Nice young men, nice parents, some drama. Not a romance, for that is book 2. I noticed the language was beautiful and the characters wel developed and kind. But to me, it was a boring audiobook.

View all my reviews

Review: Brothers of the Wild North Sea

Brothers of the Wild North Sea

Brothers of the Wild North Sea by Harper Fox and Hamish Long
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

 

Caius doesn’t feel like much of a Christian. He loves his life of learning as a monk in the far-flung stronghold of Fara, but the hot warrior blood of his chieftain father flows in his veins. Heat soothed only in the arms of his sweet-natured friend and lover, Leof.

When Leof is killed during a Viking raid, Cai’s grieving heart thirsts for vengeance—and he has his chance with Fenrir, a wounded young Viking warrior left for dead. But instead of reaching for a weapon, Cai finds himself defying his abbot’s orders and using his healing skills to save Fen’s life.

At first, Fen repays Cai’s kindness by attacking every Christian within reach. But as time passes, Cai’s persistent goodness touches his heart. And Cai, who had thought he would never love again, feels the stirring of a profound new attraction.


This is a must-read for everyone, but when listening to the audiobook, you are in for a treat. The plotline, lifestyle, characters, history, and narration are top-notch. This early medieval society existed before the Catholic church decided to make a list of mortal sins, putting homosexuality in the top 3. No damnation and no bigotery.
People not used to explicit gay intimacy may keep in mind: hetero sex involves the same acts.

View all my reviews