Tag Archives: audiobook

Audiobook Review: The Deal by Elle Kennedy

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The Deal by Elle Kennedy

The Deal by Elle Kennedy
Series: Off-Campus #1 (full reading order below)
Audiobook Publication Date: November 3rd 2015
Length: 12 hours and 52 minutes
Narrated by: Lorelei Avalon
Links: Audible • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
Source: I received an audiobook in exchange for an honest review

She’s about to make a deal with the college bad boy…

Hannah Wells has finally found someone who turns her on. But while she might be confident in every other area of her life, she’s carting around a full set of baggage when it comes to sex and seduction. If she wants to get her crush’s attention, she’ll have to step out of her comfort zone and make him take notice…even if it means tutoring the annoying, childish, cocky captain of the hockey team in exchange for a pretend date.

…and it’s going to be oh so good.

All Garrett Graham has ever wanted is to play professional hockey after graduation, but his plummeting GPA is threatening everything he’s worked so hard for. If helping a sarcastic brunette make another guy jealous will help him secure his position on the team, he’s all for it. But when one unexpected kiss leads to the wildest sex of both their lives, it doesn’t take long for Garrett to realize that pretend isn’t going to cut it. Now he just has to convince Hannah that the man she wants looks a lot like him.

The Deal is one of my top favorite reads of the year – I read an early copy of it before it was published, and it blew me away. It’s one of the BEST NA books I’ve ever read – and the sequel is just as good. So when I heard that it was going to be available as an audiobook, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.

The Deal is a standalone NA sports romance between a hockey player and the girl he’s trying to get to tutor him in a class he’s failing. It’s hilarious, sexy, sweet, and most of all, so down-to-earth and believable. I really felt Hannah and Garrett’s characters – I fell in love with them and was swept away by their slow-burn romance. I loved that in the beginning, Hannah didn’t want anything to do with Garrett, who’s a little bit of a jerk and player. But as they get to know each other, they become actual friends, which I love in romances. And when chemistry heats up between them, and they start to fall for each other, they learn that they can be so much more.

I was really hoping that this audiobook would have dual narrators (which I love) since The Deal is told in both Garrett and Hannah’s POVs, but it only had one female narrator. This was a little disappointing, since I would’ve loved to listen to Garrett’s voice, but I was hoping Lorelei Avalon could pull off narrating both POVs. Unfortunately, this is the first audiobook I’ve listened to where I didn’t like listening to the narrator. Lorelei Avalon’s voice is a bit nasally and sounds a lot older than what 20-somethings sound like, and she couldn’t narrate the male dialog at all. Narrators can make or break an audiobook, and sadly her voice just didn’t fit well with either of the main characters.

So while the story is a 5 star read, the narrator definitely brought this audiobook down a bit. I’m really hoping that if The Score is made into an audiobook, it’ll have a different narrator (and hopefully a male one too)!

4 hearts
lacey

Reading Order: Off-Campus series

The Deal by Elle Kennedy The Mistake by Elle Kennedy The Score by Elle Kennedy

#1 ~ The Deal: Book Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ The Mistake: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ The Score: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads

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Audiobook Review: Undertow by Leigh T. Moore

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Undertow by Leigh T. Moore
Series: Dragonfly #2 (full reading order below)
Audiobook Publication Date: October 20th 2015
Length: 9 hours and 33 minutes
Narrated by: Christy Romano
Links: Audible • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
Source: I received an audiobook in exchange for an honest review

Falling in love will pull you under…. Bill Kyser has a plan to take the sandy farms of his hometown and turn them into a world-class tourist destination – and become a billionaire in the process. Alexandra “Lexy” LaSalle has a plan to change her life by becoming a world-famous artist. Meg Weaver has a plan to hold on to Bill no matter what she has to do. Three friends, three dreams. One fatal decision will change all their lives forever.

In Dragonfly Bill Kyser gave Anna the three journals that held the story behind the powerful developer’s seclusion and the damaged lives of his family members. Anna hopes to find a way for Julian to know the truth, but as she digs deeper into the tragic events of the past, she realizes silence could be the only option. Now she’s in an alliance with the man she formerly feared. And if Julian finds out what she knows, she could lose for good the boy she’s starting to love. A full-length new adult contemporary romance and family saga. Recommended for listeners 13+ due to mature themes and mild sexual content.

I liked Undertow so much more than Dragonfly! I felt like there was a much more solid story in this book than the previous one. All of the characters had more depth, and the plot was just more interesting. Christy Romano once again does an incredible job of narrating, especially since there are multiple POVs in Undertow. It picks up right after Dragonfly, with Anna discovering the history of Jack and Julian’s parents.

After listening to Dragonfly, I grew incredibly curious about Bill Kyser and Alexandra “Lexy” LaSalle. Why did they have an affair while Bill was married? How could Lexy betray her best friend Meg, Bill’s wife? How did Meg die? In Undertow, we finally discover the truth of what happened in their past through the journals Bill Kyser gives Anna to read. Bill, Lexy, and Meg all wrote their own journals, so we have all three of their POVs to explain what happened so many years ago.

I liked the way the author portrayed all three of these characters. On the surface, they seem like shallow people, but their journals give insight to just how human they are. I could feel the regret and pain that Bill, Lexy, and Meg experience – mistakes have been made, but there was never any malice in their intentions. I felt like I understood their motives by the end, and I just felt sad how their lives ended up, because none of them get their happily ever after, especially with Meg’s unfortunate death.

We don’t get much about Anna or Julian in Undertow, but I’m excited to see how their relationship will grow in the sequels. I’m also looking forward to what will happen with Bill and Lexy! The love between them is still very much alive, so I’m hoping they get their long-awaited HEA.

As an audiobook, Undertow was an intense one to listen to. Lies are told, secrets are revealed, and when the truth comes out, no one is left unscathed. Christy Romano narration was fantastic – she had distinct voices for Meg and Lexy, so it was easy to distinguish between the two of them. I do wish there had been a male narrator for Bill’s POV though. But overall, Undertow is definitely an improvement from Dragonfly, and I’m excited to see where the author will take the story.

4 hearts
lacey

Reading Order: Dragonfly series

   

#1 ~ Dragonfly: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ Undertow: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ Watercolor: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#4 ~ Mosaic: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads

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Audiobook Review: Dragonfly by Leigh T. Moore

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Dragonfly by Leigh T. Moore
Series: Dragonfly #1 (full reading order below)
Audiobook Publication Date: October 20th 2015
Length: 6 hours and 33 minutes
Narrated by: Christy Romano
Links: Audible • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
Source: I received an audiobook in exchange for an honest review

Falling in love changes everything.

Three bad things I learned this year:

  • People you trust lie, even parents.
  • That hot guy, the one who’s totally into you, might not be the one.
  • Things are not always how they appear.

Three good things I learned this year:

  • Best friends are always there for you, even when they’re far away.
  • That other hot guy, the one who remembers your birthday, just might be the one.
  • Oh, and things are not always how they appear.

Anna Sanders expected an anonymous (and uneventful) senior year until she crossed paths with rich and sexy Jack Kyser and his twin sister, Lucy. Pulling Anna into their extravagant lifestyle on the Gulf Coast, Lucy pushed Anna outside her comfort zone, and Jack showed her feelings she’d never experienced – until he mysteriously withdrew.

Anna turned to her internship at the city paper and to her old attraction to Julian, a handsome local artist and rising star, for distraction. But both led to her discovery of a decades-old secret closely guarded by the twins’ distant, single father.

A secret that could permanently change all their lives.

The audiobook of Dragonfly is a quick, fun listen. I really enjoyed Christy Romano’s narration – she did a great job with portraying the teenage main character’s voice. While I didn’t love the story, I still appreciated the way the author was able to make her high school characters realistic and relatable. I’d definitely recommend this audiobook if you’re a fan of romance with realistic teenage characters and high school angst/drama.

Anna Sanders is that very typical high school senior girl who, in between dealing with school and college, has one mess of a romantic life. She has a fling with the hot and rich Jack Kyser, whose father practically owns the town they live in, and her feelings for Jack eventually grow into something deeper. But when Jack withdraws from her, her best guy friend Julian is always there for her. It’s obvious that both boys care deeply for Anna, and vice versa, but I felt like only one of them was really meant to be with her.

As many times as Anna annoyed me with her wishy-washy attitude, I really enjoyed the way she took the time to think over her feelings for both boys before making any rash decisions. I’m not a fan of love triangles but the author handled it better than I expected in this book.

There’s also a mystery involving Jack’s father and Julian’s mother, and Anna slowly unravels that secondary story throughout the novel. This mystery definitely made listening to Dragonfly much more interesting, especially when I sometimes grew tired of the romance.

The best part of listening to Dragonfly is definitely the narration. Christy Romano is fantastic! I love her voice. Dragonfly is a good start to Leigh T. Moore’s series, and while I didn’t quite love it, I’m still curious enough after finishing this to continue with the series. Anna and Julian were by far the most interesting characters, and I’m looking forward to more of them in the rest of the series!

3 hearts
lacey

Reading Order: Dragonfly series

   

#1 ~ Dragonfly: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ Undertow: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ Watercolor: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#4 ~ Mosaic: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads

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Audiobook Series Review: The Sin Trilogy by Georgia Cates

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The Sin Trilogy by Georgia Cates

The Sin Trilogy by Georgia Cates
(full reading order below)
Audiobook Publication Date: September 22nd 2015
Length: (book 1) 8:50, (book 2) 8:32, (book 3) 8:10
Narrated by: Jennifer Mack & Antony Ferguson
Links: Book 1 • Book 2 • Book 3 • Goodreads
Source: I received the audiobooks in exchange for an honest review

An epic tale of revenge and love in a new romantic trilogy from the New York Times best-selling author of The Beauty Series.

Bleu MacAllister is consumed. A horrific childhood incident has caused every decision in her life to revolve around bringing a monster to justice. With years spent studying The Fellowship, a Scottish organized crime brotherhood of liars, thieves, and killers, Bleu will rely on her skills as a special agent to cut Thane Breckenridge off at the knees. But walking hand in hand with retribution means risking collateral damage, in the form of Breckenridge’s son Sinclair – until Sin becomes so much more than Bleu bargained for. She’s always known this undertaking would place her life in danger – she never imagined her heart would be as well.

This series is one rollercoaster of a story – wow! Tons of action, suspense, as well as some lovely sexy-times with a Scottish hottie… The Sin Trilogy is definitely a series you shouldn’t miss if you’re a fan of the romance suspense genre. I had the chance to listen to the audiobooks, and while it took some time for me to warm up to the narration, by the end, I was completely and wholeheartedly invested in the characters and series. I definitely recommend the audiobooks of The Sin Trilogy, especially if you want to listen to some great Scottish accents.

The day that seven-year-old Stella Bleu Lawrence became Bleu MacAllister was the day she lost her innocence of the world and set out to take revenge against her mother’s killer, Thane Breckenridge. She would spend the next eighteen years of her life grooming herself to become good enough, strong enough, smart enough, cunning enough, to infiltrate Thane’s Scottish, mafia-like organization and kill the leader himself. Bleu plans to get into The Fellowship through seducing Thane’s son, Sinclair. He’s supposed to be her mark, her victim – but she never expects to actually fall for him. Bleu and Sin’s story is an addicting one, because I just couldn’t wait to see how it would play out. Will Sin find out who Bleu really is? Can Bleu kill Thane even while loving his son? Is Thane even her mother’s true murderer?

I really enjoyed Jennifer Mack’s narration of Bleu’s POV, but Antony Ferguson’s narration of Sin’s felt awkward at times. While Mack could narrate the opposite sex well, Ferguson’s female voice, Bleu’s in particular with her southern accent, was a little difficult and cringey to listen to. But with three books in the series, I quickly got used to it enough that it didn’t bother me much. The best part is definitely the fact that the dual narrators can do wonderful Scottish accents.

Gripping, thrilling, suspenseful, and intense – Georgia Cates’ The Sin Trilogy took me on one wild ride of a story, leaving me breathless and aching for more. It’s a story of revenge – and finding love where you least expect it. This was definitely a series that had my mind and heart racing, and the Scottish accents definitely weren’t difficult to listen to. I couldn’t get enough of the story, and I was dying for more each time I finished a book. Thankfully, I had the whole series ready for me to listen to! This series is a highly entertaining series that had me hooked from beginning to end.

4 hearts
lacey

Reading Order: The Sin Trilogy

A Necessary Sin by Georgia Cates The Next Sin by Georgia Cates One Last Sin by Georgia Cates

#1 ~ A Necessary Sin: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ The Next Sin: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ One Last Sin: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads

Here’s an audio excerpt from A Necessary Sin!

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Audiobook Review: Breathless in Love by Bella Andre & Jennifer Skully

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Breathless in Love by Bella Andre

Breathless in Love by Bella Andre & Jennifer Skully
Series: The Maverick Billionaires #1 (full reading order below)
Audiobook Publication Date: August 25th 2015
Length: 9 hours and 48 minutes
Narrated by: Eva Kaminsky
Links: Audible • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
Source: I received an audiobook in exchange for an honest review

Will Franconi has a dark past that he’s kept a closely guarded secret―very few people have ever heard his real story and he plans to keep it that way. After surviving a hellish childhood, he’s now living the dream life where everything he touches turns to gold. But something’s missing. He doesn’t quite know what until a simple letter from a teenage boy brings Harper Newman into his life. A woman who just might fill up the empty places inside him…if only he could ever be worthy of her love.

When a man has more money than he could possibly spend in five lifetimes, Harper has to ask herself what Will Franconi could possibly want from a woman like her? She’s learned the hard way that rich men always get what they want no matter the cost. If it was just herself she had to worry about, Harper would manage, but she’s guardian to her younger brother who depends on her for everything. After nearly losing his life in a car crash, she’s vowed never to let anyone hurt him ever again.

Still, sometimes Harper can’t help but long to change her story from one of an always-cautious woman to an adventurous tale of a heroine who’s wild and free…especially when Will’s kisses and caresses make her utterly breathless. And as he begins to reveal his story to her, she discovers that he’s so much more than just another wealthy, privileged man. He’s kind and giving, and he fills up all the spaces inside of her heart that have been empty for so long. Together, can they rewrite their stories into a happily-ever-after that neither of them had previously thought was possible?

After falling in love with a previous audiobook from Bella Andre, I couldn’t wait to listen to Breathless in Love! Eva Kaminsky is my favorite female narrator I’ve heard so far – her narration is fantastic to listen to, and I just love the way she voices the male dialogue. So I went into Breathless in Love with high expectations, which the authors and Eva Kaminsky all met. This was a sweet, brilliant romance between a strong heroine and a sweetheart billionaire hero that I highly recommend!

Will Franconi is the first of the Maverick group to get his story told, and what a story it was. Sweet, light-hearted, romantic, this audiobook had me smiling so much. I fell head-over-heels in love with Will – he may be a billionaire, but he has never once let the money get to his head. He’s also not that typical billionaire playboy, which I appreciated. When Will falls for a woman, he falls fast and hard, and won’t even look at any other. He’s charming, sincere, considerate – he’s really the perfect man. And he’s got a little obsession with cars – which is where the heroine comes in.

Harper Newman has been taking care of her teenage brother, Jeremy, ever since a car accident left him with the mental capacity of a seven year old. With both her parents gone, she’s had no one to rely on but herself. Harper loves her brother dearly, so when Jeremy wants to meet the billionaire who shares his obsession with cars, she agrees, but what she doesn’t expect is to be swept off her feet by the gorgeous, kindhearted man who wants to be a part of her and her brother’s little family – forever.

I loved Harper and Jeremy! Eva Kaminsky brought them to life with her narration. She also did a fantastic job with Jeremy’s voice, which was a bit slower and more emphasized to reflect his mental capacity. I admired Harper so much for the constant love and support she had for Jeremy – she’s a wonderful sister, a wonderful person, and it wasn’t hard to see how Will would fall for her.

Will has a dark past he’s constantly running from but can’t forget, but he learns to forgive himself because of what he’s found with Harper. I loved how Will wanted both Harper and Jeremy in his life – this man never ceases to amaze me with the lengths he’ll go to make sure they’re loved, safe, and protected. If you’re looking for a swoon-worthy hero, look no further than Will Franconi!

I absolutely can’t wait for more from the Maverick Billionaires. Bella Andre and Jennifer Skully have written a fantastic series-starter, and I have high hopes the other books in the series will be just as good. You should definitely give the audiobook of Breathless in Love a try – not only for Eva Kaminsky’s narration, but also for the gorgeous romance!

5 hearts
lacey

Reading Order: The Maverick Billionaires series

Breathless in Love by Bella Andre 
  

#1 ~ Breathless in Love: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ Reckless in Love: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ Fearless in Love: Goodreads (June 15, 2016)
#4 ~ Irresistible in Love: Goodreads (release date TBA)
#5 ~ Wild in Love: Goodreads (release date TBA)

Here’s an audio excerpt from Breathless in Love!

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