Blood to Dust

Beautiful, ugly, agonizing and elating

Blood To Dust tells the story of Prescott, a once privileged rich girl, turned drug dealer, who plans a revenge against the people who hurt her. Her plans fail, and when she's captured, the muscle man assigned to guard her is Nate, the ex-con with the poetic soul.

Prescott's plan is simple - seduce Nate, and make him switch teams.

The first half of the book is a beautiful love story, growing in the ugliest surroundings.
The second part of the book is the horrid, brutal revenge.
There's a lovely happy ending, but just like the rest of book, it's tinted with imperfection.

Blood to Dust is beautiful, ugly, simple, complicated, predictable, surprising, hopeless, hopeful, agonizing and elating.
It's painful, but it's also peppered with captivating, irresistible moments.
As much as I wanted to at times, I couldn't put it down.

The narration was very good, but a dual narration would have been better.

The book:
• 264 Pages • Contemporary • Taboo • Standalone • Happily Ever After • First-Person Narrative • Her POV • His POV

The romantic theme:
• Outlaw Romance

The read:
• Intense Read • Dark Read • Page Turner • Good Pace • Made Me Smile • Touching • Sad & Heartbreaking • Twists & Turns • Sexy • Dramatic • Provocative

Heat level:
• 3 / 5 (Includes hot and explicit sex scenes) • MF scenes • Dirty Talk • Vanilla Sex • Beyond Vanilla Sex

Story ingredients:
• Witty Banter • Heroic Rescue • Big Romantic Gestures • Big Secret • Action • Mystery & Suspense • Violence • Brutality • Sexual Abuse • Kidnapping

He is...
• Possessive • Emotionally Unavailable • Hot • Fit • Poor • Outlaw • Troubled Past

She is...
• Stunning • Sassy • Emotionally Unavailable • Strong • Unconventional • Money Problems • Troubled Past

50 of 50 people found this review helpful

Dark! Raw! Twisted! Tale Of Love & Revenge!

I've had this audio in my library for some time now, and finally took the time to listen. From all the reviews I was expecting a dark story, and just when I didn't think it could get any darker, L. J. Shen blew my mind. This story could be brutal at times from the characters dire situations, betrayals, to the sex scenes. It was filled with lots of dark, raw emotions, and some scenes were disturbing to listen too, but it was also action packed. These characters go from being captor, and hostage to developing feelings for each other, and teaming up to go on a dangerous, and destructive path seeking revenge. Their story wasn't perfect, but it kept me in suspense with all the plot twist, and listening to their love grow for each other.

Michael Pauley's a great narrator with a unique voice. You could feel all the tortured emotions these characters felt from anguish, fear, despair, and a whole list of more. It was truly an emotional performance.

BTD was a intense dark story, but the more brutal scenes are relived through memories. It certainly comes with trigger warnings (sexual), and may not be for everyone..... it was almost a little too dark for my taste, but I would definitely listen to another story by L.J. Shen. It was a good whispersync deal!

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

Powerfully Unexpected Love story

L.Shen is such a powerful writer. I never know what to expect. That's the beauty of her work. She is able to create unlikely characters that your heart and mind griws to love. In this story, it is hard to tell at first who you actually like, who to trust and who will steal your heart.

Because I don't want to give away the plot, I will just say that there is Prescott who wants to survive and she will do anything to make that happen...including giving of herself. What makes this even better is the relationship that develops from the one she attempted to give herself too. Out of everything in her life she finds that even broken people can find their other half...

What a truly nontraditional love story. Full of action, passion, hate, ultimate sacrifice and healing. I loved this story because Shen's heroines always are written so well. At times when you think they are at their weakest, they show greater strength with or without a man.

Michael Pauley is fantastic. He is not just a narrator, he is a true voice actor. Believable with his character deliverance and easily brings the listener deeper into the story! Pure perfection.

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

MY FAVORITE AUDIOBOOK OF 2016!!!

If you could sum up Blood to Dust in three words, what would they be?

EXPLOSIVE. BRILLIANT. MINDBLOWING

What was one of the most memorable moments of Blood to Dust?

My most memorable moment was after Prescott seeks vengeance on Seb and she is near her breaking point..and Nate convinces her to keep fighting...“Promise me you won’t break.”“I don’t have any more fight in me.”He cups my face in his hands, so that I can’t escape his penetrating gaze. “Then I’ll give you some of mine.”Another favorite was when she refused to leave with the cops to save him and Nate gives this impassioned speech about how much he loves her.

Which scene was your favorite?

Too many to name! The scenes where they are on the run, blazing a path of destruction, exchanging razor sharp barbs, falling in love and having explosive sex!!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

"Unbreakable."

Any additional comments?

The Michael Pauley narration was off the charts amazing! He embodied these characters so viscerally that I was enraptured throughout. He emotes spectacularly, his inflections are brilliant, line delivery pitch perfect (and LOL funny!), and I also love his interpretations of each and every character. This audio solidified him as my alltime fave male narrator.

MY FULL REVIEW“This is a story of a boy and a girl fighting storms and trying to find peace in the most unexpected place. They try and find it in each other.”I thought nothing could top SPARROW by L.J. Shen, but Holy Wow, BLOOD TO DUST did just that! This Bonnie and Clyde romantic thriller with a gritty captivity twist blew me away on so many levels I do not have enough words to possible convey the gamut of emotions it stirred in me. It wrecked my heart, shattered my soul, made me laugh and cry and Feel. So. Much. While I have had the immense pleasure of reading many SENSATIONAL dark romantic thrillers, this one…this one I believe truly tops them all. One thing's for certain, it solidified Ms. Shen as an automatic 1-Click author for me.

BTD was brimming with so much intense emotion, BLAZING PASSION and nail-biting tension, it gave me heart palpitations throughout. It is dark and chilling…passionate and provocative…. beautiful and haunting…sadistic and sweet.... humorous and heartbreaking. All masterfully converging into one ADRENALINE-PUMPING masterpiece! There is just something so rejuvenating for me as a blogger to come across an author with the magnitude of talent that this author possesses. L.J. Shen has such a distinct narrative voice, unlike any I have read before. And her MASTERFUL character development is beyond compare!!! But what truly sets her apart for me is her ability to blend quirky, dark humor with gut-wrenching angst and thrilling suspense. She is truly a writing maestro!

The EXPLOSIVE chemistry between “Beat” and “Baby-Cakes” captivated me from the start, and their deliciously dirty, razor-sharp banter was a true highlight!!! Their odyssey from stern captor/sassy prisoner to CRAZY-IN-LOVE partners in crime determined to take down their enemies in a bloodbath of EPIC proportions was brilliantly depicted, harrowing and heartwrenchingly beautiful. Ms. Shen's craftsmanship of Nate and Prescott is absolutely phenomenal. These characters are so achingly flawed and endearingly complex with so many layers and dimensions…and I instantly fell in love with them both. They are Peace and Storm... two polar opposites whose fates become inexorably intertwined.

Prescott is one the bravest heroines I have EVER read. Yet what I l adore about her is that she is strong yet vulnerable. Hard yet soft. A beautiful, vibrant wildcard with dark, tormenting secrets she keeps locked down so deep inside because it is too unbearable to face. She could break, and does on occasion, but NEVER in front of her enemies. She has no one in her corner until she is held captive by Nate, a troubled brute of a man who would not only eventually offer her the key to freedom but also stand and fight beside her. “I’ll fight your war while I’m winning mine.”Ultimately, he becomes her savior (even though she does not need one and proves to be more than capable of fighting her own battles!) but also her best friend. Her lover. Her reason for fighting with every fiber of her being. And FIGHT and FIGHT and FIGHT she does. She never gives up…even when every bone in her body screams at her to do so.

Prescott defines female empowerment, but in the rare moments of weakness when she has no fight left in her, Nate lifts her up, takes on her battles as his own, and ultimately gives her the strength to keep going. Gah! I get goosebumps just thinking about what this heroine went through but she finally emerges victorious, reclaiming every single “piece of her soul” that Godfrey, Camden and Seb had so viciously stolen. Ultimately, “Country Club” proves to be a true Braveheart--through and through.

And Nate….OMGGGG. Nate!!!! I have a SERIOUS SCHOOLGIRL CRUSH on Nate/Beat/Christopher Delaware! I flove everything about him! His big, brawny physique, his tortured soul, his gruff tenderness, his roguish charm, his caustic wit!!!! His sexy tats! His big, beautiful heart. His bad side and good side and everything in between. And the ending?? My lips are sealed except to say the final climactic showdown was so harrowing and scary intense, I am still hyperventilating from the aftershocks!!

In closing, BLOOD TO DUST is without a doubt among my top five reads of 2016! It is a darkly entrancing, triumphant tale--pulsating with MEGA FEELS!!--about the miraculous resilience of the human spirit, surviving against ALL ODDS, and finding the courage to never stop fighting for what you believe in, even when you have to blaze a path of destruction to achieve it.And, when all is said and done, at its core, this novel is about discovering a soul-deep love beyond your wildest dreams that’s “beautiful and ugly and broken…and whole.”

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Another 5 star audio for Michael Pauley & LJ Shen!

This is one gritty, raucous roller coaster of an audio. Make sure your seat belt is fastened for this one. The story of Beat and Pea isn't pretty and like most gritty romance, it's born out of violence and passion, and I loved it. They've both made decisions in their lives that may have been necessary or justified, but have placed them in the worst circumstances. Watching them change and learn to trust and love is wonderful. L.J. Shen's writing is at times brutal and shocking but the quiet moments of trust and finding your heart temper the harsh world she creates.

Michael Pauley's performance is as always, fantastic. The accents he pulls off (much like his narration of L.J. Shen's amazing book Sparrow - a definite MUST LISTEN) are brilliant and in the first chapter, fairly terrifying. Another amazing collaboration for L.J. Shen and Michael Pauley. I look forward to many more.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

A GRIPPING EDGE-OF-YOUR-SEAT JOURNEY

It's all been said before.. it's dark, twisted, brutal, raw and chilling.. but it's also very well written, nail-bitingly tense, suspenseful and brilliantly narrated by Michael Pauley. This is definitely not a feel-good romance and it breaks the mould of 'normal' love stories because the hero and heroine are two very tortured damaged souls whose lives have not been kind to them and, as a result, they just can't do normal anymore. But they each find strength and peace in one another so, after a lot of angst, drama, danger, conflict, pain and bloodshed, they learn to trust, to heal, to smile again.. and to love.

I can't say I really enjoyed this dual POV listen.. I even contemplated stopping it a few times but, as I wanted to hear their HEA.. and to know the bad guys suffered for their many terrible sins, I journeyed on and I'm so glad I did. L.J.Shen certainly knows how to deliver a riveting story, push boundaries and write twisted hot sex scenes and, even though I was a bit on the fence with the story because it was out of my own personal comfort zone, I'm in awe of this talented author's writing skills.. which definitely deserve a 5 star rating.

Worth a credit? If you're looking for something different, if you want an unconventional love story and if you can handle a fairly raw listen (which included flash-backs of rape), then absolutely yes. I'm pleased I persevered with the dark and journeyed with the h/h to find the light that was waiting for a very deserving couple.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Absolutely loved this book!!

I would give this five stars no doubt. It took me a minute to get used to it being narrated by a male but the story was so impactful and engaging that it no longer mattered. Beat and P are two of the best characters I've read in a long time. This book has tons of twist & turns, a superhot alpha male & a sexy take no BS heroin.

9 of 10 people found this review helpful

Blood to Dust

What disappointed you about Blood to Dust?

I couldnt connect to either lead character. I dont know if it was because of the plot or the flat narration.

Has Blood to Dust turned you off from other books in this genre?

No.I enjoy well written Mafia Romance which features strong female characters. I will continue to read books in the genre.

What didn’t you like about Michael Pauley’s performance?

He didn't make me feel: I wasn't happy, sad, shocked etc.I couldn't connect to the characters and thus wasn't invested in their fate.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Blood to Dust?

I first need to read the ebook . The audio version didnt work for me. reading the book instead might change my opinion of it and then be able to better answer the question

Any additional comments?

“I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author.”

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Disappointed

I believe I would have enjoyed this book with another narrator. It is a tough book to listen too and when the narration is so bland.... please take a listen and make sure you can listen to the entire book in that same monologue throughout.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

GREAT READ! TERRIBLE NARRATION!!

I just couldn't get passed the narrator's voice. He sounded monotone and almost robotic, I couldn't get into the story. He was very hard to listen to. At first I thought it was the setting I was using to listen, but it wasn't. I had to stop listening, and ended up getting the kindle version and finishing the book that way. Once I started reading it, the story captivated me from beginning to end, and I would definitely recommend it, but NOT as an audiobook!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful