Fame and Fortune

Really happy Joel Leslie's taken over!

Any additional comments?

I really liked this installment in the All Cocks Stories Series. What I liked best (besides the narration) was the setup, as there's some really good hurt/comfort here with Matthew's past, and even though we get lots of hot sex I was happy it focused more on the relationship between Victor, Andy and Matty than how many times they could have sex.

That being said, this is a short novel that encompasses over five years, which means that while the focus is on their relationship, it's at the expense of relationship development. We're told about milestones rather than getting to experience many of them, which, I'll be honest, I would have preferred a few more chapters if it meant getting that backstory.

That could also be because I love Joel Leslie's narration. Once again, Leslie doesn't disappoint. His character voices, pacing and timing were all terrific and just made me want more.

Though this is book two in the series, the story actually begins long before book one (Gay for Pay) and continues through the timeline of book one until after...so while you could ostensibly read this out of order, I wouldn't recommend it. Definitely start with book one and then move on to Fame and Fortune.

Bottom line: This is a thoroughly entertaining story with lots of emotion, hurt/comfort, hot sex, and terrific narration. I'm definitely looking forward to continuing the series, especially with Joel Leslie in the narrator's seat.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Fantastic menage - excellent narration

We met this “throuple” in book one, so we “know how it ends” ;)
We get a very short back story on how Victor and Andrew met but the majority of the story is Matthew meeting the guys and his story.

I loved the background information and thought that the author did a fantastic job of showing us the love between Andrew and Victor without fixating on it, that way when we introduce Matthew it seems like a really solid triad without feeling like he was just an accessory.

For the most part I love how Victor is portrayed – protective, alpha, a bit “European” – but sometimes I think the way his speech is denoted feels a bit juvenile and less like someone who is learning a new language and more like someone who is learning to speak at all.

The other thing I don’t love about this series is the author lacks contractions in her writing. Natural speech and writing uses contractions almost all the time and this stands out as missing in this series.

I love the sense of family we get with All Cocks and the continuing thread that connects each story to the other.

I’ve really enjoyed this series and I think books one and two are my absolute favorite.

The audiobook for book one was fantastic and I hope we see more of them turned into audio format.

4 of 5 stars


Audio

Joel Leslie did such an amazing job with this! I love his Victor so much! It was a joy to listen to and I was so glad to see him doing the narration!

5 of 5 stars

Overall 4.5 of 5 stars

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Love This!

I loved hearing the story Between Matty, Andrew, and Victor! And Joel Leslie did a fantastic Job with making all three of Their voices different!!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Kind of dull

Victor and Andrew run a successful company in the porn industry. They are deeply in love with each other. Along comes 18-year-old Matthew with some heavy baggage looking for love and acceptance. Matthew is hired as a model but is quickly adopted by Victor and Andrew who slowly fall in love with him. The characters weren't very deep except for maybe Matthew however there is very little conflict and angst in the story to make it interesting. The best thing about this audiobook was Joel Leslie's narration which saved it for me. I'm not sure if I will read any others in this series at this point.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Sweet story with a touch of angst

Fame and Fortune is a sweet story with a touch of angst and a talented narrator. This one is a nice way to while away a Saturday afternoon. After focusing on the initial stages of the relationship, the story follows the relationship arc through several years, so it does a good job of providing a lot of satisfaction on the relationship front. I do wish some of Matthew's past demons could have got their rightful comeuppance, and I got a little thrown out of the story by some of my own questions on the legalities of the final relationship solution, but overall, this was a very enjoyable listen.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Sweet MMM story

3.5 rounded up for the narration.

I enjoyed this sweet MMM story. Victor and Andrew are an established couple who met in college and have been together for 10 years. They have established a successful gay porn business where they treat their models like "family"; so kind of like The Johnnies series, but much lighter. Matthew is a homeless 18 year old who ran away from home after being attacked at 16 and his parents being a**holes about it. He makes his way to the porn office to audition to be a model and meets Andy and Vic and the romance begins.

As I said it is a sweet story with lots of romance. However, it is told from the 3rd person POV; not really my favorite. Sometimes I had trouble following b/c the POV changes so quickly. Also, despite a very dark subject like rape is introduced, I thought it really was superficially addressed. The first half of the book covering the "falling in love" is well developed. But then the story goes lightning fast. It covers five years into the relationship in about 15 mins. There is a little drama that didn't really make sense to me and the introduction of what I presume are other men for future books. Although this is the 2nd book in the series, it is a stand alone. I didn't read the first book, but I don't think I missed anything.

Joel Leslie really made this story enjoyable for me. Man, can he perform the hell out of a sex scene; so hawt, whew! Anyway, he does a wonderful job with these men. Overall, a good listen.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

I Love Me Some Sexy Angst

Would you consider the audio edition of Fame and Fortune to be better than the print version?

I didn't read the print version before listening to the audio. I like Joel Leslie as narrator so I jumped on board.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Hmm. Hard decision, because I definitely liked Victor, Andrew and Matthew, in different ways. Matthew was a puppy I wanted to cuddle and take care of. Andrew was a nurturer, sweet man. Victor a big, burly protector. Really liked all of them. If I absolutely have to choose, I'm going for Matthew. I really liked how he kept moving forward, growing.

Which scene was your favorite?

My favorite scenes were the two older men taking care of Matthew, giving him back the life he'd been torn out of. I loved Matthew when he was happy.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Oh yes, definitely. And I did. I loved it.

Any additional comments?

You really can't lose with Joel Leslie as narrator and a writer like T.M. Smith, who nurtures and develops the characters so beautifully. You'll like it.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Loyalty, love and lust

Victor, Andrew and Mathew...what can I even say? These three compliment each other so well and you can honestly feel the intensity between them. Loyalty, love and lust, the perfect recipe for this "throuple."

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Heartbreakingly good!

I'm not new to reading M/M but pretty new to listening to it. So its taken me a while to accept that. Totally different experience.

So, I've never read from this author before, and that meant I was digging into this series without knowing anything. I prefer to do it that way, and I don't usually read synopsis or reviews either.

What started out as a tale of a young man, scrounging for food and a place to sleep, turned out to be a very touching and emotional story about the reasons why. There was so much hurt, and pain and then acceptance, healing. I found the book resonated with real raw emotion that could well have been an experience of many. That made me very sad. I've a lot of gay friends, and bullies suck.

I think my only comment on the writing was the fact that towards the end a lot of the story starts to get almost kind of glossed over. This is the part where it's a writers job to stop and either leave that to the next book, or just our imaginations. There's only so much being told things after all you can take. For Ex the first trip they take 3 weeks away, wow that would be awesome for some drama and soul searching. Oh well, it is my only gripe, maybe the author is saving it for another time :)

The narration was just great, Joel does a fab job of bringing all the guys to life. From the emotional upset of Matty to the calm and collected Andrew. Don't get me started on Vic, he's just delicious! looking forward to more, and now I've someone else to follow around the net and wait for more audio books to listen to. Thank you both.


Disclaimer - I was gifted a copy of this book for an honest review and all thoughts are valid and my own.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Triple Hot Love Story

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes would sure recommend this title to everyone who loves M/M audiobooks. It was so sad and happy at the same time. Their stories weaved into each other just perfect.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Boy, this was a toss up but I got a big kick out of Dimir. Loved when he cussed out Matthew"s family.

Which character – as performed by Joel Leslie – was your favorite?

Again a toss up between Andrew and Matthew. Both were so touching and real to me. You could 'feel' all their joy, anger and pain.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I stayed up all night listening to this one. I kept trying to put it down, but no luck had to finish it.

Any additional comments?

I want to go back and get All Cocks One. And got my fingers crossed there is a 3. AND of course Joel Leslie !!!! By the way he is fast becoming one of the best readers out there.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful