Fish out of Water

Fish should be scared of water!

Where does Fish out of Water rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I'd say high enough that it will be listened to again.

What did you like best about this story?

The gradual progression of Ellery and Jackson's relationship.

What about Greg Tremblay’s performance did you like?

Tremblay throws himself into any story he tells. If a character is happy, sad or pissed off, you know immediately by the tones and inflections of his voice alone, before he reads the part of the story that would tell you what the character is feeling were you simply reading the book.

Who was the most memorable character of Fish out of Water and why?

Ellery, hands down. If not for Ellery, Jackson would never have found his way to love. As hard as Jackson pushes him away, flat out tells him to go away, Ellery stands steadfast and unwavering.

Any additional comments?

What a rush this story was. The web of suspense, lies and corruption was so insane and the story so intense, it should come with blood pressure medication. And the way it ended definitely leads me to believe there will be more.

Lane put these two complete opposites together, trying to forge a relationship while pretending not to like each other while be forced to work together to save each other so, of course, they fall in love with each other. Said relationship was so intense and passionate. There is this one particular scene where Ellery tells Jackson, "you stay there and decide what you want while I go get what you need." and, oh goddamn, what ensues about five seconds later almost set my iPod on fire.

Worth a listen if you like stories about two men that decide plowing each other into oblivion, while trying to stay alive, would be so much more fun than trying to kill each other. Of the charts hot and so damn good!

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Great mystery and great Greg (as per usual)!

Any additional comments?

**** 4 stars ****

Audio edition. Narrator Greg Tremblay.
9 hours 20 minutes

Overall: 4
Performance: 5
Story: 4

Just a short review, since I finished it a while back. :)

I very much enjoyed this audio book narrated by Greg Tramblay.

I liked the mystery, and the fleshed out characters, both main, and secondary characters. I loved how Jackson and Ellery were kind of enemies to lovers, or at least frenemies.

I'm looking forward to the next book! It is a continuation of the series, but I still felt like this book ended. It wasn't a big cliffy, but the story of Jackson and Ellery, and a lead from the case they were working on in this will continue in the next one.

Recommended if you like mystery, and narration by Greg Tremblay.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

This is a mystery

Any additional comments?

*Sigh* Greg Tremblay could read me the phone book, and I’d enjoy it. Luckily, Fish out of Water is a lot more entertaining, and Greg opens up all the suspense, passion, and frustration of the story bringing all the characters and situations to life.

Two things all listeners should know – Jackson is bisexual and there is on page, descriptive sex with a woman very early on in the story, and there is a cliffhanger ending which leaves the reader in suspense of several dangling threads in the storyline.

It was a bit rocky at first, the m/f sex notwithstanding, but Lane gets into her groove after about a third of the way in, the easy banter and sarcastic humor got a lot better, and the flow of the story moved along a lot easier. And Greg narrates it all beautifully.

Greg captures Jackson and Ellery’s banter, rapport, and sarcastic snarkiness well, and there’s a really nice thread of hurt/comfort here that I loved.

Note that this isn’t a romance, it’s a mystery. Dirty cops abound, there’s a lot of action…and once the story stopped trying so hard it settled into a good rhythm and flowed nicely by the end.

I enjoyed the narration, and hope Greg will be back for any sequels.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Whew! Brave author!

Any additional comments?

Not many authors will touch the political downfall of a plot like this but I have to admit, my respect goes out to authors who write predominately romance but who can give you an actual story with a negative political view point and still reach those with positive views of the story.

My only complaint was wanting a bit more of the good guys stepping up and coming to the aide but I truly am happy I'm one of the fans that appreciate and love this beautiful tale of diamonds in the rough.

This story packs an emotional punch in regards to growing up in an area that is filled with those who are deemed less worthy, how easily that area can become corrupted, the love and strength of family, and what you would do to protect and help your family.

This is a story that will either have you saying Nay or Yay! Not too much of the in between but there was enough emotional depth between characters, engaging character developmemt, action, laughs, and corrupt intrigue to this mm romance that has it at the top of my list of favorites.

Fantastic writing, brave choice of topic, and Greg Tremblay was the epitome of perfection for this tale. My God, the man could have me in tears one second and laughing the next. He has truly become one of my top 5 narrators!

7 of 8 people found this review helpful

First Timer for Amy Lane

enjoy action romance and suspense love this book will look for more can't wait for a second book

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Exciting Detective Story with a Romance

I’m gonna have to continue the theme of reviews you’ll see on Good Reads.
1) I love Amy and consider myself one of her devotees. Thus, I chose this book knowing it was a mystery, because Amy wrote it.
2) I HATE mysteries. Hate them. I don’t watch mysteries, I don’t read them, and I don’t like them. I tolerate them when my romance is intertwined with them, but only because I’m forced to.
3) This is a mystery by Amy Lane so…. It’s good. If you like mysteries you’ll like this – I’m pretty sure. There is definitely a romance and it’s cute but it’s not the main thrust of the book so I had to do a lot of skimming to find my romance thread and ignore the mystery thread.

If you like mysteries, like humor and romance in your mysteries and lots of action – this is the book for you.

If you want a pure m/m romance – this is really probably not the book for you.

(I can say that after listening to the story I do really appreciate the amazing characters that Amy created and how the subtle romance works between Jackson and Ellery and how it sets up their continuing partnership for the future. What I really missed was the absence of the ooey gooey “I Love Yous” and the focus on the relationship. Even at the end Jackson is still referring to himself as a “roommate” and Ellery is counting on it being forever – so they have work left to be done.)

4 of 5 stars

Audio

Well – Greg does it again! He was the best guy for this book! He did the variety of accents with just the right touch, he gave our Jackson a lovely, gritty, “I’m so tough” voice and Jade a sassy, “I’m the queen!” voice, Ellery is masculine, and so on and so on. Because there are so many characters, it’s great having all the distinct voices done so well. I think listening to this is the BEST way to appreciate this story. It makes the “mystery” part move along (for me that’s important) and keeps the listener engaged – fully. Highly recommended!




6 of 5 stars

Overall 5 of 5 stars for the audiobook

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Fish Out of Water

Jackson was born to a teenage, drug addict mom and had to learn to take care of himself at a young age. In elementary school, he became friends with Kaden and soon became a member of his family. Growing up in a bad neighborhood, his goal was to become a police officer, but his career was short lived when he decided to turn in his dirty partner. Once able, he began working as a private eye for a law firm. Ellery is a defense attorney in the same law firm and has had a crush on Jackson for the six years he's worked there but Jackson ignores him, even though Jackson has one night stands with every man or woman in his path. When Jackson's chosen brother Kaden is accused of killing a police officer, he demands Ellery to take the case to save him. Ellery grew up in a completely different world from Jackson and struggles to accept that there are corrupt police officers but the further Ellery and Jackson get into Kaden's case, the more Ellery has to accept that not everyone is trustworthy.

This story is narrated by Greg Tremblay and he did a fabulous job with both male and female characters! I was able to easily distinguish between the many different characters, it was well paced, and the appropriate emotions came through in the narrator's tone based on what was happening. Truly a wonderful job!

Bravo to Amy Lane for telling this story! It was a very touchy subject matter of police and political corruption and she did not shy away from the topic. There was a lot going on in this story, but there were moments that lightened up and made me actually laugh out loud. Even though Ellery was an uptight attorney, he completely knew how to work Jackson and I found their interactions to be engaging and brilliant!

I typically listen to audiobooks when I'm in my car but with this one, I couldn't do that. I found myself listening at home and at work because I had to know how the story ended. Though, Amy, if you're ever looking for some ideas, I could totally support a series that follows the cases of Ellery and Jackson. Their interactions together and the way they were able to work together would really be enjoyable to read again! This audio is one I will listen to again and I made sure to buy the book so I could also read it. The entire book is just wonderful and I can't recommend it enough!

Overall: 5 stars!
Performance: 5 stars!
Story: 5 stars!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Read and/or listen to these books!

This is no lie my favorite m/m series of all time. I’m on my third listen, that is the most I have ever re listened to a series and they still make me laugh and make my heart hurt and bring me to the edge of my seat even though I know it’s going to be ok. The characters are real people. There’s no stereotypes they are strong and vulnerable by turns they are funny and sardonic and their actions make sense and there is nothing forced about their relationship no suspension of disbelief required by the reader. The mystery is engagingly crafted and if you like mystery thriller books then this should be top of your list.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Good Narrator, Good Author, Decent Book

Would you consider the audio edition of Fish out of Water to be better than the print version?

As always, I’m a major fan of Amy Lane’s work, and Fish Out of Water was no exception. She’s a fantastic author! I knew going into this book that the romance was probably going to be pretty light. Something I have noticed from reading her other novels is that she tends to focus a lot more on plot and let the romance/relationships take a natural backseat to what’s going on. In that way, I really love her writing because she doesn’t struggle to make every word center around two people.

At first, I was NOT a fan of this narrator at all. While it was easy to differentiate between the characters and he had a good tone of voice, I wasn’t a fan of the way he pronounced certain words. But he was dynamic and kept me engaged without sounding monotone so that was a plus. He quickly grew on me and by the end of the novel, I don’t think I could’ve imagined anyone else reading it. I think he’s one of the better narrators I’ve listened to and wouldn’t hesitate to listen to another book narrated by him.

Despite not being a fan of mysteries, I decided to give this book a chance because I’m a major fan of Amy Lane’s work.

This book was rough and gritty and not completely black and white. Jackson was guarded and actually a little flighty in my opinion. He had the idea that love brought heartbreak and took every precaution that he could to make sure that he would not fall in love.

Ellery, oh god, I love that name, wasn’t given nearly as much background in this novel as Jackson was, but his love lust for Jackson was all in-your-face obvious and raging like a wildfire. What little time these two got between the sheets was on fire hot.

This book is definitely recommended. Keep in mind going in that the main focus is the mystery and not particularly the romance. I will warn, there is an erotic hetero scene in this book that sort of pops up out of nowhere and it was a little confusing. For anyone who might be wishing to avoid that, I would say proceed with caution, but I do still recommend that you read it!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A+ rating...

My Review:
Overall: 4.75
Performance: 5.0
Story: 4.75

I didn't really have high expectations for this book. Although I love Amy Lane, that cover just didn't do it for me and really messed with my perceptions of what this book would be. OMG, was I ever wrong in my pre-judgment of this book. This story was PHENOMENAL...seriously, almost perfection and the audiobook version of it was perfection. It truly took an incredible book and the audio raised it just one notch higher. Greg Tremblay...happy sigh...he is just a fantastic narrator. I love what he does with his voices.

So, this book. Ellery is a lawyer. Jackson is a PI that works for his law firm. They've worked together for years, but have basically just circled around one another. They really don't even like one another, but that's because they really have no idea what the other one is about. To Ellery, Jackson is a manwhore. Jackson thinks Ellery has a stick up his butt. They are both right and wrong. What they're missing in their perceptions is exactly why the other is like they are and as they begin to work together to get Jackson's brother cleared of killing a cop, they begin to get to know one another...and realize there is so much more.

Jackson...OMG, my heart wept for him. His story is just so tragic. And I loved how protective and alpha Ellery became about that and Jackson. OMG, Ellery started out this book as such a beta, but by the end he was kicking butt and taking names. I loved that. The two of them together were just EVERYTHING. The romance in this story is perfection...everything I love about romance. They grow to respect one another and that becomes so much more as the relationship evolves and deepens. I LOVED JACKSON AND ELLERY TOGETHER!

But there is also a mystery about what really happened in that gas station that night that is also really well done. I loved the corners they wended their way through and all the places their investigation took them.

It was just an incredible book. I HIGHLY recommend it and am so excited to read book #2. I'm just sad it's not out in audio yet. So, I'll read it first...and then listen to it when the audio comes out, too. I LOVED THIS BOOK!