Well done with a side of porn?

I really enjoyed this story. The parts that didn't include the steamy sexy stuff we're just as good as the guilty pleasure of listening to the dirty parts. Rachel was one of my favorite characters of any recent books I've listened to. Can't wait to see where the next one takes me. Tess Irondale really brings all the characters to life in a very good performance. I couldn't stop listening

54 people found this helpful

This is the definition of not safe for work

Would you listen to Good Intentions again? Why?

I would listen to it right before engaging in R-rated activities. This book is madly erotic, I mean there is barely enough story to hold the sex scenes apart.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Good Intentions?

I don't know if I can actually pick just the one, but if you twisted my arm I would pick the beginning where he met the angel and demon..**Spoiler ahead**and all the previous life flashbacks, those were great.

What does Tess Irondale bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I honestly don't know how she read the book without panting like, she was getting some action herself. The voices were unique and not overdone. I would definitely look for more stuff that she's read.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yeah I did have an extreme reaction, it's called almost not being able properly access the car's pedals while driving. That is the most uncomfortable arousal I've ever had in my life

Any additional comments?

I don't see how this isn't labelled as urban fantasy erotica

44 people found this helpful

Read the Warning Label!

This book comes with a warning. Read that warning. Everything in that warning is true and it is awesome!

Honestly this book probably should be sitting in the erotica section. There is plenty of sex going on. However, unlike most of the books in that section this actually has a good story.(sorry to that section, but I am no stranger to it) The characters have arcs and develop and grow as people. There are a couple subplots that are free from most of the overt sexuality of the rest of the book. The story is pretty typical paranormal fantasy. It has some great character work, but does stumble into cliche now and again; I don't hold that against it though. I genuinely wanted to know what happened to the character and wanted the story to move along. I never felt the sex was intrusive, but also didn't keep reading just to get to the next sex scene.

If you are an adult who isn't freaked out by sex, and it actually is pretty vanilla compared to how it could have gone, then listen and enjoy. You will probably want to use earbuds if you have kids.

Tess Irondale does a great job as a narrator. Sometime with material like this the narrator can sound uncomfortable, bored, or even a little too into it. She does a great job riding that line while giving a believable and very listenable read. I actually have problems listening to female narrators for long stretches she does an excellent job, and I binge listened to this book and never grew weary or irritated with the voice in my ear.

100 people found this helpful

Oh, Thank God!

Boy, have I been on a losing streak lately. Just one bad book after another, while I'm waiting for all my pre-orders to come in.

And then, I found this one!

OMG! There were moments when I thought, "wtf?" and others where I thought "I am NOT the target audience" -- but I hung in. THEN I got addicted! Yes, everything you are hearing about this book is true. All true, and yet, it's so G.D. charming that I just could help myself! This is an adult version of Scooby-Doo, if Scooby and the gang had sex demons, angels and vampires to deal with. (And if Scoob had lots and lots of sex!)

And yet, calling the sex scenes in this book 'porn,' is like calling Vampire Diaries a horror show. It's all just so cute and kind and sweet -- and I loved every minute of it. It's very sly and subversive and has a great point of view. It tackles some interesting ideas about good and evil, relationships, reincarnation, and cults. (The last book in the series currently available on Audible, is more than worth the price of admission -- it is nothing short of CINEMATIC! -- and I'd LOVE to see a series of movies based on it!)

The evil doers are evil and get what they deserve, but along the way you get to spend some quality time with a foul-mouthed angel, a sex demon who just wants to have a normal life, a 21 year old virgin guy who's never had a girlfriend -- until he ends up with several-- as well as all of his buddies from H.S. There is so much to love about this series, that I HIGHLY recommend it, particularly if you're looking for something engaging and fun to listen to for several days, since the books are so blissfully LONG -- as in 70 hours!

The action scenes are spectacular, and it has a great cast of secondary characters as well.

I am now a BIG Elliott Kay fan, and I've just purchased book 1 in his Poor Man's Fight (sci fi series) as well -- giving me something to do while I quietly chew my knuckles waiting for word about Book 5. (Note: Book 4 is a loose grouping of short stories that should probably be read before book one. It's great, too.)

Tess Irondale is simply spectacular reading this series. This is definitely one for the re-listen pile!


HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: For people who don't take themselves, their reading material, their religion, or the idea of polyamorous sex scenes, too seriously.

All others need not apply.

15 people found this helpful

20 hrs of "relationship talk"

This audiobook was exhausting. If I earned a new Audible credit for every time I groaned out lout and involuntarily rolled my eyes back into my head, I would have several lifetimes of free audiobooks to listen to.

Here's the thing. This book and audiobook has THOUSANDS of positive reviews, so I thought, "Hmm, this should be good."

Nope. It took about 15 hrs of listening before anything remotely interesting happened plot-wise. Up til then, it was one interminable scene after another of the MC and his women having endless discussions about whether it was right for him to be with her, whether she was okay with it, how could she even want to be with him, is she reeeealy sure she wants to be part of a harem?

UHHGGFHHHHDHHHH.

It was like enduring a nightmarishly long campfire story by a feminist relationship counselor who decided to weave an allegorical epic on how to respect women and BORE READERS TO DEATH, and then market it as a "urban harem fantasy" novel.

Now, I am seeing a grief counselor myself - to try to get over the 22 hrs and 3 mins I lost forever.

The narrator, on the other hand, should get a Nobel prize for making the most of a ridiculous book. She did a great job of creating distinct characters, female and male. Her reading of the steamy scenes showed very nice restraint as a narrator of prose, while at the same time, displaying great acting ability in portraying the passions of the characters during their love making etc.

Speaking of, the sex scenes I read so much about in the reviews? Meh.

One last thing. The author obviously did something right, judging from the avalanche of excellent reviews...BUT one thing he sucks at is giving us an idea of what the female characters look like. He excels at descriptions of some of the demon characters. But the only word he knows to describe the principle females is..."beautiful". Again and again, we hear how BEAUTIFUL the MC's women are. How BEAUTIFUL he thinks they are. How BEAUTIFUL his geeky guy friends think they are. How BEAUTIFUL they think each other are...

Meanwhile, I have no idea what they look like except one is a blonde angel, the other one, a red succubus, the other one a high school girl he had a crush on...etc etc.

By the way, the cover is a joke. For females that are supposed to be so other-worldly BEAUTIFUL, all I see on the cover is a couple of bargain basement DeviantArt fugglies. At the very least, you could have sprung for an artist that could create actually BEAUTIFUL women for the cover.

Again, I draw your attention to the thousands of positive, glowing reviews on Amazon and Audible. Clearly, I'm in the minority.

I was hoping for a sexy fantasy thrill ride lead by a cool main character that was likeable, flawed, and relatable...not a total PUSSY who can't stop calling time-outs to check in to see if his women are actually granting consent for the (yaaaaywnn) sex acts that happen a biiiiit too conveniently.

There is one long battle sequence at the end, so at least there was some action and excitement. The rest, zzzzzzzz - endless post-feminist preamble to sex/sex scene - - zzzzzzzz - endless post-feminist preamble to sex/sex scene - zzzzzzzz - endless post-feminist preamble to sex/sex scene - zzzzzzzzz.

One thing I did appreciate is that the author kept the price of this first installment low; this allows us to try the first book before getting into the rest of the series. Thanks, Mr. Kay.

And congratulations on your successful writing career. I do admire anyone that can make it work just off their hard work and creativity. I just don't get why this book is so wildly popular. I actually loved the premise but the way the characters communicate and the sanity crushing repetition of the "relationship talk" and "sexual negotiations" killed what could have been a rollicking good tale with a lot of heart.

The two stars are for the low price and the story inserts showing past life flashbacks. I enjoyed those.

7 people found this helpful

Cool story flanked by literary porn for D&D geeks

Good Intentions = FUN :)
Overall: B
Thinking of getting this book? Into contemporary fantasy? Enjoy getting into more adult magic and mayhem? Want to get vampires, werewolves, demons, and angels back OUT of the kiddy pool? I say grab this 2-book tale and go for it! The best word I can think of in summation is “FUN.” At its roots, that’s what Good Intentions (and Natural Consequences) provides. So, why the less than perfect score? In short, it got dragged down by baggage. This seemed like a REALLY good novella, with a bunch of sexual fluff/filler expanding it into a mediocre novel. This downfall was successfully rescued by: an otherwise engaging, fun, and super-cool plot; truly witty laugh-out-loud humor; interesting characters (who gain more depth in book 2); excellent narration/voice acting; and a second book that is so cool, I’d recommend sitting through far worse than this first installment just to get to 'Natural Consequences' (which gets an emphatic “A” grade from me).
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Story: C+/B–
“A great tale in the spaces between sexual fantasies[/literary porn] for D&D geeks”
- THE NOT SO GOOD: Within the book, there was really an interesting, original (as far as I know anyway), fun, engaging plot that I was really getting into. Unfortunately, it got bogged down by lots of superfluous sex that collectively started to seem like filler. At some points during that filler between the otherwise really cool story, I admittedly felt like some bad acting and poor set design would turn this into a porn…with about the same general contrived plot getting the characters into sexy situations. I wasn’t put off or offended by it at all. The writing for the sexual narrative was actually quite good (though I admittedly am lacking for comparisons). I want to clarify/reiterate that, unlike some reviewers have mentioned, I didn’t get offended by any means, but rather I actually got BORED with all the sexual encounters and started considering skipping through those because of my anticipation for getting back to the actual STORY (which was really pretty darn good). There were some other, more general, weaknesses in the writing, such as finding that many characters (with a few exceptions) from vastly different time periods and vastly different locales used basically the same colloquialisms—it was a bit silly.
- THE OH SO GOOD!: The redeeming factors were the aforementioned sharp witty humor and cool plot …once all the sexy stuff was out of the way. The basic premise automatically sets itself up for mischief, mayhem, and fun. In short, Alex is a really nice guy, but certainly never a superstar. He stumbles on a lousy situation that gets him entangled with a demon and angel, as well as the broader battle they represent. Why this odd trio forms is actually explained well (and believably). Thereafter, Alex stumbles and fumbles his way into, and out of, and into again, the treacherous traps of nefarious demonic AND angelic machinations (and their lesser earthbound groupies like vamps & werewolves). Keeping afloat, he finds salvation from one side in the other (and back again) and he finds support in both. As it turns out, there might be more to angels and demons than the one dimensional entities we learned about from theology. Reading a bit between the lines, amidst the amusing mishaps and cutting quips, there are some deeper more compelling intricacies in the story and in the characters (everybody has emotions, strengths, and vulnerabilities …even the immortal). Also, some aspects of the relationships—especially between Lorelie and Alex—reflected some deeper aspects of human interpersonal relationships, getting at some of the tides that pull underneath the glassy fluid surfaces of the selves people often present. This was better developed in the second book. The second book really has more depth on the whole—so much so that I would still give this book high recommendations just to get to the second if nothing else, and even higher recommendation since this book is still fun in-and-of itself.
- A note to the author: Being from the south, I find it necessary to point out that “y’all” is a contraction of “you all,” and therefore is NOT used in the singular. When addressing a single person, even us’n ol’ backwoodsy folk’ will still say “you.”
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Narration: A
Very VERY well done! Tess Irondale really hit the nail on the head with this one. Characters had their own distinct voices, matching their personalities/tone, without ever extending into the caricatures that some narrators/voice actors can fall into. Clear enunciation, nice pace, dynamic, and just restrained enough not to be overly dramatic. She also did a very good job with the “pornier” parts, in that she obviously didn’t shy away, clearly took effective delivery seriously, but was also not over the top.
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FYI: Natural Consequences [thankfully] focuses more on building of what I thought was a great story and less on the fantasy porn. It was really enjoyable! I was truly sad to reach the end. As with the first, the witty banter had me chuckling aloud a few times. Extending beyond the first, the characters gained more dimension, the plot gained more complexity, the chaos grew in scope, and the consequences grew in scale. :)

29 people found this helpful

Did audible just change my book to be more PC?

This is a great book and it has an incredible narrator with an extremely enjoyable story. I had previously given this a five star review but I listen to this book often and this time I noticed that someone has changed the book to be more politically correct. Towards the end of the book there is a section that has been completely changed (and not well done at that). Is this what we have come to? Rewriting sections of material in fiction that may be found offensive?

6 people found this helpful

There is such a thing as too much sex.

Would you consider the audio edition of Good Intentions to be better than the print version?

The narrator does a great job of articulating the moans and gasps in the many female characters. Not gonna lie, it was sexy. So, at least in that respect, it's better.

Have you listened to any of Tess Irondale’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, I haven't.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Some of the comments from Rachel were quite funny.

Any additional comments?

Too much sex. For the first 2/3rds of the book it's almost like there's a sex scene every 5 to 8 minutes. And when they weren't having sex Alex was moralizing about sex. There's very little plot development for the first 15 hours or so. Meet girl, have sex with girl, repeat. I appreciate a well-crafted sex scene, don't get me wrong, and the narrator's voice is dead sexy, but the amount of time spent with Alex and the numerous girls he beds was excessive. Before the last third of the book I was getting genuinely bored. I like the set-up and I'm probably going to download the sequel. I'm just crossing my fingers that the author has toned it down a bit in that one. There are some interesting characters here and I want to spend more time with them doing other things besides sex every other page.

19 people found this helpful

It's a..well...a wild ride..

Any additional comments?

Fore warning -- it's a lot of sex..so be prepared..the action however is a lot of fun, the wit is great and Rachel's mouth -- wow...her comments are to die for sometime

21 people found this helpful

adolecent male wish-fulfillment

my first thought when listening to this was that if i was a teenage male i would think this book was awesome. it has all the things in it that make light novels and harem manga so popular online, but its taken to the next level (i.e. they have sex rather than just accidental groping or vague hints).
if your a fan of that genre you'll probably love this book as it has a classic harem story line; loser guy accidentally gets bound to a woman (or two) and is surrounded by tons of hot females who suddenly find him absolutely irresistible.

i don't find anything offensive with the materials in the book but after a while i was wishing they'd finish with all the sex already and get on with the plot.

i love novels with a supernatural bent to them but its hard to find the right combination of good plot, great characters and decent dialogue; sadly this novel is not one of those. its a romance novel aimed at a male audience and i am not a big fan of the romance genre.
i doubt i'll be finishing this series.

29 people found this helpful