...just couldn't get into the repetitive dialogue. Ends in cliffhanger.

I usually love Joe Arden and Erin Mallon narrating, but this one took forever for me to get through. The dialogue was very repetitive and I wanted to scream if I had to listen to the characters mentally refer to each other as "This man, that man" or "this woman, that woman". I forced myself to finish it, only to end up with a cliffhanger. Ugggh, now I have to get the second one because I hate leaving the story unfinished.

4 people found this helpful

A bit too much cold with the hot..

I loved Gabe, he is a great character with heart and strength. The problem was the constant hot and cold of Abby. when I say constant, I actually mean this literally. In pretty much every scene with these two within the first 3 hours of this book involved, Abby tried to run and Gabe had to calm her down and reel her in. Then in the very next sentence, she is saying how much she loves being with him and everything is so great until unpleasant feeling resurface yet again and she loses her will to push through. And the cycle repeats. I understood the use of her being that way and how it shows the fear of her abusive ex, but it was just too much after a while. Along with that, they both met one day and the very next they're talking about how they desperately need to know one another's secrets. Again, I understand the whirlwind romance but Jesus, take a chill pill. It just felt like the author was trying to condense all this content into a few days of events all at once. Other than that, I enjoyed everything else. The dynamic between these two is awesome and the narration is spot on as always with these two since they're two of my favorites. Overall, this is worth the listen just be ready for some wishy-washy behavior for a while until Abby finally commits for real without threatening a break-up five minutes later.
Also, I quickly want to add that I can never understand the covers of these books, who is doing this?! The characters on both books don't match the actual characters even a little! Gabe is a blonde haired man described as a Ken doll and the guy on the cover has black hair and looks like he's from Europe. Abby is a red-haired woman yet she has black hair too. Do they color their hair and I just haven't gotten that far? Doubtful. Especially since Abby's hair is such a big feature due to Gabe's explanation of not usually going for redheads. It makes no sense to me. I just had to add that since so many romance books are like this... so weird.

1 person found this helpful

Gabe Maxwell’s story

The last of the Maxwell siblings finds his match and she is full of mystery. Gabe also turns out to be an animal lover. This is part 1 with a cliffhanger. Hopefully his sister and brother will play more of a role in the last part of his story as he has played in theirs.
Abby, the new woman in Gabe’s life is an attorney with secrets concerning her past. She’s been divorced a couple years from a violent billionaire with his own secrets. Her mother appears to be a sweet, yet intelligent vet who runs an animal shelter, though she too seems to have a hidden past, and we know next to nothing about Abby’s divorced attorney father except that he prefers calling his daughter Abigail and appears have been a bit controlling in her upbringing. Maybe he’s an attorney for the mob? This is the set up part of the book, with fast dialog, some character development for Gabe but little for Abby, a fair amount of sex but not a lot of answers. Abby is not the easiest character to like as she appears very indecisive, somewhat impulsive and weak willed, and because we don’t know her full story, we can’t really tell whether her behavior is because she is scared or manipulative. The series is a good example of romantic suspense; perfect for the former Romance Package but newly renamed Escape Package. Joe Arden does a great job as Gabe and Erin Mallon is fine as Abby but the performance would have been perfect as a duet given their less than perfect opposite sex voices. Looking forward to the next book in series

1 person found this helpful

Great story but wish this was doe in duet not dual

I am a lover of Lisa Renee Jones' books, there are always the perfect read. The characters are well developed, with the male being the perfect mixture of Alpha with tenderness. I love her females as well, the are never weak annoying damsel in distress types. and She always adds the perfect amount of suspense along with the perfect amount of hotness.

I must say I am loving this whole network or characters. Love that we are seeing a bit more of Reid and Cat and Mia and Grayson plus add in the Walker boys in the background, and I think that is why I love this series so much, it's like one great big family or TV series, each one focusing on a specific story.

I loved Gabe, he comes off as the cold alpha never going to marry or fall in love male who quickly finds himself in new territory with Abbie. He's powerful, and can be cold and calculating but with Abbie and as well Dexter we see a totally softer and much warmer Gabe. I really love Abbie's character,, she's strong and independent, with a bit of sassiness to her.. These two from the start had the spark and the chemistry was quickly off the charts. I love the dynamic the author built with this couple

I loved the storyline, once again the author has added the suspense while keeping the romance to the story. The only thing with this one, I found at times it a bit too heavy on the sex, and would have loved to see the story focus more on the story. There were many times I would have preferred to see less detail or it go black and spend more time with the story than the sex. Normally this author has the perfecdt amount of sex to story in her books but the past two books found it way to sex heavy and it really took away from the story for me and had me skimming.

Overall a really great read but warning, have book two ready as this one leaves you hanging.

I enjoyed the narrators but would have loved it more had it been duet and not dual, the female narrator drove me nuts when she did Gabes parts in a male voice

1 person found this helpful

Abbie is so undecided

I really liked the book and as someone who has never read Lisa Renee Jones’s books before, I honestly enjoyed it but didn’t like how Abbie was so indecisive and on the fence about the relationship. I liked the book enough to keep listening to the second part and will probably read and/or listen to other books in the series.

Decent story, but talk about whiplash

Is she staying or going? There are a lot of repetitive actions, but little reason given. A story we have heard over and over. What kept me listening was the delivery and performance. Not my favorite narrators, but more because of what I imagine they would look like by their voices. Not my type, lol. Still, they both have good inflections and the emotions allow you to visualize the scene as if it were a film.

the character lead Abbie is repetitive...

abbie is so hot and cold.....repetitive in her decisions to be with him. In the ending she does something we do not know about so there is a major cliff hanger. why make the second book into a whole real novel the way the series began. Also the hot steamy scenes why make them as repetative as the past books in the series. Same dialog same spanking to let go...most abuse victims won't fall that fast to submissions.....same sex language for all body parts... same rephrase. The written must be unique through books. No siblings would share exact wording and traits. It became predictable. If first book was 11 plus hours why break these up to teasers? Also agree with fellow reviewers that the damsels was way too needy the sooooooo hot the so cold to run ran through the while first book. Last 4 books had same language talking the hurt damsel into spanking bc lead convinced over and over. I am VERY tolerant of BSDM for willing women but to break them down and brain wash an abused woman that quick really ticked me off. Should be a duet narration. The male/ females portraying voices wasn't very good and lost me at times.

Nice read

Gabe is a complicated sexy man. Abbie is a sexy smart woman. They both have issues. Couldn’t wait to see where they were going. Can’t wait to read more.

Good book! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was really good. Five Stars on this one. I highly recommend this book if you are looking for a really good listen.

Part 1 - The last Maxwell falls!

I definitely enjoyed this story except for how she repeatedly she tells Gabe to forget helping her in order to protect him. It's a ludicrous thought to say you came to someone for protection and now want them to forget it to protect them, unless you are more seriously trained than them which begs the question of why did you come to them in the first place? And who listen if they perceive you're in jeopardy?
The Adoption Center was a lovely aspect of the story from a volunteer point and the minor story of her mother falling in love. It also brought a depth of character to Gabe when he adopted his dog. His swift personality change is a good book group study question of why?
The Maxwell offspring have been through many challenges but have figured out that their strength is staying together especially if one off their own is threatened.
A definite recommendation to read or listen to.