Decent

Since this consists of two books and two different narrators, this isn't an easy review to write. These books are not big on action or angst, so they're great for someone who wants fluffy romance. It's well-written on a technical standpoint, but I felt let down by how easily the issues were resolved. Despite personal tastes in novels, I wish life could be that easy.

In the first book, I thought there should have been more conflict with the parents and Jacob's aunt. I enjoyed it up until they the aunt came into the picture, and then it was just too easy. On the other hand, some people really prefer that.

The production quality was good, but it took me a long time to adapt to Jason P. Hilton, because his voice is deep and husky. I know a lot of people will love that, but it doesn't fit the characters on the cover. There were times when I couldn't tell who was talking.

In the second book, I liked the opening. It held my attention right up until the big secret is revealed... and then it was too easy again. Just like in the first book, Aria Grace introduces characters in this one who can take the story to the next level (like Jessica) and then it just doesn't happen.

I really enjoyed Michael Ferraiuolo's performance. I felt like his voice fit the characters, I could tell the characters apart, and the pacing was good.

Overall, it wasn't bad at all. In fact, it is very different from most books, because there is very little conflict. I recommend this to people who want a short, angst-free romance. The chemistry was well-done and plenty believable.

I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

3 people found this helpful

as good as the ebook

The story is always 4 or 5 stars, because if I wouldn't like the story as ebook, I wouldn't listen to the audiobook.

The performance from the narrator is also very important for me. I can't listen to a lot, because my English as a non-native-speaker isn't so perfect to follow a whole story over hours, when the narrator speaks too fast or too sloppy. Normally I have to SEE the person, who is talking to me in English. It took me a little bit, to come into the narrator, but at the end, it worked. I only have to take a few breaks between. I'm just not yet finish with the book, but I listen enough to give a review.

PLEASE READ MY RATING SYSTEM!!!

To my ratings:

5* - very very good
it's like an A+

4* - very good and will be often re-listening
it's like an A

3* - it's more then a one-time-listening.
it's like a B

Two Great Stories!

Book 1

This is my favorite of the series. I really think Shane and Alex work beautifully together, I love the way they meet and their relationship grows so perfectly - it's very well done. The story behind the baby is creative and unique, and the sex is Aria Grace hot as always! Bravo.

Also, I did the audio edition and this narrator (Jason P. Hilton) was new to me but I really liked him. He has a nice, deep voice and did a great job distinguishing the characters. I'll definitely look for more by him.

Book 2

That is definitely one of the most attention grabbing opening scenes I've read in a long while. The whole way through the story I kept wondering how Jamie was going to overcome that!

As with all the stories in this series, the story is very creative. I like the connection Reed makes with Jamie and I was rooting for them the whole way through.

I did the audio version of this one and Michael Ferraiuolo's beautiful narration was perfect for this one.

Great Story!!!

Loved It!!!! I love when Shane tells his mom he is gay, and stands up to his parents that he will raise his son not them. <3

Dark Secrets Don't Quite Deliver Any Excitement

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom dot com.

This audiobook has two books that are set in the same world and have characters that crossover between the books, both books also feature dual narrators that trade off between chapters, both books also involve one character having an incident in their past that derails their current romances. I'll talk about the books separately below, but in general the plot contrivance that keeps the leads apart is fairly silly in both cases and my interest in resolving those issues was almost nonexistant. Because of the dual narrators I never felt much suspense because we were always told why something was happening even when the other characters had to spend a couple of chapters outside the loop. Both stories are of naive sweetness and love

Book 1 When it's Right
story: 2 stars
performance: 2 stars
This book is by far the weaker of the two primarily because the main characters Alex and Shane are fairly bland. This is the story of a young vet tech, Shane, who falls for the slightly older and settled Alex. The first part of the book is about first-time love and the worry that the other person doesn't feel what you do. However, any sort of excitement is really hurt by the fact that the listener knows exactly what both characters are feeling at all times, and in some cases we get the same parts of the story told twice from both characters. There's not a lot of romantic tension or drama that comes through and it often times feels like Alex is lecturing to Shane about what it means to be gay. The big plot twist that takes up the second half doesn't do much for the characters as everything wraps up too neatly.

The other issue is that the narrator for this story does little to differentiate the characters and there are some audio issues with popping Ps and slight static that distract.

Book 2 When I'm weak
Story: 3 stars
Performance: 5 stars
This book benefits from a couple of surprising and discomforting events that happen early pushing the character of Jamie to do some revealing things. This is the story of Jamie, a flirty waiter at the local gay bar and Reed who has established his professional life and is now looking to build his personal life. Jamie is a traumatized character, but he is a lot more interesting because of it, and other people's perceptions of him are often at odds with who he truly is. Reed, like the characters from Book 1 is a little undercooked, but having him react to Jamie gives him some genuine revealing emotions and actions. The plot annoyance keeping the two characters apart once again feels contrived, but at least this time the characters felt as if there was a chance that everything won't work out alright.

Michael Ferraiuolo does great job narrating this book and really differentiates each character (and there are many more than book 1). The performance here definitely gives a lift to the story.

One last note about sexiness: The sex scenes were okay in both books, although to me they were more sensual than sexy. The sex didn't really say anything about the characters and the situations themselves were basic enough that they almost felt perfunctory instead of injecting some much needed action.

Convoluted plot devices make for a hard listen

Is there anything you would change about this book?

More research about major plot points. An 18 year old can't gamble in Las Vegas.. it's illegal and there is no way it would happen.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I didn't find much interesting about either story. The whole drama in the first book was boring and cliche

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The first narrator was not good. He had no distinction between voices and it took a book I was already not loving and made it worse.

Was Mile High Romance Box Set worth the listening time?

Not at all. I was provided an ARC for this and finished it to fulfill my commitment. If I had not I would have returned this for a refund.

Any additional comments?

*** This book was provided as an ARC for a fair and honest review***

2.5 stars

This is a two box audio compilation of the first books in [author:Aria Grace|6566097]'s Mile High Romance Series. There are two different narrators for each book so I will address both books in this review.

2 stars

The first is When it's Right narrated by Jason P Hilton in a story about Shane a vet technician and Alex one of the clients at his aunt's practice. This book alternates each chapter between the two MC's so you see some of the same things but from different perspective and if this information had not been provided I would have been unable to tell who was talking at any given time due to the fact that the narrator did not differentiate between the two characters at all. It made this a very hard listen and this was compounded by a plot with a convoluted plot twist and severe lack of communication between everyone in the book. This book was a miss for me

3 stars

Next was When I'm weak and it was narrated by Michael Ferraiuolo and thank goodness he voiced each character at least a little different which made this an easier listen but this book as well had convoluted plot details to make issues for the MC's Jamie and Reed. Okay so the whole conflict is that Jamie at the age of 18 was in a casino and had a sexual interaction with someone who ended up being 15. For some reason this gets him on the sex offender registry so of course he doesn't tell anyone and lets himself be treated like trash by customers at his work who sexually assaults him in an alley. Look I grew up in Vegas and this would NEVER happen (the casino thing not the assault) Casinos have security guards and cameras and do not allow minors anywhere near slot machines and there is no way an 18 year old would have won money on one. I did like the MC's more in this one and the narrator was better but the lack of basic fact checking into a major plot device just made this a hard read.