Taking the Heat

Knitting Club, Book 3

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Taking the Heat

By: Austin Bates

Narrated by: Price Johnson

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About this listen

I’m no outdoorsman, but I’m willing to cuddle with one for warmth.

Jones and I have been hooking up on and off for years, and I know it will never be anything more. He’s my brother’s best friend, and my brother’s head would explode if he found out about us.

But when I need some guidance on the topic of my next book, he’s just the guy to help. He’ll take me into the woods for a few days, show me the ropes, and keep me from getting myself killed. It’s all perfect...until I unexpectedly go into heat.

We’re miles from home and all alone, and there’s no one I’ve ever wanted more than Jones, even though I know I could never be good enough for him. Bonding, now, means more than our hookups ever did. Are we ready to take that step? Or, are we going to let our fear of disapproval stand in the way of our best chance at love?

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

Action & Adventure

Contemporary

Contemporary Romance

Romance

Adventure

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Taking the Heat is the first Kitting Club book I’ve had the opportunity to read or listen to so far. I wasn’t sure how knitting was going to play into this story, but I was drawn in by the blurb. Well, that and I enjoy a lot of Austin Bates’ other work. He’s a great author with a knack for writing mpreg novels with interesting plots. So, as you can imagine, I jumped right into the book without hesitation.

The first thing I want to talk about regarding this book is the narrator, Price Johnson. He did a great job of bringing the characters and story to life. I found his voice incredibly soothing while listening along. My only complaint is that he reads faster than I like. I tend to enjoy books at a slower pace so I can lose myself in the story. This is an easy fix though. While listening on my Audible app I turned the speed down to .90 and it was a lot better. The narration is just slow enough not to feel rushed while not making the voice sound silly. Other than that, I liked Mr. Johnson’s narrative.

Now, onto the characters and plot.

Jones is, by far, my favorite character in the entire book. I’m not sure what it is about him that I like so much, but he stole my heart immediately. Maybe it’s the fact he has all of that sexy outdoorsman knowledge? Or perhaps it’s that he has a solid, steady presence that makes him come across as a true alpha male? It could be both? All I know is that I love him so much. He’s not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. But, that’s how I like my characters! So, Jones won me over without much effort.

Then we have Charlie. It might sound awful, but I could honestly take him or leave him. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not a bad character. There’s actually a lot about him that I enjoyed. Charlie is an art teacher who works as an author on the side. He also has a great sense of humor. I immaturely giggled when he said:

[I had to figure it out somehow, or break my contract, say goodbye to my literary career, and resign myself to a life of only teaching art and pretending not to notice when hormonal high schoolers snuck abstract cocks into the backgrounds of their projects.]

His way of thinking and speaking when he’s being funny or sarcastic is probably the thing I like most about Charlie. Other than that, I just wasn’t in love with him. I did feel for him and his medical problem. As someone who experiences awful cycles, I can say I sympathized with his pain even though I don’t suffer quite as badly. Another thing I liked was the fact that he didn’t shy away from any of the outdoorsy stuff. From the freezing river to doing his business in the woods, and then the snake in their tent, Charlie didn’t shy away from anything.

Speaking of the snake! I must be the world’s biggest pervert because I honestly thought the following quote was about Jones having a boner. Hahaha!

[“There’s something in the tent. I think it’s a snake. Please do something.”

“Huh? Where is it? I don’t see anything.” I wouldn’t, though. When I blinked the sleep from my eyes, all I could see was him.

“It’s in between our sleeping bags.”

I slowly lowered my chin to see if I could get a visual on the situation. My breath had stopped, my pulse was suddenly racing, and as wide awake as I would be if I had just downed a double espresso.]

I swear to any god/goddess out there, I thought he was going to say he saw his morning wood. It was disappointing that there really was a snake in the tent, but it was hot hearing how Jones went all ‘Man vs Wild’ on it.

The back story between Jones and Charlie had me rooting for them from the start. Jones is the best friend of Charlie’s older brother JP. So, they’ve got a long history of being in each other’s lives. I liked the snippets of past events that showed how their relationship changed into something more. They struck up a causal relationship, though not really boyfriends, and enjoyed each other occasionally. Charlie always wanted more from Jones than he though Jones in return. But really, Jones was losing his heart to the younger brother of his best friend. When things go pear-shaped between them it was devastating to hear.

I loved how these two shared the experience of camping for a few days. Things change between them, confessions are made, and a sudden heat changes things forever. When they come out on the other side of the trek, to meet JP, their lives are intertwined for good. JP was an overbearing douche-nozzle toward Jones when he saw how sick Charlie was from his heat. It hurt my heart that Jones was treated that way by his friend and Jones just took it like it was all his fault.

At the end of this book, my heart was a mushy, happy mess. Jones and Charlie get their happy ever after, JP lightens up a little with his overprotective brotherly bullcrap, and Charlie’s medical condition isn’t there to torment him thanks to Jones. I loved how this book ended!

If you’re a fan of Austin Bates’ mpreg books, I’d say you should give this a read for sure. It was sweet, a little angst from time to time, and ended in a lovely way. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!