He-Van and Hell...

My first novel/audio by Aly Martinez, I have not read the first in this series,.I have to say I was completely captivated. A steamy, gut churning emotional journey that will grip you right to the end.

I found this novel while searching for M/M romance with Aiden Snow narrating. ( I first encountered his phenomenal voice in A.E. Via's "Nothing Special" audio book series).

The opening few chapters had me hating Henry's character and wanting to slap him while inwardly shouting at Evan to just walk away.... (I almost walked away from listening to the book) but I had to know what was going to happen to Evan. However as the story unfolded I began to feel a degree of sympathy and understanding for Henry, gradually becoming totally wrapped up in all the characters lives. Then the "spiral down" became a plummet that I literally felt in my emotional stomach (again I almost stopped listening).......EVAN!. The climb out of the emotional dive kept me listening to the end..... WOW. You know you have read a good story when you quite literally feel the same highs and lows of emotions expressed via the characters in your own gut.

My favourite line and one that REALLY spoke to me personally:-

"This doesn't make you gay, Evan. It just makes you mine."

The narration was top notch. I am a big fan of Aiden Snow and now I will be checking out Teddy Hamilton and Lucy Rivers too.

I hope Aly writes more M/M stories for audio a.s.a.p

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Not what I have expected

Completely different from what I have expected, but loved it anyway. Especially since I choose it due to having 2 of my favourite narrators rather than an author. But I wasn't disappointed at all.
Loved that book explores bisexual theme, especially since I haven't read many books about it.
Loved that it was still a romance with enough sex in it, that actually felt more real than some other MM books I have read. In a way I feel that I wanted a bit more of sex in there.
One thing I did enjoy a lot: it wasn't wham bam and here goes love in few days time. I enjoyed that story was spread over few month and it made it much more realistic.
And I read and listened to it at the same time. So highly recommend both book version and scorching hot audiobook.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

The poor reader!

The reader does such a good job with such meager material. This is the skill of writing exhibited at its most basic level.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Crashed and Burned

Lumbering predictable nonsense, weighed down by one good narrator and one not so good. The story is disjointed and awkward, causing me to keep stopping, doing something else then returning to try to finish. There was nothing to grip you or make you want to keep on going. I did not like the rock star character at all, and felt the pilot needed bitch-slapping to put some sense into him.

The premise is good, the blurb was good, enjoyed both narrators before, but first and probably last time with this author. Perhaps I'm spoiled as I recently had Top Secret by Sarina Bowen and Ella Kennedy, which is possibly one of the best Audible books ever, read by Christian Fox and Teddy Hamilton, which I listened to in one sitting; it was 9 hours long and I chortled all the way through.

I did not enjoy this book and stopped with 1hr and 24 mins to go. It would've been a waste of a day if I wasn't on lockdown and had to be indoors.

DISAPPOINTING

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

Loathsome Characters

Only happy news is they take each other's hot mess out of the dating pool. This book doesn't know if it wants to be a comedy, a mystery, a searing indictment on the foster care system, the struggles of accepting/finding one's sexual identity or a touching family drama. Ultimately, it hits on too many issues and succeeds at none. As always, both Teddy Hamilton and Aiden Snow are excellent and highly respected performers, but no one can save this from being a muddled and confused story.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful