DaVinciKittie

ROMANCE lovers beware (Light HFN at best)

Reviewed: 08-30-23

This is a romance in the same way The Proposal movie is (and most Hollywood rom coms are). The entire story is spent on leading up to the characters starting their actual romance. if that's what you're looking for, it's great.

I adored the male narrator (will definitely be looking for more from him) and generally liked the female narrator. I think it was the heroine, more than the narrator, that I struggled with. She was over-the-top peppy and naive in some ways. Way too much sunshine for me.

I disliked the soundtrack that was added to the background. While I did eventually get used to it, the book is clearly written for audio format and is extremely dialogue heavy, which means as a "reader" (listener, in this case) we lose a lot of the story and character nuances from lack of worldbuiding and characterization prose in the author's voice. It felt shallow, like listening to someone else's phone conversation without getting that necessary peek inside their heads that romance books are usually so good at delivering.

That's ultimately why it didn't work for me. If you are a fan of traditional romantic comedies in the romance book genre (like what Avery Flynn writes), where we get to see the entire relationship from start to HEA, this isn't that. And that's fine! The movie-style romcom is fun too. Just know what you're getting into when you invest in this book, because if you're a romance fan, you'll feel left hanging.

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Excellent narration, beautiful story

Reviewed: 12-26-22

I liked both stories in this series, and I like that their not carbon copies. I especially enjoyed the dual narration of this one. This was my first time listening to Benjamin (? - Darren's narrator), and wow, I want more. So on point. This book is absolutely worth a credit.

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Super angsty, cruel parents and a mean-girl ex

Reviewed: 11-29-22

i finished this book because of the narrators, but the story itself was frustratingly angsty. One of the main characters has a sudden about-face, and both leads have unnecessarily cruel parents. It just felt designed to evoke anger, frustration, and other negative emotions. I like this author and thought I'd love the story but it was just ugh.

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Love love this book!!

Reviewed: 10-23-22

This book was everything I wanted from this last story in the Madigan Mountain series, and it wrapped it all up perfectly. Will definitely be reading more of this author. The narration is *chef's kiss*!

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So so good. Everything I wanted and more!

Reviewed: 04-29-22

I have wanted to read Bones's perspective of this story for years. I'm so glad Ms Frost made it happen. I could devour this entire series retold in his voice (even though I doubt it will be). The narrator was also STELLAR. Definitely not the last book I'll listen to by him. A must read whether you are already a Night Huntress fan or someone new to this author and looking for a good urban fantasy romance to sink your teeth into.

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Excellent narration, decent story

Reviewed: 03-14-22

I really liked the start of this book, and Michael Dean did an excellent job, as always. I loved the humor and the big family feel. But there were a few things that bugged me enough to write this review. It's angsty. Ben's reasoning for continuing to reject Aidan was thin, and the drama felt a little drawn out in that respect. There are a LOT of flashbacks. So many that I lost track of what happened to who and when. It was disorienting to be pulled back and forth through time so often. I also felt the inciting incident that gets Ben in Aiden's space was unbelievable. Who kicks out their live-in partner with no conversation, no notice, and no apology, and the other person just rolls with it?

Anyway, all that sounds like I disliked the book, but it was pretty good. It has some lovely moments and I legit LOLd a few times. I'll definitely look at the other books in this series, so I'm down for more. I just hope the others tell the story in a more straightforward way. Decent m/m with excellent narration.

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Frustrating narration balance and mysogyny

Reviewed: 03-05-22

I saw that Sebastian York was one of the narrators, which was a major draw for me. But he didn't narrate until chapter 5 or 6. This book is dominated by the female character, and I prefer balanced alternating narration. York gets to narrate maybe 35% total. Also, the hero and most of the male secondary characters treat women like playthings or lesser human beings. the heroine struggles with this in nearly every scene. That's not sexy or entertaining and by chapter 8 I was anxious and frustrated. Not the way I prefer my romance, no matter how hot the sex scenes are. DNF for me.

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An exciting start to the Chosen One series

Reviewed: 01-05-22

I started with the Chosen One series, and this story filled in a lot of the background that the next books assume the reader should already know. While this book does sort of drop you into the story world, and there are a lot of characters introduced, it's worth reading if you want to start Sawyer's story or even the Hellhound series.

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Pure fan service, exactly what I wanted

Reviewed: 12-10-21

This story is for readers who have already experienced at least a few of the other complete series that are featured here. I recommend reading at least Logan/Tate, Ace/Dylan, Confessions, and Halo/Viper series, or a lot of this content won't make sense. This shortie has no sex and centers around one holiday event that loosely brings together all the characters in this story universe. The male narrator is different than the original for some but I was fine with that. The concert energy is excellent and the characters are true to themselves. This is a fun holiday escape for fans of the previous series.

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1 person found this helpful

Unexpectedly amazing (and I expected a lot)

Reviewed: 01-11-21

I've been a fan of Sarina Bowen since Him, but I had been avoiding listening to this book for a while. I've been on a m/m kick lately and just wasn't interested in a m/f romance. But Overnight Sensation was exactly what I needed. This is what an excellent romance looks (and sounds) like. Stellar narration, beautiful story structure and character development, and a modern approach to feminism and wealth culture. I expected to just sort of put up with Heidi, from her appearances in earlier books, but she's become one of my favorite book heroines of all time. Castro is also nicely penned. If you're on the fence about this one, don't hesitate to spend that credit!

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