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mainebookworm

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really enjoyed!

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 04-19-23

A new author and new narrator to me and I enjoyed both immensely! This story was very engaging. The main characters both developed realistically, in my opinion. And although they both were immediately attracted to each other, this wasn't an instant lust story but rather one that was allowed to proceed more like "real life". Since about half through my listen of this book, I've purchased the rest of the series and another of the author's series on audio.

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good story

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 04-07-23

first time with this author and narrator. although the story was interesting, it felt somewhat stilted but it did have a happy ending which is necessary for a good romance.

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wonderful story

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 04-02-23

although quite stressful in the beginning, there were super funny scenes as the club situation was solved and Noah and his friend interacted as their middles - I laughed out loud. And the Noah and Sawyer scenes were both joyful and hot! as always, John Solo gave a performance that was top notch and helped my enjoyment.

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intense but fulfilling

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 04-02-23

I wasn't sure about this story due to the subject matter but Ms. Knight is a favorite author of mine. I'm really glad I took a chance as the story was captivating and the ending was satisfying as well as being the required romance's HEA. And the narration from John Solo was amazing; I always knew who was speaking and their emotions were believable.

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Excellent Beginning to New Series - Great Story!

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 04-11-21

This tale by KC Wells is as much about the daily lives of Finn and Joel and where they live as it is about the hot, sexy times they have together when they eventually get past their anxiety. And that is what made it special for me. You see, I really like to understand the characters and their reactions as well as experience their love-making. Plus, I have a special love for the State of Maine, especially the southern part, and that is where they are, so memories of my times there were coming back to me while listening.

So the series will be about a group of friends who met in High School / College and befriended / protected each other during those younger times. They're now in their mid-twenties and some are wanting to fall in love and settle down but some want to continue having fun. This first book is about Finn, a carpenter, who is working on the construction of a 2-story hotel along the Maine Coast who sees an intriguing man walking his happy, bouncy dog along the beach near their construction site. He becomes interested in the man, who appears 10-15 years older, without actually meeting him. And when they do finally meet because the man, Joel, calls him to do some repairs at the cottage he is renting, the infatuation becomes duplicated.

This was a slow heat, but definitely high heat while being slow, love match. There are lots of descriptions of single acts with fantasies each man envisions with the two of them before they're even officially acquainted. These are followed by fantasies as they slowly work together on getting to know each other as client / carpenter. And then eventually they progress to seeing each other as lovers and all bets are off!

We get introduced to some of the upcoming characters and their personalities as well as the backgrounds and families of Finn and Joel and the rambunctious antics of Bramble, Joel's adorable dog! Do yourself a favor and get this audio so you can experience KC Well's loving story and John Solo's incredible narration of it - I couldn't put down my headset!

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a slow burn romance with a definite HEA ending

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 08-12-19

Andrew Greg has a distinct ability to write stories about men who are going through some of the most challenging times of their lives and manage to either fall in love or admit to themselves and the world around them that they have fallen in love during those times. This tale is of two men who have been attracted to each other for a few years but due to factors that they see as important but others do not, haven't taken a chance to get together to see if they could manage a relationship.

They have a slight age difference (22 - 33) and the older is the manager of an auto shop with the younger being one of the mechanics who was hired previous to the manager being hired and they have let those two factors keep them apart. Then the younger man is hurt in a hit-and-run automobile accident and left injured with the older man asking himself why he didn't take his chance before it all happened. The ensuing struggles of both the recovery of the younger man, Scott, and the relationship between Scott and Brent take some very enthralling pathways along the way to their 'happily ever after'. The other situation that is part of the story is the resolution of the hit-and-run detective work which totally surprised me!

The narrator's performance was superb! His voices for each character were spot on with the emotional feelings that I had associated with that man. He also did a good job with the women's voices and the secondary characters, including reviving the main characters from book 1, Heart Unseen with the same voices he used then. These books were my first experience with Mr. Trembley and I was definitely impressed! I will continue to look for books with his narration!

If you are interested in a story which will hold your interest all the way through (no long word paragraphs here...), I recommend you give Andrew Grey and Greg Trembley a visit with either Heart Unseen or Heart Unheard - they are both worth it! Now I'm going on to listen to Heart Untouched, so expect I will be back with another positive review soon...

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a beautiful story with a twist

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 08-03-19

It's been a while since I read an Andrew Grey book and this one was incredible! When I was first starting to read MM romance, I read all of Andrew's books that were out and have continued to purchase them but I have to admit his recent titles have languished on my TBR list. I was seduced by other tropes that I thought were flashier or sexier or had something more exciting. Well, I was wrong! Andrew Grey writes stories that have just as many feels as those that claim that they'll make you cry and laugh and feel - because that is exactly what happened to me when I listened to this tale as narrated by Greg Tremblay. At the epilogue, I sat here with copious tears falling down my face and they were both happy because Trevor was acknowledging his love of James and sad because he was getting his closure of the previous trauma (no spoiler here).

I am feeling truly satisfied with the storyline and with the narration! Greg Tremblay's portrayal of James was superb! I could hear his resilience and determination in every syllable along with his gentleness. And Trevor had just the right blend of bravado and 'am I ok' when he was talking with James! Many of the other secondary characters also stood out for me - Marti, Zach and Martha to name a few - were especially great!

I'm looking forward to listening to the rest of the series! I remember reading the "Senses" series and how they hit me emotionally and I'm guessing these will be doing the same if the first one is any indication. Thank you Andrew and Greg!

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Absolutely Transformational for Main Characters

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 03-16-19

I am a devotee of the writing of KC Wells and truly believe that this is one of her greatest stories. I physically read the book a number of years ago and having recently started purchasing audiobooks, this was one of the first titles I purchased. If you are curious, as I was, there is a difference, between listening to the story and reading the story. In reading, your mind uses the author's words to conjure the characters and situations in with they find themselves. However, in listening, the narrator has used those same words to conjure those same situations and characters and uses their voice, both accent and inflection, to help you in your own conjecture. Your own mind pictures, at least in my case, will usually be more colorful and vital when listening.

The two main characters, Thomas, a 50ish, settled, dominant and business partner in a distinguished gay BDSM club in Manchester, England and Peter, a 26-year-old young man who longed to be a submissive but had ended up being an abused, beaten sex slave of a man who called himself a Master but was really a sadistic criminal, find themselves living in the same house after Peter is rescued from his former circumstances and taken to Thomas to save him from the clutches from his former 'Master'. Thomas takes on the task of caring for Peter and helping him to recover from the torture, both physical and psychological, that Peter has lived through the last years. Thomas believes he will perform this task as a dispassionate, although compassionate, man and when Peter has become a healthy version of himself, Thomas will vet other Dominants to see who would be an appropriate one to whom Peter could attach. Of course, as with most romances, even BDSM and erotic, plans do not always go as planned and different ones end up being written.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the developing tale of Peter and Thomas and know that we will be hearing more from them throughout the rest of the series. I enjoyed Nick Russo's use of voices to distinguish between the different characters in this book, as he did in book 1, An Unlocked Heart, and he carried over the voices of those main characters to this book appropriately. Peter and Thomas have a ways to go for their pinnacle and they have the full support of those around them to go the full route!

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I Was Able to Lose Myself In Story While Listening

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 03-10-19

Although I had read this entire series a few years ago, I was interested to see if there was a difference when listening to the audible version - not in the words, of course, but in my reactions to the words. I am a very new audible user, having only listened to one other fiction title, so my review of the narrator is not sophisticated like some here in the list of reviews, however, I felt he did a wonderful job. He had a different voice and persona for each character in the story and that was quite complicated. I do have to agree with some others that the lack of a British accent, at least here and there, was disappointing, but because I didn't change their voices to British accents in my head when originally reading, after the initial disappointment, it was fine because it meant it was easier for me, as an American, to not have to listen as carefully as I would have had to listen if he had used too distinctive an accent. As I have some hearing difficulties, this was comforting to not to have to strain to understand accents.

Now as to the story when listening as opposed to reading - I LOVED IT!!! As I indicated earlier, it was a few years ago that I had read the series and there were obviously quite a few scenes that had dropped out of my memory and therefore, although I certainly remembered the overall story, many of the details were no longer in my memory banks so lots were "new" to me. That in itself was a surprise! But, then to have Mr. Russo add his inflection and interpretation to the words for what was actually happening, it increased my enjoyment of Ms. Wells writing. I loved the books when I originally read them and Mr. Russo's narration allowed me to love them again when using a different sense to absorb them. I am continuing with the series, of course, so will see if the rest can live up to the first one!

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1 person found this helpful

Superb narration of a superb story

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 02-07-19

I had read these books when they were first released and was really lucky to win an audio copy of any of Kenneth Obi's audios. As I remembered these books (Silent Strength and Quiet Strength) being really interesting, I selected this choice and settled in to listen to my first audio book since I used to take cassettes out of the library back in the late 1970's when I was a traveling sales rep! Well, let me tell you - this was a totally different - and fantastically wonderful - experience!!! I was absorbed into the story from the first moment, both from the author's words AND from the incredible vocal talents of Mr. Obi's narration. He has created a different voice/inflection for each main and major secondary character in the storyline so I was able to keep up with who was talking even if I had to stop my listening in the midst of a chapter. For those who are not familiar with these stories, the chapters are focused from each main character's viewpoint and they are labeled at the beginning of each chapter. They usually switch back and forth but not always; it depends upon how the story is proceeding. A few times I tried listening while I was driving and actually had to remind myself to pay attention to my driving as I became more invested in my listening than I expected I would - oops. FYI, Ms. Innes' publications are an auto-buy on my book list and I think that Mr. Obi's will become so also on my audio list when I set one up in the very near future.

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2 people found this helpful