Chevi E.

Cringe worthy performance & lackluster story!

Revisado: 04-15-20

I'm not sure where to begin... First off, this is my first book by Lauren Landish and I have heard great things about her more recent works, so I thought this would be a great book. I'm not sure I would go that far though. It isn't "bad," don't get me wrong, I am sure plenty of people will enjoy it, and maybe reading it instead of listening to it will be less torturous. I'm not sure what it is about this story that I just couldn't stand. I didn't really like the characters, at all. The hero was always griping to himself about reporters and the video of his d*ck, and people misjudging him, yada yada, and I get it, I mean I really do, but that is like allllll he did. There wasn't any REAL development of him outside of him deciding he liked the small town. We don't even get a backstory on him really. There is just no substance to his character. The heroine was okay but she was one of those females that immediately goes to the worst case scenario in every single thing and just makes drama and whines about it. She, on multiple times, took notes or actions from the hero COMPLETELY wrong and for no good reason. She also sees his costar give him a hug and peck on the cheek and instantly assumes he is sleeping with her and goes off in a huff to find her friend to complain about it and basically gives inaccurate details to her bestie. It was TOTALLY unnecessary and it wasn't even the climax! (And honestly, if he was sleeping with his costar, why on earth would he have been sleeping with the heroine??) She whined a lot, stereotyped people, and kept throwing the hero's "reputation" in his face when she took things wrong, even when she knew he didn't like how people judged him without knowing him. And what little bit of her background we get doesn't really make sense. The side characters were even worse though, especially her bestie...maybe it's just me or maybe it was amplified by the narrator, but her behavior and way of talking just irked the ever loving hell out of me. I don't know people that act that overly dramatic! Sure, she was a supportive bestie so that's a good quality, but I couldn't stand her. She was beyond annoying and her attempts at jokes were horrendous. I hate disliking a story, but there was just something about this one. They were "soul mates" and in love by the end of the first week, (yes, I have done stories where the love happens within 24 hours, but there is at least attention to the actual character of the characters). Gavin was obsessed with her, though I never really understood why. The guy had a 10 second interaction with Brianna when she walked in on him post-shower, and that was it, I mean she didn't even really say anything before she ran off. But that was all he needed apparently. She was obsessed with Gavin's huge d*ck despite her frequent mentioning of how she isn't a one-night stand girl. But seriously, all she thought about was his d*ck, and all she wanted when she saw him, was his d*ck. I get the story is called Anaconda, obviously the name he got because of his package size, but I can't believe these two characters developed anything other than lust with their obsession over his size and getting in her pants. And don't get me wrong, I love some awesome smut in my books, sometimes I want a book that is just smut, but the sexy times in this book for some reason rubbed me wrong. It may have been amplified by the narrators, I'm not sure. But either way, they were basic sex scenes and lackluster. You'd think a guy with his reputation and his size, especially with how much of that was the sole focus, there would have been some awesome skillset he possessed in the bedroom that made him stand out more from any other hero, but nope. I actually didn't even remember the first sex scene the second it was over, outside of his "grand finale" and come on, what guy ACTUALLY does that kind of crap the very first time sleeping with a chick?! She may not have been down with that at all dude. Other times when they were getting things on, I nearly gagged over it, especially over some of their dialogue they said out loud, like yikes people wtf...again, might not necessarily be the writing (minus some of the spoken dialogue), but I can't be sure. I cringed every time a sex scene came up simply because it was so typical and there wasn't even chemistry between them. Narration...okay, I haven't heard of either of these narrators so this was my first book by them. The female kind of sounded like Nina Dobrev from the TV show The Vampire Diaries, but not quite. Both narrators did alright, as in they really put in the energy and effort for this book, which is why I gave them 3 stars because they DID put in the effort. HOWEVER, that is also exactly why I couldn't stand either of them. The female wasn't too bad, but was reallllly bad when she did side characters especially her bestie or the mom, and I couldn't stand hearing it. The guy, well I'm not sure if that is his actual voice or if he was putting in some voice-acting, but it bugged the hell out of me. He kind of sounded like he was trying to make himself sound more manly...if that makes sense. Some people might like the narrators, and maybe they do fine work, but I just personally hated listening to them, so much so that I had to pep talk myself several times to finish the book even after the first 2 minutes. I even took a break and listened to another book for 9.5 hours before forcing myself to just yank this bandaid off. The narrators REALLY got into the characters, especially the guy and especially during the sex scenes, and maybe that is why the sex scenes were so awful for me. I give him (and her) kudos for being so into it and giving the characters life, but I also just felt like I was watching some really bad "skin-amax", you know, the wannabe p*rn. There was a lot of groaning and moaning and alterations in his voice the deeper the character thrusted into her...it was unsettling. Maybe it would have been less unsettling if I had cared for the guy's voice to begin with? I'd gone from listening to a romance with some moderately graphic sex scenes being voiced in a sexy fashion by a guy, to feeling like I was eavesdropping on some strangers having sex that didn't know they were developing an audience. I feel bad for not enjoying their voices and effort, but they were definitely people I didn't "get used to" or "end up liking in the end"; I disliked them and cringed the whole way through this damn book. So, between the characters, the writing, the story, and the performance of the narrators...I struggled giving it much of anything in the star category, but I couldn't be that mean. After all, for all I know this could have been something early on in all of their careers and they have improved? Hopefully? I know some reviews for this book on Goodreads have people saying they won't try anything else by this author, but I have heard so many good things about her latest works, so I'm not going to completely write her off yet. She put in some solid effort with this book, but it just didn't do it for me. (Again, maybe that had a whole lot to do with the narration...?)

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An excellent finale to this duet!

Revisado: 04-07-20

This is the final book to the duet and I was just as pleased with this one as I was the first one. The story is well-developed and deals a lot with their emotions and curve balls thrown their way. I like that the characters evolved from the people they were in the beginning of everything, and how they make their lives better. I did dislike the heroine's method for the climax, but I saw that coming, and of course it all works out. I love that it isn't drawn out for months and years with neither of them willing to realize what they truly wanted. The final scene though...lol not sure how I feel about that even though it was entertaining. The narrators did another great job. Jacob Morgan felt a bit odd to me in the first book but I liked him more by time this book was done. Elena Wolfe also continued doing a fabulous job. I will probably look for more books narrated by these two.

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Sweet but tame...

Revisado: 04-07-20

I was excited when I realized that this story focuses on the hot single dad that was interested in Harper in Mister O, so I was definitely thrilled to see how things panned out for him. I love Lauren Blakely's style, and her sexy scenes are definitely amazing. This book felt different though. It had a similar style but it was less intense feeling, and I felt there really wasn't a climax at all to the story. It was very mellow. Which I don't mind from time to time. But I still enjoyed it, just not one of my favorites from her. The narrators were amazing. I give Sebastian York praise constantly, so I am always interested in a book he is narrating. He didn't disappoint! Andi Arndt is also amazing, and I really love these two narrators together. I've listened to a few things from Andi and she is probably one of my favorite female narrators!

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Super sexy, frustrating, deep, and so much more!

Revisado: 04-01-20

First off, this book is part of a duet and concludes in the second book. I am mentioning this right away because this was something I did not know, so when suddenly it said "end of book one" I was like WTF?! It is mentioned, at least on Amazon or for the kindle version, that it is a duet, but I have issues with obtaining the full details about an audiobook from Audible apps, especially on my Fire, don't get me started, so it is possible that there was just an issue on my end. Thankfully the second book is also part of Audible Escapes, as I noticed that the duet this duet is a spin-off for only has the first book in Escapes and not the second which would have irritated me if that had been this case. The story is amazing, and I appreciate the duet aspect because it allows for more story development and character arcs, even if it also feels drawn out a bit much. But there is so much that is hinted at in this book that we don't get answers about or a clear picture for so I am hoping the second book will finally come full circle. I love the characters and their constant bickering, even though at times they irritate me because of their stubbornness. But their chemistry is hot, and the hero's player, horn-dog ways are always enjoyable. I like that it is spanning a decent length of time for their feelings to develop and truly affect them, rather than things happening within a month or so and them being all in love and ready to commit. I kept hoping that the wedding vows would go a certain way so I was happy when it did! This is my first book by this author, as far as I can recall, but so far I am enjoying her style of writing! The narrators, well, I feel like I may have listened to them in something else before but I can't be certain unfortunately. I do enjoy both of them and how they do their parts. I may have missed something about the description of the heroine, (as it was mentioned a few times before I registered that she was a red head lol), so maybe how Jacob voices the heroine is accurate but it does sometimes bug me how he sounds doing her. But, again, that could simply be my missing something early on. Overall, I love how both of the narrators are doing their parts, and they both, especially Jacob, laugh while speaking a line or make other sounds, and it really gives it this realistic feel. They don't sound like people just reading a script, but rather are actually the characters and giving these fictional people a more natural feel. I definitely will be exploring other titles that they narrate for to see if they become some of my favorites as well!

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Romantic, sexy doctor men are always a good thing!

Revisado: 04-01-20

I loved how Kendall did this story. The guy is the one that is a romantic at heart while the girl is the one that doesn't really believe in love. I've read some books that have taken this angle but it is always nice to see this side of things for a change. Men can be romantic too. I love how hung up on the girl the hero is; how he is depressed over her unannounced departure after their night together and his inability to find her again, and how he just can't seem to let the thought of her go. He is a firm believer in soul mates and believes their spark was real. I love that the heroine has abandonment issues but not because of a boyfriend that wronged her in the past, which is the usual way this concept goes, so it was nice to see hers to be more deeply rooted. I loved the hero's patience with her and persistence, and I hated the heroine's frequent freak-outs and running away although they made sense. I had already figured the story would go the way it did, and I am happy that it went that way instead of being so blindingly obvious. Their time together was also another whirlwind as this series seems to deal a lot with, but at least he was pining for her for longer than their actual time together, which made it slightly more "realistic" which was nice. I still loved this story though, and hot doctors always get me. I also found his "re-discovery" of her to be awkward but funny, and I still loved the way Kendall went about that moment. This is only the second book I have listened to that Jeremy York has narrated, so he is definitely growing on me! He does a fantastic job at what he does, I just always need some time to get used to narrators since I am still fairly new to audiobooks. Ava Erickson was as always amazing at what she did too! I have heard several books done by her and have enjoyed everything she has done so far!

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Whirlwind romance but still delicious!

Revisado: 04-01-20

I really enjoyed this story, just like I have all the other books in this series. It is yet again another whirlwind romance though. I love that the story got right to the point, that this playboy has his world turned upside down within the first few pages. But I do also wish that there was more development for the characters. He goes from being this single, player with commitment issues to discovering he has a baby and falling for the nanny and wanting to fully commit to her all within a single month, or maybe technically less considering how he was obsessed with her almost immediately. I can understand that his life changed so drastically that maybe it shocked him into changing his ways, but I also think that a guy that has commitment issues isn't going to make such a turnaround in that kind of timeframe lol. But I still loved the story, don't get me wrong, the story is definitely worth reading! The baby is adorable, the nanny is amazing with like the worst ex-boyfriend experience imaginable, and the hero is sexy and levelheaded. Also, like the other books, I did feel this was a bit anticlimactic since there was an issue and it was immediately dealt with, and then there was another issue and it was immediately dealt with...like the climax moments were over within a few turns of the pages, and that always has its pros and cons. I wish we would have seen the hero deal with the "problems" and take actions towards those he needed to, but at least he didn't let anybody get in his way or sway his decisions I suppose. I still loved the overall concept of this story though! Ah, the narrators...I seriously need to create a blog to just talk about the amazingness that is Sebastian York. Or just have my thoughts on him saved somewhere for easy copy/paste action lol. I truly love Sebastian York's performances in all that I have listened to. Ava Erickson is also phenomenal and I love her voicing for the male side of things too. I am pretty sure that these two narrators are ones I have listened to the most out of all the narrators out there. I absolutely love them!

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Holy hotness!! And what an amazing story!

Revisado: 04-01-20

I absolutely loved this series!! The chemistry was hot, the characters' backgrounds and stories were interesting and gripping, and their story together was fun yet frustrating at times. I loved how Andrew pushed Aubrey's limits and how Aubrey challenged Andrew. I also found it entertaining how sex-crazed Andrew was. I had taken a guess very early on as to Andrew's backstory and was correct, but the story didn't really give me any reason to think what I did so it wasn't an "obvious" kind of background. I loved this story so much that I keep thinking about it though it has been a few days now since I have finished it! As for the narrators, well, I never have anything bad to say about Sebastian York. He is by far my absolute favorite male narrator. He always does a fantastic job at making the differences between characters and inner dialogue obvious, and well, his enthusiasm in some scenes is always appreciated and makes me smile. I'm not sure if I have ever listened to a book by Erin Mallon before, but she was also amazing! She did a great job at reading her part and making it believable. It really felt like these narrators were giving themselves to the roles rather than just reading a script and it made it that much more enjoyable!

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Hot, flirty, funny...did I saw HOT?! Because, wow!

Revisado: 03-25-20

I loved this story, although I wasn't sure how I felt about their initial romantic encounter, but it was still pretty hot regardless. It just toed the line heavily there so some people might find it to be an issue. I am definitely a sucker for stories that have the best friend's brother/sister concept, and without giving the story away here, this book actually took an approach to it that I haven't seen in other books I have already read for this concept, and I really liked that since it was something I had been wishing somebody would go with. (I even planned on doing something to this degree myself one day if I ever actually start writing lol.) Their chemistry was intense but they definitely opted to focus more on what laid beneath the chemistry instead of just focusing on the physical side of things. (That was nice AND a bummer!) I do feel that, like the first book in this series, it is a bit short. I also felt that it was borderline anticlimactic. I mean, obviously there was the climax, but it was done and over with almost immediately. On one hand, I like this approach because I think in real life, things aren't always drawn out and take forever, and to me, it just means that these characters weren't acting like idiots and deciding to face things head on and grab life by the balls. On the other hand, one of my favorite authors looooves to draw the climax out and tear your heart to pieces and make it last even years, and she does it because she believes in real life love and healing is slow and takes time, and she is right, but I also feel sometimes her characters are just being total idiots and wasting precious time together. So that Kendall seems to make her climaxes swift and dealt with quickly, is a nice story and less painful in the end. Granted, this is only my second book by her so I have no idea if she tortures readers in her other books! The only reason I didn't give the story itself five stars is because of the short, anticlimactic feeling, but it really is overall a great story! I am familiar with both readers for this book, and I cannot say this enough, but I absolutely LOVE Sebastian York. My first romance audiobook was read by him and his voice is just so damn swoon worthy. Seriously, I think his voice alone could get a girl pregnant! He does a phenomenal job at making it clear what are actual words being spoken by characters and what his character is thinking. He also goes above and beyond with how he voices the sex scenes, like if the hero is growly or grunting, he kind of does that too while he reads it, and if the heroine cries out or there's an actual "verbalized" moan in the book, he does that too. There has to be a reason as to why I see his name attached to so many romance audiobooks! He does a fantastic job!! I'll add audiobooks to my TBR simply because he is voicing it! I envy whomever is the lucky significant other in his life; getting to hear his voice every single damn day! Lucky lucky. Ava Erickson is also fantastic and does a wide range of voice variations too. Since she voiced one of my all-time favorite rockstar romances, I can't help but imagine the characters from that book every time I listen to her though! I'd listen to this book just to hear these two readers despite whether or not the story was appealing to me! Thankfully, it hit home on all aspects!

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Hot, funny, and lovable!

Revisado: 03-25-20

I really enjoyed this book. It was my first Kendall Ryan book so I wasn't sure what to expect exactly but I had heard good things about her style. The characters were enjoyable, and their chemistry was pretty decent. I really liked how these characters connected and navigated their interests in each other. I do feel it was a bit short, but maybe it just felt short since I was doing it through audio instead of actually reading it myself, but I wouldn't have minded having a bit more to their story. The readers were great. I am familiar with Ava Erickson since she voices an entire series by an author I love, but I can't recall having heard Jeremy York before this book. They both did a great job and were enjoyable to listen to.

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Holy. F$#&!@%. S#*@. That man and all his deliciousness!!

Revisado: 01-08-20

I had already read this book before it was ever in audio, in fact, it was my first Claire Kingsley book and it kept my ass up allll night! I was hooked on the characters and their interactions and their dilemmas. Everly and her friends cracked me up! (I can't wait for Hazel's story coming to Kindle January 23rd, Love According to Science!!) Shepherd was intriguing and delightful as always. But let me tell you...having it in audio was aMAzing! (Triple hotness running the audio through my surround system, let me tell ya! Yessss!) At first I wasn't sure how I felt about Emma Wilder, especially her inner dialogue voice, but she grew on me or maybe she changed a bit throughout, I'm not sure. But Jason Clarke as Shepherd...SPAloosh!! Holy hell, his voice was perfect for Shep, all deep and gravely and hot. Him reading those smoking hot moments will cause a river...or disintegrate panties...or make a menopausal hot flash seem like a small fever. That man...he is at the top of my list now with this other voice-hottie (my Fire changed that to "double-digit" and now I'm back reliving some hot scenes in the story...*sigh*) of mine and I will be seeking out future romance novels with him as the reader. Yes please!! I have sooooo many books on my TBR to get through but I'd been kind of dying to re-read this one so I figured audio was an excellent way to do that and I am definitely pleased that I did!!!

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