Jennifer Hinson

Love this series, female narrator not so much

Revisado: 03-31-25

I love this series, one of my faves ever.

These boys are misunderstood and I love that the series builds to an overall conclusion for the main plotline. It’s able to tell individual love stories while not sacrificing the mystery we are trying to get the answer on.

It’s a little instalove, she could’ve done a little better at building their connection but the ones after this have much better connections. This is probably my least favorite of the couples but it’s still a good story. My main issue is the female narrator - I thought I liked this narrator previously but this book she drove me crazy. The way she emphasizes certain syllables of words and her male voice were hard to listen to. By far not the worst narrator, I was able to finish this and even ordered the next audible for the series…..but I would’ve loved someone who matched the male narrator in terms of my enjoyment of listening to them.

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Oh Eli…..

Revisado: 07-07-24

It took me far too long to finish listening to this one. And bc this was the first one of Rina’s that I listened to before actually reading I’m not sure why I dragged it out. Admittedly I struggled w it keeping my interest at first, but that quickly changed.

Spoilers ahead…..

I cannot agree with the negative reviews on this couple - to me, Eli’s love was so evident in every single sacrifice he made for her. There have been plenty of Rina’s books where I didn’t feel the love from the male on any level close to Eli’s for Ava. God this man, the things he puts himself through and the way he is okay w being the villain just so she had a shot at a normal life. Were some of his methods and decisions not the best? Absolutely, but you know where he’s coming from. Now Ava, I’m not an Ava fan but I understood why she was the way she was. As a couple? These two might not be my favorite (hello to my babies Niko and Bran) BUT they are one of the strongest connections of the Rinaverse.

I of course loved catching up w everyone else. I’m sad the Rinaverse is over, but I’m personally in the minority when I say I have no desire for Remi and Ari’s book. I hate we aren’t getting Gareth or Vaughn’s but I have a feeling that at the very least Vaughn will show back up later on.

As for Rina’s story telling, I have long stated that she recycles her plots over and over again. Sometimes it’s far more obvious than others but I have yet to read any of her books (after the originals w said plots) and thought - wow this is new. Case in point - this has a lot of the same exact plot factors as my fave Rina couple from the Deception Trilogy. At this point, you just gotta accept it’s gonna happen and enjoy the ride.

As always, Shane & Keira did a phenomenal job…….and the dual narration is something I wish she would’ve adapted for the entire series and not just started w Landon’s book but at least we got it for 3.

It’s sad to say goodbye to characters that have taken up so much of your life for so long but I am looking forward to seeing where Rina takes us next.

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Completely Torn about this one....

Revisado: 06-25-24

I LOVED this book the first 5 times I read it, but I have not re-visited it in a while and when it was on sale in audio form I figured it was the perfect time to go back. I am not sure if I have just grown as a person or if I took some kind of blinders off, but I am not sure how I didn't see the issues with this one at first. Spoilers ahead:

Story: Lets just be real here, Jake grooms her. Like full on pedo-like grooming and its gross his behavior towards someone he knows is so vulnerable and emotionally-stunted and affection-starved. I had to skip over their "relationship" in this part. The whole step-uncle thing didn't bother me, it was the clear way he preyed upon her. Poor Noah was just as desperate for love as she was, so I had a soft spot for him. But Kaleb? He is what carried the story for me - at least his actions had a reason behind them - I could understand him and he didn't say anything at all. I HATED how much the story focused so much on Jake and very little on Kaleb, Its like as soon as you knew where the story was headed she did everything BUT show you the development of Kaleb and how he was able to get to where he is by the last chapter. I wanted more of him. Pet peeve - the FMC with her inspirational quotes constantly. It was kinda cringey that she "thought" in inspirational quotes.

Performance: The female narrator was the most monotone narrator I have ever listened to, seriously it was bad. However, it worked for the character bc she embodied her perfectly. Not sure if that was accidental or not. The narrator for Jake pissed me off with his stereotypical depiction of Marisol. He sounded like those comedians that make fun of Middle Eastern accents, it was awful. What made it worse is he would flip from that to an Irish accent for the same character. Noah's narrator wasn't bad. But the best narrator of the entire book was Kaleb's. It was really true that they saved the very best for last - I get why we don't hear him until the end BUT geez what a wasted talent.

Overall - I still love this book, I understand the journey it takes us on. I just wish she had focused more on Kaleb since he was end-game, especially bc he is the most interesting character and ironically the character that says absolutely nothing at all.

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I love this series…..

Revisado: 02-26-24

I love this series, I have listened to all the audio versions as well as read them in Kindle format. I haven’t disliked any of the audios, although I do hate that Rina didn’t start true dual narration until Landon’s book as I personally love when the narrators go back and forth instead of having them each read their chapters entirely. But these two did a good job at narrating the opposite sex’s parts.

The story itself is good, not my fave of the series (that belongs to my babies Niko & Brandon) but also not the worst. It’s a little predictable as Rina follows the same kind of format for all her stories but entertaining nonetheless. I loved Creighton far more than Annika, but they made a believable love story. I also love how Rina gives us POV chapters from the parents. Adrian will always be my fave from the first gen so getting him was a perk for sure.

As for narration, I LOVED James for Creighton. He was perfect in the way he narrated for Creigh, almost detached but bringing the emotion when it was needed. I hope to hear more from him. As for McKenzie, my problem with her isn’t with her performance of Annika or Creighton, but instead her performance with side characters. I wish she had done research or asked for background on the characters. She gave Annika’s mom a subtle Russian-type accent even though she’s 100% American. She also seemed to sometimes get her people mixed up. She would miss accents for certain characters and then suddenly pick those accents back up. Just a minor annoyance, they still both did a good job.

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I didn’t hate it…..

Revisado: 02-16-24

First let me say, I would pay to have Jacob Morgan read the Bible to me and find myself enjoying it (and I’m agnostic). That man is far superior than any of the others that are salivated over (I’m looking at you York & Arden). He can make even the most unlikeable character into my newest book bf with his narration, it’s a gift. I love Ava too, her sweet and gentle way of narrating her female leads is just refreshing to me.

Now that’s out the way, the story was what it was. Shen has always had a way w words, she’s talented. The problem I have always had w her is sometimes her books feel like they are sorta wash, rinse, repeat w different characters and slightly different childhood traumas that cause the male to be the way he is. They also almost always have some sort of arrangement where the female is roped into something by forced based off her circumstances and somehow love blooms in the last 10-15% of the book. Still, I find myself devouring every book she publishes.

If you suspend belief and just go with it, you can enjoy yourself. I loved Cillian but I found it hard to believe he loved Perse. Perse is a doormat but I did appreciate the few times she tried to stand up for herself. Still, this book was far superior to Hunter and Sailors (I still hold a major grudge that every red head Shen has written has been only attractive in a “certain” way and usually only to the male once he got to know her). The shining star though? Sweet little Tinder……he broke my heart in the book but his character brought me to tears through Ava’s depiction of him. I forgot to mention Ava might be the best narrator I have heard in terms of kids voices.

This is one case where the Audible is definitely better than the book, although I liked the book enough to re-read it more than once. if you like Shen, you will love this.

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My favorite book of the series but this audible was not it……

Revisado: 02-15-24

I had the fortune of reading this book prior to listening to it. Bc of that fact, I was able to fall in love with Dean and completely stan this couple. I love to listen to books I consider faves to experience them in different ways, to see them come to life. This has only backfired on me 2-3 times, this was one of those times. If you listen to this book before reading it and find you don’t like it, try it out in book format before making a final decision.

The female narrator was phenomenal, I’m not sure if I’ve listened to her before but I know I will remember her for the future. The male narrator for Dean? He was dangerously close to ruining the character for me. I’m not sure if he was trying to make himself sound more smexy or force a deeper tone or what BUT my best description of him was an overly-dramatized Disney villain. It was painful listening to him, I had a semi-perm cringe on my face throughout his chapters. Many times I had to push through bc I knew the story itself was amazing and that Dean had so much growth in this book. But this is maybe the first time in my audible history that I actually preferred the females version of the male lead over the male cast to narrate for him. I’m going to listen to something else of his to see if it was a one off or not, bc the overall tone of his voice when he wasn’t overdoing it was kinda soothing.

Do I recommend the audible? I hate to say it bc the female narration was *chef’s kiss* but no I do not. The book though? Pick that up and read this story instead.

The spice lies more on the D/s side of things, there is definite growth for both characters and despite how you may feel about Dean in previous books I promise he more than redeems himself in this one.

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Amazing story, awful narration

Revisado: 05-24-22

I LOVE this book, I’ve read it multiple times and I never get tired of it. Jess & Ally are awesome and I love their story. I recommend reading it even if you hated the audible version, I promise it’s better that way.

These narrators? The male narrator wasn’t awful, he kinda made me cringe when he was trying to be all sexy….especially the sex scenes. But the female narrator? I could live with never having to hear a book she narrates again. Her voice reminds me of what girls do when they are trying to be fake cute around boys, it doesn’t sound natural and she has no idea how to show the emotion behind the words. If something is said in anger, it was said in this baby type voice…..when she did try to put some anger into her words she just sounded like a brat. I was kinda embarrassed for her…….and her Jess voice? My God, she made him into the worst version of a douchebag…..pretty much any male she did an awful job on. Older males sounded young, younger guys sounded older. She just ruined this.

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Well….

Revisado: 05-20-22

I LOVED this book when I read it the first 1-2 times, in fact I’m fairly certain I gave it 5 stars. Was it a little far fetched? Absolutely. A little cringey at times? Yeah…..but overall it’s an entertaining read.

It lost some of that initial magic in the Audible version. This is my second time listening to it, and I still couldn’t get past the narration. It’s the same narrators from Breaker & Vi’s book, I can’t explain it I just hated them as these younger characters. It ruined the story for me. It’s not that they are bad, it’s that they weren’t right for this particular series.

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Mixed Feelings

Revisado: 05-30-21

What did I like/dislike?
I really loved Killian, I loved the backstory of the trauma both of them experienced bc it tugged at the very emotions I crave books to tug on. It’s heartbreaking, trust me. What I didn’t like was pretty much Cilla. I can’t stand any heroine who is all “I want him, I’m attracted to him, etc etc etc” yet does the whole “you are going to have to take it, I don’t want you, leave me alone, let me go” thing. I get she has trauma but the way she treats him (who has trauma of his own) even when he’s trying to help her (and her brother) just really annoyed me.

The Narration:
Christian did a great job with Killian....a solid 4.5 stars. Kate did a good job at bringing the pain of her characters past to life, but I wasn’t a fan of everything else. She did this weird thing where it sounded like she was straining (like constipated on the toilet) and gritting her teeth that totally ruined the sexy times. The rest is completely personal preference, she was far too raspy and I couldn’t tell if that was just her voice or if she was trying to come across sexy or something.

Overall for a freebie from the Plus category I’m not going to complain, I finished it which I wouldn’t have done if it was awful.

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Why did I wait so freaking long??

Revisado: 12-08-20

This story was absolutely phenomenal....I laughed, I cried, and I raged....I didn’t expect it to be so amazing and yet it was just that. It will go down as one of my overall favorite books of ALL TIME and such an impactful one.

As for the narration, Jacob Morgan did a flawless job at Hunter....he truly brought him to life, he brought out every aspect of what made Hunter, Hunter.
Emma Wilder, I’m not a fan of hers anyways so it’s hard for me to listen to her narrate but this story was so good I dealt with it. She will always be the queen of male voices, I mean I still feel like it can’t be her lol. But I just feel like she’s “too extra” when it comes to her performance, it turns what could be an extraordinary performance into one that felt force and fake. If she toned it down just a little I wouldn’t find myself so turned off....but bc I refuse to allow Jacob to be part of a lower rating I am giving them 4 stars (alone she would be a 3 max, he should’ve gotten 5+++).

Overall this is an audible/book you NEED to experience....it’s incredible!

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