Reviewed by Annika

TITLE: How to Save a Life

SERIES: Howl at the Moon #4

AUTHOR: Eli Easton

NARRATOR: Matthew Shaw

PUBLISHER: Pinkerton Road

RELEASE DATE: January 17, 2018

LENGTH: 8 hours, 46 minutes

BLURB:

Rav Miller looked into the terrified, intelligent eyes of the chocolate Labrador on death row, and knew he’d do anything to save him. When the dog, Sammy, escapes and heads to Mad Creek, Rav follows. Mad Creek. The town had become legendary in Rav’s mind after he’d met that bizarre group last year. Rav dismissed his crazy suspicions back then, but when he arrives in Mad Creek, he knows it’s true. Dog shifters exist, and apparently they all live in the California mountains. It’s enough to blow a bad boy’s mind.

Sammy has something in common with Rav – neither one of them trusts people. After Sammy’s abuse as a dog, he particularly dislikes tough-looking men like Rav. But when Sammy gets a chance to work with rescued dogs at the new Mad Creek shelter, his deep compulsion to help others overcomes his fear. Rav and Sammy bond over saving strays. If they can each find the courage to let someone else in, they might find their way to love.

Sheriff Lance Beaufort doesn’t like humans moving into Mad Creek, especially not the tattooed and defiant Rav. When Rav starts a rescue shelter, the town thinks he’s wonderful! But Lance isn’t fooled. He doesn’t buy Rav’s innocent act for one second. How much does Rav know about the quickened? What is his game? And why did he have to show up now, when Lance and the other town leaders are overwhelmed by all the new quickened pouring in?

Rav knows how to save a life. But can he save an entire town? Can he rescue Mad Creek?

Reviewed by Annika

TITLE: Tell Me It’s Real

SERIES: At First Sight #1

AUTHOR: T.J. Klune

NARRATOR: Michael Lesley

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

RELEASE DATE: June 30, 2014

LENGTH: 10 hours, 24 minutes

BLURB:

Do you believe in love at first sight?

Paul Auster doesn’t. Paul doesn’t believe in much at all. He’s thirty, slightly overweight, and his best features are his acerbic wit and the color commentary he provides as life passes him by. His closest friends are a two-legged dog named Wheels and a quasibipolar drag queen named Helena Handbasket. He works a dead-end job in a soul-sucking cubicle, and if his grandmother’s homophobic parrot insults him one more time, Paul is going to wring its stupid neck.

Enter Vince Taylor.

Vince is everything Paul isn’t: Sexy, confident, and dumber than the proverbial box of rocks. And for some reason, Vince pursues Paul relentlessly. Vince must be messing with him, because there is no way Vince could want someone like Paul.

But when Paul hits Vince with his car – in a completely unintentional if-he-died-it’d-only-be-manslaughter kind of way – he’s forced to see Vince in a whole new light. The only thing stopping Paul from believing in Vince is himself – and that is one obstacle Paul can’t quite seem to overcome. But when tragedy strikes Vince’s family, Paul must put aside any notions he has about himself and stand next to the man who thinks he’s perfect the way he is.

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Driftwood by Harper Fox (Author) & Chris Clog (Narrator)

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Reviewed by Christine

 

TITLE: Driftwood 

AUTHOR: Harper Fox

NARRATOR: Chris Clog

PUBLISHER: Audible Studios

LENGTH: 6 hours, 58 minutes

RELEASE DATE: December 13, 2017

BLURB:

This is the FoxTales edition of the book previously published by Samhain Publishing. Other than the cover art and description, the book is the same.

Thomas Penrose is a village doctor in rural Cornwall. Popular with patients and friends alike, and handsome into the bargain, he lives in a romantic clifftop tower by the sea. It’s a wonderful life – if only Dr. Tom could enjoy it. He’s a veteran of the conflict in Afghanistan, fighting a lonely battle against alcoholism and PTSD.

Determined not to inflict his troubles on anyone else, Tom keeps himself to himself. But fate has other ideas, and brings a handsome surfer crashing to his feet after a dreadful wipe-out on Porth Beach. Just another crazy surf bunny? Not a bit of it – Flynn Summers is one of Cornwall’s heroes, a fearless search-and-rescue helicopter man. Why is he risking his beautiful neck in the stormy off-season waves?

Despite the rocky beginning, Tom and Flynn become friends. Both are concealing sorrows behind a tough façade, and for once in his life Tom thinks he’s met someone who can handle him, shadow-side and all. But Flynn isn’t a free man. He’s unhappily locked into a bond of obligations and bad memories with formidable pilot Rob Tremaine – and Rob has no intention of letting Flynn go.

As Tom and Flynn begin their high-risk, high-reward romance, will the tides of the past sweep in to destroy their new love?

Reviewed by Christian (Brianna)

TITLE:  Code Silver

SERIES: The Sierra View Series

AUTHOR:  Max Walker

NARRATOR:  Jason Frazier

PUBLISHER:  Self Published

LENGTH: 6 hrs and 28 mins

RELEASE DATE:  December 15th, 2017

BLURB:

Dean Harper is the type of doctor anyone would want to bump into in an elevator. He’s devilishly handsome, deeply caring, and has a pair of sapphire blue eyes that pierce right through you. He was well on his way to having the perfect life with whom he thought was the perfect man. Well, until he found that perfect man cheating on him with three other guys. At the same time.

Noah Silver is having a difficult time. With his mom passing and his dad growing more and more difficult to live with, he’s pushed into an unorthodox way of making money. He knew that being a cam boy would be temporary, but he didn’t realize how drastically it would change his life.

He had no idea he would meet the man of his dreams because of it. He also had no idea he would become the target of a serial killer because of it.

Dean’s world gets turned upside down when Noah, the guy he’d been fantasizing with through a computer screen, ends up in his exam room. Their connection is immediate, even though Noah has no idea Dean is behind his online crush. They both have issues to work on, but can either of them pass up a chance like this? Or are they both throwing themselves into harm’s way?

Code Silver is the first book in the Sierra View series. It’s a full-length, steamy gay romance that can be enjoyed alone and has no cliffhangers.

Reviewed by Annika

TITLE: Red Fish, Dead Fish

SERIES: Fish Out of Water #2

AUTHOR: Amy Lane

NARRATOR: Greg Tremblay

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

RELEASE DATE: March 2, 2018

LENGTH: 11 hours, 48 minutes

BLURB:

They must work together to stop a psychopath – and save each other.

Two months ago, Jackson Rivers got shot while trying to save Ellery Cramer’s life. Not only is Jackson still suffering from his wounds, the trigger-man remains at large – and the body count is mounting.

Jackson and Ellery have been trying to track down Tim Owens since Jackson got out of the hospital, but Owens’ time as a member of the department makes the DA reluctant to turn over any stones. When Owens starts going after people Jackson knows, Ellery’s instincts hit red alert. Hurt in a scuffle with drug-dealing squatters and trying damned hard not to grieve for a childhood spent in hell, Jackson is weak and vulnerable when Owens strikes.

Jackson gets away, but the fallout from the encounter might kill him. It’s not doing Ellery any favors either. When a police detective is abducted – and Jackson and Ellery hold the key to finding her – Ellery finds out exactly what he’s made of. He’s not the corporate shark who believes in winning at all costs; he’s the frightened lover trying to keep the man he cares for from self-destructing in his own valor.

Reviewed by PizzyGirl

TITLE: Risky Behavior

SERIES: Bad Behavior #1

AUTHOR: L.A. Witt, Cari Z.

NARRATOR: Michael Ferraiuolo

PUBLISHER: Riptide

LENGTH: 8 hours, 43 minutes

RELEASE DATE: February 24, 2018

BLURB:

It’s day one of Darren Corliss’s career as a detective, and not only has he been assigned a notoriously difficult partner, but the guy might also be a pill-popping dirty cop. Internal Affairs needs proof, and Darren gets to be their eyes and ears whether he wants to or not.

Detective Andreas Ruffner doesn’t play by the rules, and he doesn’t play well with others. With bodies piling up and a list of suspects who are way above his pay grade, the last thing he needs is a wet-behind-the-ears kid for a partner. Or babysitter. Not even if that partner is easy on the eyes.

As Darren gains Andreas’s hard-won trust, they both realize there’s more than just mutual suspicion simmering beneath the surface. But their investigation is heating up as quickly as their relationship, and Darren has no choice but to go along with Andreas’s unorthodox—and borderline unethical—methods. As IA puts the squeeze on Darren to give up the man he’s falling for, he has to wonder—is Andreas the only cop left in this town who isn’t dirty?

Reviewed by Annika

TITLE: Spencer Cohen

SERIES: Spencer Cohen #1

AUTHOR: N.R. Walker

NARRATOR: Joel Leslie

PUBLISHER: Tantor

RELEASE DATE: March 6, 2018

LENGTH: 5 hours, 26 minutes

BLURB:

Spencer Cohen is the guy who gets answers to relationship questions. Playing the role of the new lover, his job is to make his client’s ex realise one of two things: he doesn’t want to break up or he really does. Either way, his client gets answers.

The ex would either apologize and beg, or turn and walk. But in the end, Spencer’s client won. If he wanted his ex back and got him, it was great. If the guy walked away, then as hard it was for the client, he knew it was over. Regardless of the outcome, Spencer’s work was done.

Andrew Landon’s ex left him without so much as an explanation. But his sister can’t stand to see him miserable, so, much to Andrew’s dismay, they hire Spencer to be Andrew’s new boyfriend to get the ex back.

For Spencer, it is never personal. Merely a business transaction. No emotions, no strings, no complications.

Yeah right.

Even a blind man could see how this would end.

Reviewed by Tori (Vicki)

TITLE: Red Dirt Heart 4  

SERIES: Red Dirt Heart #4

AUTHOR: N.R. Walker

NARRATOR: Joel Leslie

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 9 hours, 15 minutes

RELEASE DATE: March 2nd, 2018

BLURB:

Moving from a Texas ranch to an Australian Outback station was a life changing decision for Travis Craig. Though it wasn’t really a decision at all. Something in his bones told him to go, though he had no clue as to why.

Until he met Sutton Station’s owner, Charlie.

Loving Charlie shouldn’t have been easy. The man was stubborn, and riddled with crippling self-doubt. No, it shouldn’t have been easy at all. Yet somehow, falling in love with Charlie was the easiest thing in the world.

Loving him was easy. Living with him, teaching him how to love in return and, more importantly, how to love himself, was not.

But Travis knew all along it’d be worth it. He knew the man with the red dirt heart was destined to be his. Just like he knew the red dirt that surrounded him was where he was supposed to be.

In the final instalment of the Red Dirt Series, we see Charlie through Travis’ eyes. We see how much he’s grown and how much he loves. We go back to Texas with them, and we see Charlie get everything he truly thought he never deserved.

Red Dirt Heart 4 is Travis’ story.

And this is the story of not just one red dirt heart, but two.

Reviewed by Annika

TITLE: The Rebuilding Year

SERIES: The Rebuilding Year #1

AUTHOR: Kaje Harper

NARRATOR: Gomez Pugh

PUBLISHER: Self published

RELEASE DATE: September 20, 2017

LENGTH: 9 hours, 44 minutes

BLURB:

It took losing nearly everything to discover what they can’t live without.

A few excruciating minutes pinned under a burning beam cost Ryan Ward his job as a firefighter, the easy camaraderie of his coworkers, his current girlfriend, and damn near cost him his left leg. Giving up, though, wasn’t an option. He fought and won the battle back to health, over a painful year. Now, choosing a new profession, going back to school, and renting a room from the college groundskeeper should be simple.

Until he realizes he’s falling in love with his housemate and things take a turn for the complicated.

John Barrett knows about loss. After moving twice to stay in touch with his kids, he could only watch as his ex-wife whisked them away to California. Offering Ryan a room seems better than rattling around his empty house alone. But as casual friendship moves to something more, and emotions heat up, the big old house feels like tight quarters.

It’s nothing they can’t learn to navigate, until life adds in unhappy teen kids, difficult family members, and mysterious deaths on campus. Rebuilding will be far from easy, even for two guys willing to open their minds, and hearts.

Reviewed by Annika

TITLE: Fish Stick Fridays

SERIES: Half Moon Bay #1

AUTHOR: Rhys Ford

NARRATOR: Spencer Goss

PUBLISHER: Dreapspinner Press

RELEASE DATE: March 23, 2016

LENGTH: 6 hours, 58 minutes

BLURB:

Deacon Reid was born bad to the bone with no intention of changing. A lifetime of law-bending and living on the edge suits him just fine, until his baby sister dies and he finds himself raising her little girl.

Staring down a family history of bad decisions and reaped consequences, Deacon cashes in everything he owns, purchases an auto shop in Half Moon Bay, and takes his niece, Zig, far away from the drug dens and murderous streets they grew up on. Zig deserves a better life than what he had, and Deacon is determined to give it to her.

Lang Harris is stunned when Zig, a little girl in combat boots and a purple tutu, blows into his bookstore, and then he’s left speechless when her uncle, Deacon Reid, walks in hot on her heels. Lang always played it safe, but Deacon tempts him to step over the line…just a little bit.

More than a little bit. And Lang is willing to be tempted.

Unfortunately, Zig isn’t the only bit of chaos dropped into Half Moon Bay. Violence and death strike, leaving Deacon scrambling to fight off a killer before he loses not only Zig but Lang too.