Reviewed by Annika

TITLE: When All the World Sleeps

AUTHOR: Lisa Henry & J.A. Rock

NARRATOR: Greg Tremblay

PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing

LENGTH: 12 hours, 11 minutes

RELEASE DATE: January 12, 2017

BLURB:

Daniel Whitlock is terrified of going to sleep. And rightly so; he sleepwalks, with no awareness or memory of his actions. Including burning down Kenny Cooper’s house – with Kenny inside it – after Kenny brutally beat him for being gay. Back in the tiny town of Logan after serving his prison sentence, Daniel isolates himself in a cabin in the woods and chains himself to his bed at night.

Like the rest of Logan, local cop Joe Belman doesn’t believe Daniel’s absurd defense. But when Bel saves Daniel from a retaliatory fire, he discovers that Daniel might not be what everyone thinks: killer, liar, tweaker, freak. Bel agrees to control Daniel at night – for the sake of the other townsfolk. Daniel’s fascinating, but Bel’s not going there.

Yet as he’s drawn further into Daniel’s dark world, Bel finds that he likes being in charge. And submitting to Bel gives Daniel the only peace he’s ever known. But Daniel’s demons won’t leave him alone, and he’ll need Bel’s help to slay them once and for all – assuming Bel is willing to risk everything to stand by him.

Reviewed by Annika

TITLE: Long Shadow

SERIES: Hamarsson and Dempsey #2

AUTHOR: Elle Keaton

NARRATOR: Michael Dean

PUBLISHER: Self-Published

LENGTH: 7 hours, 11 minutes

RELEASE DATE: August 3, 2020

BLURB:

Niall’s never known anything but betrayal. All Mat wants is Niall’s heart. What will it take for him to coax Niall in from the cold?

Mat’s connection with Niall is tenuous; one step forward, two steps back. Since that night on the beach Niall’s been avoiding Mat like a bad case of the flu – which, ironically, most of his deputies have come down with. What will it take for Niall to truly believe Mat wants him for who he is?

Mat’s overworked, Niall’s unnerved, and then things really go sideways.

Will a killer destroy everything before Niall realizes they are stronger together than apart?

Long Shadow is a dual POV about a broody introvert and a somewhat patient sheriff. Mat’s going to have to prove to Niall he’s the man for him. The Hamarsson and Dempsey series follows the same couple as they find their way to their happily ever after.

Reviewed by Anna Lynn

TITLE:  Nothing Special VII: EX Meridian

SERIES:  Nothing Special #7

AUTHOR:  A. E. Via

NARRATOR:  Aiden Snow

PUBLISHER:  Tantor Audio

RELEASE DATE:  July 7, 2020

LENGTH:  8 hours and 33 minutes

BLURB:

Take a man and strip him of his ability to feel compassion, empathy, remorse, or any of the emotions that make him human, but leave the ones that ignite rage and aggression and you have the perfect killing machine – now imagine two of them.

Code names Ex and Meridian are synonymous for “guaranteed death” to international terrorists. Two broken men from the same crooked streets, recruited into an unsanctioned government program that few know about. Trained to operate most efficiently – lethally – together.

When Ex returns from an op in Bolivia to learn his little brother has been accidentally killed in a feud between drug gangs, he’s stateside before he can consider the rules he’ll be breaking, and of course Meridian is right beside him. There’s mayhem on the streets of Atlanta and the police are losing control. If Godfrey and his elite team of detectives can’t get the job done, then they’d be happy to lighten their caseloads for them. And neither Ex nor Meridian cares about doing it quietly.

Reviewed by Annika

TITLE: Unspoken Vow

SERIES: Steele Brothers #2

AUTHOR: Eden Finley

NARRATOR: Antony Ferguson & Joel Leslie

PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio

LENGTH: 9 hours, 20 minutes

RELEASE DATE: August 11, 2020

BLURB:

He’s everything I want but run away from.

There’s a long list of things I don’t handle well: Change. Relationships. Breakups.

But there’s one person above everything else I can’t seem to get a handle on. Brody Wallace.

In short, he’s perfect. The reality, he scares me. He’s the opposite of what I usually go for. He’s bigger. Intimidating. He reminds me of someone I’d rather forget.

When I need to find a new place to live, Brody offers me his spare room, but I have no plans on taking him up on the offer. He doesn’t know what happened to me five years ago, and I want to keep it that way. But with limited options, I find myself outside his apartment holding a full moving box and wondering: How can I do this without exposing the darkest part of my past?

Reviewed by Annika

TITLE: Decision

SERIES: Diversion #1

AUTHOR: Eden Winters

NARRATOR: Darcy Stark

PUBLISHER: Self-Published

LENGTH: 8 hours, 25 minutes

RELEASE DATE: August 8, 2020

BLURB:

Follow the law, or follow their hearts?

By-the-book Bo Schollenberger’s training to be the new boss at the Southeastern Narcotics Bureau. He’s always been the moral compass for his partner Lucky Lucklighter, or Simon Harrison, or whatever-the-hell his name is this week.

Lucky might have read the book, or parts of it, but toes the line between legal and… not so legal. A little moral elasticity lets him out-maneuver the bad guys. It’s not broke, why fix it?

They butt heads at work, but they’re rock solid at home, where their biggest concern is when, or if, they’ll become parents.

Their latest case puts them in a tailspin when drugs flood a local high school and someone hands Lucky’s nephew a vial of pills like they were candy. Unravelling the drug ring leads them straight into a nest of human trafficking, way outside the jurisdiction of the SNB, but no way could Bo and Lucky let the perpetrators leave Atlanta scot-free. No one gets away with harming innocents, especially family.

The letter of the law says to trust the legal system, but doing the right thing might lead them outside the lines.

Especially when the youngest trafficking victim lands squarely in Bo’s lap.

Reviewed by Annika

TITLE: Rialto

SERIES: Unbreakable Bonds #8

AUTHOR: Jocelynn Drake & Rinda Elliot

NARRATOR: Kenneth Obi

PUBLISHER: Self-Published

LENGTH: 7 hours, 14 minutes

RELEASE DATE: July 29, 2020

BLURB:

Someone has it out for Rialto. 

Ian Banner is loving his hectic life. He’s newly married, ready to start a family, and opening a new restaurant. All his dreams are coming true.

The last thing he needs is a problem with his restaurant.

But when one attack after another comes, he grows convinced he has another enemy.

Ian tries to handle things by himself, but his friends are soon drawn in when the attacks become violent. That’s when Ian realizes the target isn’t Rialto. It’s him.

Rialto is the final installment in the Unbreakable Bonds series and features sexy times, Daciana snuggles, overprotective family, fire, and of course, code names.

Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Gideon

SERIES:  Finding Home #3

AUTHOR:  Lily Morton

NARRATOR:  Joel Leslie

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  9 hours and 43 minutes

RELEASE DATE:  June 22, 2020

BLURB:

Gideon Ramsay is so far in the closet he should be a talking faun.

A talented, mercurial, and often selfish man, Gideon has everything he should want in life. Fame, money, acting awards – he has it all. Everything but honesty. At the advice of his agent, Gideon has concealed his sexuality for years. But it’s starting to get harder to hide, and his increasingly wild behavior is threatening to destroy his career. Then, he’s laid low by a serious illness and into his life comes Eli Jones.

Eli is everything that Gideon can’t understand. He’s sunny tempered, friendly, and optimistic. Even worse, he’s unaffected by grumpiness and sarcasm, which forms 90 percent of Gideon’s body weight. And now, Gideon is trapped with him without any recourse to the drugs and alcohol that have previously eased his way through awkward situations.

However, as Gideon gets to know the other man, he finds himself wildly attracted to his lazy smiles and warm, scruffy charm that seem to fill a hole inside Gideon that’s been empty for a long time. Will he give in to this incomprehensible attraction when it could mean the end of everything that he’s worked for?

From the best-selling author of the Mixed Messages series comes a story about a man who needs to realize that being true to yourself is really just a form of finding home. This is the third book in the Finding Home series, but it can be listened to as a stand-alone.

Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Without You

AUTHOR:  Marley Valentine

NARRATORS:  Tim Paige & Teddy Hamilton

PUBLISHER:  Tantor Audio

LENGTH:  9 hours and 14 minutes

RELEASE DATE:  July 31, 2020

BLURB:

Tragedy brought us together, but something stronger made me want to stay.

Julian was the boy next door. My brother’s best friend, he fit with my family in ways I never could. While he and Rhett went on to play house, I left the only life I knew, desperate for a fresh start. Until everything changed.

Heartache came along, and the aftermath of my brother’s death was here to stay. I was now face to face with Julian more than I ever wanted to be.

Being around him brought up all my insecurities, forced me to deal with hard truths, and conjured up feelings I had no business entertaining. He wasn’t the man I thought I knew. He was complex and layered, and inherently beautiful in all the ways I’d never noticed. Not on another person. Not on another man. Not until him.

Contains mature themes.

Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  The Fall

SERIES:  Love in O’Leary #1

AUTHOR:  May Archer

NARRATORS:  Alexander Cendese & Iggy Toma

PUBLISHER:  Tantor Audio

LENGTH:  8 hours and 28 minutes

RELEASE DATE:  February 19, 2019

BLURB:

“I was in free fall the moment we met, and I just keep falling.”

Small-town police officer Silas Sloane knows every resident of O’Leary, New York. He’s earned the love and respect of its citizens, though living under the small-town microscope grates on him. But though he’s good at his job, there’s one thing he’s not good at: commitments…until Everett.

Widower Everett Maior, O’Leary’s newest citizen, came to the small town kicking and screaming. He never wanted to become primary caretaker for his grandfather and has no interest in living the provincial life. Snarky and superstitious, he’s proficient at keeping people at a distance…until he lays eyes on Silas.

Strange disappearances are plaguing O’Leary, though, even as Silas and Everett find their growing attraction undeniable. Can they find their way to a future together, even as ghosts from the past threaten to tear them apart?

Reviewed by Annika

TITLE: Ignite

SERIES: Unbreakable Bonds #7

AUTHOR: Jocelynn Drake & Rinda Elliot

NARRATOR: Kennteth Obi

PUBLISHER: Self-Published

LENGTH: 7 hours, 13 minutes

RELEASE DATE: April 17, 2020

BLURB:

Two of Noah’s Army buddies are dead.

Someone has taken shots at Noah.

And now Noah’s former lover, JB, is a target.

Noah, Rowe, and JB team up to track down a killer trying to take out all of Noah’s old Army team in hopes of covering up a dark secret.

But this trip to Washington, D.C. threatens to unravel the perfect life that Rowe and Noah have built over the past three years. JB’s arrival in their lives have Rowe and Noah wondering if they want the same thing for their happily ever after.

Rowe is sure of one thing—nobody threatens his man. And he sets out to show anyone with a hidden agenda what a bad decision that was.

Reviewed by Annika

TITLE: Ends of the Earth

AUTHOR: Keira Andrews

NARRATOR: Greg Boudreaux

PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio

LENGTH: 6 hours, 52 minutes

RELEASE DATE: August 15, 2020

BLURB:

Jason Kellerman’s life revolves around his eight-year-old daughter. Teenage curiosity with his best friend led to Maggie’s birth, and her mother tragically died soon after. Only 25 and a single dad, Jason hasn’t had time to even think about romance. Disowned by his wealthy family, he’s scrimped and saved to bring Maggie west for a camping vacation. The last thing Jason expects is to question his sexuality after meeting a sexy, older park ranger.

Ben Hettler’s stuck. He loves working in the wild under Montana’s big sky, but at 41, his love life is non-existent, his ex-boyfriend just married and adopted, and Ben’s own dream of fatherhood feels impossibly out of reach. He’s attracted to Jason, but what’s the point? Besides the age difference and Jason’s lack of experience, they live thousands of miles apart. Ben wants more than a meaningless fling.

Then a hunted criminal on the run takes Jason’s daughter hostage, throwing Jason and Ben together in a dangerous search through endless miles of mountain forest. They’ll go to the ends of the earth to rescue Maggie – but what comes next? Can they build a new family together and find a place to call home?

Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Daddy Issues

SERIES:  North Shore Stories #2

AUTHOR:  Lynn Van Dorn

NARRATOR:  Michael Ferraiuolo

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:   10 hours and 44 minutes

RELEASE DATE:  January 21, 2020

BLURB:  

Marek Wisniewski is a man used to being obeyed, whether it’s by his patients or his lovers. When he’s hired to be an in-home nurse for an extremely difficult old man, he’s certain he can handle it, until he comes face-to-face with Ryan, his client’s son. Both men have reasons to dislike each other, and neither is pleased when they’re forced to live under the same roof. Ryan wants Marek gone, and Marek wants to bring the beautiful and spoiled Ryan to his knees.

Ryan Chadwick seems to live a charmed life, but underneath his polished veneer of arrogance and success, he’s miserable. Ryan feels, increasingly, like his carefully constructed life is spinning out of control. All it’ll take is one little push to bring his world crashing down around him.

Marek and Ryan clash again and again, causing Ryan to further question who he is and what he wants. Marek brings out a side in him he didn’t know existed, a side that wants to please and obey. Marek’s desire to teach Ryan a lesson in humility becomes, over time, a lesson to show Ryan that who, and what, he wants isn’t shameful.

Two very different men come together and discover that what you want and what you need aren’t always the same thing. They find that you need to pace yourself at a Polish dinner, how building snowmen is not rocket science, that a mansion on a lake doesn’t guarantee happiness, and most of all, how important it is to let go.

Daddy Issues is a steamy romance in the North Shore Stories series. This book follows Be My Mistake and Damage Control, but can be listened to as a stand-alone novel.

Warning: The story contains BDSM elements, fisting, a blanket fort, an embarrassing butt plug, lots of food, and a HEA.

Reviewed by Anna Lynn

TITLE:  Flash Me

SERIES:  Heathens Ink #6

AUTHOR:  K.M. Neuhold

NARRATOR:  Kenneth Obi

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

RELEASE DATE:  October 08, 2019

LENGTH:  8 hours 49 minutes

BLURB:

Love is multiplied, never divided.

Liam

I was kicked out at 16 for being transgender, but it turned out to be one of the best things to ever happen to me. At 21, I have a fantastic new family made up of my brother and a handful of wonderful friends, I own my own photography business, and I’m happier than I imagined possible. There’s just one thing missing…. Okay, maybe two….

Wyatt

When I took the position volunteering as a therapist at Rainbow House, I knew I’d found my place in the world: helping teens who had been rejected by their families. What I didn’t expect was the friendship I formed with Liam or how it would grow over the years into a crush I just couldn’t shake. I’m happy to see him finally opening himself up to dating with someone he trusts like Owen. But when he comes to me and asks if I can help his boyfriend, I feel like there’s more to the request than just a few therapy sessions. The more I get to know Owen, the more I like him, too.

Owen

I’m not sure why I believe so much in fate when she’s dealt me nothing but crappy hands – a stint in prison and enough childhood horrors to fuel all my adult nightmares. But I still hold on to the idea that everything happens for a reason. What I can’t figure out is why fate would plop me naked into Liam’s bed under the pretext of helping him with a photo series for a gallery showing. Or why my stomach goes funny every time he smiles at me. Liam is too sweet to be exposed to my demons, but I don’t know how to protect him…. Maybe that’s why fate gave us Wyatt.

Reviewed by Anna Lynn

TITLE: No Shame

SERIES: No Shame #4

AUTHOR: Nora Phoenix

NARRATOR: Kenneth Obi

PUBLISHER: Self-Published

RELEASE DATE:  May 8, 2019

LENGTH:  10 hours, 31 minutes

BLURB:

Brad feels nothing but shame about himself.

Shame about his sexual needs.

Shame about his reputation of being a slut.

Shame about his medical problem no one knows about.

No one, except his best friend Charlie, but no matter what feelings Brad may have for him, he’s not going there. Charlie deserves better, and Brad craves something Charlie can’t provide.

Brad wants just sex – filthy, slutty sex, and he gets what he wants with FBI agent Miles. But then Miles wants more than sex, and something blooms between him and Charlie as well. Now Brad is screwed, because he can’t let anyone close, not ever again.

Because nobody ever chooses him. Or do they?

No Shame is a steamy MMM romance and the fourth and last book in the No Shame series that needs to be read in order. It ends with a happy ever after for all characters, including those from the previous books in the series.