Reviewed by Stephen K.
TITLE: Bad Intentions
Series: Intentions Duet #1
AUTHOR: Ella Frank
NARRATOR: Tim Paige and Aiden Snow
PUBLISHER: Tantor
LENGTH: 6 hours 3 Minutes
RELEASE DATE: November 2nd 2021
BLURB:
My name isn’t Logan Mitchell, but Marcus St. James doesn’t know that….
When I showed up at my roommate’s work party, the last thing I expected was to find a man straight out of my dreams. But when the crowd parted and the fates aligned, there he was, waiting for me. Marcus St. James, president of ENN WorldWide News.
Sexy and powerful, with a stare that could freeze you in place, Marcus was the perfect reward for securing a job at Mitchell & Madison, the best law firm in Chicago. To play with the big fish, however, one must become a big fish, and that’s where my little white lie began.
It was one night. I was never going to see him again, and from the second we spoke, I knew he was interested. It was there in his eyes, the same fire in my veins. It was there in his voice, whenever he said my name.
The only problem? It wasn’t my name, and now I wanted more – much more.
But how can anything good come out of something that started with such bad intentions?
Contains mature themes.
REVIEW:
First off: This book blurb needs a warning. This book is a pleasure trip, but it ends in a cliff-hanger. If you read this, and enjoy it as much as I did, you WILL need to read the second part of this duet. Apparently from other reviews that I’ve read, anyone who reads Ella Frank books “knows” to expect this. I didn’t. and a little warning would have been nice.
Gabe is the kind of guy to jump into situations head first with both feet. And if that imagery isn’t well thought out, that’s pretty much how Gabe rolls. His attitude is forever writing checks that his body has to cash. When he lusts after “Tall Dark and Powerful” but is assured that the man wouldn’t be interested in any “small fish” Gabe assumes his new boss’s name and persona. Never say No is just something Gabe naturally does. Of course that lie is found out almost immediately, and Gabe soon has two powerful men he’s somewhat indebted to.
With Marcus being the president of a major cable TV news network, there are bound to be some comparisons for me with Aaron Sorkin’s “The Newsroom.” But tall, fit 40 something Marcus St. James is no Charlie Skinner. And unlike Charlie, Marcus is a buttoned-up “everything is in my control” kind of guy.
Seeing the brash, completely irrepressible Gabe beard Marcus, (his roommate’s boss’s boss), in his own newsroom and end up seducing him the first time they meet was fun. Marcus exacting “revenge” for the fact that Gabe lied to him that first night, made me wish he was punishing me. This book is basically a sex-filled joy-ride with two guys that can’t seem to keep their hands off each other.
The ending IS a total cliff hanger but that doesn’t really lessen the fun. This book is told with alternating chapters form Gabe’s and Marcus’s points of view. We’re not separated from the events by a “disembodied narrator”. Here we have these two guys, both likable, telling the story as they see it. It’s the perfect format for a dual narration audio-book.
And the narrators here, Tim Paige for Gabe and Aiden Snow for Marcus both do a stellar job. Their characters are spot on and the few supporting characters are ably done as well. Tim and Aiden are doing book two as well. Of course now I’ll need to grab the second book in the series. It starts distribution November 23rd.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
Believe the MCs name is Gabe, not Jacob
Fixed it! Good Catch. Not sure if the confusion was due to a senior moment or that I’m reading several books at once.