Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: Shameless
SERIES: Wrecked, Book 3
AUTHOR: Kelly Fox
NARRATOR: John Solo
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 6 hours and 53 minutes
RELEASE DATE: May 5, 2022
BLURB:
Roly Martinez checklist: EpiPens, burn ointment, and condoms. You gotta come prepared for hate sex.
Heath has every reason to hate me, and that only serves to fuel our explosive chemistry. Now that we live in the same city again, all I want to do is show this sexy bear of a man that I’m not the jerk he once knew. My career as a US Navy SEAL changed the course of my life, and I’m desperate for him to see the new me.
Unfortunately, my reconciliation efforts so far have ended in hospitalization, second-degree burns, and a broken towel rack.
Not my finest work.
Of course, if he finds out the details of the military operation that forever changed me, it might be game over.
I mean…can he forgive me if I can’t even forgive myself?
Shameless is post-military enemies-to-lovers MM romance set in a gym for combat vets. It features muscled twinks, beautifully bellied bears, and a four-year-old with a lisp.
Note: This book depicts military violence, but the HEA is guaranteed.
This is the third book in the Wrecked series. Several characters, including Roly, first appear in Scout and the Lavender Girl.
REVIEW:
Kelly Fox’s Shameless finally brings us the story of Roly, Nick’s cousin and co-owner of Wrecked, a gym for combat vets. Roly presents himself in the previous two series books as an easy-going guy who enjoys a good hookup and has them … often. However, we know there’s trauma in his past, and Fox takes us into the details of that in this story. At the same time, Roly also confronts his past bad behavior towards Heath, who he bullied in high school. Heath is now the money manager for Jean-Pierre, the pro basketball star whose relationship is featured in book two, Surrender. Heath now reappears in Roly’s life all these years later as he considers investing in Wrecked.
Roly has always had a crush on Heath, and it comes back in full force upon seeing him again as an adult. Roly’s story arc here is all about redemption. He seeks to redeem himself in Heath’s eyes for his bad behavior as a teen, and also for a military op gone wrong, the outcome of which he blames himself for. On the latter, his past returns to confront him. Those events in this book directly tie into the beginning of Full Contact, the first book in the Wrecked spinoff series Wrecked: Guardians. Reading about Roly in this story helps segue into that book. Fox tends to drop the reader into the middle of things without sufficient background, and I experienced that upon reading Full Contact, which I read before this series. Shameless provides the missing context.
On the former redemption arc, Roly’s relationship with Heath, it progresses with an often hilarious, but at root poignant, enemies-to-lovers journey. I am not a fan of Roly and Heath’s relationship trajectory, especially in the unhealthy nature of aspects of it. It’s definitely hot and funny, but the dynamic often made me uncomfortable.
John Solo continues his narration of the series, and, unfortunately, I continue with my view that his narration doesn’t quite fit the tenor of the series. Solo uses a soft, airy tone at times which doesn’t fit the gritty nature of the story or the characters. His narration also has a precision that feels unnatural and, again, doesn’t really fit with the rough content which includes a lot of conflict. He is clear and consistently distinguishes between the characters, but his pacing is a bit too slow and I think adding an accent for Roly would have fit his character more.
Overall, Shameless misses the mark for me. However, I encourage you to give the audiobook a listen to judge for yourself, especially if you enjoy the spinoff series. Solo’s narration is solid, albeit not on point in my opinion, but YMMV.
RATING: 
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