and when you add Greg Tremblay as the narrator to one of his stories what you get is several hours of listening enjoyment. Admittedly I think Mr. Tremblay could read a dictionary and make it sound like one of the best stories you've heard in a long time...I kid you not and I'm sure that several of my friends who like audio books would back me up on that statement. The man is just that damned good.

I've read quite a few books by Andrew Grey and now I'm quite enjoying myself by working my way through the titles that are being released on audio...so opportunity knocked and like the good little audio book enthusiast that I've become of course I answered the door. 

'Heart Untouched' is book #3 in the 'Hearts Entwined' series and we've met both Duncan and Todd in previous stories as minor characters but now it's their turn to make a grab for the brass ring. Duncan's trying to get his life back on track after a sporting accident that's left him confined to a wheelchair...his dreams of Olympic gold are now dust in the wind, while Todd's still chasing that dream he's also got another dream that he's not willing to give up and that's a dream of having more than just friendship with Duncan, but he also wants to help his friend find a new direction for his life one that helps him to use what Todd knows is a hella' creative mind.

The relationship between Duncan and Todd was my absolute favorite thing about this story. I loved the bond of friendship that they started with and that Todd was so determined to help Duncan and how he was doing this. He never tried to tell Duncan what he had to do but he was supportive and encouraging of the fact that he believed in Duncan and that he had the ability to do whatever it was that he set his mind to. Todd's patience and persistence in his efforts to make Duncan see that he loved Duncan spoke volumes to the strength of both his love and their friendship. 

The conflict and tension in this story was essentially created by Duncan's problem with a former friend and problems that were created for Todd by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and this was the part of the story that allowed us to once again see how the men at the garage come together as family to care and protect each other. 

'Heart Untouched' is a light and enjoyable read/listen with a solid story to it and while it's not as emotional or intense as some books for me it fulfills it's goal which is to read/listen to a story has entertained me and leaves me feeling good...mission accomplished.

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An audio  book of 'Heart Untouched' was graciously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Another dip into the romance genre gets so-so results. 'All for You' starts with Reggie relaxing with his friends in a bar, glad to be away from his new job and the small town its in, if only for one night. As the friends reminisce and tease each other, Reggie notices a nervous young man - clearly new to the gay scene - getting intimidated by an older, drunken man. Reggie comes to rescue and hangs out with Willy for the evening, but gently declines going further. It seems to much like taking advantage.

Reggie is in his early thirties and has been hired as sheriff to reform the police department in small, conservative Sierra Pines. A routine arrest of a show-boating teenager - who happens to be the mayor's son - brings him under the scrutiny of the local reverend, who is used to getting his own way. It turns out that WIlly is that reverend's son. Uh-oh.

For good reasons Reggie doesn't want to get involved with anyone in town and has, without telling any lies, kept his being gay a secret. Willy seems pretty eager to get him to break the rules, however.

The novel has an accelerated timeline - two or three weeks, tops - and this is a sweet romance of two people falling head-over-heels. I know this is the genre, but it all seemed a little too perfect, and too fast, to be completely satisfying. Sex written down is ridiculous no matter what you do (prove me wrong kids - prove me wrong!), so I didn't find much fault there. The supporting cast was fairly weak, Willy's mother and boss being the only ones who have more than one significant scene, and there's a little bit of police-action thrown in at the end for color, but it doesn't land.

I'll keep trying, its a genre I'd like to promote more.

a fairly heavy topic...human trafficking...

Pavle Kasun has held hostage for four years. He's been kept locked in a room, used as a sex toy for some pretty sick people. Tortured, abused and frequently deprived of the basic necessities of life. Pavle is also a survivor it was through his own determination and ingenuity that he finally escaped and now he's found himself in a prison of a different kind as his life is threatened by the people from the human trafficking ring that he can identify. 

After more than one security breach Pavle's alternative measures are taken to ensure Pavle's security and he's placed in the care of deputy sheriff Chris Anducci. So this is the point at which I'm going to say if you want to enjoy this story it's probably best to suspend your sense of disbelief because there are a lot of things that will at the very least have you raising an eyebrow...once or twice or possibly more and that's about all that I'm going to cover about that. Sure I could go through and make a list starting with the fact that the whole issue of how Pavle's protective custody is questionable at best, that Chris's mom conveniently spoke Pavle's native tongue...mmm...sorry but that's a bit to coincidental and on and on but in spite of these things I enjoyed this one...maybe not quite as much as the previous books but still it was enjoyable. 

I totally tossed my sense of disbelief out the window on this one. I was in the mood for a sweet romance. I liked Pavle he was a sweet, soft spoken man and I lived that when he needed to he stood up for himself and while Chris's primary objective was to keep Pavle safe, he tried to do so while still being respectful of Pavle as an individual and also trying to allow him as much freedom as he was able to. It didn't always go well but sometimes the best laid plans and all that.

I enjoyed the idea of Pavle, someone who had been victimized but refused to remain the victim but at the same time he was also someone who was kind, gentle, soft spoken but able to quietly and firmly stand up for themselves. Pavle was a character that I liked. Someone I could see myself sitting down with and talking with them over a cup of coffee or tea and some homemade cookies...yep I'd totally make Pavle some cookies and Chris I adored that he loved and respected his grandmother and that he appreciated having such a wonderful strong woman in him life.

The hardest thing for me and what kept me from enjoying this story far more than I did was the relationship issue first that even with suspended belief the fact that in spite of what he'd been through for the past 4 years Pavle was the one who pushed for the relationship between him and Chris to progress. He just fell a little to easily and readily into the relationship. I can understand Pavle developing feelings for Chris considering that Chris is the first man that he's met in over 4 years who seemed to genuinely care about him. I just would have found it easier ot believe if we'd seen some kind of internal struggle with his feelings from Pavle rather than this sudden overwhelming love that neither man seemed to be able to resist...even my suspended beliefs will only stretch so far and it didn't quite reach the necessary suspension level for this. It was however, tempered by the fact that I could see Chris as the type of person who Pavle would ultimately be able to have a relationship with so, while it maybe happened a little to fast for my sensibilities it wasn't an impossibility. 

Greg Tremblay was the narrator for this story and as always Mr. Tremblay did a awesome job with the narration and as with the previous stories in this series he gave the characters depth and emotion as well as providing the familiar voices of characters from previous stories. However, I do have to admit for me there was a tiny bit of disappointment with the voice of Chris's grandmother, having grown up in a community that was predominantly populated by European immigrants from Poland, Hungary, Germany, Belgium, the Ukraine, etc. I grew up hearing those accents on a daily basis and when Chris's grandma talked for me the accent resonated more as being Asian than European and maybe that was me but more importantly whoever the voice and whatever the accent they retained their unique sound and I never had an issue identifying who was speaking and for me that's the more important factor.

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An audio book of 'Fire & Agate' was graciously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

things went sideways on me and letting go just seemed like the best thing to do...

I really enjoyed most of this story it was hella' good...so let's talk about the good and we'll get to the sideways in a bit...

Avery Rivers is a star in the country music industry. He's hot and everyone wants a piece of him. The problem is he's only got so many pieces to give and he's running low. If he doesn't catch a break soon, he's pretty sure he's going to become so broken there won't be any putting him back together again. So Avery decides it's time to man up and take control of things and he does. His concert tours done and people are talking about adding dates but Avery knows what his deal is for and he say 'no' just a big fat no, takes care of business, buys himself a pick-up truck and says 'I'll see  ya all in six months.' and hits the road. Along the way he meets Hy Whitely on for him he's just plain old Zeke because Hy Whitely's a top performer on the pro rodeo circuit and if anyone knows how Avery's feeling it's Hy Whitely.

Zeke and Avery hook up for a night of good times and then they go their separate ways only to have their paths cross again when Avery's dad unknowingly gives the country star a job working on his ranch...the same ranch that Zeke's heading to for a much needed break.

Turns out that for both Avery and Zeke the ranch is just the break that they both need. Things start out good for the two as they work the ranch and get to know each other spending their days out on the range fixing fences, caring for the cattle and horses and their nights wrapped up in each other and sharing a passion that seems incendiary and feels even hotter. As the days pass each man comes to realize that sure the sex it great but they just really, genuinely like and care for the other.

So basically this as the gist of everything that I really liked about this book Zeke, Avery and their relationship as well there's a side story going on between Zeke and his father that's good and adds to the overall story and I enjoyed seeing Zeke and his dad work through their issues as the real world creeps back into the comfortable bubble that they've all been surrounding themselves with.

When word gets out as to where  country music's hottest ticket Avery Rivers has slipped away to...well sh*t gets real and Avery and Zeke have to face not only their feelings but what the demands of real life will mean to their fledgling relationship and decisions need to be made if they're going to find a way through this.

If you plan on reading this book than you may want to stop here because this next part is a bit spoilerish but I'm going to try and keep it as vague as possible so the decisions up to you if you want to finish reading this review...

Ok, so far I have to say I was loving this one...it was coming in at a very solid 4 stars and then we got the the ending and I do mean the ending as in 'the epilogue'...it was too much. Here I've been reading this lovely story about two men with successful lives falling in love and struggling to keep their relationship solid and discreet even though they not hiding in the closet, neither are they out, proud and marching in any pride parades and yet when we get to the end we get an over oh so freakin' over the top public declaration. Now I realize that for some this is cool and they really love this kind of thing and to that I say 'cool' but for me it was just a big "No...no, no, no."

Things just made no sense since they've been keeping things on the down low and then suddenly this? and no I'm not saying what this was. If you've read the book you'll know and if not well I really don't want to spoil things too much. So in the end my 4 stars went down to 3.5 stars and while I liked most of the story the ending turned out to be a big wet blanket for me. 

Jeff Gelder was the narrator for this story and while it's not my first time at the dance with this narrator and for the most part he did a solid job with the narration and certainly I had no problem in terms of understanding and when it came to the character voices things were good. However, when it came to the narration portion at times I found his voice to be a bit stilted and lacking the smooth tone that he had when voicing the characters. It wasn't an overwhelming issue and while it didn't really detract from my enjoyment of the story it was a bit of a minor niggle that was enough to catch my attention. 

'Don't Let Go' for the most part was a 4 star listen for me with the ending being such a subjective issue. Unfortunately for me it was a detracting factor from my overall enjoyment of things but for others it could be the reason to add stars not take away...it's all about the personal preferences.

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An audio book of 'Don't Let Go' was graciously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I can say with a certainty that it's been well over 4 years since I read the book and when I saw it on Audible with Sean Crisden as the narrator well I was all in on this one. It sounded like such a good idea and while I did enjoy the audio book I didn't love it the way I had when I read the book originally. 

I can say with a certainty that the narration was well done and I thoroughly enjoyed that part of the experience. I don't feel like it was any one thing that kept me from connecting with this story as strongly as I did the first time...it was more a case of a lot of little disconnects that just kept things from working quite as well as they had originally...things that either didn't bother me the first time or that I just didn't pick-up on the first time around. 

I have to admit I was really looking forward to enjoying this one on audio and to say the least I was more than a little disappointed at the end of it all when I realized that while I liked the audio book I didn't love the story the way that I had originally and sometimes that's what happens. I know there have been other books that I've re-read/listen to that I originally read years ago and my thoughts and feelings haven't changed or I've maybe even liked them a little more than the first time around but every once in a while things don't workout that way and sadly this was one of them.