...life just makes that decision for you. That’s what happened when I got asked if I wanted to review the audio book for ‘The Prince and His Bedeviled Bodyguard’ by Charlie Cochet. I figured why not…author who writes one of my absolute favorite series and a narrator who has never failed to provide me with anything less than an excellent audio experience…how could I lose? So, right there I was off to a good start. But what I didn’t count on was getting a story that was just simply so cute, entertaining and simply adorable that I would basically smile and laugh…in all the best possible ways from start to finish.

Prince Owin is an ocelot shifter…he’s also a little bit vain, somewhat self involved and about to embark on the most important quest of his life to prove himself worthy of the crown for Ocelot shifters and not the slightest bit attracted to the annoying oversized canine shifter that he can’t seem to divest himself of.

Grimmwolf had no idea what he was in for when the King of All Shifters asked him to be Prince Owin’s bodyguard. Piece of cake, right? I mean really how big of a problem can it be for a big alpha werewolf to keep an adorable little Ocelot shifter Prince safe? Even if he is a bit crankier than your average cat shifter.

I was already fairly certain that I was going to get an enjoyable and entertaining story going into this one, but what I didn’t realize was that I’d get a story that would have me smiling and laughing from start to finish.

Had this been a longer story I might have found the constant snipping and snark between these two characters to be less than entertaining but that was not the case here because most of the time I was just too busy enjoying how much Grimm’s calm and unflappable nature seemed to contribute to both Owin’s annoyance and his attraction. Grimm on the other hand sees right through Owin’s vane, arrogant and somewhat self-absorbed persona. Grimm sees the kind and caring person that Owin thinks he’s got so well disguised and Grimm knows that there’s something special between him and Grimm and he also knows that making Owin see this is going to be his biggest challenge.

Greg (Tremblay) Boudreaux is the narrator for this light and entertaining shifter tale and once again he’s done an excellent job of capturing all of the snark and humor contained in this story. I can honestly say that without a doubt this is my most listened to narrator and that’s not allowing for the numerous times I’ve done a replay on an audiobook, whether he’s working under the surname of ‘Tremblay’ or ‘Boudreaux’ I know if Greg (Tremblay) Boudreaux is the narrator, I’m not going to be disappointed with what I hear.

‘The Prince and His Bedeviled Bodyguard’ is the first book in Charlie Cochet’s latest series ‘Paranormal Princes’ and until I listened to this first book in the series, I admit I was seriously considering taking a pass on things since paranormal and shifters aren’t genres high on my reading list but quite honestly I’ve revised that decision and I’m looking forward to finding out what the King of All Shifters has in-store for the rest of his shifter princes.

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An audio book of ‘The Prince and His Bedeviled Bodyguard’ was graciously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

From the bigger picture issue of sexual assault and violent crimes in the setting of academia, Janice Jarrell takes us into the lives of four men, giving us a very up close and personal look at how one act of violence touches their lives...bringing them together, driving them apart, making each man look more closely at what he has, what he could loose and ultimately what he's willing to do to keep it.

'Love's Magic' isn't an epic or grand action or romance story, but rather it's a story about how one event unfolded to touch the lives of four men.  We begin with David and Nate, who are in a committed relationship at the start of the story and we follow them as they each struggle to deal with Nate's attack. While each man's reaction to events is distinctly different their love for each other and their desire not to give up on the relationship that means so much to them remains strong within their hearts. It's going to take a lot of introspection on both of their parts to find their way back to each other. 

When Professor David Gardener gets a call telling him that Professor Nate Reese, the man he lives with and loves more than life itself has been seriously injured preventing the assault of one of the college's students all he can think about is getting to his lover. What neither David nor Nate could possibly foretell was how much their lives and the lives of those around them would be affected.

As the reader, or in this case the listener, follows David and Nate, while each man deals with the effects of Nate's attack in their own way we are introduced to a number of secondary characters and while our look at the effects on their lives isn't as in depth as that of David and Nate it is undeniably present from the strain it creates between David and his fellow professors to the bond that forms between Nate and the guardian of the student he rescued to how it draws Sergeant Colin Campbell from the campus police  and Dr. Joshua Abrams, the colleges Title IX Consultant, together...ultimately becoming the catalyst that pushes them apart leaving Colin on his own to deal with the memory of events from his past that could keep him from having the future that in his heart he knows he wants with Joshua. 

Ms Jarrell has created four characters that are all very likable and by the end of this story I was a fan of all four men...each of them containing their own admirable traits and imperfections...making all of them seem not just human but so very likable and real. While the focus of the story is David and Nate along with Colin and Joshua the author also weaves other characters into the story giving a more thorough and well rounded picture of the story's events along with who and how their lives were touched. At the end of it all we are essentially given David and Joshua's story with a solid HEA and we are left with Colin and Joshua in a good place. 

If you’re looking for a steamy, sex fixes everything story than I have to admit you’re probably going to be disappointed. That’s not to say that there aren’t any sexy times here but the sex in this one is very much a part of the relationships and often times almost fade to black and not a driving force of the story. This ones definitely more plot driven than sex dependent and if you’re a fan of stories where it take more than some dazzling sex for the MCs to be able to overcome obstacles and get their lives on track than I think maybe like me, you won’t be disappointed.

I'm not really sure what I was expecting when I started this one but what I got was a story that drew me in, was compelling, realistic and told with very believable characters and was narrated by new to me narrator Walker Williams, who did a superb job of giving added depth and emotion to both the story and the characters while bringing them to life. While his overall narration was enjoyable for me his voices for David, Nate, Colin and Joshua connected incredibly well with each of the characters and meshed perfectly with the images that I had in my mind. So in the end what I was given was a story that I loved and that I’m looking forward to continuing with more of in regards to Colin and Joshua but if David and Nate turn up from time to time you can be sure that this listener/reader will be doing a bit of a happy dance.

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An audio book of "Love's Magic" was graciously provided by the 'Gay Book Promotions' in exchange for an honest review.

Ok, before I get to far down this rabbit hole I just need to say...no matter how hard I tried this one bored me. But in fairness to the book I think a solid part of the blame for this rest on my shoulders as well.

Honestly I've seen so many amazing reviews about this book that I'm not sure if any book stood a chance of meeting my expectations...yes, even my absolute #1 go to favorite because every book he writes is amazing author...Greg Iles, for those of you who don't already know this about me...well, I think even he may not have been able to meet the expectations that I had by the time I finally got to this audio book.

This was spies/hired assassins/espionage and I usually enjoy stories along these lines. But this time around the pacing was off and I just found that things were getting drawn out and taking to long to progress. I felt that this was at least due in part to the fact that things jumped back and forth along the time line on a fairly regular basis and for me the whole keeping track of whether events were in the present or the past just got to be a bit tedious and distracting resulting in me being distracted from my overall enjoyment of the story.

As for the characters Jack was ok. I didn't mind him nor did I really like him...he was there and as for the secondary characters they were there and truthfully no one really stuck out in my mind.

There were three things that were saving graces for me with this story...the first one was Ethan Blade. He was definitely both an interesting and unique character for this story. I love it when a character is morally ambiguous leaving the reader to wonder who is truly the hero and who's the villain or is it really a question that has a clear answer.

Overall the story line was solid and the connection between Jack and Blade lends itself quite nicely to future events both throwing these two men together as allies or possibly leaving them on opposite sides of a conflict. Whichever way it happens there are definite possibilities.

Last but not least Rowan Scott, a new to me narrator, did an excellent job of narrating this 10 hour and 31 minute story that was also by new to me author L.J. Hayward and played a very definite role in getting me through this one from start to finish.

While this wasn't an "over-the-moon-5-star-oh-my-god-give-me-more!" story for me. It was a story that turned out to be 'just ok' and also held some potential and I think for me the question is does it hold enough potential for me to want to continue with this series...right now my honest answer is "I don't know." but I will say if you liked this story I strongly encourage checking out the audio book...story aside I very much enjoyed the narration on this and I'm looking forward to opportunities to enjoy future narrations by Rowan Scott and as for the story mine is only one very dissenting opinion among the many who have read and truly loved this story so, in fairness to this story and yourself...sit back and check out the many other awesome reviews here on Goodreads before deciding.

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An audio book of 'Where Death Meets the Devil' was graciously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! I've been wanting to read a book by this author for ages now and it just seemed like this was not going to happen so when I was offered the opportunity to listen to this one on audio narrated by a new to me narrator...Vance Bastian...you can bet that I ran off to audible to listen to the sample and yes my fingers were crossed as I diligently listened and hoped that I would like this new to me combo and well...needless to say I got my own little Christmas miracle (I got this one on Dec. 24th so who am I to dispute this). 

'Vanilla Clouds' for me was like a breath of fresh air. Roe Horvat has taken some things that logically speaking either shouldn't be believable or at the very least shouldn't work...don't sweat it, it all works. I love a sweet love story that leaves me feeling just a little starry eyed at the end and when it came to Magnus and Michal I was feeling more than a little starry eyed. These two men were beyond adorable together.

Magnus is in love with Michal before they ever meet and if truth be told his feelings are reciprocated. They've been on-line friends for a while now and sadly because of things (yep, read the story if you need more details) Michal refuses to meet Magnus. But Magnus is not a man who readily admits defeat and he's willing to risk whatever he has to for a chance with the man he knows he loves...Hell Yeah!!! I was cheering for Magnus.

'Vanilla Clouds' gives us a different setting...we're not in Kansas (code for the US) anymore or even Canada...the setting is Sweden we've got a Swedish MC and a Polish MC, we've got loving and supportive parents  and one kick-ass roommate...no seriously she can kick-...

We've got chocolate and let me just say I'm not a big lover of chocolate...don't hate me but if it's really good chocolate I can get on board with things.

We've got an age difference and once again not a fan but if it's done well and done right...again I can get on board.

We've got an MC who's healing from a horrible experience and working really hard to find his footing in the world again and we've got another MC who wants to help him. Who believes in him and wants to be there for him. To help make his world a better place.

I know a lot of us say we don't believe in love at first sight but this one begs the question 'if you don't believe in love at first sight...how do feel about love when it's sight unseen?' for me, Roe Horvat made it work.

On top of all this we have Vance Bastian the narrator who so perfectly captured the characters and the atmosphere of this story for me.

Needless to say my first Roe Horvat story was a definite success as was my first Vance Bastian audio experience...so of course, I'm a fan...of both.

At just under 4 hours if you're not familiar with either this author or the narrator than this really is a golden opportunity and if you are familiar this is a chance to enjoy a love story that's sweet and will very possibly leave you feeling a little starry eyed. 

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An audio book of 'Vanilla Clouds' was graciously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

I first read this story last year and found it to be a delightful holiday story about pretend boyfriends who fall in love. I was going to attempt write an entirely new review for this one but when I revisited my original review I found that much of what is there still very accurately reflects my thoughts about this sweet story so I'm just going to borrow some of what I wrote before and add my thoughts on the audio component of this story...

Derek feels like his life is spinning out of control. He’s feeling like the job he has is neither the job he was supposed to get or the one he wanted, he’s at odds with his parents and feels like they’re constantly trying to marry him off. If he could just catch a break, put a little distance between him and the rest of the world.

 

Derek finds his buffer in the form of Luke…a former fireman who’s in need of twenty thousand dollars to finish paying or the renovations to on Halligans, his family’s bar in NY’s Financial District. So, when Luke’s friend asks him for a favor…a favor that will bring in Luke’s much needed money. Luke finds himself reluctantly agreeing to be Derek’s pretend boyfriend for the holidays…4 dates that’s all he needs to get through and then he’ll have the money he needs…what could possibly go wrong with just 4 dates?

 

What neither Derek or Luke is prepared for is that things would go right…so much righter than either man is prepared for as they find that not only is there a definite attraction between them but as they get to know each other they’re also finding that they like each other.

 

I admit I was fairly certain that I was going to enjoy this one before I even opened the book…the author’s R.J. Scott and for me that pretty well makes it a done deal. For me Luke was the perfect person for Derek. He saw past Derek’s exterior with his pretense of confidence in an effort to cover his insecurities. Luke saw a talented man that he knew he could both like and respect. For Derek, Luke was his dream man come to life.

 

One of the things about this story that really capture my attention was the relationship dynamics between Derek and his parents. So often in stories the relationship between adult children and their parents are portrayed as either being good or not good but for Derek and his parents that’s not the case. Derek loves his parents and they love him and are supportive of him, but Derek doesn’t see it this way and that’s largely due to a communication issue or more accurately a case of miscommunication. Which for Derek is a more common event in his life than it needs to be because of the defensive barrier he’s built around himself.

 

Luke’s efforts to get past Derek and his façade of confidence has a trickle-down effect on Derek’s life allowing him to re-evaluate his interactions not just with Luke but a lot of the other people in his life…colleagues, friends and his parents.

For me the fake-boyfriend to boyfriend premise of this story was well done. It was sweet, and not only did we get to see the relationship develop between these two, but we got to find out a bit more about each of them, their past, their present and what they wanted for their future.

Sean Crisden was the narrator for this story, so along with revisiting a story I liked by an author I really like. I get to listen to one of my favorite narrators read said story. Sean Crisden is one of those narrators whose voice has this laid back tone to it that just draws me into a story allowing me to relax and just enjoy what I'm listening to. For me the whole choice of what audio narrators a person likes is such a personal and subjective issue because it's not just a matter of the narrator it's also about the right narrator for the right book and when it came to this book, I'm not saying that another narrator couldn't have also done a good job but I am saying that for me...Sean Crisden did an excellent job in capturing the characters and the spirit of the holiday season contained within the pages of this story.

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An audio book of 'Love Happens Anyway' was graciously provided by Signal Boost Promo in exchange for an honest review.