Audiobook Review: Signs of Life (Resilient Love #2) by Melanie Hansen

Successful lawyer Jeremy Speer has it all—a loving husband, a beautiful home, and a cherished dream that’s about to become reality. He’s learned not to take happiness for granted, meeting the challenges of life and love head-on with unwavering commitment and fierce devotion. A series of tragic events leave Jeremy shattered, adrift on a sea of unimaginable pain. He’s able to piece his life back together, but instead of embracing it, he merely exists, using isolation and punishing physical exertion to keep the world at bay.

High school teacher Kai Daniels has a heart for at-risk kids—he was one himself, and a teenage brush with the law and some troubled years behind bars left him scarred inside and out. With courage, hard work, and the support of friends, he’s built a fulfilling life that leaves no time for a relationship.

An intense encounter with Kai at a gay club ignites a spark in Jeremy that he thought was extinguished forever, but he’s unwilling to destroy the fragile peace he’s managed to create, and he leaves Kai humiliated and disappointed. Things should have ended there, but a bizarre occurrence brings the two together in a way neither of them expected.

Listening Length: 8 hours and 13 minutes
Narrator: Robert Nieman

Signs of Life is a hurt/comfort romance that features two damaged men that came from different walks of life that find love by chance set in Oregon.

Jeremy Speer is a lawyer whose world was turned upside down for the worst and he reacts even more worse. It took him some time but he turned it around some and functioned by shutting everything out. Kai Daniels is an alternative high school teacher who was formerly at risk himself. He's streetwise due to being raised there. He is used to to life giving you shit instead of lemons. These two happen to live in the same town and meet one fateful and very hawt night at a club.

But before we take a magical trip onto the fire that is the chemistry between Jeremy and Kai., let's discuss that beginning shall we?

The beginning! WTF? It was two of the worst things that could happen to person, consecutively. Not even 3% and it felt like the world was ready to crash in. I actually stared at my Kindle for a minute or two wondering WTF more could happen. I read/listened to the entire thing from that point with trepidation and shield over my chest cavity just waiting for the next angst attack to happen.

(No tears because...

...Book! The eyes were dry. So hah!)

Let me get what I didn't care for as much out the way, so I can get to the good stuff. The good obviously outweighed the...not as good for me.

- the students - I know there are a lot of at risk teens out in the world. I've known a few in passing, know some now. Something about the lingo the kids spoke read a little off to me. Not all the time, but sometimes. I might be overthinking it but the West Coast vibe would vary from region to region right? Why was I getting Cali vibes from these kids for a setting in Oregon. It's a niggle of mine. I can't help but mention it as I would sometimes cringe at the narrator and text (and not for he words you might think) it read less authentic. Which brings me to the next thing...

- the teenager whisperer/ walking textbook - Kai was a former juvenile delinquent who is now reformed and teaches current delinquents. Uh-huh. He was borderline perfect. But overall I like Kai just sometimes the ease ruined the realistic vibe the story had going. And the clinical terms while speaking such as dysthymia, that read more like a educate the reader moment rather than have Kai speak regularly to a lover. It's a pet peeve of mine when the dialogue gets research-y rather than having people have normal conversation. It's a info dump moment. Kai was a mix of things former street tough, teacher, informal psychologist/counselor. I feel the mix of those different facets could have been smoother.

- Leticia - I wanted just a sentence of some sort of acknowledgement from Jeremy. He was healing, letting go of his anger at life. What happened to what he did in the beginning? If he's turning a new leaf, what about that one?

My niggles didn't ruin the story. It just made me pause or wonder if this would really happen. The angst got heavy handed in the beginning but it mellowed out for the rest of the book. In fact other than mostly internal and a few communication issues, the angst was pretty low.

This is my second Robert Nieman audio book. I actually listened to his narration of book #1 and  feel the same about both books. He doesn't do a variation of voices, sometimes he might act out some action, sometimes he might pronounce words funny but he was steady. Do I think another narrator could have done a better job? Yep. He paused at odd points a few times, rushed though text where as I read didn't call for it. But it wasn't bad. His narration is more of 3.75 Hearts rounded up.

The good though? Hansen can twist a tale. Nieman didn't enhance the writing. However, I enjoyed having him read her words. Because the words were good, really good.

Smutsters, this is a book you want to eye. The sex is a-plentiful!

Listen to me... You listening? *stares* Melanie Hansen can write a fuck scene. She didn't reinvent the wheel but she sure made that motherfucker spin. Wow! It was a checklist of my faves: SNOWBALLING, RIMMING, ROUGH SEX...PUBLIC SEX!

Those two couldn't get of each other. Both had unlimited rides to PoundTown and they acted like they only had one ride left on their ticket.

I love hook up to romance stories. And at first these men didn't seem like they could get anything meaningful since the sexual tension played a major factor and (a certain someone did a major DICK MOVE--twice!) But once the fella interacted outside of the sheets, I was on board.

While this can be read as standalone, the epilogue features followup to book #1's main characters and I squeed! It also covered this book's HEA pretty nicely.

For the most part, I bought it. Kai and Jeremy are very good for each other. They will continue to help each other heal. They will fuck it up from time to time but there is a shared bond and willingness to try.

Sometimes that's all you need.

Recommended for hurt/comfort fans, for sure-- audio or eBook works just fine (though I loved reading it slightly more)!

Review: Rainbow Sprinkles (States of Love) by Anna Martin

Cooper Reed has a fairly relaxed life for someone who lives in LA. He’s no celebrity—just the guy who makes sundaes at the Dreamy Creamery, and that’s the way he likes it. The highlight of every week is the beautiful guy who turns up and orders a sundae with rainbow sprinkles. Cooper still isn’t sure if that’s a code, because he has a huge crush and the hot guy is terrible at flirting.

Drew Tanner, it turns out, is an original California dreamer. He’s as wholesome as apple pie and twice as sweet, a real-life Disney Prince at Disneyland. But while Drew’s head is in the clouds, Cooper’s feet are firmly on the ground, and their different outlooks might be more than their new relationship can take.

In the mood for something cute, light, easy and breezy? Anna Martin's Rainbow Sprinkles fits that description to a T.

Set in California, Cooper Reed is perfectly content working two jobs, one as a bartender, the other as worker/ ice cream creator at the Dreamery Creamery. He makes enough to get by and he also gets to fawn over his weekly customer with questionable ice cream tastes, Drew. Drew will combine some crazy flavors but never, ever forgets the rainbow sprinkles.

Is it a little pathetic that Mr. Rainbow Sprinkles has been delegated to wank fodder? Maybe, but Cooper's happy to keep his man of his dreams as just that in his dreams. Until one day, Drew shows a little interest.

Then dream man becomes real man. *smile*

Drew is a real live Disney prince! Okay, okay, he acts as one in nearby Disneyland. And he shows behind the Disney scenes in this book. I enjoyed the glimpses. Drew's sweetness and romantic side draws the more sarcastic Cooper in.

Both men are in mid twenties and they read their age. They fall for one another kind of quickly, kind of not, since they shared the employee/customer relationship for sometime prior to the start of the book. And like some twenty-somethings, they don't have it all figured out as of yet. The story has zero angst. We get meet cute into budding relationship into first fights and learning that when it matters, you have to communicate.

The boys drag their feet into resolving the internal conflict. That part kinda pissed me off a little. We go from one of them sending texts over and over on a daily basis (loved that) to just dropping off the face of the Earth when the going got a little tough.

I hope they work on it. I think they could.

The side characters are great and compliment Cooper and Drew. Their BFF's are cute and I was super happy with their development as well at the end.

It's my first foray into Dreamspinner Press' States of Love collection. I'd definitely return. The setting read authentic - down to the temperature, the traffic, the laid-backness. I never been to Cali but I imagine it to be something like this from what I've seen through media. There were tiny spots when the dialogue read British here and there if I had to nitpick.

I think this would work best for Anna Martin fans who like the quieter romance, fans of light, no angst reads and of course, Disney-stans.

Overall, pretty sweet.

Find on Dreamspinner Press or Goodreads!

Review: Epiphany by L.A. Stockman

Khafra has spent more than three thousand years wandering the Earth, fascinated by humanity and its many rises and falls. When he meets a young student at Cambridge, he is utterly unprepared for the effect Alfie has on him. Eager and open and full of wonder, Alfie is perhaps the perfect submissive.

While the sex is spectacular, the real surprise for Khafra is his growing love for Alfie. Such unions are grand while they last, but inevitably doomed to time and mortality. Can he open his heart one more time, for a beautiful young man whose defiance of custom and courage in the face of danger are so captivating? Or will he continue as he has for so long, living on the fringe?

Everything depends on the outcome of Epiphany.

This is Jizzmas I can get behind!

Erotic, interesting characters, some kink and action sprinkled on top with the Christmas jizz splattered to a minimum!

No jingle bells were to be found!

Set in Victorian Britain (though it reads modern), Epiphany by L.A. Stockman features a 3000 year old Egyptian vampire, Khafra, and his new 18 year old lover, Alfie. Submissive Alfie loves nothing more than serving Khafra any way he can.

Think bondage and D/s-esque bedroom play.

Epiphany isn't just hot sex, though there is a heaping pile of it. There is some plot thrown in too! Khafra has a past and keeps it hidden from vampire society. Khafra is also infatuated with young Alfie, so much so that he devised his devirginization prior to the start of this short story. Alfie and Khafra have a connection, there weren't enough pages to get into heavy detail. But for what was given, it was believable enough.

Where the author made the story unique is the vampire society and the Epiphany holiday tie-in. Vampires have different rules when it comes to consorting with humans, Khafra has to decide where Alfie stands in his immortal life very quickly. Vampires have royals just like the Brits, there's a court and everything. I've read this author's previous work and she does well with historical tinges to her story to make it interesting.

Who Khafra is exactly is certainly that. My gripe? The story didn't elaborate on Khafra's 'specialness' If he's supposed to be revered, I expected a little more than what was given. The story length doesn't get to delve into Khafra's vampire background fully. and for a 300 year old vampire, I know he lived an interesting undead life. I'd have preferred reading the story at a different starting point, maybe reading Khafra's seduction of Alfie. Established couples aren't my go to reads, but thankfully, it was still early enough in their relationship to not be a big enough issue for me.

The positives outweigh my gripes. Stockman certainly writes characters I want to know more about. I really liked that the story is staunchly HFN. The bit of action (swords!) made me happy too! Though the villain read a little out of left field to me, I guess it was necessary to help move the story along.

Overall, a hot paranormal historical erotica with a modern feel. I do think this would work best for readers who want something quick to read with just enough plot to tide them over with a bit of bite.

I'm very interested in reading more stories from this author. She has good ideas that I've discovered.

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