Audio Review: Salvation by Sloane Kennedy

Salvation (The Protectors #2) by Sloane Kennedy, Narration by Joel Leslie
Audible, Amazon, Goodreads
Time: 7hrs and 56 minutes

3 Pants Off

Blurb: "I lifted my gaze to tell Seth no but then I saw it. The thing I'd feared I'd lost. It wasn't hero worship or the wayward emotions of an innocent child. And it wasn't some distorted reflection of a man who no longer existed. All I saw was me...the way he saw me." (Ronan)

Trauma surgeon Ronan Grisham lost everything the day the man he loved was stolen from him in a brutal attack. Driven by a thirst for vengeance, he turns his hatred into building an underground group that can do what he couldn't that fateful day...take the lives of the guilty to save the lives of the innocent. But years later, he's forced to confront the one link to his past that he can't sever.

Seven years after the loss of his parents in a violent home invasion that left him permanently scarred both inside and out, 21-year-old Seth Nichols is trying to put his life back together so he can take over the reins of his father's global shipping empire. But the last person he expects to come back into his life is the man he drove away with one innocent, stolen kiss.

With one brush of his lips, Seth managed to do to Ronan what no other had since the day Ronan watched the light in his fiancé's eyes go out forever. He made him need again. But Ronan can't need anyone, least of all his dead fiancé's younger brother. Because even one touch from Seth could shatter Ronan's carefully constructed world and Ronan knows there's no coming back from that a second time.

But when a series of escalating attacks against Seth forces Ronan back into his life, Seth knows it's his last chance to show Ronan he can be the man the broken surgeon needs. Only the Ronan who returns isn't the Ronan Seth fell in love with so long ago....

Can Seth be Ronan's salvation or will he end up destroying them both?

Review 

The Story: 3 Pants Off 

What in all the drama was this?  

Ronan Grisham. Trauma Surgeon, lover, and a fighter. Ronan had it all with the man he loved until tragedy came in and took everything from him. When he was given the opportunity to seek revenge he took the path he now walks as a Protector. Ronan is in charge of elite bunch of killers who rid the world of the worst type of scum. He’s very much detached from life but is all about his job. Then there’s Seth, beautiful innocent Seth the little brother of his slain lover. 

The things Ronan is feeling for Seth is a complication he doesn’t need but when Seth is assaulted Ronan makes his grand appearance into his life once again. It seems Ronan is here to stay when the violence against Seth starts to escalate to the point of dangerous 😜 and he needs to protect him. But sparks are flying and Seth has made it quite clear his feelings for Ronan hasn’t changed, and Ronan has never been able to deny Seth. 

This begins a push and pull of a man falling for his dead lovers little brother, and protecting him from harm.  

Seriously, this book had so much stuff going on and by stuff I mean all the bad happening that have happened to Seth. His parents are murdered and he was violently hurt in the process, his brother gets murdered and he’s left alone, then someone is trying to kill him now. It was just all a little too much and it just kept getting more ridiculous. This is only my second book in the series but it’s the most ridiculous so far and that’s counting that in the first book a man almost shot another man because he thought he was a pedophile 😩. 

Overall, ridiculousness x10 and Seth and Ronan didn’t really do anything for me 🤷🏽‍♀️ 

The Narration: 2 Pants Off 

🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😭😭😭 those emojis are my reaction to my listening experience. There was just so much emoting especially on Ronan’s part. Who in the world thought this was acceptable? I’d like to have a word please. 

Joel Leslie you did a bad job here sir, and while the story should have been angst ridden I found myself laughing at random points and I couldn’t take anything seriously.  

What a complete and utter disappointment. The story was already lacking and the narration just made it all the worse. 

It’s a no for me dawg. 

Review: The Charlatan's Conquest by Vivien Dean

The Charlatan's Conquest (Phantom Fixers #1) (Dreamspun Beyond #2) by Vivien Dean
Dreamspinner Press, Goodreads, Amazon, Audible
Novel: 216pgs

3 Pants Off

Blurb: A Phantom Fixers Story

With love and ghosts, the challenge is figuring out what’s real.

Software engineer Cruz Guthrie needs money for his sister’s cancer treatments. He needs it so badly he’s willing to stand in for a ghost hunter friend and investigate a millionaire’s supposed specters. It should be an easy gig—after all, nobody thinks the haunting is real.

Neurological researcher Brody Weber is furious that Cruz would take advantage of Brody’s father. But his mind changes when spirits manifest—and he realizes Cruz genuinely wants to help. When they learn the paranormal activity centers on Brody, Cruz is willing to fight to free Brody from the entities determined to make his life miserable. With a little help from friends and family—both living and dead—they must figure out why Brody is attracting spirits and how to banish them. Only then can they pursue a future together.

Review

The Charlatans Conquest is the second book in the Dreamspun Beyond series and quite a disappointment for me. I really wanted to like it because ghosts man but failed to wow me… 

Cruz Guthrie has decided to fill in for his ghost hunter best friend. While he isn’t 100% behind the idea he would greatly benefit from the twenty thousand payout that would help with his sister medical bills. He doesn’t like the idea of doing a job that Etienne has already proven the lack of ghosts but the client is sure that he is being haunted and won’t take no for an answer. So spending 2wks doing a house cleansing seems like a money making vacation. What should have been a super easy job comes with some complications when the clients son Brody Weber shows up, and clearly Etienne was wrong because the house is haunted and there is more than one ghost. 

Brody doesn’t want anyone taking advantage of his father and clearly this charlatan is. Pretending he’s a ghost hunter and feeding his father s disillusionment, but Brody has got a secret that makes him a hypocrite and also a tad bit on the stupid side. Brody knows his father isn’t being haunted and he knows the strange happenings have everything to do with him. For someone who deals in neurology his brain is real slow on the uptake.  Now he has to deal with his attraction for Cruz and also realize for all these years his ass has been haunted by some trouble-making possible malevolent ghosts (who knew).  

Now it’s up to Cruz and Brody to figure out how to rid Brody of his hitchhikers while also falling into serious like. Cruz is this sweet family orientated guy who really wants to help Brody and Brody just wants to have a little bit of normalcy. Things are moving forward but first they’ve got to exercise some ghost. 

I wanted to like this a lot more because umm ghost and creepy are my thing but this really failed to spook or keep my interest. The writing was good, and the story was nice but overall I became bored and lost interest. The relationship between Cruz and Brody is hella sweet and Cruz’s friend Etienne offers up some intrigue as to how he started seeing ghost and made it his job, so I’m definitely interested in that. Otherwise there wasn’t much here for me. 

Overall, an alright read but it missed its mark with me….

Audiobook Review: Permanent Ink by Piper Vaughn & Avon Gale

Permanent Ink (Art & Soul #1) by Piper Vaughn & Avon Gale
Narration: Kirt Graves Audible, Goodreads, Amazon
Time: 7hrs and 7 minutes

3 Pants Off

Blurb: At twenty-three, Poe Montgomery is going nowhere. He still lives in his father’s basement and spends most of his time tagging with his friends. When an arrest lands him in debt, Poe accepts the front desk job at Permanent Ink, the tattoo shop owned by his father’s best friend, Jericho McAslan. Jericho is nearly twice Poe’s age, but with his ink and prematurely graying hair, he quickly takes the starring role in Poe’s hottest fantasies.

Jericho is known for his ability to transform poorly designed tattoos into works of art, but he was once as aimless and misdirected as Poe. Wanting to pay it forward the way someone once did for him, Jericho makes Poe his apprentice and is determined to keep things strictly professional. Easier said than done when Poe makes his interest—and his daddy kink—abundantly clear.

Jericho can’t resist Poe or their intense chemistry for long. But between the age gap, tension with Poe’s father, and Poe’s best friend calling him a sellout, they’ll need to ensure they’re both on the same page before they can rewrite their rocky start into something permanent.

Review

 PERMANENT FAILURE

I’m going to lead off with this is my first audiobook review so don’t hold it against me. So here goes… 

The Story: 3 Pants Off 

I was very excited to listen this one and I am just sad that it didn’t deliver. 

Poe Montgomery lives the life of a punk ass kid. He’s got crazy artistic talent but he spends his time tagging private property with his best friend. He’s been in trouble before but what he fails to realize that he’s older and a more slip ups will have him serving time. His dad has had enough of getting him out of jail, and getting on his dads bad side is a bad move since he’s basically supporting him.  But Poe is an artiste 👨‍🎨 and his talent cannot be contained. When his fathers best-friend offers him a job at his tattoo parlour he accepts grudgingly. Poe soon starts to realize that setting a foundation isn’t selling out, and the talent that he has can be used to make many people happy and it’s legal too. 

Jericho owner of Permanent Ink decides to take on his best friends son as an apprentice to keep him out of trouble. What Jericho never expected was to be getting lust filled for the brat, and Poe is strictly of limits because 1, the boy is young enough to be his kid and 2, he’s the son of a friend and that alone puts him in the no fuck zone.  

I was hoping to really like this one a lot. It has some of my fave things. The daddy kink (supossebly), tattooed dudes, and that whole disciplinary type of feel but the story didn’t quite deliver. It wasn’t as hot as I’d hoped and Poe and Jericho lacked chemistry. In the end I just had meh-ish feels. The plotty device with Poe’s best-friend failed to add excitement it only highlighted Poe’s immaturity and that brought down my enjoyment of the story. 

Also Daddy Kink!! Bitch where??? 

The Narration by Kirt Graves: 2.75 – 3 Pants Off 

I think if I had read the book I might have liked it more, because the narration wasn’t working for me. I felt like Jericho needed a stronger voice, something amidst that of a Vin Diesel level; strong and commanding. I have this weird thing with voices and sounds, I get annoyed enough that there are people I just don’t want to hear speak. While I didn’t hate the narration, it wasn’t doing me any favours. I listen to audiobooks when I’m doing errands and such, so I get to enjoy sexy scenes in the outdoors and usually sometimes I be blushing or smirking but for this one I felt nothing. The sexy times was read like the regular stuff and I felt nothing. 

Permanent Ink was a total letdown in the story and for my ears!!! 

SideNote- In a weird way I’m kinda looking forward to book 2 but I think I’ll go ahead and read the book for that one.  

Review: Forgive and Forget by Charlie Cochet

Forgive and Forget (Dreamspun Desires #7) by Charlie Cochet
Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, Goodreads
Novella : 194pgs

3 Pants Off

Blurb: He's hot. He's dangerous. And he can't remember anything.

As the owner of Apple’n Pies, Joe Applin leads a quiet, uneventful life, content to spend his days serving customers who come from all over to eat his delicious homemade pies. Along with his motley crew—Bea, Elsie, and Donnie—Joe couldn’t be happier in his little kingdom of baked goods and java.

Experience has taught Joe that love is overrated—and at times dangerous. He has no intention of repeating past mistakes. But then he meets a mysterious, handsome man with amnesia, and Joe can’t deny something sweet is in the works. He isn’t one to take risks, not with his heart and certainly not with his life, but the more time he spends with the man he knows as Tom, the closer he is to losing both.

Review

In all the years in all the lands this is my first time reading Charlie Cochet and I won’t hold this story against her because I know what to expect when reading the Dreamspun Desires imprint. Forgive and Forget is exactly how I’m feeling when it comes to this story. 

Joe Applin likes his quiet life running his pie shop with his eclectic friends that make up his family. Baking is what he does best and he gets super happy when people get happy eating his pies. While life might not be super exciting, it’s really quite fulfilling. Well things take a turn for the exciting when Joe finds himself caring for a strange beautiful man with amnesia. He has to help the man that he named Tom figure out who he is while keeping his heart in check, because Tom might be married and living a full life somewhere else and when he regains his memories Joe worries about just becoming another memory. 

Seems Tom wasn’t living the white picket fence life and suddenly cops and sketchy dudes are invading Joe’s space. All of Joe's protective instincts are going off and he knows he has to keep Tom safe during the recovery of his memories. Apple n’ Pies just took on more than they can bake. 

Mostly I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I’d hoped. The story is hella cute but the delivery was a let down. There was way too much story packed in here and close to the ending it all started feeling rushed. Joe and Tom lacked spark for me, and the little surprise about their meeting each other was just too cliché. The writing and flow is good so I got through it quite quickly and was never bored. I just wanted more, and overall it all felt very cheesy. 

As I said, this won’t set the tone for me when it comes to reading Charlie Cochet and will check out her other works. In this instance I’m willing to forgive and forget 😈

  

Review: Captain Merric by Rebecca Cohen

Captain Merric by Rebecca Cohen
Amazon, Goodreads
Novel: 200pgs

3 Pants Off

Blurb: A tale of pirates, lost love, and the fight for a happy ending.

After he’s set adrift and left to die by his mutinous crew, the last person Royal Navy officer Daniel Horton expects to come to his rescue is Captain Merric. An infamous pirate, Merric is known as much for stealing his victims’ hearts as their jewels. Daniel’s world is about to be turned upside down when he recognises Captain Merric as none other than Edward Merriston, someone he thought he'd never see again. Edward can’t believe Daniel Horton is aboard his ship. While Edward is willing to do anything he can to get a second chance at their happy ending, Daniel isn’t interested in digging up the past. But Daniel is one priceless treasure Captain Merric isn’t about to let go of without a fight.


Captain Merric first appeared as short story in a pirate-themed anthology. Now completely rewritten and extended he is ready to set sail again.

Review

CAPTAIN NOT A PIRATE

When I saw that this book was a pirate love story, best believe I was on it like white on rice or brown on rice 🤔. Let’s just say I was hella excited and your hope is that when you’re super excited about a book it doesn’t go and let you down. While Captain Merric wasn’t a letdown per se it really wasn’t a hard hit and it crumpled all the amp I was feeling for it. 

Daniel Horton. Captain in the Queens Navy spending most of his life at see battling against the French. His life is being on the open waters and love and family falls behind his duty. When his scheming ass crew commits mutiny and leaves him at sea to die. Daniel surely expects to waste away on the open sea without food and water but fate has other plans. Those plans includes a pirate, his ship, and a long lost love. 

Captain Merric pirate extraordinaire. He enjoys life on the open sea and has more money than he knows what do with. Life on the sea is harsh and Merric longs for a quiet life farming and just living. When they spot a person on the open sea close to death, Merric never expected it to be his long lost love Daniel. As boys they were so in love with each other but circumstances separated them where Merric thought Daniel had forsaken their love, and Daniel thought Merric his real name Edward dead.  

Now Daniel is aboard a pirate ship faced with his love of old and feelings he thought long gone. While Edward is not the man he remembers he is still the man he loved deeply. They are now two men changed by death and the sea, and while Daniel lived a life of celibacy Edward got his dick wet a lot and it had nothing to do with the sea. Edward wants to pick up where they left off but Daniel is afraid he won’t be enough for him since he moved on so quickly without him. Also he has a mutinous crew for him to see hanged. 

This is a story of love lost and gained again. I can’t on good authority call this a pirate tale because I’m still waiting for the pirate stuff. There was a lot of telling and no showing and I didn’t get the pirate feels at all. Edward and Daniel (well mostly Daniel) did a lot of push and pull and angst over unnecessary things. He wanted then he didn’t want, he was upset but then he wasn’t upset, he couldn’t make up his mind on his feelings.  

I think my biggest problem was that it was just too sweet and it lacked excitement. While the writing is pretty good, I always find myself having a hard time connecting to Rebecca Cohen’s writing. It’s like the story is always on the precipice of being great but it never quite crosses the line to greatness. Captain Merric felt safe and I really just wanted more. If Daniel and Edward had no former connection I would have enjoyed it more. 

Overall, it was an alright story. I wanted to like it a lot more cus pirate and that cover but it didn’t quite impress me. I found Daniel whiny and Edward (Captain Merric) so not very pirate like. As I said a lot of telling no showing and so the pirate life on the open see didn’t quite come across.