Dreamspinner presents http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5915
Blurb
With his fauxhawk, sleeve tattoos, and visible piercings, Ridley Corbin has the whole bad ass vibe going on in spades. The image serves him well as the self-proclaimed protector of the underdog, and he wants nothing more than to be Alex Firestone’s hero.
Alex, a mild-mannered library assistant, has moved to Slater, a quiet college town, hoping to hide from his past. He keeps to himself, but that doesn’t save him from catching the unwanted attention of the campus bully. But not all is as it seems. Alex’s past comes calling, and it’s time he becomes top dog.
Review
GAWD is that cover hot or what?
I love the cover and the title and the names of the MCs Ridley – stupid hot, right? And Alex – gorgeous!
I love the premise – underdog Alex needs “protection” by the uber-hot yet geeky Ridley only to turn around and be even more bad-ass than Iron Man!
I like the age – end of college, young but old enough not to feel YA.
All in all – practically perfect!
So how did the actual story hold up in the face of these expectations? Pretty well.
I thought it would be AMAZING.
It wasn’t.
But it was real damn good.
It started with a bang – Ridley acting cute-as-hell crushing on Alex, finally getting up the nerve to ask him out and then the two share a first date full of flirting and sexual innuendo over a game of pool.
Then they have sex.
WOW.
Not what you were expecting.
It is hot. Very hot.
Ridley ends up needing protection from Alex about midway through the book and the two end up spending some one on one time together which helps to cement their relationship. We see them go from super hot f*ck buddies to something more, and it gets a little sweet.
The action in between all this is fast-paced and holds your interest, but the bulk of the story is them and – well – them having sex.
I give this book high marks for hitting a lot of my buttons: geeks, deceiving appearances, college, intrigue, hot sex.
I can’t give it perfect marks because the relationship between Alex and Ridley is not all that believable. I mean, I could see them together, but we really don’t get to see much of them actually communicating or sharing themselves in more than a physical way, so I can’t really say “I know they’ll make it:”. In fact, I don’t really “know” Alex much at all. He seems to be a weird juxtaposition between his persona and his job, and I’m not sure I fully understand either character well.
Anyhow, it’s absolutely worth reading and I can definitely recommend it!
4 of 5 hearts
Audio:
Adam Dort is new to me, but he did a good job with the narration. He didn’t do a lot with Alex and Ridley’s voices, but he did add in some variation for some of the secondary characters and his female voices were not screechy like some men translate them. I thought he did the “emotional” and smexy scenes well and would look for him in the future as a narrator.
4.5 of 5 hearts
Overall, I’d rank the narration and book together as more a 4.5 of 5 hearts and would say the listening was as good or better than the reading.
