Audiobook Review: Slammed (Slammed #1) by Colleen Hoover

Slammed
By Colleen Hoover

Series: Slammed #1

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Mature Young Adult
Publisher: Self Published
Narrated by: Heidi Baker

Goodreads Summary:

Following the unexpected death of her father, 18-year-old Layken is forced to be the rock for both her mother and younger brother. Outwardly, she appears resilient and tenacious, but inwardly, she’s losing hope.

Enter Will Cooper: The attractive, 21-year-old new neighbor with an intriguing passion for slam poetry and a unique sense of humor. Within days of their introduction, Will and Layken form an intense emotional connection, leaving Layken with a renewed sense of hope.

Not long after an intense, heart-stopping first date, they are slammed to the core when a shocking revelation forces their new relationship to a sudden halt. Daily interactions become impossible painful as they struggle to find a balance between the feelings that pull them together, and the secret that keeps them apart.

Links:

Slammed on Goodreads, Amazon, Audible, and Barnes & Noble

Colleen Hoover’s website

My Thoughts:

“Not long after an intense, heart-stopping first date, they are slammed to the core when a shocking revelation forces their new relationship to a sudden halt.”

That really says it all. They have such a good thing but as we’re all too aware, not all good things can last. Both Will & Layken are both so sweet and it’s a shame that they’re stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Layken was somewhat oblivious to a lot of things, but she’s young so I gave her a pass on that. Just a random side note: I love the name Layken and nickname Lake…it’s so unique unlike my uber common name!

This was the 2^nd audiobook I’ve listened to and I have to say it was another great choice. Thank you to the woman at the Armentrout/Kemmerer/Higgins signing in November for recommending it. I didn’t get your name but you were right, it’s great! I’ve never been to a slam so it was fun getting to hear them throughout the book. Some of the slams were more…I guess you could say powerful than others but they were all enjoyable.

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Audiobook Review: Shameless by Tori Carrington

Shameless
By Tori Carrington

 Stand Alone Novel

Genre: Adult, Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Harlequin Blaze   
Narrated by: Savannah Richards

Goodreads Summary:

An indecent proposal. A friendship betrayed. One-night only anonymous sex with a stranger? Seems too wanton even for Nina Leonard. Until it’s insinuated that the mystery man might be one of her business partners—two guys she adores who also happen to be complete hotties.

Out comes the blindfold, and Nina has the steamiest night of her life. Now she’s got to have more—only, no one’s fessing up.

One of her two best friends rocked her world that night. But which one was it?

If she guesses wrong, she could lose them both...

 

Links:

 

Shameless on Goodreads, Amazon,  Audible, and Barnes & Noble

Tori Carrington's Website

My Thoughts:

Honestly, I listened to this out of sheer curiosity. I’m still pretty new to the world of audiobooks and I was wondering how sex scenes would be when read aloud. Don’t judge, it’s human nature to be curious…or at least that’s what I’m telling myself ;-P.

Anyway I decided to go with Shameless because it’s a lot shorter than most audiobooks but it surprised me by being a really good book. I was quickly caught up with the three main characters, their business (hello, a bookstore <3), and their ‘proposition’. I laughed with them and even yelled at them. I fit in listening to Shameless every second I could…while driving, eating, walking from my car to a meeting, I couldn’t get enough. But back to the sex via audiobook topic, surprisingly I wasn’t skeeved out while listening. Of course these scenes were fairly tame so maybe I will change my tune if I come across a more risqué book but as of now it doesn’t bother me.

Aaaand on to a nitpick...

I don’t know if it’s something common to Harlequin audiobooks but the music at the beginning…I just cannot even begin to explain the level of corny! Haha. Aside from that it was also annoying as     h e-double hockey sticks because the music played over some of the words making it difficult to follow along. That and the British accent of one of the characters are my only complaints about the audiobook itself.

One more thing that I wanted to mention, there is a slightly rough sex scene in this book. It’s fairly short but it was my least favorite part of the book. I wanted to bring it up because if that’s a big turn off for you then you may want to avoid the book.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

Audiobook Review: Stained by Cheryl Rainfield

Stained
By Cheryl Rainfield

Stand Alone Novel

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Suspense
Publisher: Hough Mifflin Harcort
Narrated by: Emily Bauer & Kirby Heyborne

Goodreads Summary:

An intensely powerful account of a teen, bullied for her port-wine stain, who must summon her personal strength to survive abduction and horrific abuse at the hands of a deranged killer.

Sixteen-year-old Sarah Meadows longs for “normal”. Born with a port wine stain covering half her face, all her life she’s been plagued by stares, giggles, bullying, and disgust. But when she’s abducted on the way home from school, Sarah is forced to uncover the courage she never knew she had, become the hero rather than a victim, and learn to look beyond her face to find the beauty and strength she has inside. It’s that- or succumb to a killer

Links:

Stained on Goodreads, Amazon, Audible, and Barnes & Noble

Cheryl Rainfield’s Website

My Thoughts:

I won this audiobook from the author but that in no way affected my review.

Stained was the first audiobook I listened to and I was instantly hooked. I’m hooked on audiobooks and more importantly I was hooked on Stained. It only took me an evening and part of the next morning to listen to the entire book which was almost 8 hours. Cheryl’s writing is so powerful. She broaches very difficult subjects like kidnapping and bullying, but she always manages to infuse a sense of hope into her books.

The things Sarah goes through are beyond horrible and even more heartbreaking is knowing that people experience these things in real life. Stained will make you take a look around and realize how much we take for granted and how often we judge people without realizing it.

Sarah really is a superhero. She has this fierce determination and such a kind heart. Even though this book has such a difficult subject matter there’s also a light at the end of the tunnel feeling throughout and that’s because of Sarah.

Like I said, I listened to this as an audiobook; it was written and narrated in dual points of view. Each point of view was read by a different narrator. The switching narrators didn’t bother me at all, in fact half the time I didn’t even notice it. It was definitely a good choice for  my first audiobook experience.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5