Fantastic narration of a unique story

This is one of my favourite series, it’s so different to any other GFY type story I’ve read and this narration absolutely nailed it.

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stunningly good

Wow. I didn't know what to expect but this exceeded all my expectations. I'm sold on this author, this narrator, and audio books in general.

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A perfect slow-burn m/m sports romance

When college student Jamie Atwood covers a mixed martial arts competition for a journalism assignment, he doesn’t expect to meet the mysterious MMA fighter, Michael Kage, let alone be offered a summer internship as Kage’s publicist. Everyone always raves about this series and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed everything Maris Black has written so I knew I’d love this. The story is told from Jamie’s POV and charts his journey from ‘straight boy on the rebound’ to ‘gay for you’ as he learns to master the role of a publicist. Compared to the SSU books, there’s surprisingly little melodrama until the final scenes, just an increasingly evolving intense relationship. Kage remains enigmatic throughout - he is compellingly powerful and tender as he pursues Jamie - but there’s lots left uncovered by the end time we reach the cliffhanger ending. JF Harding narrates perfectly, so much so that I was totally engrossed in the story and forgot he was there - he never puts a foot wrong.

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This is an amazing trilogy!

Warning: you will not be able to stop reading until you’ve finished all three books.
Kage is an extraordinary character. He is perfectly imperfect. He is troubled yet demonstrates an enviable strength. He is true alpha perfection.
This is a well developed MMA/mob/MM storyline with a 5 ⭐️ hotness level. 🔥 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Top this off with A grade narration by JF Harding.
A must read!!!

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Obsessed with this trilogy!

Loved these books. The narration was perfect. I loved the setting, the MMA training and fighting, Vegas and the rich but mysterious family.
Great characters, descriptively spicy is the absolute best ways and the perfect amount of angst and passion! Excited to read more of Maris Black’s addictive writing

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Misogynistic and Racist as hell. Trash,

"She tweaked my protective instincts like no one ever had. That is until she opened her mouth. You see, Lela's mother had married a Mexican man when Lela was very young, and she'd grown up on the Latin side of town. Her tough Barrio accent opposed her delicate Aryan appearance to a comical extent. She looked like she needed protecting, but she sounded like she might cut you if you rubbed her the wrong way."
This is in literally the first couple of minutes of the book. What is up with all these LGBTQ+ stories featuring so many instances of misogyny and blatant racism? Do better.

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Not for male readers

The narration was absolutely superb. But that was all I liked.

This book has had me on a rollercoaster since I finished it, trying to decide how much I hate it. I've decided I don't hate it as much as I originally thought when I first finished it, but I still strongly dislike it. If I think of it as a series where these two end up together I'm horrified, but as a stand alone, it's not as terrible.

Firstly, this wasn't romance, it was abuse. And if I think of them getting back together after this, I hate this book so much I want to shoot it. Messages like: "I have to love him enough to endure the pain" or "he's done so much for me, he's justified in treating me terribly when I upset him" are dangerous and toxic. But if I read it as a stand alone tragedy, it's not as terrible. It ends so badly, the message is actually pretty healthy: don't trust violent guys who want to hurt you, because they'll use you and abuse you. It's not a cliffhanger, it's the best possible way a relationship like this can go (Jamie's still alive at the end! It could have gone much worse). So yes, as a tragic stand alone, it's tolerable.

However, even without the abuse, this story had problems. It wasn't m/m. It was f/m without female body parts, and written for a female audience. Jamie didn't think like a 20 year old frat-boy/sports-guy at all. At the start, kinda, but then the story takes a rapid turn. Jamie is meant to be an athlete whose spent 3yrs in a frat, but he reads like an ignorant teenage country girl on her first visit to the big city. No way would a frat guy, or any guy whose been part of a sports team, gush about another man and not know how it's gonna sound. Also, no matter how deep Jamie's denial goes, no way would he not freak out a little when he realises he's crushing on his male MMA fighting boss. Actually, he's gonna freak out more because of the denial. And he's gonna freak out about what will happen when he returns to the frat. The Jamie at the start of this book was pretty well written, and I'd looked forward to seeing where the story went. His pride being bruised when he met a real fighter for the first time, the hero worship, was an awesome setup for a story about a younger man with a MMA fighter. Instead, the story turned into a hetero story of abuse, edited slightly to be barely superficially called m/m.


So, no, I didn't enjoy it. This was a book written by a woman, for women, about a relationship gone wrong. And that's not the kind of story I'm interested in reading.

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2 people found this helpful