Wow!! A fantastic and exciting story

This audio book was just wow! The blurb appealed to me directly, but I knew neither the author nor the narrator, so I was very excited.
I was absolutely thrilled and listened to the audio book in just two days. I just couldn't stop listening.
The writing style is great and I was already engrossed in the story after the first chapter. This is written from Jimmy's point of view. At times I would have liked to look inside Cold's head. But overall it fit.
I loved Jimmy Poe. His life turned 180 degrees when his father went to prison for killing his mother. But Jimmy is sure his father is innocent and tries everything to get him out of jail. He runs up debts and gets into trouble as a result. The mafia boss Cold Cash demands payment of the debt. It's important to know that Cold doesn't do anything without a reason and since Jimmy has nothing left, he offers his body.
Boss Cold accepts the deal - the nights are his. The two have hot sex. But what about when feelings come into play?
Both Roddy aka Cold and Jimmy have troubled pasts. Both are very interesting characters, with Jimmy being a bit naive, but everything he does, he does with abandon. I liked his relationship with his father and that he tries to stand up for himself.
And Cold I grew to love over the course of the book as well. Looking behind his facade as a mob boss reveals a likable man.
The story scores with great main protagonists, but also has equally terrific secondary characters. Jimmy's friend Maury is my favorite, but Cold's sister was totally cute too.
The story captivated me from the beginning. I loved the relationship that developed between Cold and Jimmy.
The story has everything it takes to hook the reader: interesting and layered characters, lots of suspense and drama. It's about crime with all the facets that go with it, about injustice and grief, but equally about the fight for justice. And in the background, you're always lurking for the murder of Jimmy's mother to be solved. The story was dark and gritty in places, but always lightened by endearing moments.

Scott Carousel did a perfect job voicing this audiobook. He got into the different characters and did a great job portraying each one with lots of emotion. It was an absolute pleasure to listen to this audiobook - it was exciting and entertaining and I want more!!
Thank you for this great story.

I requested a free copy of the audiobook and this is my honest opinion that I am volunteering

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Loved the narrator and the story too

Is it too soon to listen to this again? Asking for a friend...

Oh, but really! This was some really super fantastic audio right here. The narrator was phenomenal, I loved what he did with the story and the characters, it was so real like and every voice were perfect match. I loved listetning to this and I hope we got to listen to more from this series and from the narrator too.

Highly recommend it.

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Why is there nothing else by this narrator??? 😫

M/M
Mafia leader meets innocent MC
Dark romance (that isn't very dark)
light kink
Age gap
Rent boy situation (working off debt owed)
dub con (he had safewords but when the alternative is their deal ending and risking death is there really a choice)
Found family
Great supporting characters

I absolutely loved this story. Now at the very beginning I didn't think I would. I could understand that Jimmy was desperate and didn't have many choices and was so devoted to freeing his dad, but he came across so ridiculously naive and made some very stupid decisions that I just thought I wasn't going to like him or love the story. Oh how I was wrong. Once their arrangement commenced everything quickly changed. This was giving me Daddy vibes which I love, cause Jimmy was a mess and everything got good once he handed over his decisions to Cold and let Cold take care of him completely. Cold was a man of few words and was gruff but right away it was obvious that he had a weakness for Jimmy, going above and beyond for him than their agreement. Cold had been through terrible things and didn't let anyone else in.

I don't really get the low ratings on this one but to each their own. This was fast paced but not rushed, super steamy and sweet in its own special ways. It was well written with no real relationship angst. The relationship was well developed as a nice slow burn but obviously had quick steamy lust. It had fabulous characters with smoking hot chemistry between the 2 MCs and great world building. I will definitely read the others in the series.

This narrator did an amazing job. They have a wonderful reading voice. They expressed all the emotions fabulously and brought the story to life. They did voices for all of the characters thar were all pleasant and suited the characters great. Also, singing!

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Good gangsters.

This is one of my favourite books so to now have it in audible book is brilliant, Scott’s voice is so good.
A gangster story that grips and thrills you from the start, Cold is a complex yet wonderful character who commands Jimmy's attention and list from their first meeting. I really enjoyed this and will be re- listening to this time and again, while I wait for the second book to come out on Audible.

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My honest review

I absolutely fell in love with this book and the characters, The personalities I do wish the rest of the series was on audible

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I don't feel this is a really dark story

I enjoyed this story. There are so many ironic meetings that happen in this story. Jimmy life has going wrong since his mom was murdered. He has spent his time and resources since trying to get his dad released from prison. He has borrowed and spent everything he can trying to free his dad so when he can’t make his loan payments he gets a surprise when the mafia boss himself shows up to collect. This is the beginning of Jimmy finding a way to pay back his loan and the relationship that grows with the mafia boss. I listened to this for a lighter easy read and it is. I could not take it serious as a mystery since there are a few flaws in it. I enjoyed Jimmy’s humor. I think the interaction with the characters are funny. While I enjoyed the story, I felt Scott Carousel did the wrong voice for a mafia boss. To me it sounded like an old crickety man instead of a strong mafia boss. His narration of Jimmy was good.

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Business turns to something more

What starts as a business arrangement for Jimmy to pay his debt to mafia boss Cold quickly turns to something much more intense and emotional for both men. This is a steamy as well as emotional story with surprises for both main characters. The performance by Scoot Carousel is excellent. We can hear the changes in their feelings for each other as well as their mutual surprise that things are going the way they are. Extremely enjoyable story and performance.

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Wicked

Dark, intriguing and steamy, this is a hell of a ride!
Told solely from Jimmy's point of view, I would have loved to get inside Cold's head and see what he was thinking. There are elements and hints of a fifty shades vibe throughout the story but their connection goes beyond a "deal" quite quickly.
This story is fast paced, thrilling and interesting I couldn't put it down, I want to know more about these two and all the other Gentlemen! I was hooked.

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Great Dark Mafia romance

This was a new author and narrator for me. I loved the book and the relationship between the two MCs. Great story, keep me hooked all the way through. The narrator had excellent voices for all the characters. I can't wait for book two to come out on audio.

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couldn't put it down

I don't believe I've read this author but the narrator was new to me. I enjoyed the story. there were some things that irritated me in terms of sequence of events but overall I still enjoyed it.

as for the narration, the voices were spot on for the characters and Scott is a narrator I'll be looking into since I loved his voice.

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