Okay story. Terrible narration.

This was my first time experiencing T.S. Joyce's work, and likely my last. The story itself was okay, certainly nothing special that I'll even think about after submitting this review. The narration, however, was laughably bad. Mackenzie Harte should never ever EVER do Male voices. They were bad enough that I genuinely laughed out loud during parts that were supposed to be emotional or intense. Completely ruined the vibe. I'll be avoiding her work like the plague.

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2 people found this helpful

Different narrator would have made this better

Setting: Saratoga
Genre: Shifter erotic romance
Willa Madden is the nerdy friend to a trio of “bombshells” she has known since elementary school. Back in junior high they had made a pact to take a girl’s trip after college graduation and, even though she had grown apart from her 3 friends, they remembered to invite her along when it was time to take their trip. But instead of going to the beach as was Willa’s had assumed they would, they convinced her they wanted to go camping. Unbeknownst to her, the bombshells’ real plan was to have “bucket list” sex with a Shifter, and they made reservations at a nice hotel. Matt Barnes is a grizzly Shifter who is messed up by his horrific experiences being experimented on by a quasi-governmental agency when he was a child. His bear is difficult to control, and he thinks the only thing that will settle him is finding his mate. To that end, he hangs out at Sammy’s Bar every chance he gets, looking for the tall, big-breasted woman he is sure is out there somewhere for him. When the bombshells strut in, he makes a bee-line for them, and doesn’t notice Willa until she runs smack into him. After an initial (funny) spat, they end up deciding to be friends because, you know, she’s not his type. At any rate, the relationship develops apace, leading to some gratuitous and explicit sex, though it is not too raunchy. The emotional development is a slow bloom into mutual recognition of their importance to one another. I enjoyed the characters, and the repartee between Willa and the guys in the crew is funny.
So, the positives of the story are the witty dialogue and the development of the characters. The protagonists are nicely written, and the secondaries are pretty rounded as well (as they should be, given that this is the first in the series, and they’ll be showing up in their own stories). Matt himself was a minor antagonist in the Saw Bears series from which this is spun, so it is nice to see him in a more positive light.
The negatives of this experience are some internal inconsistencies. It may not bother some, but when they first meet, Matt offers Willa his arm to lead her to the bar. Later in the same scene, he gets upset when she touches him. Also, when they first meet she consults his social media page to see what kind of Shifter he is, but gets upset the next day when he hasn’t accepted her friend request so she can see his page. How could it be both ways?
Another negative, in my opinion, is the narration. MacKenzie Hart does not differentiate between characters. The women sound the same, and none of the men have distinct voices either. Overall, there wasn’t much inflection to bring the story to life. Perhaps my opinion is affected by the fact that I have read this book (several times) on Kindle. Was I expecting a more dynamic reading because the characters already had voices in my mind’s ear? Ehh, I don’t think so.
While I enjoyed the story, I wouldn’t say it is worth a credit (or the $10 member price) given that it is less than four hours. My suggestion to anyone wanting to listen to this is to go to Amazon and get the Kindle for 99 cents, and add the Whispersync for $1.99.

My suggestion to Audible would be to offer all the T. S. Joyce books as part of the Romance Package.

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@audioloversblog loves Matt

I was so happy to hear Matt’s story. After the end of the last book, I felt like hearing about Matt was so important. He was so broken and I felt that, after Danielle, redemption for him would be nearly impossible but after hearing more about him, I found that loving him and love for him was necessary. Introducing us into this new crew for this new series couldn’t have been more perfect. I love the story and I love that Matt got his HEA.

GFYDU MTYB DBAD

Follow us on FB @audioloversblog for interviews and happy thoughts about and a great way to discover authors that, hey, you may not discover.

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My fave

My favorite though I be read all that I could find. I love Willa and her worms and that trailer and mouse that aren’t in this particular book. I think I’ve read these like 3x so far over the years. It’s only getting 4 because it was 3 1/2 hours 😋 not long enough for an awesome story

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Still Love This Story

IThis story has always been one of my favorite T.S. Joyce books. I loved listening to it as much as I always loved reading it.

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The voice

I absolutely love these books but the person narrating the stories sounds like she should stick to children's books. It's very disappointing listening to her narrate these stories and make it sound like all the characters are in high school or something. Needs more maturity and seriousness.

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One of my favorite books

This has always been one of my favorite books and I've read it a dozen times so I was excited to listen to it but I like reading it a lot better than I like listening to it. I wasn't crazy about the narrator especially her man voice. Also it seems a lot shorter in the audiobook version than it does when I read it. I was disappointed unfortunately but I'll always love this book.

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Gray Back Bad Bear

Good series. A little short but the story is all there. Narrator was good at changing voices for characters.

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Matt ♥ Willa!

This is book #1 of #7 in the Gray Back Bears Series, and book #11 of #48 in the Damon’s Mountains Universe Series. If the Ashe Crew are the outcasts, the Gray Back Crew are the rejects. If Matt didn’t redeemed himself in the last book, he will for sure steal your feels in this one. Like all the other broken bears in his crew, he feels unworthy of love and a mate, however, that is exactly what he wants more than anything. Willa is the perfect match for him. She is a dorky, accident prone, bad@ss, and I love her! I also love Easton! He reminds me of Kellen, except darker. He has a lot of secrets he is hiding, but when he loves, he loves with all his heart. This is a much bloodier series in comparrison to the Saw Bears. These guys like to “bleed” each other often. This may seem harsh on the surface, but it is done with love. It’s done to help keep their unstable bears from crossing the point of no return. It’s messy but effective. T.S. Joyce and Mackenzie Harte continue their partnership into the next series. I can’t wait for more. I listened to this through Audible Escape.

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Wow, very unexpected but great!

I knew it would take a strong woman for Matt, to overlook his past and to give him the love he needed & truly deserved. Just wasn’t expecting this, such a great story and characters. Super sexually hot. Great narration by Ms Harte, don’t get the complaining about her.

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