mcbarlong

Beautiful, realistic portrayal of finding a deep and abiding love after trauma and conflict

Revisado: 02-16-25

What I loved most about the story was the honest and moving portrayal of how deep and lasting love can steadily grow from the trauma of war–healing comes with gentle and persistent care, respect, and emotional regard. Chadwick’s writing seamlessly weaves an engaging fictional tale onto the tapestry of actual historical events. An excellent narrative performance brings it home.

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Beautifully narrated, engaging story

Revisado: 11-26-24

Very well done. The prose was elegant and, at several points, gorgeous. The story’s plot and character arcs rang authentic for the period and held my attention throughout most of the book. The author judiciously seasoned the narrative with achingly steamy sex scenes. Importantly, she often showed an experienced author’s restraint, which is half the battle when endeavoring to write good fiction (or she had one hell of an editor–likely a bit of both). The narration was near perfection.

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4.5 stars: Charming, angsty, second-chance love story

Revisado: 11-09-24

Well-written story with a well-earned happy ending. The grovel trope is a favorite of mine, but most authors fail at creating a developed, believable, and satisfying story arc. This romance is among the rare exceptions. Highly recommend.

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Stunningly beautiful story

Revisado: 07-06-24

I loved how the author made the kidnapper incredibly sympathetic yet never let him off the hook for his terrible crime.
The prose is gorgeous, never overwritten, yet transports the reader/listener directly within the brutal Australian landscape and the rolling, complex emotions of the protagonist.
I also appreciated the absence of gratuitous sexual abuse or violence. It allowed a more immersive emotional experience.

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MC Smut That’s Bold & Well Written

Revisado: 03-28-24

This book proves that just because it’s smut doesn’t mean it can’t be written wellI and have complex, interesting characters in the hands of a mature, highly competent writer.

I appreciated the more realistic portrayal of what MC club life would be like (albeit OTT, but it’s fiction meant to entertain, so it works). I understand but still get so frustrated with the over abundance of romance authors who cave into reader demand for “no cheating” and “HEA.” I especially get annoyed when an author claims their book is so gritty and dark in the summary, yet they follow these naive parameters, creating flat Mary Sue heroines and laughably two-dimensional MMCs. It gets so tedious and boring.

I want real grit and emotional complexity—I got both in this story. And though I don’t need an HEA, there was one here, a beautifully messy one.

Hats off to Madeline Sheehan for breaking free from over-used, schlocky tropes and writing high quality smut. In fact, I would say this is more accurately described as dark erotic fiction rather than smut.

Also, the book narration is exceptional.

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Engaging and well-written retelling

Revisado: 11-11-23

This was a solidly entertaining, darkish reimagining of The Lion King. It had a nice mix of drama, action, and very spicy sex scenes.

Both narrators gave excellent performances and elevated the narrative’s engagement factor.

The FMC was not annoying and had some satisfying moments of assertiveness. The anti-hero MMC was well-rounded and very likable. The author wrote him with the requisite dark humor that people expect from this classic villain, and it was genuinely funny.

The story isn’t doing anything unique, and you’ll get all the usual new adult romance tropes. It is well-written.

I’m usually left bored or annoyed with neatly packaged HEAs, but in this case I give it credit for sticking the landing.

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One of the best finales in romantic fantasy

Revisado: 08-17-23

This was a corker of a final book in a trilogy! I thought books 1 and 2 were well written but the story really dragged in places. (A skilled and trustworthy editor could have turned this trilogy into a duet.) I was even debating whether to listen to the last book. I am VERY glad I did. I was NOT expecting such a good read and great ending. The author took a chance with this atypical ending, and I found it highly satisfying, well-executed, and gorgeously written. The epilogue was muah—chef’s kiss!
Also, the narrator was fantastic for the entire series.

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Beautiful, skillfully executed narrative

Revisado: 01-02-23

This is a true gem of romantic adventure within the high fantasy genre. Both the prose and audio narration never failed to keep me immersed in the story. Not once did I feel compelled to skip any parts as I often do with lesser fantasy novels. I seriously could not put it down!

I found the concept of the Pathfinder in this world truly compelling, and the narrative pacing was near perfect. Though life is hard won in this mostly violent setting, it’s never feels too bleak.

<About the Heroine>
Thankfully, this is NOT a coming of age story, an overly common theme in romantic fantasy. This story features an engagingly complex heroine, lovingly and thoughtfully conceived by the author. Though she is on the younger side (late 20s), she is quite self actualized. She knows and accepts herself as she understands her personal and professional strengths and limitations. She self reflects mostly without self recrimination. She is fiercely dedicated to her craft and loyal to her clan, but also allows herself to experience pleasure and joy.

She is also not a Mary Sue. She is like any flawed human being who has misgivings and makes miscalculations that have consequences. What makes her a true heroine is her unyielding defense of life, and her determination to learn from her mistakes and do better.

I was also relieved that it was written as a mature, adult story (not YA). The romance is a slow burn, but their sexual relationship is hot once it kicks in ;-)

***MINOR SPOILER***

One small critique I have is about the hero. His personality is somewhat under-baked. I do like him as a lust interest and foil to the heroine. But he’s kind of the male version of a Mary Sue so far. I found the attraction and chemistry between them very sexy and believable. But I’m not yet convinced of why she is already falling in love with him by the end of Book 1. I’m hopeful he’ll have a character arc as the series unfolds :-)

***END SPOILER***

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Excellent duet

Revisado: 06-29-22

Very entertaining, sexy story. Despite the predictable ending, the story had some tense angsty moments. The female lead is somewhat of a Mary Sue, but it was easy to look past given the solid writing, steamy sex scenes, romantic chemistry, and stellar narration in both books.

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Smut with a brain and a soul

Revisado: 02-19-22

All the ingredients were present to create the perfect erotic read for my taste. Using prose that was both beautifully constructed yet wisely restrained, the author seamlessly wove panty-wetting erotic content into a beautiful narrative.

Priest is about two people figuring out how to integrate spirituality, humanitarianism, and raw, erotic sexuality into one fulfilling life. The result was a sensual, romantic, dirty, smart, funny, angsty, raunchy and, best of all, satisfying tale.

I myself endured 12 years of Catholic school. Yet my knowledge and understanding of this most ritualistic, symbolic and opaque of institutions grew far more in depth only after I walked away from it. And I tell you, Sierra Simone nailed so much of what it means to be Catholic. She did a fantastic job of acknowledging its unforgivable crimes against its flocks (through a window into the life of a priest, his family and their community) along with the specialness and spiritual rewards that can be found in being one of the faithful in the Church of Rome.

Fr. Bell’s reflections on sinfulness, penance, forgiveness, and what a relationship with a higher power looks like through the Catholic lens, were erudite yet also felt instinctual, like they sprouted from the pen of a life raised Catholic.

All that said, even if you’re not into the religious aspects of the story, it’s so well paced and well written, I doubt it would get in the way of anyone’s enjoyment of the smutty hotness and sweet romance of the story. It’s well worth your time and money.

Also praise be the exquisitely sexy voice of Jacob Morgan/aka Zachary Webber. His highly skillful narration is God’s gift to erotica. Same props to Elena Wolfe’s sensual vocal talent and narration expertise.

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