L-L-L-Little Reviews #35: 5 Audiobooks and a Sampler

Posted November 26, 2021 by Lisa Mandina in Review / 4 Comments

Looks like I haven’t done one of these posts since August. Partly because of my crazy new job. Also partly because most of what I’ve read has been for blog tours, so had specific days I had to post reviews on. However I have most of my audiobooks I’ve listened to since then that were not part of blog tours, as well as the SmartyPants sampler to share reviews of.

The Relationship Pact (Kings of Football #3) by Adriana Locke:

L-L-L-Little Reviews #35:  5 Audiobooks and a SamplerThe Relationship Pact by Adriana Locke
Series: Kings of Football #3
Narrator: Teddy Hamilton, Erin Mallon
on April 7, 2021
Genres: NA Paranormal Romance, NA Rock Star Romance, NA Royal Romance, NA Science Fiction, NA Sports Romance, NA Fantasy
Length: 07:13
Source: Netgalley, Physical ARC, PR by the Book, Publisher, Purchased, JeanBookNerd Tours
Format: ARC, Audiobook
My Rating: four-half-stars
Goodreads
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How hard can it be?
That was the question rolling around Larissa Mason’s mind just before she asked Hollis Hudson to be her fake boyfriend.
It was only supposed to be for five minutes, after all.
Granted, that was also before she felt his hand on the small of her back as he charmed the heck out of her family.
She hadn’t heard his laugh yet either.
And it was definitely before she saw the football god shirtless. Otherwise, she would’ve had an idea of just how hard some things could be.
It turns out that pretending to be in love with a crazily handsome, somewhat enigmatic, and absolutely unforgettable tight end (that has an amazing tight end) is easy.
Reminding herself that just because opposites attract doesn’t mean they’re forever is much harder.
What they have isn’t love—it’s a relationship pact. Right?

My Review:

So I got to read the other two books in this series, The Revenge Pact and The Romantic Pact when they first came out because I am on those two authors’ review teams. This was my first Adriana Locke book, and since I didn’t know her when it originally came out, I waited and purchased this on Audible. And boy did I really, really enjoy this one! Not only was it nice to get to hear from the main characters of the other two books occasionally when Hollis would text one of them or they’d text him, but it was fun getting to meet new characters, and I guess probably some that are in this author’s other books maybe? The narrators for this are two that I love, Teddy Hamilton and Erin Mallon. There were a lot of steamy scenes, especially the rooftop one. There was a quote about face to face and how guys are about that in certain situations, which can be so true, or at least seems to be more these days. But it was a good story, fit in well with the other two in the series by the other authors, and I look forward to reading more by this author in the future!

Sweet Talk (Love Lines #2) by Cara Bastone:

L-L-L-Little Reviews #35:  5 Audiobooks and a SamplerSweet Talk by Cara Bastone
Series: Love Lines #2
Narrator: Lidia Dornet, Chris Brinkley
Published by Audible Originals on April 22, 2021
Genres: Adult Romantic Comedy, Adult Regency Romance
Length: 05:42
Source: Audible, Audible Escape
Format: ARC, Audiobook
My Rating: five-stars
Goodreads
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Listening Length: 5 hours and 42 minutes
Stay up all night with this funny, surprising romantic comedy from Audie Award-nominee Cara Bastone — scripted exclusively for audio!
It’s officially booty o’clock, I’m alone again in my kitchen choking down a slice of terrible chocolate cake…and I’m pretty sure I just got drunk texted by the man I have a ginormous crush on.
I’ve been daydreaming about Eliot Hoffman’s dimples for two months, and even though I’m sure this was a mistake on his end, it doesn’t mean it’s not an opportunity on mine. It’s the middle of the night, and I just wanna talk to him. So I text him back.
And then somehow we keep talking…ALL NIGHT. We’re both insomniacs, so talking all night soon turns into talking EVERY night.
And talking about nothing soon turns into talking about something.
And here we go from in-depth analysis of reality TV to my relationship with my family to his amazing artwork. There’s no topic we don’t cover…
Except for who I really am. It’s the only question of his I won’t answer.
As my crush turns into an avalanche of Eliot, I think of him all the time now. But if he knew who I was, the entire house of cards we’ve built this relationship on would come toppling down. I want him to be mine, but we might never be more than just a sweet dream….

My Review:

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, Call Me Maybe, another first from an author for me, that I found through another blogger’s review, That Artsy Reader Girl. And this second book was a lot of fun as well! I also really enjoyed the narrators, especially Christ Brinkley, who I know best from all the Winston Brothers books by Penny Reid. The whole texting conversation just brought up to remind me how I’m just asking for a guy who I can have a fun conversation like that with. Is it too much to ask? We didn’t know for sure who exactly J.D. was, because Eliot had mistakenly texted her. And the author did a good job with keeping me guessing and thinking maybe I’d figured it out, but then switching things out. Although my first suspicion about J.D. ended up being the right one. But many other things were a mystery. Then there was a part at the end, where I thought I was hearing a siren as I was driving in my car. But it was the background noise on the book, and it was so loud and so right there I think because both of the characters were hearing it as they talked on the phone. And boy was that a perfect scene! A great story, fun and sweet and funny!

Hard to Love (Play Hard #5) by K. Bromberg:

L-L-L-Little Reviews #35:  5 Audiobooks and a SamplerHard to Love by K. Bromberg
Series: Play Hard #5
Narrator: Kai Kennicott, Troy Duran
Published by Audible Studios on October 19, 2021
Genres: Adult Romance, Adult Romantic Comedy, Adult Sports Romance, Adult Rock Star Romance
Length: 07:12
Source: Netgalley, Physical ARC, Purchased, JeanBookNerd Tours
Format: Audiobook
My Rating: four-stars
Goodreads
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Will Finn Sanderson ever be able to redeem himself and find his own happily ever after?
In Hard to Love, watch him struggle with loving something—and someone—other than sports when he meets his new neighbor, Stevie Lancaster.
(more to come)
Are you ready to fall for the Kincade sisters and then men who love them in K. Bromberg's sexy, contemporary, sports romance series? These books can all be read as standalones, but you’ll enjoy reading them as a series!
Hard to Handle (Hunter & Dekker's story - hockey romance)Hard to Hold (Rush & Lennox''s story - soccer romance)Hard to Score (Drew & Brexton's story - football romance)Hard to Lose (Gunner & Chase's story - baseball romance)Hard to Love (Finn & Stevie's story)

My Review:

So, back when this first came out, I found out that I was NOT on the author’s review team like I’d thought I was. I realized it was an audiobook review team she’d had about a year or more ago that fizzled out pretty quickly. And so I had not signed up for the blog tour thinking I was on the review team and would get it from the author. That did not happen. 🙁 But I’d loved the rest of the series and was very excited to get Finn’s story. It didn’t turn out to be exactly what I’d expected. But it kind of figured I guess that he’d end up with an athlete like the girls in the first four stories had done. I didn’t love this one as much as the first four, which was a little disappointing since I’d been looking forward to it so much. But I still though it had so much depth to the story, so much background that created a lot of empathy for both characters and made what they were going through and how they behaved perfectly understandable. So still a good read from Bromberg. Check out my review of the rest of the series here: Hard to Handle, Hard to Hold, Hard to Score, and Hard to Lose.

Tempt Thy Neighbor (Roommate Romps #4) by Teagan Hunter:

L-L-L-Little Reviews #35:  5 Audiobooks and a SamplerTempt Thy Neighbor by Teagan Hunter
Series: Roommate Romps #4
Narrator: Connor Crais, Erin Mallon
Published by Podium Audio on November 2, 2021
Genres: Adult Contemporary, Adult Contemporary Romance, Adult Bully Romance
Length: 05:28
Source: Publisher, Purchased, PR by the Book
Format: ARC, Audiobook
My Rating: five-stars
Goodreads
Buy on AmazonBuy on Audible

Don’t fall for your coworker…especially when he’s your roommate.
Sutton Barnes thinks he’s Prince Charming, but he’s really the Prince of Hell.He’s egotistical. A user. A complete douchecanoe.And unfortunately now my coworker.
Did I mention he’s also my new roommate?
It’s all because I can’t turn down a challenge.I never have, and I won’t start now.When Sutton bets me I can’t live in the same apartment as him and resist the “temptation”…well, game on.
He’ll be the first to cave.There is no way I’m falling for his charm…not again.

My Review:

And this was the other book that I thought I was either getting to read through the author, or I thought I’d signed up, but turned out maybe I hadn’t signed up for the blog tour? Who knows. But I had loved this whole series, and this one was just as good as the others! I ended up buying it on audiobook, just like the book above because I knew I wouldn’t have time to read, but could fit it in listening on the way to and from work. Because all the books are about roommate, obviously from the series title, I was unsure how these two would become roommates thanks to the situations they were in. But the author orchestrated that perfectly. Now, the two were really so alike, had kind of the same issues leading them to where they were, that it was nice when they finally kind of reconnected. When they figured out what the misunderstanding in the past had been. But then, ugh. There was one person that I didn’t trust from the very beginning and that person did end up being the one to throw the monkey wrench into the whole situation. Now, I’m normally not the biggest cat person, because I’m allergic to them, although I do think they are cute. But the way the author described the kitten in this book I could just imagine how soft and sweet it was and I wanted to play with it. The story had all the steamy bits I love from this author, and lots of funny lol moments as well. I still wonder what Sutton thought when he got shot with the water gun at the end. Didn’t really get an answer to that. And I loved the final overture to win their love back as well. As with one of the other series I mentioned above, it was nice getting time with the characters from the other books, especially since Holland’s brother is Dean from the first book in the series. A great series, great narrator again on this one too. You can read my reviews of the rest of the series here: Loathe Thy Neighbor, Love Thy Neighbor, and Crave Thy Neighbor.

Making a Play (Field Party #5) – by Abbi Glines:

L-L-L-Little Reviews #35:  5 Audiobooks and a SamplerMaking a Play by Abbi Glines
Series: Field Party #5
Narrator: Ali Andre Ali, Caitlin Davies
Published by Simon Schuster Audio, Simon Pulse on August 20, 2019
Genres: YA Sports Romance, YA Science Fiction
Length: 07:00
Source: the library, the author
Format: Audiobook, ARC
My Rating: four-stars
Goodreads
Buy on AmazonBuy on Barnes & NobleBuy on Audible

The fifth book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Field Party series—a southern soap opera with football, cute boys, and pick-up trucks—from USA TODAY bestselling author Abbi Glines.
Welcome to the Field Party. Where you bring the party to the field, where you dance all night, where anything goes. From #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Abbi Glines comes the next book in this series about a small southern town filled with cute boys in pickup trucks, Friday night football games, and crazy parties that stir up some major drama.

My Review:

For a 7 hour book this story really just seemed to zoom by so fast! But it was good. The romance was definitely insta-love, but for high school kids, that is a bit more realistic. What’s crazy is that really most of this took place in like one or two weeks. That’s all. But the characters grew a lot and had a lot to deal with. Between her deafness and his having to deal with the prejudices of her father, they had a big mountain to overcome to be together. Another good entry into the series, even if not necessarily my favorite of them. You can read my reviews of the others in the series here: Until Friday Night, Under the Lights, After the Game, and Losing the Field.

SmartyPants Romance 2021 Sampler:

L-L-L-Little Reviews #35:  5 Audiobooks and a SamplerSmartypants Romance 2021 Sampler by Kilby Blades, M.E. Carter, L.B. Dunbar, Hope Ellis, Nora Everly, Heidi Hutchinson, Jiffy Kate, Emma Lee Jayne, Susannah Nix, Penny Reid, Piper Sheldon, Karla Sorensen, Aly Stiles, Nanxi Wen, April White, Ann Whynot, Allie Winters
Published by Smartypants Romance on August 22, 2021
Genres: Adult Contemporary Romance
Pages: 251
Source: Purchased
Format: eBook
My Rating: five-stars
Goodreads
Buy on AmazonBuy on Barnes & Noble

This sampler provides a sneak peek of the books from our 2021 Smartypants Romance launches! Read for a sneak peek of the following books:
Mad About Ewe by Susannah NixGive Love a Chai by Nanxi WenKey Change by Heidi HutchinsonCode of Ethics by April WhiteWeights of Wrath by M.E. CarterHeart Smart by Emma Lee JayneStreet Smart by Aly StilesUnder Pressure by Allie WintersEye Candy by Jiffy KateSteal My Magnolia by Karla SorensenThe One That I Want by Piper SheldonHopelessly Devoted by Piper SheldonDewey Belong Together by Ann WhynotHotshot and Hospitality by Nora EverlyLove in a Pickle by L.B. DunbarBefore and After You by Hope EllisForrest for the Trees by Kilby BladesBeard in Hiding by Penny Reid

My Review:

This is a freebie that has the first chapter of all the SmartyPants Romance books that came out this year. It was nice to not only revisit the ones I did read last spring, but to get to read the first chapter from the ones I had not had a chance, as well as the ones that I was getting ready to read this fall. I highly recommend going and downloading it at either of the links I have for it for free just to get a taste of these books if you have not read them yet. Since there are so many, I will not link to all those reviews here. But you can find them in my review archives by title or author if you want!

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