Holiday Sparks by Shannon Stacey, narrated by Savannah Richards – B  I read this novella in the Naughty and Nice anthology when it first came out (scroll down a bit to see the brief reviews).  Sometimes when I can’t decide what to listen to next a novella length story is low risk – this one was only a couple hours long so the time investment was small. And, I had fond memories of the story.  Chloe Burke is a web designer who lives in Boston but has come back to her small Maine hometown ot housesit for her parents in the weeks before Christmas.  Electrical problems lead her to electrician and all round hotty, Scott Quinn. They went to school together but he looked a lot different then (he was a nerd).  Sparks fly (heh) and they start a fling.  The conflict is that Scott is embedded in his hometown and Chloe is going back to Boston.  Given Chloe’s job, it has a relatively easy resolution once they are committed to seeing if the relationship holds to its early promise and it is perfect for a novella length story. It’s sweet, sexy and low angst and I liked it very much.

I hadn’t heard Savannah Richards narrate before.  She had convincing deeper tones for Scott and generally a pleasant voice to listen to.  However, there was one thing which bothered me and it’s very much a “it’s not you it’s me” thing – articulating it is hard because it is an aural thing.  The best I can do is to say there is kind of a lowering of pitch and a kind of … trailing off at the end of many sentences.  It bugged me a bit.  I’m sure others won’t notice it at all and others who do, won’t mind it but it’s the sort of things that I hear straight off and, over time, it gets a bit like fingernails on a blackboard to me.  Fortunately, it’s a short novella so I didn’t have time for annoyance to truly set in.  Honestly, the rest of the narration was very good.  I think I’m just fussy.

I’m sure I bought this as a stand alone – but my records don’t tell me if it was a special release.  All I could find at Audible today was the entire anthology.

BUY IT:
AUDIBLE

Flash Fire by Elle Kennedy – B This novella featuring Cash McCoy and Jen Scott from Feeling Hot is included in the SEALs of Winter boxset which is available for 99c.  So far it’s the only book I’ve read in the set but it’s already worth it for this one alone.  Cash plans to propose and Jen takes an assignment in Honduras causing Cash to Lose. His. Shit.  How they negotiate the conflict and maintain their HEA is entertaining and mature (in the end) and of course, the story has plenty of sexy times as well, including some hot phone sex which was hot. Definitely read Feeling Hot first (no chore) but this novella is a lot of fun.

BUY IT:
AMAZON     KOBO

Reviews of these books will be up soon at AudioGals.