Reviewed by Susan65
Title: How to Deal
Author: T.M. Smith
Narrator: Joel Leslie
Series: All Cocks #3
Heroes: Jon Brennan/Kory White
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 4 Hours, 30 Minutes
Publisher: TTC Publishing
Release Date: November 4, 2016
Available at: Amazon and Audible
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads
Blurb: Jon Brennan comes from a long line of men in uniform; all born and bred to both bleed and wear blue. His family and the majority of his co-workers support him every step of the way, so he doesn’t need to hide the fact that he prefers men over women. Between the job and his larger than life, loud and rowdy half Irish, half Italian family, there isn’t much time for dating, much less finding a guy who can deal with the stress and demands placed on the shoulders of an NYPD detective.
Kory White is cocky and abrasive with most people, but it is all a facade he hides behind to keep his heart safe. As a child, Kory lost his mother to an act of violence. Soon after, he and his baby sister Kassandra were separated by the system. Kassandra was immediately adopted, but Kory spent the next 10 years cycling through foster homes before moving to the Big Apple. In an effort to keep everyone at a distance, Kory has meticulously built himself an alter ego: Hayden Cox, All Cocks cockiest model.
These two strong-willed men definitely prove opposites do attract. Both are stubborn and hard headed to a fault, Kory more so than Jon. But Jon is used to being in control, the one calling the shots, and Kory fights him at every turn. Just when it seems they have found a way to navigate the unchartered territory that is love, tragedy knocks on Kory’s door yet again. Volatile and strong, even in the face of adversity, both men refuse to give up on each other – or their love.
Review – Book: Jen reviewed the book here previously.
I loved the storyline, not so much the narration. However, the story was so good that I was able to push through my issues with the narrator because I really wanted to see how the Kory, Jon and Gabe, Gio plot played out…and it was so good, and so very heartbreaking, and now I am desperately wanting to read the next book.
Review – Audio: As much as I love audiobooks, I have a hard time listening to Joel Leslie. His southern accents and different character voices sound nothing like any man I’ve ever heard and honestly, it threw me out of the story more than once. And his pronunciation of certain words had me questioning my own education and brought to the forefront of my mind one of the rules of pronunciation…and that is, spelling does not determine pronunciation. I feel awful giving a bad review on the performance, because you can tell the narrator really put forth the effort and you could hear the emotion, but the pronunciation and accents were a bit too much for me.
Fortunately, the story was strong and my 4 stars will stand for the writing, but I choose to not rate the narrator. As much as I want to listen to an audio to finish out the series, I think I will switch formats and actually read the books. I am so looking forward to Gabe’s story and I don’t think Joel Leslie, if he is the narrator for that book, can do it justice.
Overall Impression: I really liked it
*I received a copy of this book from the author in return for a fair and honest review.*
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