Blood & Bitcoin by L.A. Witt Audiobook Review

Chris Emmett has a talent for screwing up and landing on his feet. As a SEAL, he managed to evade bullets and court-martials alike. As an FBI agent, he dodged danger and disciplinary action—right up until he didn’t.

With his career and freedom hanging in the balance, he’ll do whatever it takes to clean the slate… including an off-the-books deep cover solo mission.

The objective: infiltrate the Hive, a complex crime syndicate operating on the dark web, and find out who’s trying to kill Piker, the organization’s enigmatic and strangely alluring modern day Mob boss.

The moment he’s pulled into the Hive, Chris enters a world where no one is what they seem, including the man he’s there to protect. Lines blur between moral and wrong, legal and criminal, ally and foe, and—as Piker’s seductive magnetism draws Chris in—straight and queer.

Chris is running out of time to stop a killer. He has dangerous feelings for a dangerous man, and the deeper he moves into the realms of organized crime, the less he knows and the fewer people he can trust.

And that’s before he learns the truth about Piker’s assassin.

This book is part of CRIMINAL DELIGHTS. Each novel can be read as a standalone and contains a dark M/M romance.

Warning: These books are for adult readers who enjoy stories where lines between right and wrong get blurry. High heat, twisted and tantalizing, these are not for the fainthearted.

Audiobook Details
Length: 11 hrs, 16 mins
Narrator: Michael Ferraiuolo

Audiobook Buy Links

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Ebook Buy Links

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~  Available with KindleUnlimited  ~

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Angela – ☆☆☆☆☆
Wow! Just, wow! I mean, I knew Blood & Bitcoin was going to be good based on my co-bloggers’ reviews of the ebook (spoiler-free, thank you, ladies). Between L.A. Witt’s writing and Michael Ferraiuolo’s narration, it was pretty much guaranteed that I’d enjoy it. And yet it still exceeded my expectations. As much as I enjoy the variety of romance genres Witt is able to tackle, I am seriously crushing on her organized crime romances… and I’ve only read two of them. As an aside, if you enjoyed Witt’s If the Seas Catch Fire, especially the audiobook, you’re not gonna wanna miss Blood & Bitcoin because while the stories are nothing alike, it has that same intense, gritty, ‘people aren’t who they seem and you never know who you can trust’ feel to it.

As a disgraced ex-FBI agent and former SEAL, Chris Emmett is believable as a man desperate for a job that would put the only skills he has to good use. Unfortunately for Chris, the man he’s been sent to protect is justifiably paranoid and makes it nearly impossible for Chris to do his job. Fortunately for Chris, he’s a the-ends-justify-the-means kind of guy and he maneuvers himself into an ideal position to protect Trent and do his job as a double agent. But the closer Chris gets to Trent, the more he begins to question his mission because the intel he was given doesn’t add up with what he learns about Trent, WST, the Hive, and who’s behind the threats against Trent. Making matters worse, Chris is drawn to Trent in a way he’s never experienced before and he’s not sure what’s worse: that he’s falling for an organized crime boss or that he’s falling for a man.

Witt crafted a story that is ripe for the picking of conflict and she harvested the heck out of it. We not only get multiple servings of suspense as Chris works to earn Trent’s trust, thwarts assassination attempts on Trent’s life, undertakes missions to interfere with Cartel business, collects intel on WST and the Hive, and talks his way out of a bullet more than once when caught lying to Trent, but we also get plenty of yummy, forbidden angst as Chris grapples with his unexpected attraction to Trent. Because it takes a while for Chris to acknowledge his attraction, I was treated to a delicious build-up of sexual tension that added to the overall feeling of suspense in the novel as I listened with rapt attention, waiting to see who was going to snap and make the first move. And it was HAWT! But even that didn’t compare with the intensity of the action that plays out when betrayals are revealed, and when desperate men make desperate decisions in the name of love.

Michael Ferraiuolo does such a tremendous job with Witt’s characters and storyline that I stayed up later than I should have listening to it and resumed listening to the audiobook as soon as I could upon waking the next morning (well, technically the same morning as it was well after midnight when I stopped listening). Blood & Bitcoin has a rather large cast of characters and Ferraiuolo not only does an exceptional job of creating unique voices for them but also in conveying a full range of emotions for them, sometimes at whiplash speed, dragging the listener along for the nail-biting ride. I’m a bit of a multi-tasker when listening to audiobooks and found myself stopping what I was doing because I got so sucked into the action that I couldn’t continue the menial tasks. Oh yes, Witt and Ferraiuolo commanded my complete attention more than a few times over the course of the audiobook. Is it wrong that I really, really hope that Witt gets attacked by a litter of organized crime plot bunnies that drag her back to the Hive to create more stories? Because I would love to catch up with Chris and Trent again and get more stories from the Hive, especially with Ferraiuolo back to narrate. A girl can hope. And thankfully a girl can listen to her Blood & Bitcoin audiobook again… well, after she listens to If the Seas Catch Fire again first.

P.S. – If you know of any other organized crime romances by L.A. Witt, drop me a comment so I can check them out. Extra points if they’re already on audiobook.

L.A. Witt is an abnormal M/M romance writer who has finally been released from the purgatorial corn maze of Omaha, Nebraska, and now spends her time on the southwestern coast of Spain. In between wondering how she didn't lose her mind in Omaha, she explores the country with her husband, several clairvoyant hamsters, and an ever-growing herd of rabid plot bunnies. She also has substantially more time on her hands these days, as she has recruited a small army of mercenaries to search South America for her nemesis, romance author Lauren Gallagher, but don't tell Lauren. And definitely don't tell Lori A. Witt or Ann Gallagher. Neither of those twits can keep their mouths shut...

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Michael Ferraiuolo is a graduate of Berklee College of Music and the owner of Iron Works Studios in New York City. As a voice artist, Michael has appeared both nationally and internationally in film, radio, and over 100 audiobooks.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free audiobook copy of Blood & Bitcoin (Criminal Delights: Organized Crime) by L.A. Witt, narrated by Michael Ferraiuolo to listen to and review.