Two Cowboys and a Baby by BA Tortuga Audiobook Review

A little bundle of joy means big changes.

Hoss McMasters has a working ranch, a bull riding career, a nosy momma, and a best friend he’s been in love with since he can remember. He’s a busy, happy cowboy, living the good life.

Then one morning he discovers a baby on his doorstep.

Well, Hoss does what any reasonable man would do—he calls his momma and his buddy, Sheriff Pooter, and they head to the clinic to see if Doc knows of any suddenly not-so-pregnant girls.

In the meantime, Hoss and his best friend, Bradley, have their hands full trying to care for an infant, run a ranch, and deal with the sudden confession that Bradley doesn’t hate Hoss for coming out to him in high school. In fact, Bradley’s been trying to catch Hoss’s attention for damn near a decade.

Audiobook Details
Length: 5 hrs, 51 mins
Narrator: Dorian Bane

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Dreamspinner Press

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Angela – ☆☆☆☆☆
B.A. Tortuga is my go-to author for cowboy romances. While Two Cowboys and a Baby is on the softer side of romance, despite its soap-opera twist, the author does not disappoint. Actually, for a standalone title, the story is perhaps more complex and convoluted than I’m accustomed to as Tortuga succeeds in packing in several themes. Abandoned baby. Unrequited love. Two gay daddies. Reassessing one’s priorities in life after an injury. The big one I cannot say because on the off chance that someone else hasn’t revealed that spoiler, I won’t be the one to do it, but rest assured, it is straight out of a soap opera. And yet Tortuga pulls it all off, including a wink and a nod to the unbelievability of a classic soap opera twist.

As the blurb states, Hoss wakes one morning to find a baby abandoned on his doorstep. Instead of being able to hand the child off to the authorities, Hoss winds up accepting responsibility for the infant for the weekend. And then the following week. And then that next weekend. And the next thing you know, Hoss has become the little girl’s unofficial foster dad because the town sheriff and the town doc are trying to figure out who the mom is without getting child services involved. As fantastical as it sounds, I can soooooo totally see the sequence of events that play out in the book actually happening in a small rural town. When the locals close ranks, a small town in the middle of nowhere can operate like its own kingdom – for better and for worse. Unsurprisingly, the longer the little girl is in Hoss’ care, the more attached he gets. What is surprising, especially for Hoss, is learning that his straight best friend, Bradley, ain’t nearly as straight as he let Hoss believe. That shock is only the first of many that Tortuga continues to throw at Hoss, keeping the man on his toes constantly. To be honest, I’m not sure what surprised me more – the circumstances that led to Hoss and Bradley’s falling out, the actual falling out, or what led to Bradley pulling his head out of his derriere and making amends to Hoss. Yep, I implied it and I’ll outright say it, Bradley was in the wrong and his pride kept him in the wrong. As this is not only a B.A. Tortuga cowboy romance, but also a Dreamspun Desires title, you can rest assured that a happy ending is delivered, but it is one bumpy, twisty road to ride to get there.

As much as I enjoyed Dorian Bane’s narrative performance in a paranormal romance last week, the man does the cowboy drawl beautifully. Just as Tortuga is my go-to author for cowboy romances, Bane has quickly become my favorite narrator for western romances. I was very impressed with Bane’s ability to create so many distinct voices for a rather large cast of side characters, all while keeping those Texas drawls and twangs in play. Not an easy feat, I’d assume, yet it enhances the listening experience and makes an already enjoyable story even more entertaining. For me, Two Cowboys and a Baby was classic Tortuga and a perfect story for showcasing Bane’s narrative talents. I look forward to more from both the author and the narrator, especially if there’s another collaboration between them – THAT would be just dandy.

Texan to the bone and an unrepentant Daddy's Girl, BA spends her days with her basset hounds, getting tattooed, texting her sisters, and eating Mexican food. When she's not doing that, she's writing. She spends her days off watching rodeo, knitting and surfing Pinterest in the name of research. BA's personal saviors include her wife, Julia, her best friend, Sean, and coffee. Lots of good coffee.

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Dorian is a voice actor and audiobook narrator specializing in character voices.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free audiobook copy of Two Cowboys and a Baby by B.A. Tortuga, narrated by Dorian Bane to listen to and review.

Fangs and Catnip by Julia Talbot Audiobook Review

A romance worth fighting for—tooth and claw.

Solitary vampire Fallon Underwood gets all the social interaction he needs being the silent partner at the Dead and Breakfast B and B high in the Colorado mountains. Change is hard for Fallon, so when his business partner, Tanner, suggests hiring a new manager for the inn, he’s adamant that they don’t need help, especially not in the form of bouncy werecat Carter Hughes.

Carter is a happy-go-lucky kitty, and he loves the hospitality industry, so the D and B ought to be a great place for him. He falls for Fallon as soon as he picks up one of Fallon’s novels and begins to woo the vamp with gifts. When Fallon finally succumbs to Carter’s feline charms, the results are unexpected, to say the least. Their mating will have irreversible consequences—for their bodies and their hearts.

Audiobook Details
Length: 6 hrs, 41 mins
Narrator: Dorian Bane

Book 1
Audiobook Buy Links

Amazon Audiobook  ~  Audible  ~  iTunes

Ebook Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  Kobo
Dreamspinner Press

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Angela – ☆☆☆☆☆
Having enjoyed Julia Talbot’s Nose to Tail, Inc. series, I was excited for the opportunity to listen to Fangs and Catnip to find out how she’d help a grumpy vampire find happiness with a cat shifter. I’ll admit that when I first started listening, I got a tad confused as to who the players were and had to restart the book because I wasn’t sure where Tanner fit once I realized he wasn’t the love interest. That’s on me because I rarely re-read a book’s blurb right before I start it as I enjoy going in blind, with few expectations beyond those I have for authors whose writing I’m familiar with. After that little hiccup, I was good to go and quickly found myself immersed in life at the Dead and Breakfast Inn.

In addition to the actual romance and mating between Fallon and Carter, there are several things I enjoyed about Fangs and Catnip. The first being the sense of family that Tanner works to instill among his staff and for his guests. Tanner not only wants the guests to enjoy themselves, but he wants them to feel at home while staying at the D&B – going so far as to ask guests about not just their needs, but also their food and beverage preferences and stocking them before the guests arrive. He also goes above and beyond for at least one of his guests when he arranges for a doctor who specializes in supernatural creatures to consult with Tom, a bitten werewolf who was turned late in life. It’s Tanner’s need to help other supernaturals that makes it easy to understand why Fallon calls him friend and serves as a semi-silent partner in the D&B. Additionally, I loved the two different courtships that play out in the novel. Not only was it cute to watch Fallon fight against succumbing to Carter’s thoughtful gifts, the second courtship (I won’t say who was wooing who) was both delightful and heart bruising. Finally, I really, really liked that while there was a bit of possessiveness between Carter and Fallon due to their mating bond, it wasn’t so strong that either man felt the need for violence when another male was near their mate. That allowed Carter and Tom’s friendship to form and strengthen to the point that Tom played a pivotal role later in the book. It also meant there was no negative impact on the friendship and brotherly bond between Fallon and Tanner. In fact, Fallon’s yearning for bear cuddles with Tanner and having Carter join the pile was an “Awwww” and grin inducing moment.

As for the narration, I was a tad hesitant at first at the idea of Dorian Bane as a bouncy, cat shifter. This is because I’ve only had the opportunity to listen to Bane perform rough and tumble cowboys, which he does exceedingly well. As I’d listened to the audio sample, I knew at the very least, I would enjoy him as Fallon and Tanner. I shouldn’t have worried because Bane not only created a believable voice for the werekitty, but he also created enjoyable and entertaining voices for the rest of the cast – I particularly enjoyed the gravelly tone he gave the gargoyle shifter’s voice. I really loved how Bane made subtle changes in Fallon’s voice over the course of the story to show how our grumpy vamp found happiness, even if he had to take a detour down Heartbreak Lane first. I absolutely loved Talbot’s story and Bane’s narrative performance, and I'm looking forward to finding out who’ll be the next to find love at the Dead and Breakfast Inn.

Stories that leave a mark.

Julia Talbot loves romance across all the genders and genres, and loves to write about people working to see past the skin they're in to love what lies beneath. Julia Talbot lives in the great mountain and high desert Southwest, where there is hot and cold running rodeo, cowboys, and everything from meat and potatoes to the best Tex-Mex. A full time author, Julia has been published by Dreamspinner Press, Changeling Press, and others. She believes that everyone deserves a happy ending, so she writes about love without limits, where boys love boys, girls love girls, and boys and girls get together to get wild, especially when her crazy paranormal characters are involved.

She also writes BDSM and erotic romance as Minerva Howe.

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Dorian is a voice actor and audiobook narrator specializing in character voices.

Connect with Dorian

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free audiobook copy of Fangs and Catnip (Dead and Breakfast #1) by Julia Talbot, narrated by Dorian Bane to read or listen to and review.