Kairos by Mary Calmes Dual Media Review

Sometimes the best day of your life is the one you never saw coming.

Joe Cohen has devoted the past two years of his life to one thing: the care and feeding of Kade Bosa. His partner in their PI business, roommate, and best friend, Kade is everything to Joe, even if their relationship falls short of what Joe desires most. But he won’t push. Kade has suffered a rough road, and Joe’s pretty sure he’s the only thing holding Kade together.

Estranged from his own family, Joe knows the value of desperately holding on to someone dear, but he never expected his present and past to collide just as Kade’s is doing the same. Now they’ve stumbled across evidence that could change their lives: the impact of Kade’s tragic past, their job partnership, and any future Joe might allow himself to wish for…

Audiobook Details
Length: 5 hrs, 10 mins
Narrator: Michael Fell

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

Audiobook Review

Angela – ☆☆☆☆☆
This was an odd one. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy Kairos, because I did. A lot. I just didn’t expect the story to move from a romantic suspense storyline to a traditional romance complete with a family reunification, an unofficial adoption, and a marriage proposal (of sorts). It’s almost as if Mary Calmes intended to write two short novellas featuring Joe and Kade and, in the end, opted to write a short novel to give a more complete story for the pair. For me, it works because I enjoy Calmes’ writing, but for some readers, the change in tone might prove jarring.

Readers (or in my case, listeners) are dropped into Joe’s life right before shots are fired that will turn both his and his best friend Kade’s life upside down. Joe harbors an unrequited love for Kade, but it’s the kind of love that means Joe keeps Kade in his life, being the best friend he can be while tamping down on his romantic feelings so those feelings don’t negatively impact their personal or business relationship. This is why Joe finds himself protecting their target from Kade’s fury when Declan reveals who wants him dead. Luckily for all three men, Kade’s temper doesn’t prevent him from thinking clearly about the danger they’re in and they get the heck out of the Dodge before everything explodes around them. After a rather intense scene in which Joe proves he’s not Kade’s doormat – something that wasn’t entirely clear before – the three men hopscotch their way out of town, leaving incriminating evidence in the hands of someone who had the power to bring down the bad guys, thereby protecting young Declan. It’s when they land in California that part two of the story begins and Kade forces Joe to face his demons. And now that I’ve typed that, the two different tones of Kairos make more sense. Both Kade and Joe had demons they had to deal with before their life together could begin, but Kade’s demons were far darker and more dangerous than Joe’s were, hence the move from romantic suspense to a more traditional feel-good romance. While I don’t want to give too much away regarding Joe’s reconciliation with his family, I will say that they’re a hoot, particularly his mother. As usual, I would have loved for the story to continue on, so I could see where their new beginning would take them. I can only hope that Joe and Kade eventually make an appearance in another of Calmes’ books.

Kairos marks the second audiobook narrated by Michael Fell I’ve had the pleasure of listening to. I enjoyed the contrast in voices he performed for Joe and Kade. While the gruffness of Kade’s voice was perfect for the character Calmes has created, I did wonder more than once if it hurt Fell to perform because of its harshness. Kade’s gruffness was balanced out by the calm and steadiness of Joe’s voice, making it easy to see why Joe was Kade’s shelter from the storm. Declan’s voice was also perfect, conveying the young man’s vulnerability and fear so clearly that it was even easier to hear when he began to feel safe as he spent more time in Joe and Kade’s presence. Fell did a great job of creating voices for the entire cast of characters, but I really, really liked what he did with the main three characters’ voices. I suspect that I enjoyed Kairos more as an audiobook than I would have as an ebook and that’s because of how well Fell’s performance signaled the change in the story’s tone. This is definitely one for my ever expanding re-listen shelf. It’s also got me wondering which characters other than Sutter may have popped up in Calmes’ other books – my to-be-listened-to list is getting longer and longer each time I cue up one of the author’s audiobooks.

Ebook Review

Sarah – ☆☆☆☆
3.5 stars

I enjoyed this book but it feels like a puzzling mash up of two very different stories. At the start, we are plunged into a tense story of a pair of private investigators inadvertently exposing police and government corruption. And then the book abruptly segues into the story of a family who owns a vineyard and the homecoming of their gay son who ran away after coming out. I liked both halves of the book but I’m not sure they fit in the same story. The first story never feels complete and the second moves too quickly to allow the characters to feel real.

I like Joe and Kade together as partners but the miscommunication between them isn’t completely convincing and their relationship issues are a little bit tiring. It took me a while to warm to Kade and there were times when I just wanted Joe to grow a backbone.

When I stop picking it apart, this is an easy read and Kade and Joe are good fun. The first part of the book is exciting. The second part is a wonderful fantasy. It is a relaxing read with a little bit of heat.

MARY CALMES lives in Lexington, Kentucky, with her husband and two children and loves all the seasons except summer. She graduated from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, with a bachelor’s degree in English literature. Due to the fact that it is English lit and not English grammar, do not ask her to point out a clause for you, as it will so not happen. She loves writing, becoming immersed in the process, and believes without question in happily ever afters, and writes those for each and every one of her characters.

Connect with Mary

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads
Google+  ~  Instagram

Michael Fell is a professional actor trained in the classical actor training program at the Guthrie Theatre/ University of Minnesota. 4 years of rigorous voice training include voice over, character voices, audio book recording, and radio work. He has worked in numerous theatres across the country, was a member of the 2015-16 Acting Apprentice Company at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, and currently lives in New York City. He also is co-host of the new podcast GAY TODAY, available on iTunes, or wherever you download podcasts.

Connect with Michael

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Instagram  ~  Soundcloud  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free ebook or audiobook copy of Kairos by Mary Calmes, narrated by Michael Fell to read or listen to and review.

'Tis the Season by Alex Jane Audiobook Review

Aaron has spent the past 10 months alone. When he meets a sad, yet strangely familiar man on a cold Halloween night, he impulsively invites him home. But the intimate connection they share lasts only until morning. Aaron wakes up alone – wracked with guilt and devastated to have lost his chance. Or so he thinks.

Thanksgiving brings Aaron another shot at happiness, but letting go of an old love and accepting a new one isn't as easy as everyone keeps telling him. And by the time Christmas Eve rolls around, it becomes clear that Aaron's not the only one struggling to let himself love again.

Christmas miracles are all well and good, but it's going to take more than the Holiday Spirit for Aaron to get his happy ever after.

A story of grief, sadness, and letting it go; and finding love when you least expect it.

Audiobook Details
Length: 2 hrs, 57 mins
Narrator: Michael Fell

Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
Amazon Audiobook  ~  Audible  ~  iTunes

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Angela – ☆☆☆☆☆
‘Tis the Season suffers from the same shortcoming most good novellas do… that the end came far too soon. Even knowing that the bulk of Aaron and Dylan’s story takes place over three months, I still wasn’t prepared for the epilogue when I reached it – although I did enjoy it immensely and found it to be the perfect wrap-up to their journey.

Aaron is a widower who is still clinging to his grief, but at only ten months since the loss of his husband, he’s not ready to “move on” with his life. Personally, ten months was when my grief tipped over into depression, so I completely understood why Aaron felt it necessary to cut ties with the people in his life who kept telling him to move on and start living and loving again. But a chance encounter on Halloween night, that progresses into a one-night stand, has Aaron wondering if maybe he might possibly be ready to take that first step, until he sleeps on it and wakes up feeling guilty and as if he cheated on his dead husband. When Aaron ruins his chance to make future plans with Dylan, fate steps in the following month and their paths cross again on Thanksgiving Day. As both men are happy for the chance to reconnect, they fumble their way through the next month, trying to see if they are both ready to move on and do so together. I do wish that the jump in time from chapter three to the epilogue hadn’t been so significant, but that’s because I enjoyed spending time with the guys and wanted to experience more of their journey right alongside them.

I thoroughly enjoyed Fell’s performance. This is the first audiobook I’ve listened to by this narrator and I was impressed with how easy he made it to distinguish one character from the other. Another talent Fell possesses is the ability to clearly convey when the characters are thinking to themselves or speaking to one another. In ‘Tis the Season, both men engage in a good amount of internal dialogue and Fell’s narrative performance left me with no doubt as to who was speaking and who was thinking. Michael Fell did an impressive job of bringing Alex’s Jane’s story to life, making an enjoyable story even better – so much so that I’ve already listened to it several times this month, hence the five stars. I look forward to checking out more of both the author’s and the narrator’s work.

After spending far too long creating stories in her head, Alex finally plucked up the courage to write them down and realized it was quite fun seeing them on the page after all.

Free from aspirations of literary greatness, Alex simply hopes to entertain by spinning a good yarn of love and life, wrapped up with a happy ending. Although, if her characters have to go through Hell to get there, she’s a-okay with that.

With only a dysfunctional taste in music and a one-eyed dog to otherwise fill her days, Alex writes and walks on the South Coast of England—even when her heart and spellcheck are in New York.

Connect with Alex

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Instagram  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

Michael Fell is a professional actor trained in the classical actor training program at the Guthrie Theatre/ University of Minnesota. 4 years of rigorous voice training include voice over, character voices, audio book recording, and radio work. He has worked in numerous theatres across the country, was a member of the 2015-16 Acting Apprentice Company at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, and currently lives in New York City. He also is co-host of the new podcast GAY TODAY, available on iTunes, or wherever you download podcasts.

Connect with Michael

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Instagram  ~  Soundcloud  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of 'Tis the Season by Alex Jane, narrated by Michael Fell to listen to and review.