- Narrated by:
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
Just released from the military, wounded warrior Eric Tremaine is trying to put his life back together like the doctors reassembled his shattered leg. He’s a man with no home, since his Louisiana family rejected him, so Eric winds up in Texas with his old Army buddy, Adam Winchester, and his lover, Sage.
When Eric decides to stop sitting on his ass feeling sorry for himself, he is introduced to trainer Troy Daniels, who lost both his legs in a teenage accident. Troy knows what it’s like to feel as if your body is your enemy. While Eric and Troy have a bumpy start, they soon find enough common ground to make a friendship, if not more. But taking it to the next level means finding out what they have to offer each other, and the world, before they can trust that the love they find together won't cause more pain than pleasure.
Buy links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon Audio | Audible | iTunes
Tams gives this one 3 Stars
"Okay story with mediocre narration."
How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?
Filled in the holes in the story and chosen a narrator that could at least attempt a Cajun accent to fit the character Eric.
How did the narrator detract from the book?
See above. I've listened to other Audiobooks from this narrator and actually really enjoyed his performance. So, I'm not sure why this one fell flat. Perhaps since this one is a bit older he's perfected his skills a bit more. So I would definitely listen to him again.
Could you see The Articles of Release being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?
Hmmmmm.... Josh Stewart as Eric, he can actually hit that Cajun accent.
Any additional comments?
Troy Daniels knows what it's like to feel like you are less than, to feel like you are lacking because a part of your body is missing or broken. It's part of the reason he's an adrenaline junkie. He feels this need to prove to everyone, especially himself, that his disability doesn't define him as a man or a person. When he meets Army vet Eric Tremaine, sparks fly, but not the ones that ignite from a mutual attraction. Eric mistakenly paints Troy with wrong brush. Thankfully, Eric isn't a man that can't recognize when he's wrong. Apologies lead to lunch and eventually dinner and a mutual attraction is explored, very slowly at first. But Troy has a problem with sitting still, or refusing any offer to do something he probably shouldn't, which just might drive a wedge between him and Eric that can't be fixed.
Okay, I really, really wanted to like this book. I had several issues though, most notably the narration. Eric Tremaine is obviously Cajun, what with the last name but he's also referred to as the Cajun more than once in the story. The narrator didn't even attempt to give him a Cajun accent. He could have given him a southern accent if he couldn't re-create the appropriate tones or nuances for a Cajun, but no, he was almost monotone and it really affected the story for me. The story itself was choppy and at times, stilted. I did enjoy the exploration of feelings and attitudes in the story though. Eric's anger over his injury and the fact that he wanted to make his life around the army, and being injured while on duty killed that dream. Troy's inability to say no when he's offered chances to fly a plane and do stunts, ride a motorcycle and so on. Losing his legs as a teenager, he's come to terms with that but not with his ADD and he just can't wrap his brain around why someone else wouldn't understand his need to prove something.
I think if you're a fan of the author, slightly angsty adult stories or cowboys, then you'll probably enjoy this book more so than I. But I would have to recommend reading it, the narration was just not that great. Sorry.
Excerpt...
Okay, I really, really wanted to like this book. I had several issues though, most notably the narration. Eric Tremaine is obviously Cajun, what with the last name but he's also referred to as the Cajun more than once in the story. The narrator didn't even attempt to give him a Cajun accent. He could have given him a southern accent if he couldn't re-create the appropriate tones or nuances for a Cajun, but no, he was almost monotone and it really affected the story for me. The story itself was choppy and at times, stilted. I did enjoy the exploration of feelings and attitudes in the story though. Eric's anger over his injury and the fact that he wanted to make his life around the army, and being injured while on duty killed that dream. Troy's inability to say no when he's offered chances to fly a plane and do stunts, ride a motorcycle and so on. Losing his legs as a teenager, he's come to terms with that but not with his ADD and he just can't wrap his brain around why someone else wouldn't understand his need to prove something.
I think if you're a fan of the author, slightly angsty adult stories or cowboys, then you'll probably enjoy this book more so than I. But I would have to recommend reading it, the narration was just not that great. Sorry.
Excerpt...
Chapter One
“DISABILITY DISCHARGE.”
“Documentation is all in order. Injury impairs subject’s ability to perform his duties.”
“Internal fixation of the hip joint, severe loss of muscle in quadriceps region with damage to the quad tendon and patella.”
Eric Tremaine had heard it all and more. In fact, he felt as if he’d been talked to death, in and out of the hospital. In therapy. Through the evaluation of first the civilian, then the military doctor. His CO had made all the sympathetic noises, even while signing off on Eric’s inability to continue his job at 1st Cav.
So in a week, he was gonna be a free agent. Starting over. No more working toward his twenty years and retirement. Eric was about to be a civilian.
Fuck. What the hell was he supposed to do now? While he sat in the waiting room, he pulled out his phone and thumbed through his contacts, which he really needed to update.
His mom and dad were out of the question. Eric only had their number on file in case he was killed in action so they could be notified. His sister in Arkansas wouldn’t want to explain him to her church community.
All his other contacts were still in the fucking Army, and now Eric was the equivalent of a rodeo widow. No one wanted to admit what had happened to him could happen to them, so they simply didn’t talk to him anymore.
Which left him with one name, one number. Adam Winchester had been smart and had gotten out after his six years. The Med, then Baghdad, which was where Eric and Win had met. They’d bonded over something neither of them was supposed to ask or tell back then, and their friendship had stood the test of time.
Eric took a deep breath, then hit the little call icon next to Win’s name. He could only hope the guy was still willing to do a favor for an old Army buddy.
It rang a few times, and then he heard, “Adam’s phone.” That was not Win.
“Oh. Uh, hey. Is Win around?” He cleared his throat, surprised as fuck for some not-Win guy to be answering Win’s phone. “This is Eric. Eric Tremaine.”
“Hey, Eric. I’m Sage. Sage Redding. Adam’s right here, yessir. He says give him two minutes to wash up. He’s been bathing a skunked dog.” Someone sounded as if he was taking unholy pleasure in that.
“Oh. Hi, Sage.” That had to be Adam’s feller. He’d heard bits and pieces in e-mails. Someone was hooked through the balls.
“Hello. Here he comes.” Eric heard the phone change hands and a soft, “Next time when I tell you to leave her in, you will, I bet.”’
“Yeah, yeah. Hey, Eric. What’s up, man? I thought you were in Afghanistan. Someplace with a -stan.” Win’s voice was like a balm, friendly and familiar. Not quite home, but absolutely not foreign.
Eric was from Louisiana, so his accent had a little more… roundness to it, maybe. Still, a friendly voice was always welcome. And, God knew, he needed both—a friend and a welcome.
“Disability discharge. Our caravan was attacked.” The words cracked a little in his throat.
There was a single, soft breath, and then he heard, “Oh fuck. No shit? Where are you? What do you need?”
Eric closed his eyes in pure, unabashed relief at the immediate questions, the offer of help that he knew was honest. Win and him, they were friends, but he hadn’t known for sure if they were still good ones.
“I… I know it’s a lot, but I need a place to stay for a few weeks. Just until benefits get straightened out and I get a fucking clue.” He bit his lip, knowing he was probably gonna be a huge intrusion.
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. Y'all know that song, The Happiest Girl in the Whole USA? That's me, down to the bone.
Having written everything from fist-fighting rednecks to hard-core cowboys to werewolves, BA does her damnedest to tell the stories of her heart, which was raised in Northeast Texas, but has heard the call of the high desert and now lives the good life in the Sandias. With books ranging from hard-hitting GLBT romance, to fiery menages, to the most traditional of love stories, BA refuses to be pigeon-holed by anyone but the voices in her head.
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The narration is so important with audio books. I haven't come across many that have mediocre narration but the ones I have weren't my favorite.
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