Mystery Man (Dream Man, #1) in Audiobook Junkies

Sep 19, 2017 Linda (un)Conventional Bookworms rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fave-author, adult, romance, contemporary, read-in-2017, romantic-suspense

This review was originally posted on (un)Conventional Bookviews
Mystery Man is classic KA! Very, very alpha male, lots of humour, love, suspense and squishy heart on my part...

Review - (un)Conventional Bookviews

Story:
There is so much going on in Mystery Man, some of it good, some of it bad, some of it ugly - all of it pretty amazing. Once I got over Hawk's bossiness and Gwen's waffling, I fell in love with them both. And as always, Ashley brought out the big guns when it comes to turns of phrases that made my heart turn over ...more

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Mar 30, 2014 Lisa Kay rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: challenge-double-decker, challenge-2014-rlftci, m-audible-dot-com, authors-k, authors-a, genre-romance-suspense, series-d, setting-usa-colorado, zzcover-blue-black, character-male-d

★★★★½ (This is a review of the audiobook.) Nicely narrated by Kate Russell; I enjoyed her voice speaking in first person POV as Gwendolyn Kidd. She made a couple of minor slips; like, not whispering a time or two when a character whispered, but these were very minor. She did a nice job on Cabe “Hawk” Delgado – yum! – too. There seemed to be some replacement “dubbings” in a few parts that would change the sound level, but the story was so good, it didn’t really take me out of the story for long. ...more

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Mar 23, 2012 Sunny rated it liked it

Shelves: reviews, team-commando, a-1-favorite-series, own

I know what I want when I pick up a book like this to read. I want a fun, adventurous story, a hot alpha male, a strong-willed intelligent female, and great interaction between the two. I want the story to peel the layers off the hero like an onion and I want hot romance. If I get an emotional hook or an interesting plot twist, it’s a bonus.

For the most part, Mystery Man lives up to my expectations, but doesn’t exceed it. I was originally drawn to this book because of it incredulous prologue: a I know what I want when I pick up a book like this to read. I want a fun, adventurous story, a hot alpha male, a strong-willed intelligent female, and great interaction between the two. I want the story to peel the layers off the hero like an onion and I want hot romance. If I get an emotional hook or an interesting plot twist, it’s a bonus.

For the most part, Mystery Man lives up to my expectations, but doesn’t exceed it. I was originally drawn to this book because of it incredulous prologue: a woman (Gwen) has a one-night stand, only to be revisited in the dark of night by the same guy for a booty call for a year and a half and did not know anything about him including his name. How was the author going to explain this without making Gwen look pathetic or a slut? The story eventually resolved itself, but it did require a little belief suspension.

My hook in this story was the promise to unravel the mystery of Cabe “Hawk” Delarosa. Hawk is mysterious, controlling and dangerous (reminded me a little of Travis Maddox from Beautiful Disaster and Christian Grey in Fifty Shades of Grey ). It would be easy for any woman who has ever dated a “bad boy” or “rebel” in her life (or wanted to) to be drawn to this character. Unfortunately, the problem is that for the majority of the book, I did not get deep insight of Hawk. Part of the problem is that the book is written in first person narrative. As a reader, I didn’t know what is going inside Hawk’s head. His character, though not superficial, lacks depth. We know from his actions and from her perception that he is strong, silent, and hella controlling (though it is later revealed that a tragedy his past has made him so guarded). But beyond that it hard to figure out who Cabe Delgado is and what he does. For example, we really are not sure what he does for a living except that he and his company are security experts whose work includes protection and surveillance (He has installed camera in Gwen’s house even before she knew who he was. Talk about a trust-buster and a dealbreaker.) All we really know about his work from Hawk is that he has “shit to do.” Thankfully we are allowed a little bit into his head in the Epilogue. That was a treat.

Because this is the first in a series, we are introduced to the primary characters for the future books. It is a pleasure to meet Kane “Tack” Allen, Detective Mitch Lawson, and Agent Brock Lucas. Each are unique characters and there are delicious hints of what’s come. But as for their participation in this book, the characters are introduced, allowed to play for a little while and then are just left to *poof* disappear. (view spoiler)

There is serious sexual tension between Gwen and Hawk and that's what kept drawing me back. There are some interesting twists in the plot, but I think it went a little overlong and the final chapter lacked a big bang. Nonetheless, because I am a serial series book reader, I will probably read the rest of the series. I’m most looking forward to Kane’s story. Reading more about a biker gang leader with a heart of gold and can make fabulous pancakes? I’m in. ...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Darcy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, 2024, e-book, audio-book, listened-to-at-work, 2019, 2022, re-read-2017, romance, 2014

This author has gotten so much hype here on GR, so I worried that when I finally decided to read it, it wouldn't live up to those raves. I can happily say that it didn't. Right from the start I was sucked into this one, to the point that I didn't want to go to work, just wanted to read it all day til I was done.

I found Gwen's whole Mystery Man or MM to be intriguing at the start. I liked it when Gwen commented on her actions by calling herself a bad name, because honestly, I was thinking it too, ...more

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May 25, 2012 Anne - Books of My Heart rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, 2013

This book was very enjoyable. It took me longer to read than I expected even though I wanted to just keep reading. There is a flavor of the Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum books here. But the humor is better, the characters seem more realistic and it is so much smarter. This book took me on some emotional rides. The sexy times were well done- hot but not too detailed. I laughed out loud more than a few times and for me, that makes a great book. There's a romance here, some mystery, some action an ...more

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Sep 30, 2013 Nichole ~Bookaholic~ rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Mystery Man - Audio Book This rating is based on the narration of the book which was not bad but not great either. The voice and tone of the narrator really do make a difference....when I read the book I liked Gwen...she was a bit clueless but mostly likable...with the narration I did not like her much and she seemed a bit whiney.....

I love audio books, but if I had not read the the book previously and had only listened to the audio I probably would not continue with the series, or the next boo ...more

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Feb 08, 2020 Cassandra Moore rated it liked it

I ended up liking the story, but the writing wasn't great. It took me awhile to decide if I was going to read it or not. Either the writing got better as it went, or I got so into it that I didn't notice as much. ...more

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Dec 30, 2012 Liza rated it really liked it

I'll admit I had to step away for the crazy a few times when I first started reading. However, I'm so glad I gave this author and this book a shot. Already needing my next KA fix and I just finished reading Hawk and Gwen's book. Totally loved Hawk from the very beginning! ...more

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Sep 29, 2013 Nichole ~Bookaholic~ rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, z-2013

2.5 stars

This rating is based on the narration of the book which was not bad but not great either. The voice and tone of the narrator really do make a difference....when I read the book I liked Gwen...she was a bit clueless but mostly likable...with the narration I did not like her much and she seemed a bit whiney.....

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Apr 16, 2014 Shannon rated it it was amazing

Epic love story...action romance...And one badass dream man

I love Hawk and Gwen, and enjoyed this story reading it a second time. This is a steamy love story of a hot alpha and his Cosmo princess.

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