Fire Inside: A Chaos Novel

AudioBook Review: Stars: Overall 3 Narration 2 Story 3 Lanie Heron is “family” of sorts at the Chaos MC, best friend to the president’s wife, a bit out of the ‘norm’ for a hang-around, and more than a few issues. She’s had a ‘thing’ for Hop Kincaid for seemingly ever, but she’s never going to let herself into another ‘serious’ relationship. Her last foray into relationship nearly got her killed, and she’s still working out (or ignoring) the effects. But aside from some friendly banter and obviously being so not interested in her, she’s not got a chance. So, instead of thinking of ‘forever’ and wanting to move on and get rid of this obsession with him, she proposes a one time, no strings attached night, feeling this will do the trick. But, fate has a way of making fools out of mortals, and one night is not enough. Hop is everything she wants: protective, caring, sexy as hell, and their night is one that no one could forget. But, there’s the little problem of her not actually being the ’type’ he goes for – and can she, as a club member’s partner, understand their lifestyle and how things are done? Sure, she’s been around it all, but can she fit – really fit, and take a chance on him? With plenty of issues on both sides, that get recycled often, and a slow (perhaps too slow) recognition of what they actually mean to one another, this isn’t an insta-love situation, but more of a lust that is so much more once you break down the walls and hurts from the past. Like all of Ashley’s books, the characters are solidly built and issues feel ‘real’, which all is developed with her rather wordy style. Often repeated issues return, never dealt with right off and sorted, and creeping in to cause upset, occasionally feeling like it could have (or should have) been sorted in the last appearance. But, if you’re willing to take the time to listen (or read), and understand that the tie-ins to earlier series (and storylines) all feel rather ‘samey’ than this is something you’ll like. Narration for this story is provided by Kate Russell, and while years back I did listen to (and enjoy) her performance for the fourth in this series, I’d have to say that I didn’t feel it this time around. Hop’s voice (all the men in fact) felt very much like they were trying to hard with too little ‘oomph’ and the women, particularly Lanie, came off as either shrill or ‘little girl lost’ – even after finding their ‘feet’. With the multiple characters, the switches, and the emotional undertone of the voices chosen for Lanie and Hop feeling not quite “enough” for the force of their personalities, I’d have to say that disappointing was the first word that came to mind. This was not a ‘listen in one sitting” title, which with a better narrative performance I could see it as such, but it took me much more time to ‘pick it up again’ because of the narration than I expected. I’ve got one more from this pairing to go – and I hope that some of the initial spark I found with this series with book 4 will return. I received an AudioBook copy of the title from Hachette Audio for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.