Narration by Elena Wolfe
Wow, what a twist! For those of you that are familiar with CD Reiss’ Songs of Submission series, Secret Sins will have one stunner of a surprise. However, even if you haven’t previously read or listened to this series, Secret Sins can easily still be enjoyed as a standalone. In fact, I didn’t realize the connection, as the blurb neglects to mention the prior series or even that it’s based in the same world. The main character in this story is Margie Drazen (the oldest Drazen sibling), and the story takes place both in the past, in the 80s when Margie went by “Cin” and was a rebellious rock band groupie, and in the 90s when she assumes the professional role expected of her and is starting out as a corporate attorney.
A couple of notes of caution are worth mentioning before going any further. The steam factor in Secret Sins is erotica level of hot. Additionally, please note that this is a novella length story (only about 4 hours in length). However, it does provide listeners who have not yet started the series with an added bonus in that Beg, Book 1 of the series, is included at the end of this book.
Band members Strat & Indy are as close as brothers, having grown up together, and being practically attached at the hip even before they became bandmates. When they meet a groupie, who garners both of their attentions, they do the only fair thing: they use their brother code to claim her off limits. Cin therefore becomes a good friend of both of them and so begins the whirlwind that has her close to the band at all times, but Cin is no ordinary woman. She’s smart, business oriented, and clearly must come from a high upper-class family (even if she refuses to fully disclose her background). From her designer clothes to the things she knows, Cin is different and more mature than the 18 years of age she claims to be. But as rockstars who are used to indulging in all things to excess, will Strat & Indy have the discipline to be able to honor their brothers’ promise, or will their new found triangle of friendship end in heartache?
Elena Wolfe does a fantastic job of narrating Cin’s perspective and dialogues. I really like the confident, snarky voice that she picked for Cin which seemed to fit her rebellious teenage year’s perfectly. Ms. Wolfe equally does Cin justice in the later more professional years with a confident, self-determined voice. Perhaps where I struggled a bit, however, was with her voices for Strat & Indy, which I had a bit more trouble differentiating. In the end, I found that I had to rely on dialogue tags in a number of places to tell Strat & Indy apart. Fortunately, however, Ms. Reiss did use sufficient dialogue tags so that I only had to rewind the audiobook a couple of times to discern the speaker.
Ms. Wolfe’s pacing works well so that the listener can understand the story. I also enjoyed how she used the appropriate emotion in each scene, which made it easy to experience what was happening.
Perhaps my only observation on the story is that I would have liked a little more of the 1990s time-period of the story, so that I could fully appreciate the romance. I find that novellas are always a bit difficult to fully develop in the emotional connection sense, given their abbreviated format. All that said, the twist alone made this a fantastic story to listen to.
All in all, Secret Sins is a must listen for Songs of Submission fans. From its flashbacks to the 1980s which highlight how the Drazen family began, to the bonus addition of Beg at the end of the audiobook, Secret Sins is a great place to start the Drazen Saga.
BJ
Narration: B-
Book Content: B+
Steam Factor: For your burning ears only
Violence Rating: Minimal
Genre: Contemporary/Erotic Romance
Publisher: Flip City Media, Inc
Secret Sins was provided to AudioGals for a review.
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