Reaper’s Stand by Joanna Wylde

Narrated by Tatiana Sokolov and Sean Crisden

I was recently introduced to the work of author Joanna Wylde and to the subgenre of MC (Motorcycle Club) romances. Upon first reading the synopsis of Reaper’s Property, Book 1 in the series, I was appalled. Even so, I gave the book a chance, and now, I must admit to being hooked. My inner feminist complains quite loudly about my current guilty pleasure, but I ignore her, and keep on listening. Needless to say, I was thrilled to review Reaper’s Stand, the latest installment in the Reaper’s Motorcycle Club series.

Reese Hayes, known to the club as Picnic, has been a major character throughout the series. He’s the club president, and father of Em, the heroine of Devil’s Game, which BJ recently reviewed. Previous books made me curious about this enigmatic man, and I was pleased to have the chance to get to know him in this book.

Picnic has devoted much of his life to the Reapers. They are his brothers and surrogate uncles to his daughters. They supported him after his wife died of cancer, and he wants nothing more than to continue living life on his own terms. Things are heating up though. A drug cartel is encroaching on Reaper territory, and Picnic can’t get cleaning lady London Armstrong out of his head. She just isn’t his type. She’s thirty-eight rather than eighteen, for one thing, and, for another, Picnic is pretty sure London won’t be up for a one night stand, which is pretty much all he has to offer.

London’s life is far from easy. She barely makes ends meet, despite the cleaning business she owns. The fact that she’s cleaning for the Reapers could go a long way toward making things easier in the financial department, but London is a bit wary of getting too mixed up in Reaper business. She has her young cousin, Jessie, living with her, an eighteen-year-old with a lot of physical and developmental problems. London has no time for drama, and no inclination toward a relationship of any kind with Picnic. At least, that’s what she tells herself.

When the drug cartel abducts Jessie, Picnic is the only one who can help her. London is reluctant to trust him, for reasons that are totally understandable, even if Picnic doesn’t see it that way. When it comes down to it, how far will London go to save Jessie?

Tatiana Sokolov has narrated three out of the four Reaper’s MC books. She knows the characters well, and does her best to make each stand out from the rest. However, it is worth noting that Ms. Sokolov only has a few distinct male voices. In a book like Reaper’s Stand, where so many of the characters are male, this is not a point in her favor. Many of them ended up sounding alike. She did manage to make Picnic sound older than the rest of the men. This is fitting, since he’s forty-two. She gave him a gruff sound, which fit his character perfectly.

Ms. Sokolov does better differentiating female characters as her repertoire of female voices is much broader. London sounds warm, motherly, and slightly frantic, which worked well considering the mess her life has become. Jessie’s youth and impulsivity were plainly heard.

As always, Ms. Sokolov excelled at portraying the sexual tension between our hero and heroine. Both have feelings they long to deny, but when they come together, all bets are off. Ms. Wylde can write some seriously hot scenes, and Ms. Sokolov imbues them with just the right amount of emotion needed to make me squirm in a good way, of course.

Mr. Crisden’s performance was masterful. Up until now, I’d only listened to him read paranormal romances. So, I was a bit concerned about his ability to read something as dark and gritty as Reaper’s Stand. I need not have feared though. He pulled it off without a hitch.

Fortunately, he is capable of using a wide variety of pitches, speech mannerisms, and intonations so that dialogue tags were unnecessary. I always knew who was speaking.

I was especially fond of his depiction of Picnic. Mr. Crisden has a mature sound that worked beautifully for this character. I didn’t want him to sound like a twenty-five-year-old. I wanted to be convinced of his age, experience, and emotional baggage. Mr. Crisden gave me all that and more.

He is one of very few male narrators who doesn’t fall into the trap of using a falsetto when portraying female characters. His pitch is a little higher than normal, but just enough to suggest femininity. It’s totally believable.

It’s important to note that this is the fourth book in the series. I highly recommend listening to them in order. You’ll have a better understanding of the various characters, their relationships, and motivations.

If violence and crude language bother you, skip this book. It’s the darkest in the series. Ms. Wylde doesn’t hold anything back as she gives readers a look inside the world of the MC. At first, I was a little turned off by the way women were referred to. They are commonly called club whores, property, and old ladies. I found those terms incredibly disrespectful. Eventually, I put my need for political correctness aside, and let myself fall into a world very different from my own. It’s a decision I don’t regret making. In fact, I’ll make it again as soon as another MC romance crosses my path.

Shannon

Narration:  Tatiana Sokolov – B and Sean Crisden – A

Book Content:  B+

Steam Factor:  For your burning ears only

Violence:  Graphic

Genre:  Contemporary Romance

Publisher:  Tantor Audio

Reaper’s Stand was provided to AudioGals by Tantor Audio for review.