When you least expect it...

I believe I have found another "must" read author!! A.J. Thomas delivered an exceptional story filled with humor, lust, intrigue, and possibility. Thomas's writing technique draws the reader in and makes you hunger for more. The meeting of Christopher and Doug is one that is very realistic and relatable and their journey to discovery was awesome. The narration by Andy Babinski was exceptional and added to the story. Though I would have loved to have had closure in the story that was Christopher and Doug...the author allowed the reader to imagine the possibilities and being the sap that I am, of course they live happily ever after!!! Excellent book and I definitely recommend. Looking forward to reading more from this author...

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6 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Can't stand the narrator

Would you try another book from A. J. Thomas and/or Andy Babinski?

Yes the story was good but the narrating was beyond irritating

What other book might you compare A Casual Weekend Thing to and why?

I think I'll buy the book because I was interested in the plot

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

The voice was completley wrong for the genre of book. I could not get into the story because the voice was grating and lacked any sort of emotional range

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6 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Good story. Wrong narrator.

Just finished the audio book of A Casual Weekend Thing by A.J. Thomas. Great story, but I almost couldn't get through it because of the narrator. He had the least sexy voice ever. For some books, that would work fine, but he made all the guys in this book sound like creepers. I see there is a second book out. I hope when Dreamspinner produces the audio version, they chose a more appropriate reader.

As far as the story goes...I enjoyed the characterization. Christopher and Doug were interesting, thought I really wish the author would have left off the lame back story and nightmares for Doug. It felt like an afterthought, and didn't really add to his character or the plot. I liked his struggles with prejudice as a Native American. That was enough. No need to try to make him more damaged.

The plot moved quickly. There was enough mystery to keep me guessing. The love story was handled well. I liked that it showed even relationships with sleezey beginnings can find their happily ever after.

Overall, I give A Casual Weekend Thing...

Plot - 4 1/2 bookmarks
Character Development - 4 bookmarks (I'm just going to go ahead and pretend Doug's stupid back story with the boy from college didn't exist.)
Love Story - 5 bookmarks (Felt very natural.)
Dream cast (Otherwise known as who I pictured while reading/listening) - This was tough, because the narrator had me picturing Ron Jeremy. I suppose if I were reading this book my brain would have pictured Adam Beach (Doug) and Cam Gigandet (Christopher).

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6 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Not a good narration, interesting story

*Audible edition*

I always wanted to know what a robot would sound like narrating M/M romance. Now I know.

Ugh, this audiobook was not a strong one. While the narrator had a broad range of voices, they were all sort of... off. He gave each character a grating voice, and his narration of Christopher was stilted and odd. While it wasn't the worst audiobook that I've listened too (cough, cough The Fall), I had a difficult time getting into the story because of the reading voice.

Now, I have to say, when I heard this was a debut book from this author, I was very impressed. It is a mature, slow-burn romance with some surprising twists and with two men that have more baggage than Samsonite. I loved the diversity of the characters (I have only read a few Native American M/Ms, the others being by Sarah Black) and the way things seem to develop organically between the two MCs. Also the mystery... wow, really well done. I'm not a mystery reader but this mystery kept me guessing.

I did have a few issues with this book that kept it from being a "love" (not including that terrible narration... can you tell that I hated it??). This book tends to get caught up in the details. Descriptions tend to be overlong and I often found parts of this book to be slow moving. I think it could have been cut down by 50 pages or so and it would have made a tighter story.

I also think it tried to do a little too much. There were a lot of jumbled issues (childhood sexual abuse (<--- trigger warning), rape, domestic violence, trust issues, abandonment, PTSD, religious themes)... the list goes on and one), and when you are combining that with a burgeoning romance, a mystery, and a police procedural, it ended up feeling a little cluttered. Also, these guys were too dense and non-communicative about their feelings for each other for my liking.

I think if the narration had been stronger I would have liked this a bit more, but it was still a pretty impressive book. I think it is a must-read for angsty, mystery lovers who want something a little slower paced and different.

**Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

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5 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

It was O K... but that's all

First off, the narrator was horrid! The annoying grating and eventually by the end of the book the intolerable narration was a key factor in my rating. Once again it seems as if gay men can't seem to go through a book with out the graphic sexual description. I would love too listen to a book that the characters were just gay, and that the sex wasn't so important to write endless chapters describing it.

The story itself wasn't too bad. Could have been a little more engaging. The "twists" were predictable. And the fact that a 2 week fling leads to a LTR is pushing the envelope. But I was nonetheless compelled to finish this book and find out what happened.

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4 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Terrible, terrible Narration

Would you try another book from A. J. Thomas and/or Andy Babinski?

I will NEVER buy another book narrated by Babinski. He was just awful and painful to hear. It sounded almost as if he were trying to do an imitation of someone like Don Pardo, or a radio announce from 1945 and failed miserably.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I tried to be fair when awarding stars. I could not give Babinski more than one star... or less than one star,(because Audible won't let you do negatives) and due to his horrible inability to narrate I was unable to judge the story. I may actually read the book myself sometime and see what I think

How did the narrator detract from the book?

He had little to no emotion to his voice, all of this characters sounded so similar I had trouble distinguishing Ray from Doug at times. Both of which sounded like bad attempts at imitating John Redcorn from King of the Hill.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

I think I might, just to erase the bad taste with which this left me.

Any additional comments?

I'm a little reluctant but I may buy the next book on Kindle and see how if I like it any better.
Yeah, I know, almost everyone has bitched about the narrator and I'm just the most recent to suffer through it, but really, he's just that bad.

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3 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Great story, narrator's voice nearly ruins it all.

Would you listen to A Casual Weekend Thing again? Why?

I would not. I would read the story instead. The narrator's voice and cadance are a cross between Mo Racca and Emo Phillips. The grating nasal quality is horrific. Despite the above average story, it is nearly destroyed by this narrator.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Cristopher. He's likable, under pressure, and absolutely ready for love. He doesn't crack under the stress of the story and still makes the choice to be happy.

Would you be willing to try another one of Andy Babinski’s performances?

No. Not ever.

If you could take any character from A Casual Weekend Thing out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Doug. He needs to know eople can like him for the man inside and despite his past. I would be happy to make him my friend.

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1 personne a trouvé cela utile

needs a better narrator

The story is interesting but this particular narrator should never read sexual content. His narration of intimate scenes is atrocious

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Great story. Great narration.

Really liked the characters. The plot was well constructed. I didn't guess the end!

I enjoyed the way the writer artfully added social commentary and a bit of wilderness education among other things.

This was my first list, but I have read the book several times. I keep hoping there could be more than just 3 books to this series.

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A good emotional read

Audio review
Warning* Emotional triggers* The bad guy is a pedophile, there is mention of rape on both characters sides. Though it is all off page no actual scenes. Not for the faint of heart!*
Christopher is on leave from a shooting. He and is partner are close but his partner is straight and a playboy. Christopher figures out he may to be able to go back to work with his hand the way it is. He gets a call and finds out his brother is dead, not that he cares, but when he walks in on his partner with a man it breaks his heart so he decides to go deal with his brothers body and estate. He stops in Missoula and meets a hot man. They have a great weekend but know they will never see each other again.
Doug works for the search and rescue team with the sheriff's office. He never expected to see the sexy man from the weekend until he came to ID the body and take care of the estate he didn't realize existed.
The story line is angsty, twisted and keeps you on pins and needles. The romance between the two men give the story a bit more softness.
Andy Babinski did a good job narrated. he kept me interested, the pacing was good and the voices ok. I recommend this audio!

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