Midnight Man

By: Lisa Marie Rice

Narrated by: Alexandra R. Josephs

Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Interior decorator Suzanne Barron's new tenant is the most dangerously sexy man she's ever met. Navy Commander John Huntington, a former SEAL (aka 'Midnight Man') works best under the cover of darkness. Within hours of meeting him, Suzanne has wild, no-holds barred sex with John, then panics at the depth of her passionate response to such a powerful and dangerous warrior. Suzanne doesn't do sex like that. John is definitely someone she needs to avoid for her own peace of mind. But when killers come for her, Suzanne knows she can turn to only one man. John will guard and protect her body. But who will guard and protect her body against John?

©2003 Lisa Marie Rice (P)2013 Audible Inc.

Sex Against a Brick Wall

While the author is obviously talented, she lost me when she attempted to convince her readers that rough, unprotected sex on a first date with a virtual stranger is romantic. Seriously?

Although Midnight Man is listed as romantic suspense, the plot was basically erotica with very little romance or mystery. In fact, the only real mystery was how interior decorator Suzanna (28) managed to stay alive until John Huntington (36) swept in to rescue her.

Evidently Suzanna was intelligent enough to finish college and start her own business, yet she lived & worked in an old factory located in a dangerous neighborhood without taking common sense precautions: gate/fence, security lights, self-defense lessons.

John, ex-Navy, said that he would never intentionally hurt a woman, then shoved Suzanna's bare body against a brick wall (brush burns), and left her covered with bruises. Macho John decided she "belonged" to him, as if Suzanna was a trophy he won after saving her life.'

Their instant love story really didn't work for me, since they never spent anytime getting to know each other. No conversations, no humor, no respect. John needed someone to control and Suzanna needed to be "taken care of".

Since I like books which feature strong, capable females who want an equal life partner, not a domineering alpha jerk, I was incredibly disappointed in both the lead characters. John treated Suzanna like a not-too-bright sex toy, not a real person with feelings.

Note: There was a passage that described how soldiers get sexually excited by combat and need release afterwards, suggesting it's okay if their "partner" is not willing or even human. How insulting to our military men!

Pretty good start to the series :D

3.5-4 stars

This was a pretty good story. I really liked John and Suzanne and enjoyed their story. This was the first book I've read by this author and based on this I'd try more of her work in the future.

Suzanne is an interior designer in Portland, OR. She also owns a building that she's renovated. She lives and works out of one side and decided to rent out the other side. When she sets up an appointment with a business man interested in her property, she's not expecting the man that showed up as he's rough and dangerous looking, seeming like a hunter with her as his prey. She finds herself attracted to him but still kind of scared at the same time, not scared that he'll hurt her but of the intensity of the feelings he rouses in her.

John is an ex-Navy SEAL and now runs a security business after an early retirement due to injuries. He settles down in Portland but have been very busy with his new security business, things going so well that he has to expand his offices. He is seeing about the new office space when he meets Suzanne. He likes the office space and is very attracted to Suzanne so he decides he'll have both of them and John is good at achieving his objectives.

John and Suzanne get through their initial meeting and come to an accord about the rental. Suzanne even has some designs already drawn up for the space that John decides are perfect, feeling like she could have made the designs specifically for him. John also makes Suzanne realize that her current security system is crap (by breaking in to prove his point) and promises to install a new system as soon as he gets moved in to the building. John wastes no time and asks Suzanne out that very night, managing to get reservations at a very exclusive place where they have a good night. John is much more forward and blatant about what he wants than Suzanne is used to and she has some problems adjusting but yet she's very attracted to John and there's something more that draws her to him. When he takes her home, their goodnight kiss explodes in to a bout of hot sex, after which Suzanne freaks out a little and distances herself from John overnight. John is way in to Suzanne but is struggling because he wants to be gentle for her and worries that he might hurt her inadvertently during sex. When she freaks he worries that's why but is determined to not let go of her and get back on her good side. They see each other the next morning and John shows his overprotective side a bit but overall they get things on a better level between them.

Suzanne has a busy day with her work and then goes home, settles in for the night but can't sleep. This ends up being a fortunate thing because it means she is up and realizes when someone breaks in to her home and seems to be coming after her with a gun. She calls John and he saves her but after a second attempt is made on her life soon after, John decides to take her in to hiding until things can be figured out. They end up out in a cabin the the middle of the boonies where they should be safe. During their time out there, Suzanne and John get back to their physical relationship but also start feeling emotions for each other. Suzanne is shocked by how much John's willing to do to keep her safe, taking down assassins gunning for her and leaving his business and all to help her at a moments notice. Even though he's much rougher than most men she's known, she sees the good guy beneath through his actions. John is also going through a lot of emotional changes as well as he finds he feels a lot more for Suzanne than he ever expected. John has never even been in a relationship before and he realizes that Suzanne is the kind of woman that deserves a lot more than rough sex. Regardless of their differences, they work well together and find happiness being with each other. Then the bomb hits when they finally (with very bad timing) figure out what Suzanne knows that caused killers to be after her and it's bad! Things don't look good and it looks like Suzanne and John will be separated for good but John isn't willing to let Suzanne go and takes matters in to his own hands. Maybe not the "right" solution to the issue but I found I was good with the way it worked out. Once John does his thing, he and Suzanne are reunited and he takes her home for their HEA to begin.

Overall this was a pretty good story. I liked the characters and enjoyed the story. The story does take place over a very short time so it's a bit of an insta-love (or maybe not insta but very quick) situation but it works for the story. I liked this one enough that I plan to read the next book in the series that revolves around Bud (a cop introduced in this book) and Suzanne's best friend, Claire. I'd recommend this book. :D

Awesome story!

This first audiobook in one of my favorite series was excellent! The heroine, Suzanne is a up and coming designer. She is going to rent out part of her renovated warehouse and the man who comes to apply for the tenant position sounded great until she’s sees he’s gorgeous and dangerous. But after checking his references, she rents to John. Known as the Midnight Man because of his military expertise, John is instantly hit by an immense attraction to his new landlady. He talks her into having dinner with him and Suzanne is literally swept off her feet after dinner (and up against a wall, I might add). When Suzanne inadvertently sees something she shouldn’t have, someone comes to eliminate her. Desperate she calls John who arrives to rescue her. When a second attempt to take her out occurs, he takes off to his cabin in the mountains. The race is on to see if they can figure out who is after Suzanne, while John is after her heart. Narration is excellent.

This was a good book, but not a wow

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I think it needed a bit more sex

If you’ve listened to books by Lisa Marie Rice before, how does this one compare?

this was my first book by her

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

The narrator did a good job

Could you see Midnight Man being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Channing Tatum would be a good male lead

WHY IS THIS BOOK ON AUDIBLE'S LIST?

What disappointed you about Midnight Man?

This is a poorly written bodice ripper disguised as a thriller. 80% of the dialogue is of the male and female protagonists' sexual feelings and activities. I will admit that I laughed many times through the dialogue and about half way through, when I was about to stop wasting my time with this one, I just hung on to see if there ever was a plot. But, about 70% done, I just had enough of "his bulging chest muscles" and their "throbbing" this and "rock hard" that, and stopped. I was annoyed that I spent time and credits on this one for sure.

What could Lisa Marie Rice have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Not given up her day job.

What didn’t you like about Alexandra R. Josephs’s performance?

Not being a fan of romance novels, it's hard to judge.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Annoyance. A feeling that Audible needs to do a better job of judging the worthiness of its choices.

I really wanted to like this.

What disappointed you about Midnight Man?

The story and characters were poorly written...actually what story there was could have been told in 30 minutes. It was 8 hours of sex, badly written sex.

What was most disappointing about Lisa Marie Rice’s story?

I'm not sure this one was even written by her. The whole thing was a disappointment.

Did Alexandra R. Josephs do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

She did an ok job of narrating but John voice was somehow off. Of course there wasn't even a character developed even to have a personality.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The only redeeming quality was when it finally ended.

Amateurish

Midnight Man

If this is a writing style, I can live without it. Did a middle schooler write it? At least it wasn’t filled with “he said” and “she said” during the dialog.
Too many editing errors.
Cars haven’t had carburetors since the late 1980’s, so why did the heroine’s “new” car have one? We don’t even know what kind of car it is. When Suzanne calls John to save her from the intruder, she’s sitting in the closet and wondering what time it is, and thinks about her watch sitting on the bedside table. What about the time on the phone she called him with?? Look at the phone! What phone doesn’t have the time?? It seems like the author leaves out details to spare the research time. The characters are shallow, the sex scenes don’t build any tension, and the entire thing is sparse on story line, almost like an outline filled in with a little rough draft. I need details to make me believe it’s the real world. Maybe Ms Rice should stick to world building fantasy, if she doesn’t know anything about this world. But, then again, that requires even more details, so...
The narrator did as well as she could with the material, but sometimes the male lead’s voice is wanting, and I’m currently spoiled by Kaleo Griffith’s interpretation of Pamela Clare’s suspense novels. Now there’s a romantic suspense team!
I’m probably not going to read the sequels, either. One star for the book, and three for the narrator.

My Mothers Porn

I wasn't prepared for the "proper" erotica. I mean, I guess thats some ppls jam. I had to speed up narration because it was so slow I felt like I wouldn't make it to another chapter this week. Also, the internal dialog is sooooo freakin lonnnnng. They have spoken less to eachother then they do to themselves. After they finally have sex again, well, yeah. I'm done. Idc who's trying to kill her. Its the "where do all her organs fit inside her" comment & the "penis" over and over and over for me.

Boring

What disappointed you about Midnight Man?

It was 80% sex and 20% story, I prefer my books the other way around, very disappointed

What was most disappointing about Lisa Marie Rice’s story?

not enough story which had some merit, but was overtaken by the unending sex descriptions

What about Alexandra R. Josephs’s performance did you like?

She had a good feel for the characters

What character would you cut from Midnight Man?

none

Any additional comments?

Not sure why this was in romance sails more to the erotic

Lame story line

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I would change the "whole" story...weak!! Plot ..I thought this was a suspenseful crime novel ..but I was wrong ...the characters were shallowly developed...and was written about screwing ...and then falling in love in 2 days...really ....where is the depth

Has Midnight Man turned you off from other books in this genre?

Yes! I like a good steamy " sexual " book just as much as the next person , but this was vulgar smut....the verbiage went between a pubescent kid and a porn actor ....seriously who would want sex described that way.....

What aspect of Alexandra R. Josephs’s performance would you have changed?

She wasn't believing what she was reading

Do you think Midnight Man needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Nope

Any additional comments?

I kept listening hoping it would get better....but it didn't 1 credit wasted