Double Blind

Special Delivery, Book 2

By: Heidi Cullinan

Narrated by: Iggy Toma

Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

Know when to show your hand...and when to hedge your bets.

Special Delivery, Book 2.

Randy Jensen can't stand to just sit by and watch as a mysterious man throws money away on the roulette wheel, especially since Randy's got his own bet going as to the reason this guy is making every play like it's his last day on earth. The man's dark desperation hits Randy right in the gut. Half of him warns that getting involved is a sucker's bet, and the other half scrambles for a reason - any reason - to save the man's soul.

Ethan Ellison has no idea what he's going to do with himself once his last dollar is gone - until Randy whirls into his life with a heart-stealing smile and a poker player's gaze that sees too much. Randy draws Ethan into a series of wagers that lead to a scorching kiss by midnight, but he isn't the only one with an interest in Ethan's vulnerability. Soon they're both taking risks that play fast and loose not only with the law but with the biggest prize of all: their hearts.

This book has been previously published and has been revised from its original release.

Warning: This story contains high-stakes poker, gangsters with a weakness for kittens, foursomes, and kinky consensual sex.

©2014 Heidi Cullinan (P)2016 Insatiable Press

I love this series

I love this series, I love this book and I love Iggy Toma. Unfortunately the editing in this audio book is not as good as I’m used to.

Amazing

Double Blind is my favorite book in the Special Delivery series. Randy and Ethan are both such complex characters! I love how Heidi pretty Much walks the reader through the ups and downs of gambling. Iggy rocks this narration!! I absolutely love his Randy voice!!!

enjoyed it

[Review: 02/2024] Heid Cullinan is a new author for me and I was delightfully surprised.
Writing styles have changed over the years and I was pleasantly surprised to find, that despite having a release date of 2016 her writing style doesn't contain all the dialog tags (he said / she said) that were common during the last decade.

📖 Story comment: good pace, likeable characters, interesting plot.
First meeting Randy in Special Deliver I'm happy he gets his own book. I love the complexity of his character and the different versions of himself he gives to the people around him. I liked the chemistry between Randy and Ethan and their story was very interesting (although I do think the relationship could have taken a little longer to develop - given WHY Ethan was in Vegas), I enjoyed the glimpse of "old Vegas" in the days when the Mob ran the town. The level of kink in this book works with the story, so it's not just there as "filler" and the polyamory elements of the story with Sam and Mitch are well written and work.

🎧 Narrator comment: Iggy Toma was a good choice for this series, he suits the characters from the serious to cheeky and heart warming moments. He has good cadence, inflections and intonations and it's easy to distinguish the characters from each other. Most importantly the characters are consistent from Book 1 - overall an enjoyable performance and he bought Double Blind to life.

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📌 Where does it fall on my personal scale? 7
[Note to self: contains a Polyamorous relationship - all consensual - not cheating]
• 1 not my thing • 2 didn't like the narration • 3 didn't keep my attention • 4 was good, but once was enough • 5 enjoyed it • 6 will listen again if i'm in the mood for the narrator • 7 goes on the "re-listen" list [4⭐] • 8 kept me up past bed-time [4.5⭐] • 9 recommended to family/friends [4.75⭐] • 10 own it in multiple formats [5⭐] • 11 keep a copy with me at all times [5⭐]

Just wow

What did you love best about Double Blind?

The characters make this series. It has very strong connections between the MC's plus the secondary characters are awesome. The entire book has you on the edge of your seat and waiting for what is going to happen. Sappy at parts in all the best ways with little kittens while hotter than hot sex scenes.

Any additional comments?

Buy this book but start with the first in the series before. I'm moving on to the third and cannot wait.

The Title is More Clever than You First Think

I will confirm that the sound editing is a little off here. The most common issue is that a sentence cuts off just a touch before the word has really ended. Which might very well be due to a program removing breaths and auto-cutting a little too harshly. It's not super common, but it's noticeable. I can't really speak to the volume levels people have also mentions as I alternate how I listen and environments, so I'm used to changing the volume a lot while listening to audiobooks in general.

As for the book itself. Yes! More Randy! Yep. I'm still over here on my Randy soapbox. I am pretty sure he's going to be my favorite forever. Y'all can have the rest. I will protect the messed up little grease monkey. Coming off book 1 and already being in love with Randy, being able to see so much more of him and so much more inside his head was a real treat. And this book is steeped in the fantasy of the dangerous but glitzy days of mobs running Vegas. There's danger peppered in, but in a way we all know is going to be fine, because we know how this book is going to end. Well, at least in the HEA way.

Like the first book we're in for more kink, more people, and more fun. I think a lot of people....don't get the kink. Which is fine. Kink isn't for everyone. And you can even enjoy fictional or performative kink without playing in it yourself. And there are a lot of levels of kink. But just because I've gone to seminars on spanking that involve far more lead up before things get hard, doesn't mean I don't think there are plenty of people who are way, way more into the pain side of it than the pleasure build up too. There are so many kinks out there and while we're probably all into a few, at least in small ways, there is always going to be a ton we aren't into. And I get the feeling these boys are getting judged a bit by some of the readers. If you're the type of person that hears the word "kink" and kinda scrunches up your nose, this probably isn't where you wanna spend your time. If you read the first book and had some crazy idea what Sam was going to save Mitch from the evils of non-monogamy and they were going to drive off into the sunset to spend the rest of their lives solely together and might even one day drop the kink....okay, if you thought that you missed the point of the whole series. This is not for you.

And in relation to that kink, Sam and Mitch ain't going anywhere. Sam is definitely in the book more than Mitch but that is because Sam is a tool for the plot to progress. One look at either Randy or Ethan and leaving those two together would have been a disaster. They are frayed nerves half the time. Sam literally moves things forward more effectively than Crabtree. And, he's important, not only to the themes and the kink in general, but to Randy. If anyone is mad that Sam was around too much or that Randy and Ethan didn't get enough time, again, you are missing so, so much this book it telling you. Polyamory (not polygamy -_- people) is a big facet of all of these character's lives. Even if they aren't participating in it as frequently as some of the others, it is part of their lives.

And sure, do I think it's perfect? No. I love it a lot, but how often the actual cards are mentioned is too much. Poker hands work visually, but not in text or speech. Very few people are going to hear what the flop is, and the cards in 3 people's hands, and then the turn, and then the river and be able to determine what sort of hand anyone has. I was thankful I came into this actually knowing something about Texas Hold'em and having played it for a night. But even with that knowledge I still zoned out when numbers and suits started going. I feel like Heidi was just really serious about having her portrayal accurate and showing she did her research. I get that. I over research a lot for my works too. But in this case I would have removed a lot of the card stuff completely, or focused more on the characters playing than what cards they were holding. It worked once, at the end. But the other times seemed very pointless.

I'm also a little over the HEA = marriage thing. Heidi really likes marriage to be the goal everyone seems to be heading for. Walter and Kelly, Baz and Elijah. Mitch and Sam. Sure, Giles and Aaron (oh, dear lord, I had to look him up and it's just the male spelling of MY name) only get engaged but it's still the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. And it's no different here. I don't even have an issue with how fast Randy and Ethan fell in love. There are so many types of love and it's so easy to get swept away. I'm just getting a little bored that no one in this universe seems capable of trying to be together for a few years before throwing a ring at someone. Like, maybe it's the fact that I'm part of those generations that care way less about marriage in general. Or maybe I like the idea of taking time to grow a relationship and offer the commitment without legal paperwork involved. Maybe it's because I'm Canadian and it's ridiculously easy to become "common law" so it loses even less "worth". I don't think marriage is any special declaration. Hence, I don't see any point in it constantly being the highlight at the end of the book.

I don't want to spoil why I think the title is so good, but I'll allude to a few things that I think it might be hinting at.
- Crabtree running an "experiment".
- Randy's feelings towards Sam.
- Randy and Ethan both being forced to bet/risk (required bets of the small and big blind)
- Simply the poker pun of the above mentioned two blinds in a round of hold 'em.

I don't know if Heidi was going for all four, but as someone who really like making titles fit multiple meanings in stories and books... hats off to you. I can kinda even see a fifth myself, but that might just be over analyzing.

Worth revisiting the series for

The guy who can suss out anyone can’t quite figure out the hot guy losing all his money kind of sort of on purpose but they get their grooves on together. Then people start throwing barrels of money at the broke guy and it mostly works out with the help of the demon’s penis, because everyone needs a good luck charm. The romance little quick to develop but deus ex Crabtree was at least a fun/scary way to scoot the plot along.

I did NOT like the last 1/3 of the previous book, mostly because of Randy. I did not finish it due to consent/safety issues (beyond the initial premise), not multiple partner issues. After listening to “Short Stay” I decided to give this series another chance. It’s more risky/aggressive than the author’s later books. Not all the risks work for me but I enjoyed this book. It’s nice to see that Sam & Mitch are still in love and alive. The multiple partner aspect and DS worked for me more than the B/SM did. Maybe it was in the subtext in how Randy got off? Maybe it was explained in book one after I gave up on it? But it felt more like “hey, spanking is edgy”. I was made to understand why he was switch; I was not made to understand him wanting to take a switch.

Minus one story star for giving $10M to a stranger who’s losing everything on roulette instead of the woman who has been running the casino for decades. And paying they guy with the casino saving idea with a drink.

Minus one performance star because I really dislike Randy’s voice despite otherwise being a big Iggy Toma fan. Production values, like volume chapter to chapter, were slightly less good than usual for HC/IT audiobooks but I only had to adjust volume a couple times.

If you want a pre-marriage-equality-in-all-states gay romance with guys who have good hearts, look out for each other & their friends, and get more emotionally grounded as they go on, aka a good romance, this book is a reasonable bet. I like it despite giving up on the previous book in the series. Odds are good you’ll like it too.

Great series

Great series, love the characters and their story and personalities.
And an amazing narration made this book really enjoyable.

Oh for the love of Randy!!

This whole series is awesome! also these characters make an appearance in the Love Lessons Series also..just sayin that's a great series too.

On Behalf of Randy

Of the 400 MM Romance books I have heard, Randy has to be the most controversial character per listener reviews. Welcome to Las Vegas and welcome to Randy’s book.

Randy, who’s talent is reading people, watched a man at a casino make the stupidest bet he has ever seen over and over. He came up with a back-story about the man and is set to meet him to prove he was right. Randy had it down… even guessing the correct state from which the man resided. Only problem is, one big part of the man’s story, Randy got wrong. The fact that Randy got someone wrong became heavy gossip around the casino.

While I love the characters, I felt that Ethan’s character was inconsistent throughout the book. I do not see how Ethan is the right person for Randy. Randy needed someone grounded and that is not Ethan.

The book had about 5 sub-plots that did not go together and were difficult to follow. I’m confused about what happened. Sometimes the characters made decisions where you say, “do anything except that” but they do it anyway. As previously mentioned, I don’t understand why Randy and Ethan belong together. Also, while Randy is supposedly a part-time truck driver, and therefore in a series about truck drivers, I don’t buy it. I don’t believe he actually drives anymore because of his other jobs. I think he wasn’t originally a truck driver, but was magically made into one so he could fit in the series.

This is one of those books where I have lots of serious opinions and that says something about the story. I’m obsessed with the non-sensical. Despite the inconsistencies, this is worth listening to. For Randy.

I cannot explain how good Iggy was in this. The characters were wide ranging. I found this author through looking for more Iggy books and I will probably listen to their entire catalogue despite the weirdness of this one. I agree with the other reviewers about some automated post-production that messed up the audio. But his acting made up for it.

Good story, but the editing w/ the audio is horrib

Would you consider the audio edition of Double Blind to be better than the print version?

I have listened to MANY audiobooks & most of the books read by Iggy, but this one has been edited so poorly with the audio. Many sentences are cut short or so faded you can hear it.