Phenomenal X

Hard Knocks, Book 1

By: Michelle A. Valentine

Narrated by: Alexandria Wilde, Sean Crisden

Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

From the mean streets of Detroit rises the newest superstar of professional wrestling, Xavier Cold, better known as Phenomenal X. His muscular physique makes men cower before him and women lose their minds with desire. Anna Cortez is fresh out of college and naïve to the harsh realities of the real world. Tired of living under the thumb of her conservative family, she defies them when she accepts a job as the assistant to wrestling's most notorious bad boy. Phenomenal X has an animalistic nature that even good girl Anna finds hard to resist. Forced to share a bed in a sold-out hotel, lines blur between them, and they quickly learn that one lustful night changes everything. Neither one of them will ever be the same. Contains mature themes.

©2014 Michelle A. Valentine Books, LLC (P)2014 Tantor

Mr. intensity himself was phenomenal.

Would you consider the audio edition of Phenomenal X to be better than the print version?

I enjoyed the audiobook. I wasn't trying to tear my ear drums out. It was a perfect pairing for narrators.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I liked this book. Did not love it. But the ending was pretty fitting with the feel of the book. Their was no shocking end, more predictable but entertaining.

What about Alexandria Wilde and Sean Crisden ’s performance did you like?

I like their voices for these characters, a good audiobook is all about choosing the right narrator for the character and genre along with age group. I listened to a young woman's voice for a young woman's character. It was well suited which mad it more enjoyable.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I always thought this was a stupid question. Next ...

Any additional comments?

I would recommend this one, lately I have been buying books and hating them because the narration a are mismatched but this book gave me what I was looking for in a story. I'm satisfied.

GRRRRRRRR.....MAJOR CLIFFHANGER!!!

Good thing I waited for the sequels release before I started this series! CLIFFHANGERS SUCK!!

Weak and whiny

I don't know if it was the narrator Alexandria's voice for Anna or the way the story is wrote, but Anna is a whiny irritating character. I also hated when Alexandria did Xavier's voice. Just horrible. The male narrator Shawn should have narrated the whole story. I believe it when he's reading both characters part.

so so amazing

I have read and reviewed this book in the past. when looking for an audio copy this was exactly what I wanted and I would highly recommend this to anyone and everyone

Huge freaking cliffhanger!

While I felt this was a really entertaining audiobook, I was thrown by the giant unexpected cliffhanger. The heroine is a sheltered young girl who left home to get out from under her father’s controlling thumb. On the plane from Seattle to Detroit, she meets a mesmerizing man who captures her attention like a magnet. Once she is at her aunts house in Detroit she realizes he has her cell phone and purse, so she has to find him. They agree to a friend’s only status and start spending time together, though she soon wishes for more from him. After she gets wrongly fired from her job at a bar, the hero convinced her to go on tour with him as his personal assistant on the pro wrestling circuit. Their friendship quickly developed into a sizzling affair, where they both fall in love. Unfortunately, his nemesis on the circuit and his previous PA cook up a scheme to make them miserable and things go desperately wrong. Narration was done very well. Now I have to get the next book!

To far in to turn back now

Where does Phenomenal X rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

At the bottom

What did you like best about this story?

The end

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

The narrator for Anna was just awkward for me. She seemed cowardly and never took up for herself.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me cry b/c I wasted a credit on it and it was not that great.

Not a bad story

This was an okay read. It took me a little bit to get into the story and like Xavier. He has a lot of baggage and doesn't always treat women with respect, but when he proved he cared for Anna, I changed my opinion. Anna is sweet and fairly innocent, so I'm glad she had her cousin Quinn to watch out for her. The ending is definitely a cliffhanger so beware! Now I need to read the next book to see what the consequences are.

Loved the story but the narrator ?...

What did you love best about Phenomenal X?

Loved the characters

Who was your favorite character and why?

X was great, supporting characters were fun

How could the performance have been better?

The narrator totally Missed how to pronounce Xavier. The X is pronounced as a Z as in zavier. This became such an issue for me that I had to stop listening! What a waste.

Any additional comments?

Send the narrator back to school

Thinking I've Read a Better Version of this Book

Correct me if I'm wrong, wasn't this book a lesser version of the AMAZING Katy Evan's "REAL" series? What a disappointment. If I had not read Katy Evan's "REAL" series, this might have been an OK book, just an OK book and that's all.

The storyline is thin, characters could have been great, but totally under developed and missed the mark. If you liked this series, I strongly suggest you go download the "REAL" series by Katy Evans. You will see why I feel Phenomenal X is a knock-off. 50 Shades and it's knock-offs... So overdone. Now the fighters and rock stars? ugh
The narrator did do a nice job.

She is to "dingie" for me

I am 3 hours into this book and I started to roll my eyes when she would say over and over she wasn't that type of girl. I like strong funny woman and this wasn't for me.