All of Me

By: Cardeno C.

Narrated by: Robert M. Clark

Length: 1 hr and 50 mins

Publisher's Summary

To bond with his destined mate, an Alpha wolf must look past what he sees and trust what he feels.

Bonded by their parents before they were conceived, wolf shifters Abel and Kai adored each other since they were children. As teens, the two future Alphas took the next step in their bonding process and vowed to remain true to one another until Kai came of age. But when tragedy struck, Abel felt betrayed and ran from Kai instead of completing their mating.

Abel never stops yearning for the man who was supposed to lead by his side and after years without contact, Kai returns, broken and on death's door. If Abel wants to fulfill their destiny and merge their packs, he'll need to look past what he saw and trust his heart.

©2014 Cardeno C. (P)2016 Cardeno C.

Robert M. Clark does a wonderful job!

Any additional comments?

Hurt/comfort romance with major miscommunication/misunderstanding, angst, some time apart before reuniting, bonding, hot sexy times, and getting their hard won HEA.

The narration is very good and Robert M. Clark does a wonderful job with timing, character voices, emotion, and tone. He infuses the story with warmth, heat, and life.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Heartfelt story with a ton of feels

Ouch! Oh man. This hurt my heart to listen to. There is so much pain in the first third of this story. Most of Cardeno’s stories are like a blanket fresh from the dryer for me. So comforting and nice to wrap up in. But this was very prickly and I had to brace myself for the sad, sad, sad parts.

I really hate it when there is a “Big Misunderstanding” and though that’s not exactly what happened here, it is – in fact – the crux of the problem. Add to it years of separation and I’m just a sobbing mess.

What I appreciated was that once back together these two don’t mess around. They talk it out and get back in the program like all those years didn’t happen. Woot! Thank Goodness!

In the end, as expected, we have a great, super sappy, wonderfully happy, and marvelously Cardeno story well worth the pain at the beginning.

Audio

I am on the fence with this narrator. He sort of reminds me of Vizzini from the Princess Bride . He has a bit of a lisp that he mostly covers up but it still slips through and to me – sadly- was a distraction. I think he mostly understands and handles the emotions well. Sometimes he fell a bit flat for me – especially on the non-dialog portions – but there are times when he really shines in his grasp of the “scene” and the pacing.

So… while the story is a 4.5 of 5 stars and parts of the narration are as well, there are parts that are more like 3 of 5. I’m gonna round down the audio and give the overall audiobook experience a 4 of 5 stars. It was good, but I think in other hands it could have been great.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

All of Me

What did you like best about All of Me? What did you like least?

The way Abel stayed loyal regardless

If you’ve listened to books by Cardeno C. before, how does this one compare?

It's not my favorite, but it's still a pretty good listn

Which scene was your favorite?

Going after step-dad

Did All of Me inspire you to do anything?

nope

Any additional comments?

Wolf shifters Abel and Kai were born mates, promised to each other by their parents. As they will both be born Alphas, their fathers (the current alphas) plan to combine their packs, therefore combining families and resources. Abel is a few years older than Kai, but they are stuck to each other like glue as children. When Kai's father dies unexpectedly, his mom re-weds and the replacement Alpha wants to boys to wait until they both come of age to complete their mating bond. When that day finally comes, Abel and his father go to Kai's pack t claim his mate. What he finds destroys the lives of so many for over a decade.

A fast read to sink your teeth into, All of Me starts off with Abel sharing the story of how he and Kai came to be mated. What they've done over the years while waiting for Kai to be old enough to bond. And how badly what Abel saw when he went to claim his mate affected so many of them. As soon as it happened, I had an inkling of the what and why so there was a bit of predictability there. And when Kai finally confronts his step-father, I wanted that to be drawn out more. It's literally a couple of sentences and done, and I really would have preferred that Kai played with his food a bit longer.

Narrated by Robert M Clark, my first listen with this narrator but it won't be my last. I liked that he used different tones for the various characters. The surfer dude tone for Abel's brother was odd, caught me off guard. Overall this was a good read. Points off for predictability and the fast food exit step-pops made, but I liked the content, characters and the way any story CC writes pulls me in and holds my attention.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

All Of Me

Really Abel... Really?!?!
You had one freakin job dude.. And you blew it.. Big time..
This story had a lot packed into it for such a short book. I would have been happier if the book was a little longer so we could get some more depth to the story. Abel and Kai are mated from birth. But when they are about to be bonded together "something" happens with Kai that makes Abel run back home. Seriously.... Abel literally doesn't even try to figure out what happened with Kai for 12 years... Kai shows up hurt & finally, Finally explains what happened 12 yrs earlier and how he's suffered for that entire time *its a little predictable, you can totally see it coming, but its a good addition to give the story some extra depth*. And then everything clicks back into place for them like nothing even happened... I'm sorry but I would be way more pissed & bitter towards Abel if I was Kai.. I would have also liked to see Kai's stepdad get a longer drawn out death. lol. It was way too fast. but overall a decent short story.
I really enjoyed the narration by Robert, he put a bunch of different emotions and voices into this one for every character and made it really fun to listen to. I can actually see myself re-listening to this one since the narration is good and the book is good and short enough for a quick listen.

All of Me-A good, solid story with great narration

I just love a story when it centers around fated mates. Throw in second chance romance and you’ve definitely gotten me hooked. All of Me gives us wolf shifters (alphas at that!) and second chance all in one great package, and really satisfied my want for stories of both of these types.

When it first starts out, you know from reading the blurb that something bad is coming right at the start. When that something happened, I was devastated for Abel, and desperately hoping that a good explanation would come later on.

I will confess, I did guess early on who was the cause of all the turmoil-but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the story as it unfolded. There was a huge element of miscommunication, and I wasn’t fond of the large gap of time between what happened and Abel and Kai coming back together again-I understand why it wound up that way due to the ages of the characters and the setup of the plot, just for me the longer the gap the less I like said gap.

The part of the story that unfolds from the point Abel and Kai find each other again, and on until the end is where the majority of the emotion is found, and at that point there’s no denying that they should have never been apart. This and the vengeance Kai exacts on those responsible for his and Abel’s separation helped bring me back to an overall 4-star rating for the story. This one’s for the M/M shifter romance fans out there and is meant for those 18+ due to adult language and M/M sexual content.

I was very happy with the narration of this story. Robert M. Clark did a good job at voicing the characters and giving each one a unique sound so they were easy to tell apart. The narration was smooth and evenly paced, making for a great listening experience. I’ve listened to other audiobooks he’s done, and am always satisfied when I’m done listening-and All of Me is no exception-5 stars for the narration.

Sweet

If you could sum up All of Me in three words, what would they be?

A hot and sweet short. Great characters and overall plot. The drama was nicely developed. It took me a while for the narration to fit comfortably on this one.

Easy to recommend

Abel and Kai were predestined to mate even before they were born, a bond created by their parents to bring their packs together. As they grew up their bond is nurtured and it's even better since they seem to adore and care for each other. Abel is the older one and has to wait for Kai to come of age before they can complete the bonding. You can imagine for Abel who has waited his whole life for his mate, he can't wait. But when he turns up to claim his mate, Kai, it seems that Kai doesn't return his feeling.

Fast forward ten years and Abel is still craving Kai but he is also bitter. They've had no contact in all that time and now Abel is the alpha of his pack. But when Kai's sister turns up with news about Kai and asking for help, can Abel really turn his back on the man who should've been his mate?

This is a great, quick, sexy, romantic M/M listen/read. I find that I enjoy this author's paranormal stories a lot more than the contemporary ones. This is one of the best. The narrator does a great job in bringing the characters and story alive. At less than 2 hours length, this is a great audio listen for a train commute. Easy to recommend.

Great story, bad narration

I loved the story. It was exactly the kind of classic Cardeno I like. And I go crazy for the pack collections especially.

Unfortunately I found the narration to completely ruin the story for me. I really wish Russo, Trembley, or even Crisden would have done this. The narrator almost has some type of lysp?? I don't understand!

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

it

it is hard one to listen to but worth it it is good but hard to listen to i like it the love is true love!

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

All of Me

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

It was ok, I would have given up if it was any longer.

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

No real reaction from me

What three words best describe Robert M. Clark’s performance?

Boring,Annoying,

Do you think All of Me needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

hard to say because I didn't really get into the story

Any additional comments?

I personally found the narration of this to be lacking, I didn't feel that the narrator put much feeling into his reading.

I am not huge on paranormal books but thought I'd give it a try. It just wasn't for me

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

Wonderful shifter romance novella

Oh. Sweet. Lord. Cardeno C and paranormal romance is my match made in heaven. I absolutely loved this story and although it's a relatively short one it had the feel, complexity and death of a much longer tale and being told in Abl's point of view made it feel very personal.

So, another brilliant shifter romance that left me smiling and utterly charmed.