An Unlocked Heart

Collars & Cuffs

By: K. C. Wells

Narrated by: Nick J. Russo

Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

A Collars & Cuffs story

Since the death of his submissive lover two years ago, Leo hasn't been living--merely existing. He focuses on making Collars & Cuffs, a BDSM club in Manchester's gay village, successful. That changes the night he and his business partner have their weekly meeting at Severinos. Leo can't keep his eyes off the new server. The shy man seems determined to avoid Leo's gaze, but that's like a red rag to a bull. Leo loves a challenge.

Alex Daniels works at Severinos to scrape together the money to move out on his own. He struggles with coming out, but he's drawn to Leo, the gorgeous guy with the icy-blue eyes who's been eating in his area nearly every night.

Leo won't let Alex's hesitance get in the way. He even keeps him away from the club so as not to scare him. And as for telling Alex that Leo is a dom? Not a good idea. One date becomes two, but date two leads to Leo's bedroom...and Alex discovers things about himself he never realized and never wanted anyone to see.

©2013 K C Wells (P)2015 Dreamspinner Press

Beautifully done

What did you love best about An Unlocked Heart?

Everything, the sweet characters, the love story, the BDSM scenes, not much but I loved the one there was, and definitely the narration

What was one of the most memorable moments of An Unlocked Heart?

Not answer to that question because of spoilers, but in general terms every moment Alex and Leo were together

Have you listened to any of Nick J. Russo’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have listen to a few and I guess the difference might be more in the story because the ones I listen to were more humorous and this one was way sweetter. Both genre equaly well done. I think he can narrate complitely different genre with a great ability,

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

Laugh and love the characters, and also to feel related to their feelings. It was a great story and a great narrator as well.

Any additional comments?

This was so different from what I expected. Being a BDSM story I had some expectations about it, but the book went far beyond them in the best possible way. It was certainly sweeter than I thought, which was great.

The characters were so nice, I liked Alex’s shyness and the family conflicts that were so interesting. I loved how the author take enough time to introduce the characters and slowly develop a realistic relationship. Leo was such a great character too, I loved how he had his own insecurities and it was good to see a dom portray in a more believable way, with real emotions and not all the time so self-confident. I think it made him more sympathetic and it was beautiful to see how interested he was in not pushing Alex to things he wasn’t ready yet. It was such a lovely relationship.

There was some nice secondary characters too. I don’t remember reading any characters that didn’t seem like he would have a story to tell. The only issue I had with the book was that I felt like it extended too much. I didn’t feel the last chapters were necessary to tell the story and it kind of bother me a little, I would prefer it to end sooner because I lost part of the emotion at the end.

I listen to the audio version for most of the book, I think the narration made me loved the story even more. I generally say I’m not a an audiobook person, but I’m second guessing myself, because I think is a matter of the narrator. On this occasion it was beautifully done. I loved the pace, the different voices given to the characters and the way he told the story. It was great.

Excellent Story & Listen🎧Captivating & Smoking🔥Hot

I loved everything about this book, from K.C. Wells’ wonderful writing style to the interesting storylines and characters she created. The story grabbed my attention right from the start and held it straight to the end. The characters are realistic, easy to relate to and connect with. I adored the two lead characters, Alex Daniels and Leo Hart, some of the secondary characters are awesome too. Alex finished his studies at the University and is working at Severinos Restaurant until he finds a job in his field. He is a timid and not a people person at all, his boss Sev knows this about him and pushes him out of his comfort zone. He still lives at home with his parents who basically have no real interest in him and a brother who is a manipulative jerk, I wanted to slap him silly. Leo is part owner of Collars & Cuffs, a BDSM club, he is a Master and Dom but his heart has not been in it since the tragic loss of his sub, Gabe. He has not had any interest in any sub since, that was until he saw Alex working at Severinos. He could see Alex was a natural sub, Alex knew he was gay but he has never been with anyone and has no experience in dating. Alex sensed this and his innocence and decided to take things slow at first and not tell him about his lifestyle, afraid he may scare him away. I thought these two were great together and for each other, just what they needed. I loved how everything plays out in this book, the story is nicely plotted and there is never a dull moment. In addition to containing a whole lot of heart there is plenty of drama, a touch of angst, some great loving and hot kink. K.C Wells, thank you for this awesome story and the emotional rollercoaster ride. I am looking forward to what comes next in this fabulous series.

Nick J. Russo is a talented narrator and voice artist. He brings these characters to life, gives each their own distinct voice and personality as well as heart and attitude. He did a great job portraying each character, capturing their emotions and their passion all of which is heard in his performance. K.C. Wells chose to go with an American narrator despite the story taking place in England and you know what it worked for me. Not once did I think about accents or the lack of, that was because I was lost in the story. Nick is an entertaining storyteller and a pleasure to listen to. Thank you for this great listen🎧

Love the books

Love this series. And it's great to have it on audible.
But I'm not totally happy with the person reading, he makes some of the people sound slow.
But overall it's great and worth it.

I Was Able to Lose Myself In Story While Listening

Although I had read this entire series a few years ago, I was interested to see if there was a difference when listening to the audible version - not in the words, of course, but in my reactions to the words. I am a very new audible user, having only listened to one other fiction title, so my review of the narrator is not sophisticated like some here in the list of reviews, however, I felt he did a wonderful job. He had a different voice and persona for each character in the story and that was quite complicated. I do have to agree with some others that the lack of a British accent, at least here and there, was disappointing, but because I didn't change their voices to British accents in my head when originally reading, after the initial disappointment, it was fine because it meant it was easier for me, as an American, to not have to listen as carefully as I would have had to listen if he had used too distinctive an accent. As I have some hearing difficulties, this was comforting to not to have to strain to understand accents.

Now as to the story when listening as opposed to reading - I LOVED IT!!! As I indicated earlier, it was a few years ago that I had read the series and there were obviously quite a few scenes that had dropped out of my memory and therefore, although I certainly remembered the overall story, many of the details were no longer in my memory banks so lots were "new" to me. That in itself was a surprise! But, then to have Mr. Russo add his inflection and interpretation to the words for what was actually happening, it increased my enjoyment of Ms. Wells writing. I loved the books when I originally read them and Mr. Russo's narration allowed me to love them again when using a different sense to absorb them. I am continuing with the series, of course, so will see if the rest can live up to the first one!

review

the story was amazing and the narrator was good but Thomas's voice was a bit strange.

Good story, not the right narration!

The first 2 books of this series were my favourite to read and I was happy to find them on audible. However, having the story take place in Manchester, Russo was not a good choice, yes he probably gives continuity to the series but this is not what characters from the UK sound like in my head. Yes I have Trusting Thomas, but I won't be getting the rest.

My Hearts' Not In It

If you could sum up An Unlocked Heart in three words, what would they be?

Wonderfully written story

What did you like best about this story?

I love how Leo stood up for Alex in front of his family. Great show of solidarity.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

I'm going to say that I really like Nick Russo's narrative style in most books, but I feel as if he was phoning this one in. First off, the story took place in England if I'm not mistaken, so it kind of threw me that there was no British narrator. This being said, I could have overlooked that if he had sounded like the content was interesting or read with a bit more feeling. Unfortunately, his performance weighs down the great story that made me want to listen to it.

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

An Unlocked Heart - Throw Away the Key

Any additional comments?

I'd love to listen to more of Ms. Well's books, with the proper narrator. If you want to hear Nick at his best, listen to Chasing the Sun. He does an amazing job with that.

Wonderful story with lots of steamy scences!

Where does An Unlocked Heart rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I listen to audiobooks everyday at work and this series is in the top 20 for sure.

What does Nick J. Russo bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Nick does an amazing job at bring life to each character

Any additional comments?

This is a great start to an awesome series. If you like BDSM books and m/m action this the book for you.

loved it

however my issue was for a novel taking place in England there are really no British accents and the readerbmakes Thomas sound exactly like Kermit the Frog

slow love

loveeddd itttt!!! great story. easily one of best. easy to get lost in the whole series.