A Villain for Christmas

Vexing Villains, Book 1

By: Alice Winters

Narrated by: Michael Lesley

Length: 9 hrs

Publisher's summary

Despite growing up in a family of villains, I’d rather curl up and read than commit crimes. When I get coerced by my brother into helping him rob a bank, I run into August, my childhood crush, also known as Chrono, the city’s greatest superhero. He’s sexy, sweet, and suddenly, he’s asking me to Thanksgiving with his parents.

It’s probably because he doesn’t realize that I’m Leviathan, a villain with the power of telekinesis. And I can’t tell him because he’d never forgive me and would stop doing things like cooking for me - wait, maybe that would be a good thing, since he’s a terrible cook. It doesn’t help that my parents think they’re the ultimate villains and won’t stop getting in my way, although they can’t even steal toilet paper without getting caught.

But when real supervillains (not the wannabe kind that I grew up with) start targeting August, I might be forced to show everyone who I truly am: a slightly warped and snarky man who’d really rather read a book than save anything...besides August.

I’ll tear this world apart just to get another glimpse of him in those glasses and spandex suit. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep him safe, even though it means exposing my true identity. Luckily, August still cares about me, proving that even a villain and a hero can fall in love. Hopefully, we’ll be able to save the world in time for Christmas.

This ridiculous and snarky holiday novel contains a villain-turned-unlikely hero (even if he’s a manager's worst nightmare), a superhero with a fondness for suckers who absolutely does not use his powers to cheat on board games, a hairless cat with an unfortunate name, bumbling family members that try to be evil, but are mostly just embarrassing, a snow globe with mysterious powers, betrayal, true love, a risqué Santa suit, and the saltiest chicken ever.

©2019 Alice Winters (P)2020 Alice Winters

Perfectly quirky

Was a bit more quirky than the other series of books on audible. After chapter seven I was so into it and laughing out loud. Has a good ending. The narrator was perfect for this quirky story and it’s characters.

great story, not Michael Lesley's biggest fan

I read this in ebook first and loved it. then I saw the audio on sale and snatched it up since that is my preferred format. the only issue is I'm not overly fond of Michael Lesley. His name isn't enough to make me reconsider buying a book, he just kind of mildly annoys me. he adds dramatic pauses in the middle of sentences without pauses and has a tendency to smack his lips a bit at the beginning of sentences.
The story itself is great fun though, so just make your format choices according to your preference! A super villain who doesn't particularly want to be a villain, a super hero who feels a bit burned out on the whole hero thing - its perfect.

Good story, poor narrator

I enjoy stories by this author and have listened to a few narrated by different people. This narrator is the worst. He pauses in the middle of sentences, he smacks his lips, his breaths are audible and the voices for the 2 main characters are sometimes indistinguishable. Time and again these tics disrupt the flow of the story. It interferes with the immersion and enjoyment of the story. I thoroughly enjoyed the story itself and if it weren't for the narrator, I'd probably listen to it multiple times.

Amazing read

The narrator was fantastic. I laughed the entire time- so heart warming and cute. The plot was fun and I was eating up every moment

absolutely hilarious and heartwarming

I've fallen in love with Alice Winters's books. the snark is on point and the writing flows easily. the narrator, however, absolutely makes the audio book totally worth it. His voices and pacing are perfect! definitely a must buy

Stilted Narration

I love Alice Winters. Her characters are always quirky and the books are written for the story not as padding for sex scenes.
Unfortunately Michael Lesley is not the best narrator. While his voice is lovely he has a stilted way of speaking that is distracting and detracts from the story. If he could learn not to pause in the middle of a sentence he would be a much better narrator.

Best Alice Winters Book

This is the best book I have read by this author and I was super bummed to see it’s a stand alone when she set up some solid side characters that could have a great story.

Hilariously Entertaining Listen

I just loved this book so much. Totally unexpected in the best way. Landon is totally hilarious and such an amazing character and August is sweet and so kind hearted, you can’t help but love him. My heart went out to both of them throughout the book. I loved finding there way through the good bad and ugly, but together they are strong. I loved the characters and the funny family moments. I feel like Alice winters created an amazing world that has so much to offer in this new series. I have to say the audio is amazing. Highly recommend!

love love love

I love Alice winters books. They are quirky and funny. There is still spice but not an overwhelming amount to the point where there is no meat to the story. Michael Lesley is my favorite narrator. I absolutely love his range in voices (I have listened to quite a few other narrators lately that all the characters sound identical). I've read a lot of reviews stating that they were not fans of his narration style. I love that he narrates like someone would typically speak in person. Yes there are pauses, there is inflection, there is frustration and emotion in his narration to me. Nothing pulls me out of a book faster than the narration being so proper and perfect that it is unrealistic to me. Michael Lesley took this as being one of my favorites reads and knocked it out of the park. We all have opinions and this is just mine. But I think it's fantastic. It's one of my go-to listens, I have listened to it countless times.

So much silliness is good for the soul

4 Blue Roses
4 Blue Flames

Narrator Michael Lesley delivered a fun-filled, highly imaginative, funny as fuck performance. Let’s face it, if you want comedy narrated, then Michael Lesley is your guy. Pair him with author Alice Winters and you have the perfect recipe for silliness with an extra scoop insanity.

The plot is ingenious with a superhero who falls in love with a supervillain who doesn’t want to be a villain. They develop secret mutual crushes, which is absurd because they are supposed to be fighting each other.

Landon, the villain has the power of telekinesis, and August, the superhero, can freeze time. They get into all kinds of trouble while bantering. Their families are obviously not in favor of their relationship. So Landon wants to be normal and get rid of his power, so he can have a normal life and not be used by his wannabe villain family.

The story involves multiple characters and it’s extremely entertaining to listen to. Almost like watching television. The plot was well written with vividly well rounded secondary characters.

I do recommend this audiobook, keep an open mind, it is silly and lighthearted. Guaranteed to lift your mood and pump you full of positivity.

Happy Listening