Shameless Expectations

By: Adrian J. Smith

Narrated by: Quinn Riley, Lori Prince

Escaping the past is hard. Living in the present is harder.

Monti Schroeder is on a quest for peace. She has been since the moment she was born. But peace has remained elusive.

Living as a nomad, she takes work where she can get it. When her sister calls with a favor for her neurotic boss, Monti agrees to it for a few extra bucks. What Monti finds when she arrives is a woman just as broken as she is. And no matter what, she can't leave Athena to flounder on her own.

Athena Pruitt has made it through the last twenty-two years with one rule: Avoid everything uncomfortable. Her house has become her prison, and she is desperate for respite. Unable to handle physical touch, she's wary when her personal assistant hires a "special" masseuse who can help. But Monti isn't a typical massage therapist.

Each day, each massage, each moment Monti and Athena spend together they unravel just a little more. With wells of trauma and pain filling both to the brim, just what will happen when their vessels break?

Will Monti find peace? Will Athena learn to live without shame? Will they both mend their brokenness beyond repair?

Shameless Expectations is a book that crosses boundaries to find healing, a sapphic age-gap novel that explores deep trauma and the potential for healing decades later. If you're looking for a book that touches on hope and explores PTSD through the lens of romance, this is it.

©2024 Adrian J. Smith (P)2024 Podium Audio

solid story and great narration

the story was pretty good and the spice was good too. Lori and Quinn are some of the best narrators of sapphic audio books!

Painful yet beautiful

I thought this book did a beautiful job show two different women battling their own traumas but wanting to overcome them both individually and also for the other person.
I would give it a 3.5/5 on the spice level. There are several sex scenes, most of them are a decent length and descriptive.

Magnificent narration by the best duo!

Such a deep, slow building story of healing and self discovery! There is also a love story. A story I will be listening to again due to the content and the brilliant adaptation of the writing to spoken words.

Thought I would need a shrink with this one

This story is like a yoyo. It's up and down. both characters have difficult problems to solve. I can't tell you if they solved them because that would spoil your listening pleasure. I can say that I liked the book, but it drained me. I truly didn't know what was going to happen at the end. You are going to have to listen to this one yourself. Let me know what you think. Oh shoot, you can't. So have someone else read it or share it. You two should then make a shrink appointment and keep on sharing. Jackson

This is now one of my favorite books hands down

I loved the dynamic between these two, and the storyline always had me guessing in a good way. It was in no way predictable and put a great twist on standard or vanilla relationships.