King of Pain

Damaged Hearts, Book 1

De: JP Joseph

Narrado por: Lance Greenfield, Devon Ryder

In an epic love story caught between neon lights and shadowed pasts, two hearts collide.

Their souls are bound by secrets, passion, and the undeniable pulse of the 80's. Anthony Pacini is guarded, haunted, and desperate to break free. Chance Sullivan is a hotter-than-sin rebel running from a fate already written. Together, they're headed straight for heartbreak—or redemption.

Anthony Pacini: A college football player entering his final year at Arizona State. When he's not dominating the field, he's working at Devil Records, indulging his deep obsession with 80's music. Proudly Italian and a passionate cook, Anthony carries the weight of a traumatic past, making him guarded and firmly in denial about his true feelings and desires.

Chance Sullivan: Recently transplanted from Boston to Arizona, Chance seeks to forge a new path far removed from the life previously planned for him as a member of The Doves, an Irish organization with deep roots. Chance shares Anthony's fervent love for 80's music, and the moment he walks into Devil Records on his first day of work and locks eyes with Anthony, Chance is certain of one thing—he must have him.

King of Pain is a standalone with a happy ending. It is the first book in the Damaged Hearts series; each book will feature a different couple. Six novels are planned for the series.

This is a dual POV heartfelt MM romance with all 80's music vibes.

©2025 JP Joseph (P)2026 Podium Audio

An easy five stars. What a spectacular, emotional, heartbreaking book

King of Pain is an MM romance centered around Anthony and Chance, two deeply broken men trying to survive the aftermath of horrific trauma while slowly learning what love, safety, and healing can actually look like. This wasn’t just a romance. This was a story about devotion. Friendship. Chosen family. Learning that love is supposed to feel safe and that surviving is not the same thing as living.

Anthony is carrying unimaginable pain after surviving abuse as a child, and the fact that these men are STILL trying to silence and harass him into adulthood made my blood boil. Meanwhile Chance grew up surrounded by violence and fear because of his father, a cop tied to the mafia who abused his mother for years before ultimately destroying their family completely. Chance’s mother sending him away from Boston because she wanted him to actually LIVE and have a chance to become himself absolutely shattered me.

This book hurt in the best possible way. It destroyed me and healed me all at the same time.

When I say this is a slow burn, I mean SLOW slow burn. But I genuinely did not care because every interaction between Ant and Chance felt important. Every conversation. Every vulnerable moment. Every tiny crack in Anthony’s walls. The emotional intimacy in this book was absolutely incredible. THEIR FIRST KISS?! I literally giggled and kicked my feet. AND after that? HOTTEST COUPLE EVER!

Chance is honestly such a beautiful character because underneath everything, all he wants is freedom and softness and love. And Anthony? God. Anthony broke my heart repeatedly. Watching him slowly let himself trust someone after everything he’s survived was genuinely emotional. Learning to accept himself? GAH MY HEART!

Another aspect worth mentioning. THE CHOSEN FAMILY? I loved every single secondary character. EVERY SINGLE ONE. They all felt so alive and important and lovable that now I desperately need books for everyone in this universe because I do not want to let these people go. Lexi, Jen, Butters and Spence, Beau, Frank and Nancy, Meg, Murph, Deacon and Jason, and the best dog in the world Little G.

Special mention to Ma! Because what do you MEAN we got one of the most loving and spectacular mothers ever written because I was genuinely emotional over her and her love for Chance!

And on top of all this, we got TWO EPILOGUES. TWO. After everything these characters suffered through, getting that level of reassurance, peace, healing, and happiness felt almost overwhelming in the best way.

This book was painful and hopeful and devastating and healing all at once.

I cried so many times.
My chest physically hurt for these men.
And I loved every second of it.

I loved Chance.
I loved Anthony.
I loved every single broken piece of this story.

This is definitely going to live rent-free in my mind.

Loved that this book wasn’t rushed

The ending felt off just a little bit mostly because of the time jumps but this was one of the rare book that made me cry.❤️❤️

OMG this book and the Narration - PERFECTION

I went into this book blindly, and I'm so glad I did. People may call this a slow burn (of which I'm not a fan, usually), but this absolutely did not feel like a slow burn. The tension, chemistry, connection - those were formed in the beginning and continued throughout the book. I fell in love with Chance early on in the book when he cheered Ant up by using dad jokes and vinyls. Chance was so locked in on Ant, he could tell any time Ant felt the slightest bit uncomfortable. When he sensed Ant's discomfort, he'd jump into protection mode. Can we also talk about how Chance called Ant beautiful? OMG. I loved that so much.

The California scene made me happy. The time jump made me sad. The reunion made me giddy. The trauma made me depressed. All that to say, I experienced every single emotion while reading this book. And don't get me started on the epilogue. OMG. 77 years and dirty dancing?!?!?!? I sobbed. It was the happiest epilogue I have ever read, and for some reason, I could not get if off my mind. I cried for an hour. Lord, the lengths Chance would go through to keep Ant happy and safe.

Also, I want to take a moment to recognize the all star cast. Devon Ryder is a fave of mine and he NAILED it as Ant. Lance Greenfield was a new narrator for me and he did his Boston accent perfectly. Both narrators made me feel so immersed in the story. I couldn't put the book down and I couldn't stop listening to the audiobook. What a gem of a book and a pleasure to be alive when JP Joseph is writing books.

All the tears

Friends to lovers, found family and ‘80s music. All of my favorites in one heart-skipping book. Narrators were fantastic!

Excellent Story telling

Great story telling and character development. Great build up. Excellent narration. Would definitely re-read.