Barred Desires

The Deepest Desires, Book 1

By: Ashley James

Narrated by: Eric Corbyn, Michael Gallagher

Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Luca Gray Hart

I have everything I could ever want—a great family, awesome friends, a girlfriend, and I’m headed off to my dream college. But the past is always there, lurking like a shadow in the night....

Branson Joseph Adler

I love men. I love everything about them. Their feel. Their smell. Their taste. It’s no secret to my friends and family that I’m gay. But I do have one secret....

What happens when you give in to the temptation and your world turns upside down?

It’s forbidden.

But it’s ours.

Barred Desires is the first book in the Deepest Desires interconnected series. It is a forbidden MM stepbrother romance, and it is angsty, emotional, and steamy.

©2022 Ashley James (P)2023 Pink Flamingo Productions

Cute romance but I had some issues

3⭐️ 3🌶️ 3🎧

- MM
- Step-brothers
- Gay Awakening
- Traumatic Past


I had a lot of conflicting emotions while listening to this book. I really liked a lot of it but I also struggled with quite a bit.

I love a good taboo step-sibling romance so was really excited for this book. I did love that Luca and Branson had supportive and non-judgemental friends and family and I loved how Branson and Luca were always there for each other even when they were trying to fight their desires for each other.

But I struggled with the lack of resolution when it came to Luca’s past trauma. It was finally acknowledged but that was where it ended.

I know this is a MM romance and Luca’s ex was clearly a bad person who didn’t respect boundaries and the word no. But there was so much misogyny in this book from Brandon’s nickname for Courtney, to the way the sneer at how high maintenance women are, their need to discuss emotions and are always late. The only woman who was spoken of with any kindness was Branson’s mom who is a stay at home mom who dotes on the men in her life and likes to cook.

As a Washington native I loved that it was set in Washington. I’m from the west side of the mountains and was constantly laughing at WSU/UW rivalry jokes. However I did cringe when the narrators pronounced Bellevue and Camano Island wrong.

Branson’s narrator was great. I loved his voices and really looked forward to his chapters. I’d give him a solid 4/5🎧 But I really struggled with Luca’s narrator. I didn’t enjoy his female voices, his young Luca voice, and I preferred his Branson voice. But the most distracting part for me was that you could hear his inhale of breath after almost every sentence. I didn’t notice it at first, but once I did, I couldn’t ignore it.

Great Story & Narration🎧 Steamy & Emotional!

I enjoyed this book immensely, the story not only captivated my attention right from the start, but it tugged on my tugged on my heartstrings the entire time, too. Ashley James is a “new to me” author, and I enjoyed her writing style. The storylines she created are interesting and original and the characters are realistic, easy to relate to and connect with, they were easy to care about too. I adored the two lead characters, Luca Gray Hart and Branson Joseph Adler, the secondary characters were great too, except for Courtney, Branson’s nickname for her was very fitting. Branson and Luca become stepbrothers when Luca’s father and Branson’s mother married. Courtney and Luca dated for a couple of years, but he is not happy with her or their relationship, plus he is having inappropriate thoughts about his stepbrother, Branson, who is gay, despite being straight. Luca is starting college and when his housing plan falls through, his father suggests he take the extra room at Branson’s house, which is what he does. Luca fits right in with the guys at the house and he and Branson become even closer and their feelings for each other strengthen. Complicating things are Courtney and that they are stepbrothers, also Luca’s past nightmares are coming back to haunt him, and it is Branson who comforts him. Both of them have past demons, but Branson deals with his better, and he shares his with Luca who opens up about his own, both were gut-wrenching to hear. Love is love, so I do not see this as a forbidden romance, and I loved how their relationship played out, the story is wonderfully plotted story and has plenty of drama, heartfelt emotions and steamy romance.  Ashley James, thank you for this great story and emotional rollercoaster ride.

🎧📚🎧 And for terrific the narration, Michael Gallagher and Eric Corbyn did a great job bringing these bringing these characters and story to life. They had a complete understanding of the characters they were portraying, giving each a voice that suited their character and was believable in every role they played. You could hear how much heart they put into their work as they captured the character’s emotions and projected them into their performance. They are entertaining storytellers and a pleasure to listen to. Thank you for the great listen. 

Sweet and steamy stepbrothers love story

I thoroughly enjoyed the story. Luca and Branson were fantastic together, they had heat and such a great connection. For me, it took too long for things with Courtney to come to a head and Branson and Luca to progress, it made the story feel like it dragged a little bit. But it was because they clearly had no chemistry and no one likes Courtney. The writing was well done. I loved how things progressed (outside of the Courtney issue). It deals with some very heavy and sad topics, lots of issues that crop up and just broke my heart. I loved the taboo aspect.

I listened to the audio book, and it was a good performance. I really liked Branson’s voice actor but I wasn’t a huge fan of Luca’s, you could hear him take his breaths and they sounded too loud sometimes and not there others but it drove me insane when he sucked air in and it sounded like he was gasping. Otherwise, if you can get beyond that, they do a good job.

Luca and Corbin

𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙥𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙣, 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙤𝙪𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡. 𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙠𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙤𝙣 𝙖 𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙞𝙘𝙠. 𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙠𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙢𝙚, 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩. 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙢.

𝐁𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐒 is the first book in The Deepest Desires series by Ashley James which is Luca and Branson's story.

Branson has had feelings for his stepbrother Luca for a while but he knows nothing can come from it. After Luca accidentally walks in on Branson, all of a sudden things start changing and they start to become a lot closer.

Branson and Luca danced around each other for a bit when it came to giving in to their feelings but once they finally gave in, they were combustible. There were a few side characters that I could have done without. I am excited to dive into book two of the series.

Michael Gallagher was great as always and I enjoyed my first experience with Erin Corbyn and look forward to listening to more books by him in the future.

Get ready for... mm, stepbrother, college, forbidden, gay awakening, first times, playboy, roommates,

Content & Kinks... sexual abuse (mc, childhood)

4 Maple Leafs | 3 Flames

MM Slow Burn Romance

This is the first book in The Deepest Desires Series, a forbidden MM stepbrother romance. Luca and Branson's slow burn romance is emotional, and passionate, filled with angst, and family drama. They are both interesting characters. The chemistry is sizzling hot. Eric Corbyn and Michael Gallagher did a good job bringing this story to life. #PFPAudio

Great story!!

This is a well told story. The narrator does an excellent job telling it. He puts in some real emotion during the good parts. It really puts passion in to the story.

MM step brother romance

This was hot! I loved the relationship between these two. There was also some depth and past trauma. Hurt/comfort & step bros! ❤️

steamy mm taboo love story

I really enjoyed this story. It's hot and sweet. I loved their love. The only thing I would critique is that I was rather upset that Luca's past was not resolved. You will understand when you read/listen to this. It made me sad and mad for Luca. But, that's good writing when you can feel that invested in a character. I still rate 5☆ for the story. On to the performance, I give 4.5/5. Both gentlemen did amazing. I loved the emotion and passion they gave, and I was pulled right in. The ONLY reason I took half a point is because Luca's actor would take loud breaths after each sentence. It was distracting at times. Other than that, they did really well! I will definitely give this a re-listen.

organic chemistry between the main characteres

This book is half taboo (stepbrothers) and for this trope I loved it. There was an organic, natural development between the two that I really appreciated. they both helped, and supported each other.

I especially loved the family and friends reaction to their relationship. but.... and there is a but. It felt like the representation of women in this book wss a bit stereotypical. They kept saying how annoying women are, or how much high maintenance they are. and lets talk about the girlfriend. what a bi*tch she was. Honestly it wasnt really clear why they were even together. she was def a flat character.

for the narration, Michael Gallagher I already knew from a favorite book I have (Hi Dash 🥰) and he is amazing. from the voices, to the overall narration. on the other hand, the other narrator was new to me and he wasnt that good. Too breathy and felt like he was rushing somewhere all the time. his women voices were horrible.

overall, I liked it, and if you are not too picky about narrators you will definitely love this one.

When you didn’t know what was in front of you

I enjoyed this book. The story was great. Bran and Luca had a great support system in each other. The story flowed very well and made you feel all sort of feelings. Luca had a past that he kept tamped down and never dealt with and now it seems to be rearing its ugly head and only one person seemed to be there to calm him down. Bran knew he felt something different for Luca but couldn’t really place it but when saw Luca spiraling he just knew he had to be there.

See them as they navigate a path of discovery filled with heartache, hurts, love and promise.

Michael Gallagher did a great job as Bran. I enjoy listening to him. Eric’s voice was good but you could hear him take a breath after every single sentence and it was very distracting. He would breathe in and then speed read so it was a little hard to listen. I love the book so I will still listen again I am sure.