Cage Match

By: Bonnie Dee

Narrated by: Noah Michael Levine

Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

A prince of industry, an imprisoned gladiator, fistfights instead of ballrooms - Cinderella was never this hot.

A master in the arena but a slave when combat is over, Jabez is a cage fighter raised on the streets. When two friends bet on a match, wealthy socialite Andreas wins time with the champion. He feels an instant sizzling connection with the battered warrior and buys out the man's contract, offering Jabez a chance for a better life.

Uneasy in sudden luxury, Jabez resists attraction to his handsome employer. The two men's struggle against desire explodes in passionate fighting, but eventually they surrender to lust, which slowly evolves into something more. When Andreas discovers his family's corporation hides dark, dangerous secrets, he faces a fight for his life. Meanwhile, Jabez learns what it means to care for someone and puts his body and soul on the line to rescue the man he's grown to love.

©2013 Bonnie Dee (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Review of Cage Match

Having grown up with Saturday night boxing on tv, and two brothers in Golden Gloves boxing has made me appreciate the reasons behind why people do it, and it’s darker side. It was always a sport full of cringe and fear of possible fatalities. I loved the characters in this book , the story, and narrator were excellent!

One of the best Books - great story

This book kept me on the edge of my seat, unfolding a twist of plots with excitement, danger and rescue.

I didn’t enjoy the story

Although well narrated by Noah Michael Levine this MM romance story couldn’t hold my interest.
The setting is some post-apocalyptic world we’re people come in two categories rich, bored, and entitled or dirt poor and struggling.
Our couple are a futuristic Romeo & Julius and while they were likable, I couldn’t get past the horrible rich guys and their callus behavior.

Ok story

the story is ok but the narration keeps you listening. it's done well. the story itself had a good premise but was a bit rushed.

No surprises, but great voicing and nice heat

I would’ve liked it to be longer in order to see more of Jabez’ character before meeting Andreas, and I wish we’d seen him show off a little more of what a badass he is, but this was still a solid, enjoyable listen. Lots of steamy scenes and I loved both characters. The relationship development was well done for the length of the book, but again, I would’ve liked a bit more.

Narration was lovely. The third-person voicing was very different from either character’s voice and that was interesting. Both men’s voices were sexy and very fitting to their personalities.

But, who decides on the cover art for audiobooks? If they want you to know what either MC looks like, that’s important and this was a terrible job. Andreas is twenty-five, clean-shaven, and has curly black hair. Jabez has brown hair and blue eyes. The cover looks like Andreas’ father. It might seem like a petty complaint, but the way a reader’s mind’s eye sees the MC’s matters and the first thing one sees is not either of them.

That aside, this was six hours well-spent.

Sexy & Interesting

Post apocalyptic, a bit futuristic, and a bit of a head not towards archaic practice. Human nature can be incredibly brash. But on rare occassions the greater good wins out.

Just OK

The best thing about this audiobook is Noah's narrating.
The story was typical. Fighter to bodyguard. Some hot sex.
A problem occurs and drama ensues. Then a HEA.
A short story. It's ok. Good filler for doing chores..
😯

So good!!!

Couldn’t stop wanting to listen to it. Great story line. I like a good 1 and done book.

apocalyptic cage match romance is strangely fun

Enjoyed this except that the timeline was really rushed. It would have rung more true to me if each new day we see actually happened weeks apart. But if you want a fighter with a heart of gold meets rich boy story, that is what you’ll get here. It’s relatively low angst for a book that has brutal deathmatch fights and betrayal. One knows a betrayal is coming, but it’s a doozy. Still, one expects & gets an HEA, and it even comes with a dog.

Steam: Medium. M/M sexytimes on page veer into slight domination kink toward the end but quantity is not excessive. Scenes didn’t always resonate with me emotionally, which combined with the rushed timeline is what knocked it from 5 to 4 stars.

Worldbuilding: not bad. Did not annoy me, seemed consistent & well integrated. Set in post-apocalyptic Boston, the focus is more on relatable “billionaires vs serfs” type social problems than about the fancy flying cars. But there are flying cars and better band aids, for all they aren’t the focus.

Narration: Pretty good. Accent for one main character sounds mildly Indian-American so it was easy to differentiate characters. Narrator’s dialect drops the /ng/ in “strength” & “length” and I’d never realized how many times one might use the word /lenth/ in a gay novel but every one stood out for me here. Another pet peeve is pronouncing “clamber” like “clamor” & both words were used. But this is me being picky & rude, despite otherwise quality narration.

Uncomplicated and Fast Paced

Long story short: This is a sci-fi MM erotic romance. The world-building in the story was good and unexpectedly interesting. However, the plot became more and more generic as the story went on, ultimately leading to a fluffy but predictable ending.


!!!SPOILERS!!!
Long story long (SPOILERS): The first third of this book was really compelling. I really enjoyed the action sequences and the discussion of what it might be like to re-integrate into society after being held captive. I also liked the development of their relationship and how it was built on mutual consent, as opposed to him being treated like a sex slave. However, the last third of this book felt really rushed and thrown together. There were many characters I wanted to learn more about like the "King" who just showed up for a moment and then were shuffled off again. The ending did not feel very satisfying. But it was a nice light read and if that is what you are in the mood for you could do worse than this!