Cup of Joe

Bold Brew, Book 1

By: Annabeth Albert

Narrated by: Cooper North

Sometimes an ordinary Joe is all you need....

Newbie barista Levi Miles is having a bad day in the middle of a bad month. He's trying to figure out post-graduation life, and a recent breakup hasn't helped. The one bright spot? The charming blue-collar customer with the simple order and reassuring voice.

Electrician Joe Simmons can make anything light up - except his love life. As he gets older, he remains unsure about what he wants from a relationship. But an innocent flirtation with the fresh-faced barista is exactly what his ego needs.

Levi doesn't need a boyfriend. Or a daddy. But bantering with Joe feels so good, and when their tentative friendship takes a turn for the sexy, a summer fling seems fun. Exploring long-held desires brings them closer with each steamy night, and the idea of parting gets harder.

But Levi's only in town temporarily, and the end of summer is approaching. Both are reluctant to disclose their feelings, but pushing past their fears may be the only way to keep this special thing going. Can they order up a happy ending before time runs out?

Contains mature themes.

©2021 Annabeth Albert (P)2021 Tantor

Was hoping for so much more

This could have been so good but, fell short for me.
I love Cooper North but, this story his narration were not one of my favorites. kinda cheesy story that lacked heat and attention. I was hoping for so much more.

Well done

This was so enjoyable. Loved the writing, the story, the narration. It was very well done.

A beautiful love story

This would make a great movie!! If not a nice show weekly. I would love to see this strong story more developed

Joe and Levi…

Kink is just not my thing…the whole DaddyDom is just weird to me. I must not have read the description. It wasn’t terrible, I just checked out a lot. I do love Cooper North as a narrator though…just didn’t like hearing him read this.

Please - enough with the daddy kink.

To be fair, Albert does a better job with the daddy kink here than in the insufferable Hope on the Rocks. The book starts out relatively strong and even manages to introduce lingerie with some success. This is high praise for me as the subject usually has me skimming past.

The book begins to lose steam when the storyline veers to Joe’s family for the action.

The narration is fine, but the need to add a hint of baby voice every time Levi says “daddy” gets old fast.

A generally non offensive listen, but you won’t be going back to this title anytime soon.

DNF

I tried. I really did. I made it to Ch. 10 and couldn’t finish their first scene. I have loved other works I’ve read by Annabeth Albert but the writing in this one felt awkward. This story didn’t seem to have the same effortless flow as other works I’ve listened to/read by this author. The narration presented another barrier to finishing this book. There was too little distinction between voices for this type of material. With Dom/sub storylines, I typically prefer a clear distinction between both MMC’s as it helps paint the picture for me. I typically enjoy Cooper North’s narration but the combination of the narration and the writing actually made me cringe. Again, I really tried.