Enslaved

The Enslaved Trilogy, Book 1

By: Shoshanna Evers

Narrated by: Christine Padovan

Length: 5 hrs

Publisher's Summary

An Amazon Erotica Bestseller! From a red-hot erotica writer comes an original audiobook - a sensual romp across the playgrounds of the unbelievably rich and extremely sexy.

Elisabeth Anderson has seen Trevor and his friends at the infamous Manhattan BDSM club WhipperSnapper, where everyone calls them the BAD Boys, for "Billionaire Arrogant Doms." The BAD Boys--Trevor Brooks, Marc Wilde, and Roman Chase - are aptly named; they've made money hand over fist due to their aggressive investing at the Brooks Wilde Chase Fund. These guys are so rich they can get away with anything, or so the rumors go.

©2012 Shoshanna Evers (P)2014 Shoshanna Evers

Critic Reviews

"Ms. Evers does a fantastic job of presenting both points of view and allows you to empathize or even sympathize (depends on YOUR kink) with the hero and heroine... If you like your BDSM a little on the intense side and while still getting your happy ever after, then Enslaved is a book you will enjoy a great deal." ( My Reading Obsession)

"One of the best love triangles I have read! I could not put it down and was enraptured from the very first chapter. I cannot wait to read the next two installments of this trilogy." ( Whirlwind Books and Reviews)

"So if you liked 50 Shades that's great! See if you can handle Shoshanna!" ( Naughty Bits Book Reviews)

If new audio, then very good stuff

If from reading the prior reviews about the first 2 minutes being extremely bad, then this must be the new audio version because it sounded great to me. The narrator wasn't rushing through the opening lines as someone previously said, and I could listen and follow along without a problem.

I still have a hard time believing that Elisabeth could be so easily trained from being a swearing brat to a loving, demure submissive though. But the story was interesting and entertaining throughout - not being from the New York City area, I would have preferred less swearing, but I guess that's how the author sees her characters being.

And if you enjoy happy endings, this story is for you :-)

New audio version available soon

There will be an improved audio version of this story available within the next 10 to 15 days. Those who already have purchased the audiobook will be able to download the updated version.

Please understand the author clearly specified that she wanted her writing narrated at a fast pace, which we know for many ears, is not how most people want to hear a story told.

The audio is also being re-engineered to improve the quality for a better listening experience. Thank you for your patience and your patronage!

3.5 stars for hot sex, great humor

I don't get why the writer wants to put so much history on her characters into as few words as possible, leaving one entertained by the overall story, but lacking feeling for the characters. This story could easily have been longer and been even better. A decent narrator gets the hard task of taking mile-a-minute events and getting you to follow the action without falling off the tracks.

But have to say, when it came to the sex scenes, that's where the narration shined most - and that's mainly why I buy these books :-) 3.5 stars for having fun secondary characters, great sense of humor and hot sex scenes.

Ignore beginning - it gets better!

Silliest beginning lines of any story! What a nightmare to say that first sentence - 'Sunlight streamed thru the large arched windows casting elongated shadows across the expansive floor of Grand Central Station in the heart of Manhattan'. I've read the story and always thought that first sentence was the weirdest ever written. And I agree with one reviewer - the author tries to cram too much info in the first few paragraphs (in a sudo, poetic way), that should have been brought out in a more leisure fashion as the story progressed.

And to tell the narrator to rush through lines that needed more finesse is pretty dumb, but at least the narrator gets smart and slows it down for the rest of the story. Maybe Audible will allow the beginning to be redone and production re-released, like 'Fifty Shades of Grey' was? (hint, hint ;-))

Get beyond the first couple of minutes of silliness, and the story gets way better and so does the narration. It is a tightly written story and I like that it didn't drag on and on - plus the humor is an added bonus. It made it more enjoyable than just a 'slam bang, thank you, ma'am' type of story.

4 stars overall :-)

New audio great - better sound; interesting story

Would you listen to Enslaved again? Why?

Thank you, Audible for redoing the audio quality and having the beginning re-narrated better. Only thing I can say is the author tends to write along the lines of a Harlequin romance but with a bdsm twist. The characters are entertaining but a bit superficial. Ms Evers likes to repeat phrases like 'wet with desire' which gets to be a little annoying. But the sex scenes and the dialogue never make this a boring story.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Roman - I liked the brooding quality he brought to the story while still having a sense of humor. And his professor like tone he took teaching others how to be subs and Doms was cool.

What does Christine Padovan bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She's definitely not your run-of-the-mill narrator. Definitely has a great voice - beautiful tonal qualities. Her style of narration is sometimes odd to me, but the writing with so many run on sentences probably would throw anyone off where breaks should be - overall, I liked the styling and wasn't perturbed as some of the other listeners have been.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Laughed a lot with the antics of Gregory and Julian - the author was smart to put humor in the story amongst the angst of the love triangle between Elizabeth, Trevor and Roman.

Any additional comments?

Even with the lacking I felt with rounding out more of the characters' backgrounds and the cutesy endings, I really enjoy Ms Evers' writing and will definitely get the next books in the series.

No extreme reaction - good story & narration

I always listen to the retail samples, and if I can take the narrator's voice and cadence in the sample, odds are the rest of the audiobook will be pretty enjoyable to me. So I don't have these extreme 'hate the narrator' remarks like some Audible listeners do - it's all subjective on whether an individual will like the narrator's voice and styling or not.

It's a tough call if this particular narrator fit this story or not, but overall, I think she did a good job - character voices were distinctive; acting ability was good and it was a decent story.

I think how the author writes some of her lines may throw a wrench in how the story is told and there is a lot of swearing too, but that did make it a more interesting story to listen to then just straight sex and no back story.

Reading with eyes versus hearing it outloud

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, but I would tell them to get past the very first run-on sentence and first minute or so of narration, and they will really enjoy the story. Those beginning lines cram too much info in too quickly - your brain can't breathe, but that's not the narrator's fault. But the rest of the story flows pretty normally after that, and is actually very entertaining.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Enslaved?

When Elisabeth misses answering her 'blue cell' phone and realizes she is torn between wanting to obey and feeling deserving of love. I loved that there had to be growth and change for both Trevor and Elisabeth to see if their relationship could work in the end.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Christine Padovan?

Yes, she has a great voice and how she voices characters is enjoyable to listen to. I have actually listened to some of her other narration which is spot on. I found out the direction she was given for this book was to read it 'fast' and I think it goofed up her cadence and pacing for the first minute or so in the beginning of the story.

Plus to narrate a storage house of details in the first few paragraphs that should have been spaced out and explained over a chapter or two is a major challenge for anyone to do well, I would imagine.

Any additional comments?

Reading a story with your eyes is far different than hearing the words back at you. You can re-read detailed writing and really understand it. Listening is a different animal, especially if the pace is fast and the details are many. Hopefully, this audiobook will get Whispersync'ed, so I can read and listen along at the same time for an even better experience.

Couldn’t listen to the narration

I don’t know if the story is good because I deleted the book after 5 minutes. The weird rhythm and the painful drag at the end of each phrase was too distracting. I even jumped to the middle of the book to see if it got better. When it didn’t, I deleted it.

Best seller translates well to audio

What made the experience of listening to Enslaved the most enjoyable?

Hard to say - overall, a well written story, though it could have been longer - to flesh out some of the characters' backgrounds, especially Elisabeth. A pleasant narrator voice with good acting ability made it overall an enjoyable listen.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Gregory and Andrew - Elisabeth's former Dom, Gregory had a great sense of humor and his lover, Andrew was so 'f...ing cute' as Gregory would say.

Which scene was your favorite?

Roman making Elisabeth come repeatedly with the vibrator, while she was tied to a chair. Loved the humor of the scene :-)

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I definitely laughed at some scenes. It's nice to listen to a story that isn't completely dark and I liked the happy ending for almost everyone in it.

Any additional comments?

Hope to see more of the author's books on Audible soon - we need more well written erotica stories in audio form!

Thoroughly enjoyable Dom/sub story

I love Shoshanna Evers' writing! It's fresh, it's fun and the characters are not perfect - they are actually very flawed and that makes the story more believable.

On occasion in the audio, when the narrator ended a sentence, there seemed to be a slight echo at the end, but that may have been the mic they used. Thankfully, it didn't distract or detract from the listening experience.