Evil Enemy

Saint View Strip, Book 1

By: Elle Thorpe

Narrated by: Troy Duran, Michelle Sparks

Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

A male/female romance set in the Saint View world. No prior knowledge of the world is needed to start this hot new series.

I’m the ruling queen of Saint View Strip. After growing up poor, taking my clothes off and dancing for men is all I know. My thriving club and the people I employ are everything. They’re my ride or die, and I’m theirs.

Nobody is taking them away from me.

So when a local politician announces plans to bulldoze everything I’ve spent the last 10 years working for, I won’t be silenced.

Not by some suit.

And not by the cops.

Joshua Boston can arrest me all he wants. He can come at me with strong arms and piercing eyes that make my insides tingle. He can push me up against the wall and cuff me all day long.

I’ll still hate him.

I’ll still want him.

In this town of gangs, shootings, and dangers around every corner, no one is safe. I’m no damsel in distress, but when a violent threat ups the stakes, it’s Boston I’m forced to turn to.

We may hate each other, but the real enemy is the one neither of us will see coming.

Evil Enemy is a dark romance that may have triggers for some listeners. It was first published in the Hate to Want You Anthology.

©2023 Elle Thorpe Pty Ltd (P)2023 Elle Thorpe Pty Ltd

Great narration by both.

The story itself was just so-so for me. It was the narrators that kept me interested. I gave the narration a 5 and the story a 3 at best. I do not see myself continuing the series.

Bahl-uh-klah-vuh

First things first: I liked this book. Not as much as the others in the Saints View universe. But it was a sweet little story that filled in some gaps from previous books and moved the plot line forward for what comes next in Saints View. Stripper with a heart of gold meets good cop with a guilty conscience because he’s made some bad decisions.

We first met Eve and Boston in the Saints View Prison series. Mae knows Boston (her sister’s longtime partner on the police force) and she meets Eve through Liam (they grew up together). This books tells their story and gives us more on both of their backgrounds and on minor storylines that we’re going on behind the scenes of Mae’s story. While this book didn’t rock my world, I enjoyed it, and I’m interested to see where Thorpe takes the other books in this series.

Troy Duran does an excellent job narrating. IMHO, he never fails to please. Michelle Sparks is a new narrator for me. She has a pleasant voice and her acting skills are on par. Overall, she did a good job. BUT, for the love of God, someone please tell this woman that balaclava is pronounced “bahl-uh-klah-vuh” , not “bah-klah-vah” as in baklava, the Middle Eastern dessert! This word came up multiple times in the story, each time a mask made sense in context, but she pronounced it wrong both times. Clearly it bothered me enough to mention in my review (I should be an audiobook editor. Are the producers the editors in audiobooks? I would think so since you’d have to catch the errors during recording…I digress!)

Do I recommend this book? Yes. Does the audiobook enhance the story for me? Yes. Am I a tad bit obsessive about pronunciation? Yes!

You should still buy the audiobook. Overall, it’s a pleasant listening experience. And I would listen to other books narrated by Michelle Sparks. Maybe Audible can send her a yummy baklava delivery and politely include the phonetical pronunciation of both words. I don’t suggest sending her a balaclava…that delivery sends a different message, friends.

A new series

I thought this book was a strong start to a new series. There’s a bit of suspense and danger and a whole lot of sexiness. I can’t wait for the next book in the series.

Great narration!

Story was good but the narration is what made it better! Duet narration which is the best. I loved the background sounds, doors closing, background music, text alerts, phone ringing and more.