Force of Law

By: Jez Morrow

Narrated by: Joel Leslie

Length: 3 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

When a Lamborghini Diablo car pulls into the quick oil change shop on Cleveland's west side, Tom Russell immediately assumes this is his old lover, Wells, has come back to torment him. But it's worse.

The driver is Wells' arrogant, obscenely rich cousin Law Castille. He invites Tom on a little subtle revenge tip, accompanying Law as his guest to Wells' wedding. But dance with the devil and there's hell to pay. Tom thinks Law is toying with him, but Law's visit to the poor side of a rustbelt town was never about revenge. It was never about cousin Wells at all. Law has come for Tom.

©2015 Jez Morrow (P)2015 Jez Morrow

totally in love

I am totally in love with this story. The performance Joel Leslie did was perfect.

Short story, big narration!

This a good novella, but the narration was outstanding. This was my 2nd Joel Leslie narration at the time (April 2016 - first was Seti's Heart) I couldn't believe it was the same narrator. Joel Leslie brought the characters to life so well that I now actively seek out the books he's narrated.
The story was good, I really enjoyed it, but I can't say enough how much I enjoyed the narration.

So glad to see this in audiobook format!

Tom used to date Law’s cousin until Law and their family (who control the money) essentially frowned on the blue collar/white collar relationship and Wells (the ex) flew away to marry a woman.
Now Wells is getting married and for some reason Law wants to flaunt Tom in the face of both Wells and his family’s faces.
Tom isn’t beneath a little revenge and plus Law is HOT!
Afterward Law continues to shock the hell out of Tom … for a long time to follow.
**
If you haven’t read this book – go do it! It is relatively short but SO HOT and yet full of surprising feels too…
I’ve read and re-read this often- it’s very good.
The author’s done some other work, but this – IMHO – is the best so far.

Audio

I FLIPPED OUT when I accidentally ran into this on audible – I couldn’t believe I’d missed it! (Audible categorizes things really weird sometimes.)
Joel Leslie gives each character a unique voice and I love that! He’s sometimes a bit melodramatic but not enough to bother me.
Since I loved the book so much and Joel is so much fun to listen to – I highly recommend this audio and book!

Sooooo HOT. Romantic, raunchy and unforgettable.

If you could sum up Force of Law in three words, what would they be?

Law is HOT.

What other book might you compare Force of Law to and why?

Although the sex in this book is really intense, the core relationships almost reminded me of a 1930's Hepburn and Tracy romance... Law and Tomcat banter so well together... the bristling tension of the romance is what makes the book so enjoyable.

Which scene was your favorite?

The final scene knocked my socks off. In a book with such a hardcore sexy energy - the final moments were so freaking romantic. It just made the book that much hotter.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

You can't break the Law. You can only obey it.

Any additional comments?

There is some definite alpha/sub energy to this book... Law looks at Tomcat almost like a stallion that has to be broken... if you go along with that it's one of the sexiest scenes i've ever read.

I very much enjoyed this story

especially when law comes up with a creative way to trap Tom. law is determined to make Tom his

Would you want to know this guy Law or not?

I like the overconfident, self assured, sarcastic no bull Law. So I did like this story and our cast. Tom and Law's little revenge trip to a wedding of a former lover of Tom's and Law's cousin is indeed fun. It took me a minute to get use to the narrator when he performed Law's character but the more you learn about that guy the more appropriate the voice becomes.
It is a steamy affair they embark on and I loved the fact that the author allowed our guys to always stick to the basics. They are attracked to each other, want each other and everything else is second nature. It's what we look for in a book of this size.

Narrator ruined it:(

I enjoyed this so much in ebook and was thrilled to see it out in audio. However, the narrator was downright bad. His voice sounded forced and unnatural, for some reason, and his attempt to give differentiation to the second MC was worse than pathetic. It ended sounding like a female trying (badly) to impersonate a man! His natural voice is fine - a smooth tenor if he would allow himself to speak naturally.

But he ruined what could have been a great audio (if Tyler Stevens had done it) and I'm requesting a refund of my credit.

Just wow

This book is just to short, way to short.
Good storyline!
But the narrator was sublime.
Joel Leslie did as always hit the bullseye.

Really, really sexy and surprisingly emotional.

Would you listen to Force of Law again? Why?

Yes. I think it's the kind of book that when you've read it once you would be drawn to listening again and discovering and listening to things fresh. Once you know the ending of the book, I think it makes you want to revisit the development of the relationships. Plus, it's really, really hot.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Force of Law?

The end of the book had me in tears... which was not something I was EVER expecting with this kind of novel. The relationship between Tom and Law is nuanced and really intriguing. Law is one of the most interesting and layered 'alpha' characters i've encountered in a book like this - and Tom is a perfect foil for him.

What about Joel Leslie’s performance did you like?

He does a great job creating a clear delineation between characters. Very natural, engaging and intimate.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I think you could certainly be drawn in to do so.

Any additional comments?

Morrow is an intense and very sexy writer. Her characters are strong and the sexual scenes have an raw nature that seems almost overwhelming in the first erotic scenes, but there is a great pay off for them.. and the development of the characters really makes it work. It's one of the hottest books i've read and I loved the characters.

there were parts that were amazing...

I'm so confused... I think that was really good? There were some odd inconsistencies and other problems that I couldn't dismiss and bugged me enough that I had to take a star off. On the other hand, there were flashes of greatness that took my breath away.

I grabbed this one because it was narrated by Joel Leslie, unfortunately it wasn't his best effort either.

I would be interested in exploring this author further but it looks like all her stuff is out of print thanks to the defunct publisher Torquere :(

heh heh, it also happens that I picked this one for a challenge bc it was #31 on the GR list of overrated MM romances, a place it deserves to be.