Hair Out of Place

By: Helen Juliet

Narrated by: Kieran Flitton

Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

Confined to a London penthouse his whole life, hardly anybody knows that happy-go-lucky Raphie d’Oro is a prince in exile. Not even his grumpy new bodyguard, Griff Thompson. But when assassins strike, Raphie is forced to flee out into a strange new world with his crush on Griff growing. It’s a race against time to get Raphie to his European home country, so he can claim the throne and save his life. 

Griff has to remain professional, especially when he discovers Raphie is a real-life prince, but he’s increasingly drawn to the beautiful Raphie and his mesmerizing long hair. There are only so many beds they can share before the pull between them becomes impossible to ignore. 

But they’re living in a fantasy. Raphie is going to be a king, and Griff is almost twice his age and going nowhere. Griff knows they have no future together, no matter what Raphie insists. However, Griff also knows he’ll do anything to protect Raphie from harm, and that includes not breaking his heart. Can he really do his duty and walk away, or will true love conquer all? 

Hair Out of Place is a steamy, stand-alone MM romance novel featuring a fierce feline companion, a lot of mouthwatering food, even more mouthwatering snuggles, a makeover for a royal ball to remember, and a guaranteed HEA with absolutely no cliff-hanger.

©2020 Helen Juliet (P)2020 Helen Juliet

Horrible setup

The only introduction we had was a new bodyguard started his first day protecting a man child……and then they are running for their lives. And I just couldn’t listen anymore to a grown man giggling and skipping. The author probably thought this should his innocence but I just kept wondering how old this guy is supposed to be. I only got 2 hours in before I had to shut it off.

fantastic!!

Fantastic! Raphael has been locked in a penthouse. He is quite innocent and hasn’t had much experience. He gets a new bodyguard, Griffin and its game on, all kinds of crazy things start happening. Griffins first day starts with someone attempting to kill his new client, Raphael. There are crazy assassins and ninja’s with throwing stars. I love Raphael’s enthusiasm for life and Griffins gruff but softie interior. I loved everything about this story, so much fun. Kieran Flitton did a fantastic job with the narration!!

A Wonderful Retelling of Repunzal!

Raphael has spent his entire life hidden in a penthouse apartment in London. He is the heir to the throne of a small European country.

On the day Griff is hired as a bodyguard to Raphie, all hell breaks loose. He must get Ralphie to the throne avoiding a host of inept assassins. Sparrow, a Scottish curl cat, travels with them.

The narrator is talwnted and did a fantastic job bringing this story to life. Well done and well written.

enjoyed it

📖 Story comment: Good pace, likeable characters, entertaining story
I enjoy a fairy tale re-write, and i'm calling this one "loosely based"... it was also a bit of a stretch and bits of the back story don't make sense - but if you take it purely in fun and don't analyse it at all - its a delightfully entertaining tale.
I liked that Raphie identifies as non-binary and it worked well with the story.

🎧 Narrator comment: I enjoyed Kieran Flitton's narration, his accent suits the characters, he has good cadence, inflections and intonations and it's easy to distinguish the characters from each other. A thoroughly enjoyable performance and he bought the story to life.

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📌 Where does it fall on my personal scale? 7
• 1 not my thing • 2 didn't like the narration • 3 didn't keep my attention • 4 was good, but once was enough • 5 enjoyed it • 6 will listen again if i'm in the mood for the narrator [4⭐] • 7 goes on the "re-listen" list [4⭐] • 8 kept me up past bed-time [4.5⭐] • 9 recommended to family/friends [4.75⭐] • 10 own it in all formats [5⭐] • 11 keep a copy with me at all times [5⭐]

A prince in hiding

I’m always a sucker for fairytale novels. I mean princes in hiding waiting to reclaim their birthright and a shining white knight in armor, who wouldn’t love them?

Raphie is a prince in exile who’s trapped in a high London tower. And Griff the grump is his bodyguard who has no idea he’s protecting a prince. Raphie likes Griff but he’s almost double his age and they are on different paths in life. However, they may be walking the different paths but the destination might be same for our Prince Charming and his white knight.

It’s a bit long but I think it was amusing at times and enjoyable. What really stood out for me in this book was Kieran Flitton’s narration. It was so smooth and sexy. All in all, an enjoyable book.

4 A prince in hiding stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️



Audio rating

Story - 3.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Narration - 4.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Performance - 4.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Overall - 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Captivating romance between a prince and bodyguard

This book was a perfect mix of fairytale and modern day. I loved the romance between the two MCs, and I was rooting for them each step of their adventure. Raphie being nonbinary was beautifully done and I wish there were more books with non cis MCs in this genre. Definitely can't wait to read what this author comes up with next!
This narrator is always a fave and he brought the characters to life beautifully. Can't wait for this author and narrator to collaborate again!

(ARC provided by the author.)

Great reimagining!

I have always loved rapunzel and this loose retelling is not exception. Helen Juliet writes such lovely stories, and this one was fantastic. Great narration.

A Fairy-Tale Romance for Griff and Raphael

Loosely based on the fairy tale Rapunzel and set in modern day, 'Hair out of Place' tells the romantic suspense story of private security agent Griff and wealthy shut-in Raphael. (who is also secretly a prince). When assassins arrive to keep Raphie from ascending to the throne, he and Griff make a mad dash across Europe to prove his birthright.

There are a couple of parallels to the Rapunzel tale. Raphie has been exiled to a London penthouse for most of his life. And, he has long, white blond hair that serves as part of his identity as non-birnary. My favorite scenes involve Raphie discovering the world and Griff and Raphie discovering each other. When Griff stops angst-ing about the inappropriateness of their relationship, their scenes together are sweet, loving and adorable.

Griff and Raphie continue to face the assassins at intervals, which adds some action, suspense and hurt/comfort to the story. The assassins seem to be added as a comedic element. I found those characters to be stereotypical, which might be the point, and not terribly funny. The action is not plausible and, again, may be written specifically for comedic effect. Even though I wasn't keen on this subplot, I found the overall story to be interesting and well-written.

I really enjoy any narration by Kieran Flitton, this one included. He uses character voices to good effect, infusing them with personality. He delivers an A+ job, as always.

This audiobook was given to me for free, at my request, and I have voluntarily written this review.

Recommended.

Fun listen

Really liked this audio version of Helen Juliet's novel, Hair Out of Place! I enjoyed the ebook version but Kieran Flitting did a super nice job of bringing this lovely retelling of Rapunzel to life!

Loved this book

Very enjoyable, I loved the characters and their awesome journey. This is definitely going into my re-readable collection.

Likeable story, but...

This was a likeable story, but I couldn't see Raphie as more than a child. His habit of whining and stomping his foot was rather juvenile. The story itself started and ended in a flurry of excitement, but there were long spaces in the middle, as the MCs wrestled with their desires and self-worth, that dragged. The story is pretty light-hearted until about 8.5 hours in. Then is gets pretty violent coupled with homophobic rants for about 15 minutes before returning toward a lighter tone. This section really seemed out of place with the rest of the story, and Raphie seemed pretty useless in the fight except for begging helplessly. No spoilers, but the hero wasn't Raphie or Griff. Overall, an okay story, but too much drama and angst over the 'I want you, but I'm not good enough for you' trope. I liked the Princess and her mother. The princess acted more adult than Raphie even though she was 9 years younger at only 12. I was also thrown for a loop at one point near the end where Raphie's mother is referred to as 'departed' and I found myself asking when she died since she was alive when the story started (spoiler: she didn't). Anyway, good attempt, but could have been better with a couple hours shaved off.

The narration was fantastic and well-delivered with the accents.

I received this audiobook for free at my request and am voluntarily leaving this honest review.

An adventurous reimagined Rapunzel

I found this to be a very enjoyable reimagining of Rapunzel. Full of excitement and adventure and so very up to date.
Narrator Kieron Flitton formed the story so well giving everyone such distinct characters. I especially liked the comic assassins.

Fantastic story

This was a fantastic retelling story. The characters were well written and deep. There was a little drag with the internal monologue of the main characters but the story and the narration more than made up for it. Definitely an author I would love to listen to more of.

Loved it

Hair out of Place by Helen Juliet is a modern MM Rapunzel retelling with an age gap. The story about Raphael and Griffin is sexy, hot, sweet and exciting. Raphie and Griff are so sweet and good together. I loved them so much!! I highly recommend this book.

Really liked the performance of the Kieran Flitton

An action-packed, steamy fairytale romance

I loved reading this book when it first came out, and listening to Kieran Flitton narrate Griff and Raphie only enhanced my enjoyment of this sweet romance.

This delightfully re-imagined version of Rapunzel took me on an exciting journey full of steamy moments and sweet bonding between Griff and Raphael. Precious Sparrow kitty was an unexpected gem in this story, and the way Griff and Raphael showered her with affection showed me what wonderful people they were before I knew anything else about them. Amidst the intoxicating sexual tension and lighthearted get-to-know-you conversations, these two had to battle against surprisingly dangerous (but incompetent?) people and pull off a high-stakes mission to get Raphael to safety. I loved reading about their action-packed encounters as much as I loved swooning over their obvious attraction and inability to resist each other. Despite the rushed timeline and threat of death looming over their heads, Griff and Raphael's romance felt refreshingly realistic and not like insta-love at all. It was so much fun to see gruff, stoic Griff fall for such a sunshine-y and happy Raphie, even as Griff battled with himself over his responsibilities as a bodyguard. When the two of them did explore their chemistry, I was overwhelmed by how wildly passionate and unbelievably hot they were together. I was so caught up in the lighthearted fairytale of a romance that it took me completely by surprise when reality barged back in with its ugly brutality. Griff and Raphael had to fight every step of the way, despite brief moments of respite, and I was breathless with anticipation to see what would happen once Raphael made it to his final destination.

**I voluntarily listened to a free copy of this book. This review expresses my honest thoughts and opinions. 

Mission Impossible meets Slipper and the Rose

There was no doubt I was going to love this because it is a Helen Juliet book. What I didn't know was just how much I would love it. First, I am a sucker for both age gap and bodyguard romances so this was a sure bet. What I didn't expect was how much the adventure of getting Raphie to his kingdom safely would remind me of all the fun I used to have watching Mission Impossible and seeing how they would accomplish similar missions. There was also a reminder of the Basic Rathbone/Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes film Pursuit to Algiers where Holmes is attempting the same feat. That would have been enough, but when Griff becomes convinced he has to leave for the good of Raphie and the country he is to rule I was reminded of one of my favorite (if heartbreaking) scenes in The Slipper and the Rose where Gemma Craven faces the fact she has to leave and sacrifice her own happiness for the sake of the Prince and his subjects. It got me there and it got me here. So many memories and yet this was not at all derivative, it felt totally fresh. Kieran Flitton has been on a run of great performances in numerous "royal" romance books lately and this just continues his streak. He get all the action, all the heartbreak and all the romance just right.

A modern retelling of a fairy tale

This was a sweet tale but not without its issues.
In my opinion it was too long and the MCs spent far too much time in internal wonderings that they had already covered before. Cutting much of this internal monologue would have given the book more flow. The couple are working towards a deadline but that sense of urgency was derailed bother own meandering thoughts.
That brings me too my other issues. The Royal connection: parties of the like that occurred in the last few chapters would take months to arrange, they can't just be thrown together in a day, nor can official process. And the assassins... were incompetent at best. They felt like comedic interludes rather than serious attempts and made the book feel like it couldn't decide whether it was a comedy or a fairy tale romance. These interludes again interrupted the flow and urgency of the narrative.
On the other hand the MCs were great as both individuals and a couple and the writing was solid.
The narrator helped carry the story.

Great narrator

Listened to the end hoping it would get less sappy but unfortunately not. The narrator kept me listening, hoping to hear him again but don't think I'll buy this authors books in the future.

Great balance

Helen Juliet did a magnificent job balancing romance, action & adventure. Griff & Raphie where fantastic character to get to know. Kieran Flitton is amazing with European accents.
This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

MM riff on Rapunzel & bodyguard is hot and sweet!

In this super fun modern reimagining of the Rapunzel story, beautiful Raphie, with his requisite long blond tresses, lives in a London high-rise with his mother and a precocious cat. Griff is a new bodyguard who comes to join the protection detail on a day when all hell breaks loose, and Raphie and Griff must flee on a road trip to the principality of Campanula, where Raphie must claim his birthright as monarch. I enjoyed this opposites-attracting, forced proximity story very much… A bit older and more experienced, Griff tries to resist the attraction to Raphie, but it’s obvious from the start what an impossibility that would be. There is not a dull moment in this fast-paced, fun tale with lots of heat and overflowing with feels, and the top-notch narration by Kieran Flitton brings these characters to life in the best way. His voice and characterizations never disappoint, nor does Ms Juliet’s storytelling. I loved it.