Ken: Hawaiian Holiday

Bad Boys for Hire, Book 2

By: Rachelle Ayala

Narrated by: Chris Abell

Length: 3 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

After Jolie Becker is left at the altar, her friends secretly hire a handsome beach bum to cheer her up.

When an accident ends his professional surfing career, Ken Cassidy wants nothing more than to land an acting role. Little does he know, his best acting job will be helping a jilted bride get her confidence back.

Everything changes when love kicks in. Will Jolie believe Ken's feelings are real when she discovers he's the hired help?

Bad Boys for Hire are fun and exciting stories where love is unexpected, but always delicious. They can be listened to as standalones, but for greater enjoyment, please be sure to check out the other books in the series.

• Book One: Ryker and Terri (Motorcycle Club Romance)
• Book Two: Ken and Jolie (Hawaiian Vacation Romance)
• Book Three: Nick and Carol (Christmas Holiday Romance)

©2016 Rachelle Ayala (P)2017 Rachelle Ayala Publishing, LLC

A wonderful book to listen to

This is a great book. I loved listening to it. Rachelle Ayala writes another wonderful book and Chris Abell does an outstanding job of narrating it. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to listen to a great romance.

Short, fun read!

Reading this book set in Hawaii while freezing my butt off in Chicago was the best way for me to escape the cold today. There are some steamy love scenes but it is mostly a second chance romance that is sweet and sassy in all the best ways!

Narration: Chris Abell did a great job voicing all of the characters. There were times where it was hard to believe they were all done by one person!

Great Contemporary Romance!

Very unique story about going on a honeymoon without a groom! There are some funny moments and some heartwarming moments as well.

The narrator brought the story to life. It was fairly easy to differentiate who was talking.

Jolie is definitely a unique character! She is allergic to so many things, likes to prepare and plan for everything, and has just been left at the alter.

Ken is such a nice guy! He takes care of his handicapped sister and is always so thoughtful! I expected him to be a bad boy because of the name and I was pleasantly surprised.

The story was interesting, had some steamy moments, humor, and the narrator did a fantastic job! I'll be looking forward to the next book in this fun series!

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

Recommended

An excellent story. I hadn't realized how engaged I was in it until about 3/4 through and I got so angry and disappointed in Jolie. While I liked the story the lessons under the story were also important. Kudos Ms. Ayala.

Chris Abell did a great job portraying the Various characters and narrating.

I recieved a free Audible copy of this story, at my request, in exchange for a honest review.

Another Great Series!

Another great book in the Bad Boys for Hire series! I was really excited to listen to this book since I listened to Nick and Carol's story first. This book just kind of put everything from Nick and Carol's story into place. Although I was able to follow Nick and Carol's story, Ken and Jolie's story filled in some of the blanks and caught me up on some of the stuff that was referenced in the 3rd book. As with the other two books, this was a great story. Although it was a shorter book it was sweet and fast paced. I like it when the story moves along and I also like it when there's not a lot of unnecessary drama going on. It was sweet how nice Ken was to everyone, especially Jolie and it was so nice that they were able to help each other with their insecurities and getting their confidence back. They really complimented each other which made them so perfect of one another. I'd recommend this book, it's so good and it'll hold your attention to the end.

YES for Ken

After listening to book 1 which was 5 stars across the board, I had to get Ken and Jolie's story too. I was not disappointed.
We meet Jolie in the first book, she is one of the heroine's friends and we also briefly meet Ken too. The journey to their HEA is complicated and with lots of twists, and quite entertaining. Dealing with a long list of allergies and OCD Jolie is dealing with quite a lot and Ken is such a great partner for her, he is a sweetheart.

Mr. Abell did a great narration on this one too. Love his voices, his passion for telling the story. He really made the story come alive.

Phenomenal, Short Romance Listen.

Bad Boys for Hire is an interesting story idea, and I love how so far the two stories are tied by the female characters. I didn't make the connection that Ken had a role in the first book, but laughed when they finally acknowledged it in the story.

Chris Abell does a phenomenal job as narrator on this story, and Rachelle Ayala told a great romantic, but often funny, story. The romance may be quick, but you can't fight instant love. She's able to bring about real situations that can weigh on a relationship, and show that there is hope if you can overcome your differences.

Loved this book!

Ken is the second book in the Bad Boys for Hire series. What happens when your best friends find out your fiancé is a two-timing jerk? When Jolie’s fiancé is nowhere to be found, her best friends hire Ken to stand in as the groom. Ken has been hired for some strange things, but this is one of the strangest. But since he arrives too late, they ask him to go to Hawaii, to make her think she has found Mr. Right after all. He accepts the job with one condition; he wants to be able to take his sister along on the trip. After getting to Hawaii, Ken makes sure to ‘bump’ into Jolie wherever she goes. Jolie sees how good he is with his sister, like when she couldn't get up the trail and he carried her the rest of the way. Jolie and Ken have great chemistry, but once the feelings develop, what will happen? Will she find out that she was set up by her friend? Will she be happy? Will she be upset? Or will her feelings for Ken be so deep that she is willing to overlook it? I really enjoyed this story, and the narrator is great to listen to as well. I definitely recommend this book.

A cute, fun story with a likable main character!

This was cute, fun listen, with likable characters. Ken, the main character, is fun, thoughtful and an all around good guy. He ends up being hired to go to Hawaii to pose as a love interest to the recently jilted Jolie, who he actually knows from years past (he changed a lot since they were kids and she doesn't know it's him). Without giving anything away, I can just say that there was a bit of cheeziness and coincidences here and there, but overall the characters were all good, likable people. This book didn't connect me to the characters like some books do, but I don't feel that I wasted my time listening either.

Chris Abell did a great job narrating. His cadence was spot on and he voiced both the male and female characters well and I had no problem telling who was who. I'd listen to another of his narrations happily anytime.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher for an honest review.

A fun romantic sexy story

Bad Boys for Hire Ken is book two in the series and can be read alone as both books are so different, but you would probably enjoy it even more if you read in order since there are recurring characters, and the beginning picks up with Jolie's wedding.

Jolie is stranded at the altar. Not only does her husband not show, everything that could go wrong does, but Jolie is also a tough woman and puts on a strong appearance at the reception.

Ken is hired to stand in as a groom at a wedding. It is an odd request but he needs the money, so he gathers is crippled sister up and heads to the venue, only to arrive too late. Nikki, Jolie's friend, meets him at the door and offers him a different job, to go to Hawaii and woo Jolie.When he sees Jolie, he takes the job but turns down the money except for a ticket for his sister for his personal reasons.

I loved this story. It is light-hearted and so funny at times, then there are serious notes as well. I adored Jolie. I can relate to her OCD, and Allergies, though mine is nothing compared to hers. I adored how Ken accepted Jolie as she was and worked so hard to get her to recognize him and fall for him. There are a few really steamy sex scenes. There are a few twists, and I loved the ending.

I loved this book but I think I like it on audio even better the narration is clear, well-paced and each character has a clear voice.

What a gem

If you could sum up Ken: Hawaiian Holiday in three words, what would they be?

The three words I would use would be, Quirky, entertaining, and very enjoyable.

What other book might you compare Ken: Hawaiian Holiday to, and why?

Well to be honest this is not normal genre is reading. But didn't mean I didn't enjoy it, because believe me I did.

Have you listened to any of Chris Abell’s other performances? How does this one compare?

I've not listened to Chris Abel before. But he was brilliant to listening of his characters.

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

I did sit and listen to Ken's and Jolie's story in one sitting. Didn't want to stop really fantastic.

Any additional comments?

Like I have said not my normal genre in books, but am I glad I did. Beautiful characters with very well written story. Would read this author again, without a doubt.

Sweet, Quirky and Hot in One!

Personally I cannot help but want a Ken in my life. It is true he doesn't quite have his life together. He had a head injury that has left him physically vulnerable. He doesn't have a career in place. But none of that overpowers the incredibly hot, sweet and slightly quirky person he is. The story opens with Jolie, a women who likes everything planned to the infinitesimal detail, being stood up at the alter thanks to interferences of her best friends. It was the right thing to happen but it leaves her going on her honeymoon with one of her bestfriends who has plans of her own for Jolie. Only Ken isn't playing by anyone else's rules. He really likes Jolie and embarks on a honeymoon adventure to remember.

But nothing is quite as neat as all that. Honeymoons end and Jolie and Ken both have their insecurities to work through if they really want a chance to make a relationship work.

This is an all-out, throw out your plans, complete with a male escort service, romantic romp the reader cannot help but enjoy!

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Take me to Hawaii!

Bad Boys for Hire...what a fun series this is! Ken is the first of the series that I have listened to, but if it is any indication of the others, I am grabbing them all and giving them a listen! From start to finish, Rachelle Ayala gives you love, passion, angst, and meddling all wrapped up in to a fun filled book. Jolie Becker is left at the alter, and is off on her honeymoon. There she "meets" Ken. Little does she know, he works for Bad Boys for Hire....and what she doesn't know about him can hurt her! Assumptions and the ability not to trust has her testing this man to the limits. Can he pass them? Give it a listen, enjoy the scenes of Hawaii, the banter and heat between Jolie and Ken and their way to each other.

Chris Abell narrates this book with such ease, you daydream yourself right into the story. He has a good array of voices for each character and an infectious enthusiasm that pulls you right in.