Laurent and the Beast

Kings of Hell MC, Book 1

By: K.A. Merikan

Narrated by: Joel Leslie

Beast has been disfigured in a fire, but he's covered his skin with tattoos to make sure no one mistakes his scars for weakness. The accident not only hurt his body, but damaged his soul and self-esteem, so he's wrapped himself in a tight cocoon of violence and mayhem where no one can reach him.

Until one night, when he finds a young man covered in blood in their clubhouse. Sweet, innocent, and as beautiful as an angel fallen from heaven, Laurent pulls on all of Beast's heartstrings.

In 1805, Laurent has no family, no means, and his eyesight is failing. To escape a life of poverty, he uses his beauty, but that only backfires and leads him to a catastrophe that changes his life forever. He takes one step into the abyss and is transported to the future, ready to fight for a life worth living.

What he doesn't expect in his way is a brutal, gruff wall of tattooed muscle with a tender side that only Laurent is allowed to touch. And yet, if Laurent ever wants to earn his freedom, he might have to tear out the heart of the very man who took care of him when it mattered most.

Contains mature themes.

©2017 K. A. Merikan (P)2019 Tantor

Frustratingly enjoyable.

Two main characters had their conflicts with each other and self, but it should have had more depth and resolved intelligently quicker.

Dark and deep

If you like dark and gritty, with depth and great characters with chemistry, you might just love this book. A sweet and innocent man is thrown a couple centuries into the future with a debauched biker club. After making a pact with a devil/demon creature. And he becomes enamored with a giant beast of a man who hides his disfiguring burn scars with tattoos. The story throws a few plot twists in, has a bit of angst, and is scorching hot throughout. Definitely not PG, but ends with a satisfying conclusion.

Marvelous performance of a thrilling book

This is a sexy story. Full of passion and grit, with a beautiful romance. Beast belongs to the Kings of Hell MC, and lives his life in darkness, after suffering horrendous burns to his once beautiful face, and wishes to find someone who will love him again. Laurent, centuries before, is an indentured servant who only wishes to be a free man, and to enjoy the secret desire he harbors for men. But his wish is fulfilled in the most treacherous way, and he takes a decision that will send him to the future and to Beast with a mission. There's so much to like about this story, Beast is such an appealing character, with such a vulnerability hidden by his muscles and growl, and a deep yearning for the angelic Laurent, who seems like the answer to his darkest prayer. Laurent is beautiful, tender hearted and naive, endearingly innocent about the new world he lives in, and isn't sure how to react to Beast, but their attraction jumps off the page and the passion is explosive. The paranormal element adds a horror movie flavor to the book, and sets the stage for the next book in the series. This is a fun read, and there are no one dimensional goody-two-shoes heroes, all the characters are flawed but extremely attractive and I loved every page. Joel Leslie is magnificent and makes Laurent come alive with his lovely French accent and his uncertainty and naivete, while perfectly hitting every emotional tone required for the scenes and making the intimate moments scorching hot. I loved his performance, he is one of the greatest actors I've ever heard.

Very good, could be improved

A few reactions to content: I'm not a fan of sexual assault scenes, but the scene could be more detailed, so I guess I'm mostly okay with how it is approached. The characters are interesting and developed reasonably well, but characters sometimes act outside of what would be typical of them without fitting explanation, which can be frustrating. There are female characters that are valuable, which I appreciate in an MC novel. My final reaction to content is that time travel novels take a ton of research and are always far-fetched, but the attempt is adequate given the genre of the novel.

Performance: I always enjoy Joel Leslie as a narrator, and he is skillful in representing a range of accents. It would be challenging for any voice actor to switch as frequently and to such extremes and Leslie does. At the same time, it's not as perfect as having people with the actual accents, but having multiple narrators has its own limitations.

the best book

the narration in this book is great but the book itself I cannot wait to start the second one I've listened to the whole book in one day I could turn it off

Absolute perfection

When you combine a great author such as K.A Merikan, an intriguing story, amazing characters, and superb narration by one of the best narrators in the business Joel Leslie Froomkin you’ve got 15 beautiful hours of audio pleasure. What an incredible story I loved every minute of it. Joel’s narration bring such a vast array of characters to life. You’re really in for a treat. And BTW, super hot!

Excellent performance

this release is the reason I dived into the world of audiobook and I regret I didn't try it earlier. The book itself is an amazing read. great characters with paranormal suspense/time traveling elements. Listening to this make everything feel much more intense. I actually wish I have more down time to listen to this faster. Joel Leslie is crazy talented and have the ability to make such distinct difference voice for all the characters.

Oh my, this story was delicious!

Beast and Laurent's story was all so good. I read this story a few years ago. I love it and decided to let this. really good narrator read to me this really good story. I must say it was an awesome decision. I highly recommend! Enjoy!

Storytelling that sucks you right in.

What’s not to love; fantasy and MM Romance with a good share of evil characters and wholesome characters. I loved that Laurent was able to remove a thorn from Beast’s aching heart by finally giving himself to Beast. There was lots of steamy romance!
The narrator did a great job with exception to the female characters who all sounded a bit nasal and just plain rude.

just okay

The narrator has a dramatic warble to his voice that makes everyone sound like they’re about to cry when they’re not being cartoonishly sinister. I liked the premise in theory, but the story was more focused on the relationship and felt too drawn out for what it was.