• Life after Joe

  • By: Harper Fox
  • Narrated by: Sean Crisden
  • Length: 3 hrs and 18 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (251 ratings)

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Life after Joe  By  cover art

Life after Joe

By: Harper Fox
Narrated by: Sean Crisden
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Publisher's summary

It's not the breaking up that kills you, it's the aftermath.

Ever since his longtime lover decided he'd seen the "heterosexual light", Matt's life has been in a nosedive. Six months of too many missed shifts at the hospital, too much booze, too many men. Matt knows he's on the verge of losing everything, but he's finding it hard to care.

Then Matt meets Aaron. He's gorgeous, intelligent, and apparently not interested in being picked up. Still, even after seeing Matt at his worst, he doesn't turn away. Aaron's kindness and respect have Matt almost believing he's worth it - and that there could be life after Joe. But his newfound happiness is threatened when Matt begins to suspect Aaron is hiding something - or someone....

©2010 Harper Fox (P)2010 Audible, Inc.
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: Erotica

What listeners say about Life after Joe

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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    115
  • 4 Stars
    64
  • 3 Stars
    45
  • 2 Stars
    9
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Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
    44
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    39
  • 2 Stars
    13
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Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    116
  • 4 Stars
    55
  • 3 Stars
    33
  • 2 Stars
    10
  • 1 Stars
    9

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

love the story, not the narration

I own both the text and audio versions of this story. Although it's a short story, it's still one of my favorite of all romances. Harper Fox is a very talented writer -- and you can see that here in her depiction of Matthew's despair and desolation, as well as in the vivid descriptions of Newcastle, the helicopter, and the oil rig in addition to the romance itself.

Unfortunately, the narrator doesn't do any justice to this great story. He is working hard to present a "Geordie" (Newcastle) accent, but it's pretty obvious that he isn't a native (I've been listening to a lot of genuine Geordie accents, and this one just doesn't cut it). And in his attempts to replicate that accent, the narrator has completely forgotten about the character of the story. Matthew, the main character and narrator, is in the final stages of complete disintegration -- he's coming apart at the seams. As another character tells him, he's "in bits". Yet the narrator here makes Matthew sound nearly cocky and bouncy. It's all wrong. And it's quite disturbing to hear a fine story being distorted in this way.

My advice is to stick with the text version on this one. If you appreciate good writing, you should check it out. Don't give up on Harper Fox just based on the bad narration here.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good Story, Terrible Narration

Would you try another book from Harper Fox and/or Sean Crisden?

I love Sean Crisden, but I'm just not sure this is the same Sean Crisden I love. This was terribly difficult to understand.

What didn’t you like about Sean Crisden’s performance?

Very hard to understand

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

DNF: Unbearable Narration (Accent)

I only got through about 15 minutes before giving up. I can't judge the writing, so gave it three stars.

The Newcastle accent would be a challenge for most English actors, but is clearly impossible for Sean Crisden. It was painful to listen to and so distracting that I cannot remember anything about the story that I just listened to. Such a pity.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Another wonderful story

I really enjoyed this book. The narration was a bit difficult to understand the first four or five times I listened to it, but after you get used to the accent it is a wonderful ride. It is now on my favorites list of books I listen to every few weeks.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Dear god make it stop!

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

If the narrator didn't try and force an accent. It was pretty painful to listen to, and I LOVE Sean crisden! But this was just not for him.

Has Life after Joe turned you off from other books in this genre?

No, you can't base and entire genre off of one experience with one book.

Would you be willing to try another one of Sean Crisden’s performances?

For sure! I love him in most of his other performances. Even if he mumbles a bit and does some weird muppet voices, I think it adds to the experience.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Just lovely

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

At first the narration was a bit difficult to follow, but it was certainly worth it. Enjoy!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

I Couldn't Understand the Reader

I didn't finish listening to this novel because I couldn't understand the reader. His accent was very... difficult for me to process.

I have no idea if the story itself was good, because I couldn't understand it.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

5 star story, 2 star narration

The story is exceptionally strong. Worth a read even if you're not one for shorter stories usually. Matt and Aaron are both dealing with different forms of grief and create something new with each other that's healing, warm, and good. What I especially appreciate is how much respect is given to their past loves. Romance sometimes frames the book's love story as the one-love-above-all-others; instead, this book tells the story of the love that heals while still honoring people who are lost. This expanded version of love feels so human and realistic. Grief, love, really all emotions are captured so well in this. The story is paced well, too. All the revelations and big moments are perfectly timed and impactful.

The downer is that the audio performance doesn't work. The narrator speaks way too fast, but slowing it down to .9x speed helped with that (first time I ever slowed a performance). The bigger problem is that he struggles with the accent, and it jumps between sounding forced and outright fake. It's tolerable for brief stretches, but it really drains the emotion out of the story at times, like the narrator doesn't know how to balance speaking in a different accent while also delivering emotion.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Gritty love after loss.

In a nutshell, Joe has left how can his lover go forward?  Although the narrator‘s accent and cadence initially slowed me down, his performance evoked Newcastle’s tough atmosphere. I really cared about the protagonist.   When he lost his treasured man, I felt it the pain too.  

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Horrible narration

Could not even follow the story do to narration. I will have to go read the book.

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1 person found this helpful