Release Me (The Stark Trilogy)

The Stark Series #1

By: J. Kenner

Narrated by: Sofia Willingham

Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's Summary

Audie Award Finalist, Erotica, 2014

For fans of Fifty Shades of Gray and Bared to You comes an erotic, emotionally charged romance between a powerful man who’s never heard "no" and a fiery woman who says "yes" on her own terms.

He was the one man I couldn’t avoid. And the one man I couldn’t resist.

Damien Stark could have his way with any woman. He was sexy, confident, and commanding: Anything he wanted, he got. And what he wanted was me.

Our attraction was unmistakable, almost beyond control, but as much as I ached to be his, I feared the pressures of his demands. Submitting to Damien meant I had to bare the darkest truth about my past - and risk breaking us apart.

But Damien was haunted, too. And as our passion came to obsess us both, his secrets threatened to destroy him - and us - forever.

Release Me is an erotic romance intended for mature audiences.

©2013 J. Kenner (P)2013 Random House Audio

WILL cause sleep deprivation!!!!

I have never heard of this series...I was doing a random search on Audible and it came up and OMG am I glad!!!!

Controlling dominant alpha male gazillionair...who is of course damaged. On the edge of loosing it alpha female...who is of course damaged....throw them together and watch the sparks fly, HOT sparks....SOOOOOOO HOT! So hot that I didn't want to go to sleep, I just wanted to keep listening!

Nothing specifically mentioned as far as dom/sub goes, but it's there just waiting to be discussed. The sex scenes were well developed and outstandingly described, IN GRAPHIC DETAIL.

It has a hot alpha male who is rich, but that is where the similarities to fifty shades stop. The female lead is NOT a virgin, THANK YOU J. Kenner for not following that cliche, there is no red room of pain, and they aren't from totally different worlds which was nice.

It had similarities to Bared to You with the rich alpha male again...but bared to you is more mid life to me, and this is late 20's early 30's of two damaged people finding someone else who is damaged enough to over look their damage and build a bridge.

I can get why people have compared this book to 50 and Bared, but it's a different animal to me....a very NICE animal!

I downloaded book two while only half way through book 1, and book three is due out in the summer so YEAH, not a really long wait....but I don't know how I will pass the time without another dose of the yummy Damian Stark.....oh so yummy!

3 stars but...

The story line was good but the narrator was so breathy OMG... SW needs some narration lesson NO LIE! I found it hard to listen to her but made it through. The story was good and if you can make it through too then enjoy and get the rest of the series. Worth a credit sure why not. LOL Happy Listening!

Why isn't this book in your library????

What a gem of a find! I don't read many books in a day (I'm a busy working mom) but I could not put this one down. It hooked me from the beginning and I just couldn't let it go.

As many other reviewers have said, if you enjoyed FSOG, Bared to You, Beautiful Bastard or If I Were You then you will enjoy this one too. It's the same formula but it doesn't feel like a rip-off. I'm not sure why this book isn't more popular but I'm glad I found this diamond in the rough.

I had no idea this was a trilogy but I'm looking forward to the 2nd and 3rd books!

4.5 stars for a Very Hot Listen!

Great... I loved it!

What made the experience of listening to Release Me the most enjoyable?

I love listening to books where the narrators voice is not annoying... This book is steamy and has a plot with mystery and suspense... and of course some erotic romance.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Release Me?

The ending was a cliffhanger and I am disappointed that I have to wait until July to hear more.

Which character – as performed by Sofia Willingham – was your favorite?

Damian...I hope that is how you should spell his name. He is a mystery and I can't wait to figure him out in the remaining books

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

Yes, it kept me up all night, I couldn't turn off my brain and I wanted to know more.

Any additional comments?

I like books with raw primal hunger... Listening to books like 50 Shades of Grey, Bared to You, Reflected in You, etc invokes a curiousity in me to step outside my comfort zone... Try a new wine, a new restaurant, a different spa service-- Enjoy life more freely!

A cross of 50 Shades series & Bared to you series

Would you listen to Release Me again? Why?

Yes, Narrator was good and it's good novel.

What other book might you compare Release Me to and why?

Fifty Shades of Grey and Bared to You. These books are very similar. If you enjoy these 2 book series, you won't be disappoint with one. I think Damien is a blend of Christian Grey and Gideon Cross. He's pretty awesome.

Which character – as performed by Sofia Willingham – was your favorite?

Damien and Jamie.

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

Yes, I listened to this book in one sitting. It was a long one.

Any additional comments?

I did not realized that this is a series. I am glad it is. The 2nd book & 3rd book scheduled for this year. I can't wait.

Damien's trouble past tucked my heart. I am concern with Nikki's problem. I wonder how the author is going to deal her issue moving forward in the series.

Going against the grain here...

I actually didn't like it. Not only is the story line way too close to Fifty Shades of Grey and Crossfire but the main character Nikki Fairchild flat out annoyed me. I couldn't relate to her and there for couldn't really get into liking the book. Lately it seems that all young billionaires are controlling sexual deviants that all have a knack for aviation and like to keep dossier on their females of interest, and some type of ex-girl friend is messing up their lives now. But in Release Me Nikki Fairchild is the one that is 50 shades of messed up and has attracted the interest of Billionaire Damien Stark. Nikki is a blonde hair, green eyed ex- child pageant contestant that ends up being super smart with a double major in computer science, she writes apps and is apparently MIT material. Nikki emotionally on the other hand, I don't know how to put this, but she would be on the short bus! She has deep seated mommy issues that turn her into a cutter as a teenager and about 4 or 5 times in the book she completely flies off the handle yelling at Stark and even slapping him before she gathers all the information on the situation. Once the information is out it appears that she constantly over reacting due to always jumping conclusions. I just personally can not stand that trait in a person, to me Nikki just seems to be bipolar, emotionally unstable. I probably won't finish the series.

If the story appears to you then I would go ahead and give it a try but it just wasn't my cup of tea.

Familiar

This book was very similar to the Crossfire series. I'm not sure which came first.

So....Fifty Shades

I can't tell you how many times I said "that was right from Fifty Shades of Grey" when I listened to this....to the point where it was really making me angry. In all honesty, I don't know who came first - I didn't check. But one of these authors and their editors - wow - can't believe someone didn't get in trouble because the stories are just way, way, way too similar. So not that the story is bad so much as it is not original and the amount of similarity is seriously not cool.

Above my expectations!

I resisted this book thinking that it would be so similar to "Fifty Shades of Grey" that it wouldn't hold my interest. I does flow in a similar fashion but it is a unique and interesting storyline. I was surprised to find, I liked it! It is a simple story, no real depth but what is referred to as a beach read. Difficult emotional subjects such as "cutting" and suggestions of abuse are mentioned but neither are done distastefully but instead in understandable ways. I recommend this book to those that like the fanfiction style books from the "Twilight" series. I'm not sure if that is what it is but if it is Twilight inspired it is one of the better runoff books available. Enjoy!

Kinda like 50 shades - but not

Not very original, not very sexy, and way too much use of the f- word. I will not read any more of the series. Lucky I got this in a sale.