His Wicked Games

The Cunningham Family #1

By: Ember Casey

Narrated by: Natalie Duke

Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

Trapped with a billionaire in his mysterious mansion...can she beat him at his own game?

Lily Frazer would do anything to save the Frazer Center for the Arts - even take on the infamous billionaire Calder Cunningham. When Lily breaks onto the Cunningham estate, she only wants to find and reason with Calder. (All right, all right, she wants to punch him in the face, too, but that's Plan B.) As it turns out, the arrogant billionaire is willing to give her the money he promised, but there's a catch: she must win it from him.

And the games he has in mind aren't exactly...innocent.

Lily isn't about to give up the money without a fight (or let some haughty bastard seduce her), but she quickly discovers that there might be more to the brooding Calder than she initially perceived. As their games of cat and mouse become increasingly intense, she suddenly finds herself confused by her own emotions. Can she deny her attraction long enough to win the money she needs?

©2013 Ember Casey (P)2014 Ember Casey

Audiobook Virgin

Where does His Wicked Games rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

First one so I don't have any previous experience.

What other book might you compare His Wicked Games to and why?

There are none like this one.

What does Natalie Duke bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She puts a voice on Lilly and adds humor.

Any additional comments?

I was an audio-book virgin until His Wicked Games, I loved it so much and can't wait till the other books are available.

Enjoyed~

I found this book to go a lot quicker than I anticipated. The main characters were entertaining, enjoyable, and deeper than I thought. Yes, I will be going on to book two.

just ok

hard to stay involved, got boring at timed. Book did not live up to summary of story

Delicious quick read/listen!

Would you listen to His Wicked Games again? Why?

Maybe -- a tough question to answer when this portion ends with a cliffhanger. I'd probably want to listen to the entire three parts before considering whether to read part 1 again.

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

Yes, though I don't usually have nearly seven hours to listen in ONE sitting.

Any additional comments?

I requested and received this audio book through Audiobook Jukebox in exchange for an honest review. I requested to review the audio book even as I had read the book last year. My impressions from that reading was very brief:

A fine, easy/light read with a heroine who is too-repetitive for my preference and a Hero who is appealing and hiding a secret (aren't we all?). How h could not see H's "secret" I do not understand. I will read the next book and I did enjoy this book, but I will be mindful about recommending this -- it feels like a novella; a really fun voyeurism into a couple's weekend... a very beach-read type of feel.

So why not spend my listening time on a new book? Because I liked the book (not loved) and wanted to compare my reading to a narrator's interpretation. My conclusion? Still a fine, easy/light read with minor believability issues surrounding our heroine and her obliviousness to his secret for so long. At approximately 200 pages and less than 7 hours of listening, it continues to feel novella-like.

Natalie Duke narrates this book and does a fine job with the separate voices and emotions. Her voice, admittedly, is much better than my inner-reading voice as she keeps the pace and emotion that the author meant whereas I skim when action or tension or yummy parts are heating up rather than keeping a slower pace and savor the action/tension/yummy parts.

A HINT OF EXCITEMENT…..

The premise of this book was really good. There's this kind of ominous excitement with heroine, Lily Frazer breaking into Calder Cunningham's estate in order to convince the billionaire to not renege on his late father's promise of monetary contribution to the Frazer Center for the Arts (owned by her father). It was a series of unfortunate events (or fortunate for this budding romance), which included a storm that kept Lily in Calder's mansion for days. Both Calder and Lily have good chemistry and although they are at odds, they have this nice sexual tension building up between them. However, with Lily's selfish, fickle, moodiness and attitude of entitlement, she was kind of a turn off, not to mention a nitwit. Watching Lily's thinking process was like those commercials that make fun of the characters in horror films who make dumb decisions. For instance, "OK Lily, so you're hiding in the dark waiting for Calder to find you with a wager in the balance so you can win back this huge contribution for your father's center, and you forget to turn off your cell phone????….DUH!!! I liked Calder a lot more than Lily. He was brooding, sly and mysterious. He also had patience with Lily and her antics. Even though I thought the premise was interesting, I began to get bored half way through. I was expecting some more excitement and build up in the games, also I thought this romance lacked heart. However, there is a turning point at the end, especially for Lily, as she re-evaluates herself (how refreshing!!!) and I think I may just push through to the next book. I certainly want to know more about Calder….

Natalie Duke did a very good job in her narration.

exhilarating

loved the anticipation of it all. the never ending lust turned to love draws in the listeners attention.

His Wicked Games

This was a really good book. The title fits the story. Calder and Lily have great chemistry together. Natalie Duke did a great job with the narration.

Fun read and listen

What did you like best about His Wicked Games? What did you like least?

This is a breezy, easy read (and listen) with a predictable plot and is much what you'd expect from the blurb. Like most fantasies, the plot leaves something to be desired, and serves mainly to pace out the steamier scenes (which are well written). The narrator of the audiobook does a great job of capturing the character and silliness of the protagonist, and keeps the book moving along nicely. One caveat: I personally didn't care for either of the characters, but that probably wouldn't keep you from enjoying the book.

If you’ve listened to books by Ember Casey before, how does this one compare?

n/a

Have you listened to any of Natalie Duke’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

n/a

Was His Wicked Games worth the listening time?

It dragged on a bit, but not too bad.

Any additional comments?

(Please note, in the interest of full disclosure: I received the audiobook from the author in exchange for a review.)

His Wicked Games is Wickedly awesome!

What did you love best about His Wicked Games?

I can't say that there is just one part that I love best about His Wicked Games because I loved it all! The flow, how it kept you wanting more and more!

What was one of the most memorable moments of His Wicked Games?

The most memorable moments is when Lily is trying to guess Calder's favorite piece of art work. After she guess incorrectly and Calder explains his favorite and then shows her why he likes it.

What does Natalie Duke bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Natalie does a wonderful job bringing the characters to life, you really feel like you are a part of the book and story. I really hope she does the rest of the series.

Any additional comments?

I can't wait until the rest of Ember Casey's book come out on audible. I have read them all, but there is just something about listening to them that really make it come alive!

Loved the story, just not the storyteller

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

Not sure.
It was not bad, just not great.

What other book might you compare His Wicked Games to and why?

Too many to list. but some of my recent favorites are the Fixed series, Annihilate Me series Gaming the System series, The Billionaires Obsession series and the list goes on and on.

What does Natalie Duke bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Most of the time I struggle at first trying to wrap my head around the voice in the recording vs the voice in my head for the characters I thought narrator really did an excellent job with that.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Things are not always what they seem

Any additional comments?

I was very excited to receive my copy of His Wicked Games audiobook because I really enjoyed reading this series and couldn’t wait to “hear” it. I discovered how much I enjoyed listening to audiobooks last year and have since become somewhat obsessed with them. Most of the time I struggle at first trying to wrap my head around the voice in the recording vs the voice in my head for the characters but then I come around to it and I am satisfied with the performance. I can’t say that about this particular recording. It was not bad. I didn’t struggle with the voice of the characters at all; in fact I thought narrator really did an excellent job with that. The dislike I have with the audiobook and the narration is, in my opinion, it felt rushed and unemotional. There were several times that I had trouble understanding what the narrator was saying, not to mention the feeling of that particular phrase or piece of dialog. I felt that if the pace was slowed, just a bit, the enunciation and emotions for that section of the story would come across more clearly. Not my favorite audiobook, but I didn't hate it and it did not ruin the story for me.