Scandal Never Sleeps

The Perfect Gentlemen, Book 1

By: Shayla Black, Lexi Blake

Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith

Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

From the New York Times best-selling authors of the Masters of Ménage series...

They are the Perfect Gentlemen of Creighton Academy: Privileged, wealthy, powerful friends with a wild side. But a deadly scandal is about to tear down their seemingly ideal lives.

Maddox Crawford’s sudden death sends Gabriel Bond reeling. Not only is he burying his best friend, he’s cleaning up Mad’s messes, including his troubled company. Grieving and restless, Gabe escapes his worries in the arms of a beautiful stranger. But his mind-blowing one-night stand is about to come back to haunt him...

Mad groomed Everly Parker to be a rising star in the executive world. Now that he’s gone, she’s sure her job will be the next thing she mourns, especially after she ends up accidentally sleeping with her new boss. If only their night together hadn’t been so incendiary - or Gabe like a fantasy come true...

As Gabe and Everly struggle to control the heated tension between them, they discover evidence that Mad’s death was no accident. Now they must bank their smoldering passions to hunt down a murderer - because Mad had secrets that someone was willing to kill for, and Gabe or Everly could be the next target...

©2015 Shayla Black and Lexi Blake (P)2015 Penguin Audio

Hot romance/mystery read by sexy Kaleo Griffith!

STORY (mystery/romance) - The book starts with meeting the main characters when they're in an elite boarding school as teenagers, but the story is primarily about these "Perfect Gentlemen" after they've all become successful men. One of them is CIA, one is a Navy Captain, two are billionaire businessmen, one is the Chief of Staff and one is, yes, PODUS! They're a tightknit group and always have each other's backs. I suppose each book in the series will be about one of these hot guys and his romantic interest. This one (Book 1) is about gorgeous, sexy alpha male billionaire Gabriel Bond, owner of Bond Aeronautics.

One of the Perfect Gentlemen is killed under suspicious circumstances (Gabriel's best friend Maddox) and it looks as if Gabriel may be blamed for it. I don't want to give anything away, but the PGs all band together to figure out what's going on. As you might suspect, all the characters and their jobs are involved, so suffice it to say it's a situation of national importance. I listened every chance I could, as I was dying to see what would happen next. This isn't just a wimpy mystery to augment a hot romance. If anything, I'd say it's a hot romance to augment a totally awesome mystery!

Gabriel meets Everlee in a bar where he has gone to drown himself after Mad's funeral. I absolutely love how they meet and their first night together. It is sexy, tender, well-written and read by the awesome Kaleo Griffith. Wow, is it hot! Definitely not for those offended by intense sexual encounters. After the first time, I became less interested in their sexual relationship (as I usually do) and fast-forwarded through the sheet scenes to get back to the story.

PERFORMANCE - Kaleo Griffith could read a refrigerator manual and make me want to rip my panties off. 'Nuf said!

OVERALL - This book is almost 14 hours long. About an hour of its duration is explicit sex (three scenes), and the rest is devoted to the mystery and sprinkled with the lovers' obligatory thinking about each other and worrying about their relationship. There is cursing, but it's mostly during sexual situations. There is some shooting and death, but it doesn't rise to the level I'd call violence. The story ends well and can stand alone, but there is a large thread of the mystery left to continue in the next book of the series, which I'm definitely going to get! Recommended for all women who don't blush easily!

WHAT AN AWESOME RIDE.. BUCKLE UP, HOLD ON & ENJOY

Six entitled, mischievous and over-indulged group of young teens, who met each other while at Prep School, became life long friends because they recognised they were all kindred spirits..... united by power, arrogance, confidence, determination to succeed, ambition and a likeable personality and so a deep respect for each other was formed early on. Then, over 22 years, this tight group of like-minded friends, chose their careers and took their different paths in life but they always remained in touch, got together and cared deeply for their brotherhood. But when Playboy Maddox, one of the six members of The Perfect Gentlemen, was tragically killed it shook them all and, as they downed expensive Single Malt Scotch in his memory after the funeral, little were they aware that all their lives were about to change.

Because secrets came to light, a murder was uncovered, friendships and loyalties were going to be tested and a sinister plot was going to be revealed which brought out deadly enemies who didn't care who they hurt to get what they wanted. All their lives were touched and affected but it all started with the handsome Billionaire Gabe who, needing to escape from the pain of his friend's death, the regrets, the could haves and the should haves he planned to escape it in the arms (and between the legs) of the mysterious curvy woman who had caught his eye and awakened his libido.

Everly was an employee of Maddox and lately they had struck up a secret friendship so she too had been in amongst the crowd of mourners but unwilling to go home to an empty house so she, and her co-worker and gay friend, decided to drown their sorrows at a local Bar.... and that's when the most gorgeous, sexiest and hottest man she'd ever seen started to flirt with her. Sizzling glances, hot chemistry and an earth shattering kiss led to first names only, an agreed one night stand, hot repeated sexual satisfaction, ever growing mutual attraction and hopeless silent dreams of wanting more. Then there was a knock on the door that would change everything. And then this intense, well-written and unstoppable drama played out with relentless twists, nail-biting suspense and cryptic clues to an unknown puzzle... a puzzle that would involve the FBI, the President, a secret diary and the Russians. Digging and uncovering piece of the puzzle brought emotional turmoil, angst to the max, shocking surprises, heartache, extreme danger, mystery and a romance that was doomed, could never work and yet somehow it did.

Worth a credit? Dual POV's, an awesome narrator, a plot that was exciting, addictive, all-consuming, was filled with likeable 'n loveable characters and, as the suspense and action grew, so too did the roller-coaster romance which hurtles you to a climactic ending..... because the love story had a happy ending but the puzzle pieces are still piling up and the games have just begun. I've yet to find a Shayla Black book that I haven't loved and been blown away by the characters, the plot, the hero, the romance and the hot sex scenes..... so YES, VERY VERY VERY creditworthy.

TO ALL OF MY FOLLOWERS

I loved this book. It has just enough good hot sex, mystery, humor and HOT MEN to keep me listing from the word go. Bottom line if you have enjoyed many of the books I loved you will love this one. I think I'm going to listen again. I can't wait for book two. And though there is a bit of a cliffhanger it won't make you scream MOTHER$$&&(( ✌🏾️✌🏾✌🏾

Really wanted wanted to love this book.

What disappointed you about Scandal Never Sleeps?

So many things wrong with this book. Story had so much potential. It belongs in the arena of 50 Shades of Grey. One, there was so much sex in this book that it totally overshadowed the story line. Two - the whole story that was supposedly a human trafficking operation for more than 20 years gets solved within a matters of three days and that too with a lot of sex going on. Three - so unreal. BASICALLY STUPID. I really wanted to like this, but there were so many times when I had to FORCE myself to continue the book, just to put it behind me.

What could Shayla Black and Lexi Blake have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

I am all about romance and sex is also great, but they just over did to an irritating point. I mean come on. Maybe after reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and following books in the series have just spoiled me. They had a decent story line, but were more interested in writing about the sexual attraction between the main characters. I am so hesitant to read the next book. PROBABLY WON'T.

What about Kaleo Griffith’s performance did you like?

He narrated great. Voice was good, differentiation between characters was on point. I think he was the only thing that kept me going.

What character would you cut from Scandal Never Sleeps?

The authors, lol. Probably Valerie, the authors never developed any characters well enough to like or dislike.

3.5 Typical Billionaire Story

Maddox Crawford’s sudden death sends Gabriel Bond reeling. Not only is he burying his best friend, he’s cleaning up Mad’s messes, including his troubled company. Grieving and restless, Gabe escapes his worries in the arms of a beautiful stranger. But his mind-blowing one-night stand is about to come back to haunt him . . .
Mad groomed Everly Parker to be a rising star in the executive world. Now that he’s gone, she’s sure her job will be the next thing she mourns, especially after she ends up accidentally sleeping with her new boss. If only their night together hadn’t been so incendiary—or Gabe like a fantasy come true . . .
As Gabe and Everly struggle to control the heated tension between them, they discover evidence that Mad’s death was no accident. Now they must bank their smoldering passions to hunt down a murderer—because Mad had secrets that someone was willing to kill for, and Gabe or Everly could be the next target.

My Review:
You know those big giant mystery romances that include cops but they play absolutely no role in solving it?
Their position comes across more as a footnote than anything else. Cops are involved but hey, we're billionaires lets solve this on our own anyway. Also not convinced of the Billionaire thing.
However I got more laughs out of Scandal Never Sleeps than I expected though because Gabe reminded me of a male dog who shoves his nose into someones crotch that can't be moved. He bit, he snarled, he threw tantrums, and sex was the only thing on his mind. Then there is poor Everly... the girl who can't say no.
Gabe starts sniffing and she can't wait to open wide - *Spoiler* Even when he acts up, even when he makes accusations, even though he thinks she slept with his best friend. Dammit they just couldn't resist, and those poor pathetic cops that kind of just disappeared behind all the paparazzi fell by the way side while they banded together with the rest of Gabe's friends to solve the mystery behind Mad's death.
Turns out Everly is more involved than they and even she first assumed and everything you thought you could avoid and knew from the beginning is turned on its head. Its that saying that your enemies are closer than you think defined and given a whole back story.
Just when you think you have it all solved there's a super cliff hanger ending letting you know the secrets don't just end with Everly or Mad.
Scandal Never Sleeps was funny, it was exciting, a little bit silly, a little bit childish, but toss in some passion and plenty of secrets and you have a fairly entertaining listen ahead of you.

Kaleo Griffith was good with the delivery of the story

Great Narration

I had come to tire of some of Shayla blacks books that she had put out recently so this was a very nice change of pace. I enjoyed this book very much it has her usual sultry aspect to it with a mystery twist, it was a great listen.

Captive

I was held captive by all the players. I could not put this book down

Predictable Soft Porn

If you liked 50 shade of Gray, you'll like this. Totally formulaic. More sex than plot.

It's never what you think...

Would you listen to Scandal Never Sleeps again? Why?

Yes, it keeps you on your toes, as you feel in love with the characters.

Amazing start

I love Lexi Blake. Every book she has ever written. Even though i haven’t read Shayla Black before I still had high expectations for this book. And they were blown away. This is a amazing start to a series and I can t wait to read more. Gabe and Everly are wonderful together. Gabe is a great hero however Everly might be favorite female lead Ever. She is smart and doesn’t take less than she deserves. I can’t wait for Conner’s story.

Loved it!

Oh Gabriel...I think I am a little in love! The narrator did a superb job of Gabe's 'sex' voice.
An unusual story line with some good twists, can't wait for the next one.

excellent

loved listening to this book and the storey was excellent and also the narration .

Beginning of a number of books carrying on the sto

Where does Scandal Never Sleeps rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Good hook into the ongoing story, sets up all the main players in the story

Who was your favorite character and why?

Gabe, he changed during the book

Which scene did you most enjoy?

Not really sure enjoyed all the story

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

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Any additional comments?

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