Shattered Glass

De: Dani Alexander

Narrado por: Joseph Northton

A male prostitute, a mangy cat, a murder, and an obsession that threatens his career, his impending marriage and his life...nothing is going as planned for Austin Glass.

Austin Glass seems to have it all: a loving fiancée, a future with the FBI, and a healthy-sized trust fund. At least on the surface. He also has a grin and a wisecrack for every situation. But the smile he presents to the world hides a painful past he’s buried too deeply to remember, and his quips mask bitterness and insecurity. Austin has himself and most of the whole world fooled - until he meets a redhead in a pair of bunny slippers.

As events unfold in the biggest case of his life, Austin’s carefully planned future unravels, and he finds himself pushed into making quick, life-changing decisions. But can he trust himself or anything he feels, when each event seems to be just a series of volatile reactions?

©2012 Dani Alexander (P)2014 Dani Alexander

Fabulous!

What did you love best about Shattered Glass?

The narration brings the book alive and adds a whole new dimension to enjoying this book. I've read and re-read this book at least 3 times (while anxiously awaiting Cai's book), but the audiobook made it feel like a new experience. The narrator's voice is spot on for how I imagined Austin, Cai and Darryl. The supporting characters are well-voiced, too.

A Very Different Kind of Love Story!!! ❤️

I enjoyed the story and loved the two main characters so much! Joseph Northton did an excellent job with all of the character voices in the story but Peter and Austin were my favorites. I wish that the second book was forthcoming, but it’s been 7 years since he wrote this one, so I’m not holding my breath. Definitely give this one a go though!!!

One of the funniest stories ever!

Austin is a Denver police detective, on vice, who randomly meets and falls in love with Peter at a diner. It turns out that Peter is a sometimes-male-prostitute, but that doesn’t slow Austin down. Austin is also engaged to woman, but that doesn’t slow him down. Peter ends up being a key witness in one of Austin’s current cases, but that doesn’t slow him down. Ok, these things do slow him down, for like a second, but his attraction is strong enough to overcome these teeny tiny hurdles. Really, just because he’s never been gay before, or he might lose his chance at his dream job, or the fact that Peter does absolutely nothing to encourage his attention, why should those make him stop and think?
As the story progresses, Austin goes from gay to straight in like 0.2 seconds, but, he acknowledges this speed and we see that there were seeds of his gayness earlier in life but he’d been ignoring it for years.
The case Austin is on involves some of Peter’s past and possibly current lovers and human trafficking charges and if you aren’t paying close attention it can get pretty complex. In the end, Austin makes peace with his sexuality, convinces Peter to give him a chance and manages to solve the crime. Yay, HEA!

**
First let me tell you that this book is frickin' hysterical. Really, laugh out loud, hysterical. Every other line is a zinger.


I could put so many more quotes down. Every other page is either highlighted or bookmarked! Dani Alexander is amazingly funny and the story is super fast paced and quick witted so you have to read (or listen) carefully to follow along. That is no tragedy because the writing is excellent and so very funny.
The love story between Austin and Peter is not an ooey gooey one, but actually fairly pragmatic (once you get over Austin’s love at first sight). The two MCs are flawed with a capital F, and their love is as well. But, with a minimum of fanfare, the two do end up really devoted to one another and the epilogue gives us a brief glimpse at their happy future.

Another fantastic element of this book is the secondary characters (2 of whom are meant to have their own books coming out). Cai, Peter’s brother, is a manic-depressive artist who you can’t help but love and want to hug. Twinkerbelle, Peter’s friend Darryl, is a snarky queeny type who can’t find anything good about Austin until the very end and their banter is hysterical. Luis, Austin’s police partner, is a jaded older guy who believes in Austin even if can’t believe the things Austin does.

Anyhow, the whole dang cast is freakin’ funny and when they aren’t making you laugh, their touching back-stories will break your heart and make you cry.

This book talks about sex a lot, but there isn’t a heck of a lot of it between Austin and Peter. But the chemistry they do have is pretty hot and steamy. I thought Dani did an excellent job of handling the “first time” scenes in that there is a lot of “can I do this?” even though Austin is so attracted to Peter that he acts the aggressor.

I thought it was an amazing novel and I really look forward to the sequel(s), now over 2 years in the making. (I hear rumors it is actually slated out soon!)


Audio Version:
Joseph Northton does an amazing job! Peter’s family is Russian, Luis is Hispanic, Peter is from the southern US and Austin is from Colorado and Joseph does all their accents excellently. This is a very wordy and fast-paced, dialog-driven story and Joseph keeps up and keeps the listener engaged.

I absolutely loved the book and the audio version and highly recommend both.

Oh man! This was so funny!

Any additional comments?

Austin Glass is so ridiculously funny, no matter what he does or say it's forgivable. I loved that he just "embraced the gay" and he didn't give a d@mn what anyone had to say about it. Although there are some heart breaking moments, this story was so fun and refreshing to listen to. Xo

Simply Phenomenal

I can't believe I'm reviewing a gay romance novel. I've listened to dozens of audiobooks, mostly classics and non-fiction works and haven't ever written a single review.... that's how good this book is.

Dani Alexander has crafted a great story that's laugh-out-loud funny, romantic, nuanced, sexy, and suspenseful. It takes a while to warm up to some of the characters, but by the end you love Peter & Austin as much as they love one another.

The narrator does an incredible job voicing the characters and carrying the story forward. It's a fun read but also a meaningful one that avoids cliches and stereotypes.

Alexander has been working on the sequel for ages and I'm so ready for it to come out. In the meantime, I guess I'll just have to read this one again.