Slow Heat

By: Leta Blake

Narrated by: Michael Ferraiuolo

Length: 14 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

A lustful young alpha meets his match in an older omega with a past. 

Professor Vale Aman has crafted a good life for himself. An unbonded omega in his mid-30s, he's long since given up hope that he'll meet a compatible alpha, let alone his destined mate. He's fulfilled by his career, his poetry, his cat, and his friends. 

When Jason Sabel, a much younger alpha, imprints on Vale in a shocking and public way, longings are ignited that can't be ignored. Fighting their strong sexual urges, Jason and Vale must agree to contract with each other before they can consummate their passion. 

But for Vale, being with Jason means giving up his independence and placing his future in the hands of an untested alpha - as well as facing the scars of his own tumultuous past. He isn't sure it's worth it. But Jason isn't giving up his destined mate without a fight. 

This is a stand-alone gay romance novel, 118,000 words, with a strong HFN ending, as well as a well-crafted, non-shifter omegaverse, with alphas, betas, omegas, male pregnancy, heat, and knotting. Content warning for pregnancy loss and aftermath.

©2017 Leta Blake (P)2018 Leta Blake

✫✫ 4 Stars ✫✫

Well this is a first for me! I was curious about this sub-genre so I just decided to jump in. I'll admit in the beginning I was thinking nope, no way, I just can't get into this universe but once I got past all the omegaverse mpreg shock I was enthralled with the story. I couldn't wait to find out how things would go for Val and Jason. I will admit I did have a lot of questions about this world that were not answered and if they were, I missed it. All the details were given very early on and I wasn't really getting the story yet at that point so maybe I did miss it.

The narration was good, he fit so well for the world and the characters.

First time reading Omegavers and I am in LOVE!!!!!

WOW WOW WOW!!!!!
The narration was superb, dune with a sensitive touch and expert emotional timing, Michael Ferraiuolo lea me through the story like a sheep after it's shepherd. He put the right emphasis on every note, tone and breath and brought life to the wonder that is this book. I have listened to another book narrated by him (Annabeth Albert's On Point) and his narration was as moving and thrilling there as it was here. He has a wonderful way of capturing you and really delivering the atmosphere of the story. Knowing this book is as good as it is I would still not skip the pleasure of listening to the audio version.

I have always avoided Omegevers books, and MPREG has never been my thing, I felt like it was never explained properly. But, as a Leta Blake book and the number of good reviews and recommendations this book gets I knew I had to read it. Leta has an amazing talent to write fantastic stories, heartbreaking, beautiful and gut twisting. This book was all these and more, and I am so happy to have read it at last.
First, I want to say what an incredible world Leta created, the dynamic between characters, classes and Alpha-Omega-Beta is interesting and even though this is such an over explored genre, this book feel unique. It did take a a bit to get into the story, at first I was getting my bearings, but as soon as I did I was hooked. I could not put it down! This book twisted me up and was so emotional, I felt deeply for each character.
Leta created amazing relationships between all the characters, and set them into a complex situation both dangerous and exhilarating. Jason and Xander have an amazing bond that is just wonderful to read, despite and painful decisions they had to make and endure. Discovering Vale Is Jason's Erosgape is a shocking twist of fate and they both need to learn how to live this new, unexpected turn in their future. I enjoyed the laws and proceedings Leta created in this world when dealing with a possibility of bonding, both contracted and Erosgape. It made the world real, gave it a cruel edge that I find so engaging in Leta's writing. In this very fantastical setting, a make believe reality that seems so far from our reality there is an unmistakable thread of humanity and real, painful struggles.
Vale is such an interesting character, but his friends are even more so. Each adds a layer of emotion, complexity and interest in the book. They all have a connection that is just moving to read, the support and love they have for one another. Jason is staggering to understand and adapt to the new role he now needs to fill as an Alpha to an Erosgape, and it's not a smooth transition.
But, the one character that touched me the most was Xander. He is, without a doubt, the most miserable, sweet, twisted character I had the pleasure of reading and his part in this story was one of the best in my opinion. I also admired the way Leta wrote Jason's transitioning from careless young man to bonded Alpha.
This book embodies the struggle between the instinctual, animalistic, biological side of a person and the human, civilized side. and Unlike many shifter and Omegavers stories there is not clean black and white, before and after split. Jason have all these new overwhelming instincts and urges, but he can not turn off the person he was up to the point he met vale. That part with Xander, moved me to tears, it was intense, and so very realistically emotional. I also loved Jason's parents, and his Pater the most. His story was so heartbreaking and really emphasized the difficult reality of their lives.

This is the undeniable reason for my complete infatuation with this book, these wonderful characters, this world that is both beautiful as it is ugly.

What an amazing performance

I really like the non-shifter Alpha and Omega stories, and this one was the very best I’d ever had the pleasure to listen to. This is the perfect story paired up with the perfect narrator, Michael Ferraiuolo. Michael’s performance was simply amazing. He totally grabbed onto the essence of the alpha-omega dynamics and easily portrayed that relationship in such a way that I could not put it down. This audio is over fourteen hours long and I knocked it out within two days. I just could not wait to see how the many different and intense moments would be concluded. There was also a very nice and subtle set up for the next book.

Vale is a 35 year old professor at a school for young alphas. Jason is a 19 year old student at the school who did not expect to imprint on the his omega so publically and then find that he had to convince everyone, from his best friend, to his parents, and to his omega, that this was meant to be. That he was mature enough, and he was more than willing to do what it took to care for his omega, and he didn’t care what anyone thought of the age difference. Vale, is shocked. He thought his time had passed. He never expected to find his alpha since he was advanced age for childbirth, and he especially didn’t expect to be paired with a “baby alpha”. This entire summary sounds interesting, but not groundbreaking….but, it is written and performed so freaking well that no review will ever do it justice. The narrator took an incredible story and performed it to perfection. I was completely blown away.

This is not a fast read, at all. And it takes the better part of the entire story for their relationship to be on the same footing. However, this has nothing to do with a lack of or miscommunications, but with the completeness in which the story is written. The characters are so well fleshed out that you feel as if you know them personally. The secondary characters, especially Xan, Jason’s best friend, Jason’s parents, and Vale’s long time lover and their friends, are incredibly integral to the plot that you cannot just eliminate their contribution to the story, or how important their involvement is with the satisfactory conclusion of multiple storylines…and including the next book.

I ached for both Xan and Urho, and am so pleased that they are the main couple in the next book. I am beyond excited to see how that dynamic plays out as they both broke my heart in this book, most especially Xan. Highly recommended for alpha-omega mpreg lover…and maybe those who just want to wet their toes in this trope.

Overall Impression: It was amazing!

worth the money/credit

great book, I read this on Kindle first and I really love the audible version, they picked one of my favorite narrators so I had to get it and I'm glad I did.

Fantastic narration!

Slow Heat is set in a world populated by male non-shifters with wolf-spliced DNA, there are alphas, omegas and betas and each has their own role in their society. As world-buildings go, Ms. Blake did a great job, giving detailed background information so the reader knew what they were getting into. As paranormal books go, this one was pretty good! The writing as always was stellar and while it's not as angsty as other books by this author, it still had enough to keep me in tenterhooks until the very end. Still, please mind the warnings, there are some scenes that can be triggering for some.

As when reading the book, I loved Jason. He was a lovely boy, but he was just that, a 19-year-old boy and it showed in some of his actions. Still, he was definitely my favorite of the two. I loved that he wanted to be the best alpha he could be for Vale and was willing to put his happiness above everything else.

I liked Vale, however, he got on my nerves more than a few times. The constant "I'm not good enough" and "I'm too old for him" and "He deserves someone that will give him babies", was just a bit too much sometimes.

Jason and Vale had great chemistry, though, and Leta Blake excels at writing sex scenes that aren't only hot, but passionate, intense and loving.

The narration was amazing. Michael Ferraiuolo's voice is very pleasant and he did an outstanding job with the different characters in the story, giving them all different 'voices' and accents that made them easily identifiable and managed to bring forth the different emotions that the characters were feeling.

Very recommendable!!!

perfect

I didn't think I could love this book more. Michael Ferraiuolo brings Jason and Vale to life in the most delicious way.

wow

that was a good slow burn. please write another. I don't like that the betas are treated like second class citizens and the omegas as sex slaves.

A different take on wolf stories

First Michael Ferraiuolo is one of my favorite narrators and does a great job here. I love his voice and choice of character voices. A great story teller. This book isn't your typical shifter story, as there is no shifting, no pack pack pack and no mate mate mate, which is a deviation and a relief. Somewhere in the past something catastrophic happened to the humans and left the wolves alone but there are no females. Omegas give birth and with most male dominated societies have little to no rights over their bodies or property. There is a strong governmental mandate that Omegas should breed regardless to physical health. This is a story of a young alpha Jsson meeting his omega Vale that is quiet a bit older and has a past that causes his child bearing abilities to come into question. Over all I really liked this book and really liked that is wasn't a typical shifter story. After reading so many shifter stories they become very predictable and I'm glad this wasn't the csse. I do look forward to the sequel that has Xan's story. I hope this comes out in audible and the author stays with Michael Ferraiuolo as the narrator.

Excellent A/B/O Love Story

I really enjoyed this! The particulars of this A/B/O 'verse were explained well and were different from the fan fiction A/B/O stories I have read. It has an interesting story and nice steamy smut.

Phenomenal Writer

Great story to get lost in. Very talented writer who creates stories that are thoughtful, insightful and spicy 🌶

Globally good

I enjoyed it but at the same time I had several problem with it.
It's called Slow Heat and damn, that book was SLOW.
I was here for the romance and there wasn't a lot of it. It was kind of in the backseat. It also felt more lik a ABO dystopia than a ABO "paranormal" romance.
As for the sex scenes, there were two on-page sex scenes with the alpha and someone else than his omega... And I wasn't there for that! I kinda forgave the first one because the alpha hadn't met his omega yet but there was no excuse for the second one.

Brilliant audio

Wow!! I have recently read the book, but jumped at the chance to listen to the audio (I will add here that I listened to a sample and decided to try the audio, which isn't always the case, I have other books I would love to have on audio, but the narrators voice just doesn't pull me in) - Michael Ferraiuolo is a narrator that I have heard of, but that I hadn't really listened to. Well, his voices on this audio were superb, and I loved how he did the voice of Rosen. I hope that he narrates the next book in the series too, as he was outstanding on this one.

I must also admit that I don't have a look of books or audio by Leta Blake, but this book was really good. I loved it that the omega mc was older than the alpha mc. For me it made a refreshing change to be this way around.

I think the reason I enjoyed this so much, was that it wasn't a chat and then into bed. You were with Jason all the time as he was trying to court Vale, and you were with Jason and Vale through all the ups and downs.

The book was emotional at times, and I have to say the audio has captured it perfectly, I was listening at times with tears in my eyes, that narration was that great.

Slow Heat, Slow Hot Burn!

This is a unique and beautifully written love story. It is so totally consuming you can easily forget about the world around you and time just slips away. 14 hours! Never! I’ve listened to audiobooks of half the length that felt like a lifetime, whereas this book, whilst it may not have lots of high adrenaline action to push it along, the world building and trials and tribulations (plus the smattering of hot sex) moves you along smoothly.
Michael Ferraiuolo could not be faulted in any way with his top notch narration and each and every character could be individually identified with different accents and voices. IMHO one of my top 5 narrators.
With Alpha Heat (Heat of Love Book 2) just recently released I hope it won’t be long before this is also available on audio

perfect!

This was perfect! I loved the characters and I love the world building and the story! I couldn't put the book down, I finished it in a day. The narrator did a fantastic job bringing the story to life.

Such a good book

I'm late getting into this series but catching up quickly.
You become part of the world and believe that you are part of it with great characters and worldbuilding. I liked the slow build-up and the relationship.

The side characters help build the story, and I look forward to hearing from some of them again.

Michael Ferraiuolo did a fantastic job of the audio, bringing the characters to life. I did speed up to 1.40 on audible, but that is usual for me.

Slow Heat
By: Leta Blake
Narrated by: Michael Ferraiuolo
Series: Heat of Love, Book 1
Length: 14 hrs and 8 mins

❤❤❤❤ Overall
🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧 Narration
📚📚 📚📚 Story
Read at 1.40 speed on Audible

Long winded

By chapter 12 I was thinking about how bored I was I think the problem was in the narration Michael Ferraiuolo is usually so easy to listen to this book did not suit him . The story was very long winded and did not seem to pick up pace .I like faster paced books .

Introduction to his excellent series.

This is an excellent book. Leta Blake does a great job with world building and gives the characters depth. I can never say enough about this book and series, so I keep it short. The narration is wonderful and each character has a very distinct voice which make this a great audiobook by Michael Ferraiuolo.

Hot as hell mpreg!

I love this book! The story, the worldbuilding, the characters, everything! And its hot. Like really hot. The narration was good and especially Vale's voice was just like I thought he should sound like. If you haven't tried Mpreg before, you should listen to this.

Dramatic and very different

Love conquers all an unusual and very erotic story and narrated very well loved it

A sexy, often painful tale, masterfully read

I really loved this book when I read it. I've heard Michael Ferraiuolo narrate before, and he's very talented at performing different voices and accents. For me, there was no loss of emotion caused by the book being narrated (at least you can still listen while crying - it's pretty hard to carry on reading!). Great performance.