Strictly Off Limits

By: Jessica Hawkins

Narrated by: Melissa Barr

Length: 2 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's Summary

Alexandra James gave up her spring break for an offer she couldn't refuse: a week-long job that would earn her enough money to buy her way out of a broken heart. But if she thought her new boss would let her off easy because he's her father's best friend, she couldn't have been more wrong.

Dean Brittany demands perfection from his employees, but none more so than his new temp, since correcting her mistakes seems to fuel his unexpected attraction to her. Unfortunately for him, 18-year-old Alexandra is strictly off limits.

Strictly Off Limits is a forbidden romance novella originally published in the Forbidden Fruit Anthology, Volume 1 (no longer available). It's a quick listen.

©2014 Jessica Hawkins (P)2015 Jessica Hawkins

Ehhh... no.

Brief overview: 18-year-old girl and 50-year-old friend of her father's "connect" over spring break while she is working as his temporary assistant. I'm not entirely opposed to the premise although even for me, who loves age gap romances, this age gap was a bit much. The author really would have had to sell me on their connection which just didn't happen. Add in the kink element--he spanks her with no discussion of what might happen and whether or not a sexual relationship with him is something she wants--and this was a big hell no. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's short and hot if you can get past that. I aged her up to a 25-year-old grad student in my head to get through it. Plus the fact that this man is a friend of her father's and the only way this was addressed at all was the heroine saying, "I don't care what anyone thinks." Erm. No. You're going to need to give me a lot more than that to get me to buy THAT HEA. All in all, this reads more like erotica. And erotica written for older men at that. I don't think I need to try this author again, at least not when I'm in the mood for a romance novel. This is more than forbidden/taboo. This is creepy, coercive grooming and I'm not into it. Also the narration was pretty bad. Shrug.

Who is this narrator??

I was two minutes in and had to turn it off. Is this person just learning to speak English? Horrible narration and I will now make sure any audible book I purchase does not use her!

Sexual Temp

This is a very poor story about a young girl working as a temp in a high powered office.

NOT WORTH THE CREDIT.

I am glad this was in the Romance Package becuse it wouldn't had been worth the credit. the only thing that I would say that was positive about this book was the Narrator was really good!!!

Meh

Thank God this was a short story. I dont know if I would have been able to stomach this relationship between the two of these characters for too long. The age difference was pretty big and the whole best friends 18 year old daughter....ummm it was a bit much. Maybe if she was a bit older.... I'm far from a prude but dayumm. She was barely out of high school.

disappointing

Struggled to finish. Skipped alot of the story. Waste of a credit. Don't know if I would read from this author again

I like. Better than I thought!

If you could sum up Strictly Off Limits in three words, what would they be?

Oh so good! :-)

What was one of the most memorable moments of Strictly Off Limits?

When Alex realized that Dean was who she wanted and she went to get her man!

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

This is my second book I've read that Melissa Barr has performed. She gets better and better. Very much enjoyed her voices and the emotions she portrayed.

Any additional comments?

Give this book a listen. Quick, easy and enjoyable. And steamy!

Love the story!

Where does Strictly Off Limits rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I have heard better audiobooks, but I have heard worse too. The narrator did a great job of differentiating between the characters, but she still sounded a little "flat" to me concerning the main character. I know she was more of an innocent girl more than a woman, but the longer scenes were a little boring to me because the narrator didn't use much emotion in her words.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Strictly Off Limits?

I loved when they were eating at her parents and Dean was feeling her up under the table!

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

More emotion when it came to the main character especially.

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

I laughed out loud several times while listening. Especially when Dean was talking to her father while she was...ummm...preoccupied.

Whatever you say, Mr. Brittany

What made the experience of listening to Strictly Off Limits the most enjoyable?

Melissa Barr does a good job of keeping the story moving, speaking in a clear, crisp voice, and recognizing the characters' different personalities.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Strictly Off Limits?

It has to feel a little awkward to say some of the sexual lines, but Melissa Barr pulled that off pretty well. One of the most memorable scenes was the first spanking scene, when Alexandra has no idea what's about to happen to her.

Did Melissa Barr do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Yes. She captured the innocence of Alex, the slight sluttiness of her coworkers, and Dean.

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

.... or is it?

Disliked.

The narrator is good but I disliked the story she had to read.

I usually don’t mind a large age gap between the hero and heroine if they prove to be compatible. But this story left me feeling dirty. And it’s all because of the hero’s personality and entitlement.

I just could not like the way the much older unrepentant hero seduced his best friend’s teenage daughter in his employ. Sorry, I found him selfish and duplicitous (what he did in the heroine’s parents’ home was unacceptable to me) and he was the antithesis of “hero.” No self-control and no redeeming features. The heroine was naïve, but then again, she was only a teen. She had a good excuse.

I listened to STRICTLY OFF LIMITS as a taster for this author’s writing. It’s hard to judge a writer from a novella or short story sometimes because story quality can suffer from the small word limit.