Strife

By: Sky Corgan

Narrated by: Marie Smith

Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's Summary

From USA Today best-selling author Sky Corgan comes a darker version of Pretty Woman.

Pepper has hit rock bottom. After being thrown out on the streets, she's willing to do whatever it takes to survive.

Dmitri Strife is a world famous rock star trying to break into the movie industry. Seedy company leads him into a chance encounter with Pepper that will change both of their lives forever.

Strife is a story of privilege and poverty, of kindness and cruelty, and of learning who to trust when the whole world seems to have turned its back on you.

Heal level: Hot!

©2016 Sky Corgan (P)2017 Sky Corgan

Sky Corgan does it again!

A contemporary twist on the pretty woman story, Sky Corgan has given us Pepper and Dmitri. This book has some dark elements in it, which definitely is a big draw for me, it's one of my guilty pleasures. Dmitri is a rock star, turning actor who is trying to change his image. Pepper is a student trying to get by and gets a job as an escort. You can imagine how the two meet, but Dmitri is not your typical wham, bam, thank you ma'am kind of guy anymore. There are some really sweet characteristics to these two as we get to know them and the way their relationship grows is almost a slow burn. When the book started, I really thought it was going to be similar to The Flesh series in it's erotic fashion, but Sky Corgan has melted this couple together, shown us what it's like to have the paparazzi around you, how to deal with childhood sexual abuse, what you would do to get ahead and what caring is truly about. I loved Dmitri's character, he had a true conscience with a lot of love and compassion even he didn't know he had. I loved Pepper's character as she was sorting out her life and trying to get herself into a position that would allow her to better herself on her own. The two together were explosive both with words and chemistry. Truly a fun listen.

Marie Smith is the narrator of this serial, bringing all the different moods together to perfection. She has a vast array of voices which is helpful with the many characters we meet throughout the book and her cadence is easy to listen to.

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

Sexy Romance 💋

Any additional comments?

Pepper an actress wannabe who ends up like most Hollywood starlets and resorts to using her body in order to survive. James Sumner is the slummy owner of an escort service who offers Pepper $500.00 dollars an hour to work for him. With aspirations of going to college to get out of her current situation the 💰 is to tempting to pass up. Dmitri is a rockstar trying to cross over into films. After completing his first starting roll his friend John uses James service for a private night of fun Dmitri won't forget. What John doesn't know is Dmitri is tired of meaningless sex. When Pepper shows up late the orgy is already underway. With her nerves in full swing she steps out on the balcony where Dmitri takes notice. After some polite conversation Dmitri realizes Pepper isn't aware of who he is. Dmitri ceases the opportunity to be someone else and uses his character name Brody Grant. After Dmitri and Pepper leave the party in favor of going back to his hotel to get to know each other. Dmitri's urges sleep with Pepper are replaced by his compassion for helping her. But Pepper is stubbornly independent with plans to do
it on her own. After a few complications these two find their way into HEA. I really enjoyed this listen the only thing that would have made it better is if a
male narrator would have been added. Since this
book is told in the first person POV by two primary characters a male voice would have been nice to
hear on Dmitri's parts. Marie Smith did do a good job portraying Pepper but did not change her voice
to act out Dmitri. That's why I took a star away. I was gifted this book in exchange for my honest
review. I do think its still worth a credit though.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Hot romance!

We have a famous guy who isn't into meaningless sex anymore, and a young woman who's been kicked out and turns to sex to support herself. It's nice to see the chemistry between them, and follow them to their HEA!

I took a star from the narrator because, while super pleasant to listen to, at times I was confused by who was who since she used the same "voice" for all characters.

As for the story, I didn't completely love it because I thought the main characters could have avoided so much trouble, or at least gotten over it faster, had they just communicated better.

I was given this book for free in exchange for an unbiased review, but will be checking the author in the future!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Entertaining

Any additional comments?

An entertaining, engaging and enjoyable story. You can't help but make the comparison to a Pretty Woman Scenario. Every girl want's to find their knight in shining armor, no matter what coarse your life has taken, where you come from or what you've had to do to survive.

What is a girl to do when she is all out of options. Pepper's undesirable, yet rock bottom last resort for a job brings her into the life of Dimitri. A knight she never expected to find.

An unconventional romance for an unconventional pair. Some steamy romance, a dose of heartbreak, a bit of drama, a little suspense and a HEA.

Regardless of thee circumstances it's hard not to get emotionally attached to someone who you are in an intimate relationship with.

Marie Smith did an really good job with the narration. She has a pleasant voice that's easy to listen to for long periods of time. Her male and female character voices are good. When she is out of male character voice and just narrating what they are thinking she drops the male character voice and it was confusing at times. Her narration is clearly spoken with a nice pace. She was able to bring the characters, their emotions and the story to life. I would definitely listen to her narrate other books in the future.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and voluntarily provided this review.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

.Strife is life

A strong woman, and our hero is an alpha male. My favorite combo. While I'm cool with a bit of a damsel in distress, it's really refreshing when a sista who's doin' it for herself gets a little somethin' somethin' too. :)
Awesome performances by marie Smith I like this narration a lot! perfect fit. There's a lot packed into this shorter story: hilarious antics, earbud-melting heat, some seriousness and life drama and a set up for more wildly entertaining installments to come. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.I received this title for free in exchange for an unbiased review.As always this is my honest opinion

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Flighty Woman

Kicked out of her house at 18, Pepper needs to make money, a lot of it and fast. When she has the chance to work at an escort service, Pepper finally sees a way to earn enough money for school and a decent place to live. Dmitri Strife, a former rocker, is switching careers and embarking on acting. When he meets Pepper, he knows exactly what she is but he can’t deny the attraction between them, and when he senses she’s new at this, he wants to prevent her from making the worst mistake of her life.

The blurb says a darker version of Pretty Woman. It’s a standard trope, young prostitute meets a wealthy man, they fall in love. Just the premise of the story requires you to suspend belief. This story had me rolling my eyes. I found Pepper’s constant inner musings tiresome and her rejection of help, considering what she’s willing to do to make money, was beyond ridiculous.

I’m sad I didn’t like this story because Sky Corgan is a good writer and I like most her books! This one just fell short in a big way.

Marie Smith has fully voiced this almost 11-hour audiobook. I thought she did a nice job. Her pacing was perfect and she voiced both genders well. I think this is the first audiobook that I have listened to with her as a narrator, but it won’t be my last!

This audiobook was given to me at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review, thanks, Audiobook Boom!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Contemporary Dark "Pretty Women"

Great new take on Pretty Women. This story is very well written and an emotional rollercoaster. I loved the main characters.

Dmitri is a down to earth Rocker turned Actor that is working on a movie with his favorite female actress. He is really looking forward to meeting her for the first time.

Pepper is young and beautiful. She has had a hard life. The need for money to pay for school and living expenses lead her to apply for an "Escort" service.

The narrator did a good job bringing the story to life.

It is a complete story with no cliffhangers and a sweet HEA. An emotional rollercoaster worth the ride.

I'm looking forward to reading more books by Sky Corgan

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Overall okay story

Overall this was on okay storyline, I would describe it as a modern day telling of Pretty Woman. Pepper is down on her luck after being kicked out of her home at 18 with only $700 to her name after being sexually abused by her stepfather and her mom not believing her. She moves to CA to try and make it as an actress and becomes an escort to pay for school in case that doesn't work out. Her first night as an escort she meets Strife and they have instant chemistry and start to fall for each other. It's a tale of ups and downs from there as Strife continues to book her and she fights her feelings for him. To me parts of it drug out and I found it frustrating as the characters just didn't communicate. Yes that's usually part of romance stories but here it just didn't seem to work for me. It irritated my rather than just rolled into the storyline like it normally does. The narrator wasn't one of my favorites but she did a good job and I would listen to her again.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher for my unbiased review.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Very good!!!!

The story was sexy!!!!! The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because the female narrator was pretty bad.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Pretty good listen- 4.5 stars

I was given a code in exchange for an honest review. I really like story line of this book it was something a bit dark and different that I really enjoyed. There were some parts that were a bit corny, but I'm a sucker for that. I really enjoyed the characters of Dmitri and Pepper, there were hints of their individual pasts and backstory that I wish had been elaborated on. As far the narration it was a bit slow and I needed to increase the speed for my liking, but It didn't prevent me from finishing the book. I think this book could have also benefited from having a male narrator as well. Overall I did enjoy this and would listen again.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

STRIFE IN NAME STRIFE IN LIFE

STRIFE to me is one of the best of Sky Corgan's pieces, so not just having read it as when it was first released as a serial, then I re-read it when it became a stand alone & now just listened to this fantastic book between Rock/movie Star Dmitri & poor desperate movie/health visitor wannabe Pepper, who see's that the only way out of her situation is to become an escort & this is how these 2 meet & we see what happens between these two fantastic characters 💕💞💕