The Fight for Forever

The Legend Trilogy, Book 3

By: Meghan March

Narrated by: Joe Arden, Erin Mallon

Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's Summary

You can only keep what you can protect.

That’s all I’ve ever known. It’s the way I’ve lived my life.

Now, everything I never knew I needed is at risk, and I’m not letting anyone take it from me.

I won’t let anyone take her from me.

They say love is a battlefield, so I’m ready for war.

This time, it’s the fight for forever.

©2020 Meghan March (P)2020 Meghan March

Just okay story, narration doesn't help.

This review is meant to include the entire Legend series: The Fall of Legend, The House of Scarlett, and The Fight for Forever.

I can accept that I need to suspend my disbelief when I enter a Meghan March world. I can accept the fabulous wealth of her characters, the ridiculous concept of "alpha males" and all the rest, as long as the story's good and emotional, the writing is good and creative, the sex is hot and plentiful, and the narration - if it's an audio book - is decent. This book fails at most of that.

The story is flimsy, completely unbelievable, and (given the talent I know March can bring to bear when she gets it right) largely unaffecting. The plot is much weaker than I'd expect from her, and her usual trope - a bad guy who falls for a good girl and is suddenly changed and committed, and they overcome some very far-fetched conflict while they talk endlessly about how a.) the guy is such an alpha, b.) he's so protective he'd die for her c.) she's got to be protected, d.) he doesn't deserve her, e.) ad nasuem - is beginning to wear thin with me.

Then, there's the execution of it all. Some of the lines and internal monologues are cringe-worthy. Most of this story just fell short for me. The twists were predictable and the tertiary characters were little more than cardboard cutouts of stereotypes. The conclusion is a big letdown; when you've invested hours upon hours of reading and listening in a story, you just expect a bigger payoff than the contrived and almost comical climax of this series. Situations and personal conflicts (Scarlett and her father, for instance) are left unresolved and incomplete. I frequently found the dialog to be cringe-worthy, repetitive, and/or banal; much of the drama is forced and not compelling in the least. Overall, I expect much, much more from Meghan March. It's hard to believe that the author of Take Me Back and the Beneath series also wrote this; March can do so much better.

Separate issue: The narration is barely tolerable. The only reason I stuck through the whole trilogy was to give the whole thing a fair shake. But in the end, everything listed above might have been less of a problem had the performances of the narrators been better.

Joe Arden's voice sounds as if he's suffering with allergies or something; it's got a a nasal quality that renders some of his words unintelligible and I found myself rewinding frequently to catch what was said. His attempts at female voices actually had me laughing at times, and most of his male character's voices were indistinguishable from one another. Oh, and what is up with his Creighton Karas performance? Sounds like a computer-generated voice reading the whole thing, utterly flat and oddly accented. That alone justifies my review, imho.

Erin Mallon's voice and tone were better and more easy to understand, and she seemed to put some actual feeling into some of the work. She doesn't seem to be aware, though, when she's switching characters and all her females sound like valley girls and cheerleaders. She doesn't seem to bring any kind of understanding of the story or main character to her performance, though.

The bigger problem is that overall, both narrators seem to have no actual acting skills. The performances were flat, with little emotion aside from anger. The inflection, emphasis, and overall reading did not engage me and actively put me off in some areas. For instance, if a passage read (for example) "'I love you,' she said, as she closed the door," it is often performed as three separate statements. "I love you." She said. As she closed the door." The words just don't flow naturally, as they should. It seems like the narrators were not only reading the story for the first time, but that they weren't even paying attention as they went and their narration actually detracted from the story.

Overall, if you're a Meghan March fan and you don't expect much from narration, then you might like this series. I found it to be hard to listen to, trite and unoriginal, and overall only worth listening to if it's the only thing available.

Awesome finish

Gabe and Scar’s story is epic!!!! I hope to get updates on them in future books!!!!
Can’t wait to see what kind of powerhouse they become in the future!
Joe Arden and Erin Mallon do a awesome job of bring Gabe and Scarlet to life!!!!

A RIVETING END TO A DELICIOUS TRILOGY

I have over twenty audiobooks in my library by Meghan and most were five star listens.. and this giant of an author’s trilogies continue to deliver on so so many levels. In Scarlett and Gabriel’s love story she gives us a sexy desperate Nightclub owner hero with a failing business and a shady past that still haunts him.. because Gabriel’s still living with those bad decisions of that terrible night long ago that killed his girlfriend and left his best friend brain damaged. But now the past has finally come back to get what’s owed and Gabriel has to fight his enemies, fight for his and Scarlett’s future and fight to keep his Ladybug safe.

From the moment these two soul-mates met in book 1, there was combustible sexual fumes and that continues in books 2 and 3 along with their love.. but Fate, Destiny and Cupid will have to work their mythical magical butts off to navigate them through the life-threatening drama, the emotional angst and the powerful players whose villainous roadblocks will derail and divert them before their final HEA exit ramp.

Worth a credit? Yes definitely, a strong, fierce, loyal heroine.. a drool-worthy, alpha, ex MMA Fighter hero and, over the three books, there was a good balance of suspense, raw passion, sexual tension, danger, revelations, twists and turns and all the feels. And, apart from the butterflies, gleeful anticipation and sighworthy scenes, it’ll leave you guessing and gasping until the end. There was also a close kinship with all the secondary friends who were often very much in the forefront of the story which brought depth and content. I knew the dual POV plotline would come alive thanks to Joe and Erin’s A game narration.. and they definitely delivered.

Great Series

I really like this series. 2nd time listening. Not a huge Erin Mallon fan, but performance was fine.

A great ending!

I feel like this book wrapped everything up nicely without it being to obvious as to what was going to happen. I really enjoyed both of these narrators and their take on the characters.

Just okay. Meghan March has definitely done better

Sadly, this wasn't nearly as good or compelling as the "Beneath" Series, IMHO. The main characters and their backstories were interesting enough, the overall plot and love story mostly enjoyable, but the conclusion of the trilogy felt rushed and unfinished, and left me thinking, WHAT??!! Actually, many of the secondary characters stole the story (thank you, Bump, Q & Big Mike, and Scarlett's girls)
Thanks always to Erin Mallon & Joe Arden for their incredible talent, though I have enjoyed them WAY more with other stories/authors.

Great

I loved the trilogy, but all that it really needs is more of an epilogue or a fourth book. Now that would make it amazing.

STUNNING!!!!

This series is AWESOME. A friend recommended Megan March, and The Fall of Legend was the first of her books I saw, so started there. And am blown away! Megan March made it to my top 5 list!! I can't wait to work my way through her entire catalog!!!! 5 thumbs up 👍 👍👍👍👍

Favorite alpha male

This trilogy is my new favorite.
Prior to Legend, Mount was my favorite.

Both of these series will not disappoint!!

Love x 3

This was an awesome trilogy. Everything but not too much of anything. Love the author and narrators I have nothing bad to say.

The Fight for Forever

This is a great fast moving drama fill ending to this third book in the series. Read brilliantly again by Joe Arden and Erin Mallon.

The fight for forever.

A lovely set of books, which makes you believe true love is out there for everyone.

Brilliant!

Yet again Meghan March has delivered a gripping and very satisfying conclusion! Legend is in the fight of his life to protect what’s his. And with Scarlett beside him he’ll do whatever it takes to win The Fight For Forever.
The Legend Trilogy is brilliant and I highly recommend it!

Meghan March nails it again.

The queen of the cliffhangar wins again. Fantastic book amazing narrators and a suprising twist. well done Meghan March.