The Locker Room

By: Amy Lane

Narrated by: Sean Crisden

Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's Summary

Xander Karcek has only wanted two things in his life: Christian Edwards and basketball—the man he loves and the game that let him escape a childhood he’d rather forget. His two obsessions have served him well. He and Chris beat the odds and stayed together through high school, college, and right on to the NBA. But life under fame’s microscope isn’t easy, especially when two men are pretending to be frat-buddies so the world doesn’t know they’re the next best thing to married. Their relationship survives the sacrifices they make and the lies they tell to stay together, but when their secret is exposed, the fallout might destroy them when nothing else could. Chris and basketball are the two things holding Xander together. Now the world is asking Xander to make a choice. Is there an option that includes a future with the man he loves?

©2011 Amy Lane (P)2012 Amy Lane

great story - bad narration

Would you consider the audio edition of The Locker Room to be better than the print version?

NO - and I have both

Who was your favorite character and why?

I love both MCs, but I liked Leo too

What didn’t you like about Michael Anthony’s performance?

the sound effects sounded superficial and fake, should have not been done.

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

Both

Any additional comments?

I love Amy Lane's books, I wish this one's narration was better because the story is wonderful.

My heart and my eyes remain swollen -Epic romance!

I can't begin to count the tears that have fallen during this one. Sean Crisden makes everything he does come to life but the material Amy Lane provided this go around is beyond words. I was cursing her throughout for putting my heart through all this emotion and I wondered if I was strong enough to finish it. I'm thankful I persevered. I'm sure this story needs to be seen or at least heard by the world and hope someone is working to make that happen.

Amazing Story...once you get past the narration.

What did you love best about The Locker Room?

Amy Lane never fails to run her characters through the wringer. No matter if it's one of her sweeter, happier tales or an angsty one, all of her guys EARN their happy ending.

What other book might you compare The Locker Room to and why?

I can't compare Amy Lane's work to anything but her others, Keeping Promise Rock, and the Talker series and any other that involve such character torture leading to a happy ending that's so satisfying.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Michael Anthony?

My automatic response is Sean Crisden, but really, Michael Anthony's performance could have been much, much better if he stopped overacting. No really, you don't have to act out every sigh, gasp, laugh, sob, and (cringe) moan. The reader has enough imagination to figure out what a man having a orgasm sounds like (and if we don't, we can watch porn). Some of the part of the dialogue was really hard to hear because he was trying too hard. He's got a great voice, and I would totally get another book if he did it, only if he cut that overacting bit out.

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

Other than "Oh God, really?" during all the lovescenes (see my response to the narrator questions), the actual work makes me tear up at places. These boys love the hell out of each other, and their devotion make me wibble. Seriously.

Love that Endures

The Locker Room is a standalone, sports romance focused on the intense love between two professional athletes. Xander and Chris have the type of love that love-ballads are written about—it’s so strong and pure and there were many moments where my breath caught in my throat. This book is heavy on the angst, but the promise of happy ending kept me going. There were so many sweet and cute moments interspaced with the heavy angst, and although the ending was kind of open-ended, it was definitely happy. The ending was not my favorite and it felt like Amy Lane was using a lot of artistic license but it left me feeling unsatisfied and wishing for something more complete. The rest of the book is still worth reading, though.

Sean Crisden does a good job with the narration and I have no problem with his performance. However, whoever helped to produce this audiobook should re-think the use of the stupid sound effects between chapters. They felt cheap and really ruined the flow of the story. I wish there was a version of this audiobook that didn’t have that silly music in it, because everything else was well done.

the music didn't help

i hated the music, You missed the beginning of the chapters. and the story had good moments but it kinda lost the flow on the last half

Amazing... the end?

I really like this story... Great from beginning until the very last sentence, then the end... what? I just don't get it...I was so upset about the end..and that is why no five stars...

Crisden is one amazing narrator... I love anything he reads...

Mediocre and long

Wasn’t terrible, but not great either. The story dragged a lot and quite frankly it was weird listening to this one guys play multiple characters (both make and female and young and old) I honestly wasn’t sure who was speaking half the time. To be fair I have never ever enjoyed the game of basketball. If it had been hockey or baseball, I might have enjoyed it more. In the end it seemed to really really drag on and on

It was ok

Zander’s whining went on to long could have made it shorter and included what Chris was going through. Didn’t care for the narrator to much.

Underwhelming ending

For a book that spans (and skips) years, this book's ending sure felt abrupt and a disservice to a reader wanting to see the story from the beginning to at least an epilogue that explains how the story played out.

Terrible narrator, ok story

The narrator has trouble pronouncing s sounds and many come out as “th” or “d” sounds. It’s distracting.

My favorite

I listened to this over ten times. The narration and story are marvelous together, but several stretches are monotonous. I wish Amy Lane always reaches this level.
The sound quality, though, is not good. It sounds like I hear it through a wall.

just great!

loved it, started listening last night and woke up earlier to finish it this morning! overall I thought this was a sweet love story. nothing groundbreaking but great for what it is. the narrator was excellent, too!