The Pharaoh's Concubine

By: Z. A. Maxfield

Narrated by: Noah Michael Levine

Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

As mob boss Yvgeny Mosko s open secret, Dylan Anderson is happy enough with a passionate, if loveless, arrangement that affords him a life of luxury. But at 36, he wonders how committed Mosko will be to an aging lover.

He finds out when a rival gang kidnaps him in a turf war everyone s sure to lose. Mosko unleashes deadly force, leaving no one alive except for a young man whose dark eyes tug at Dylan s heart and the conscience he thought he'd excised long ago.

Though he tried to stop the kidnapping, William Memo Escobar knows Mosko will use what s left of him to send a powerful message to his rivals. When Mosko's pampered pretty boy risks everything to help him escape, he can't believe his luck.

William figures he's better suited to life off the grid, but as the days go by he begins to realize Dylan's beauty is more than skin deep. And as Dylan coaxes more and more beguiling smiles from William, he yearns for things like family ties he'd thought were best forgotten.

Yet behind their newfound happiness lurks the certain knowledge that no matter how careful they are, Mosko will come for what s his.

Warning: This book contains a mob boss, a kept man, and a reluctant kidnapper who will never have to hear the words, "Size doesn't matter."

©2011 Z.A. Maxfield (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

Ethical Issues

There are issues when you try to imagine the aftermath of a separation from a mafia boss.
As far as romances go, this one fights some good fights: its main character grows up emotionally, women aren’t totally stupid, one of the mains is not white, the book tries to show the difficulty of growing up gay and of being gay from Utah to Nevada, from rural America to the international mafia environment. There are slips, heavy accents (the reader hasn‘t been yet exposed to Spanish and his pronunciation is hilarious), the evil ex boyfriends are either craven or extremely generous, the denouement is not a consequence of the actions of the main characters, but it is bestowed upon them by the generous ex boyfriend and mafia boss. Pampam.

An all time favorite

Z.A. has created a wonderful story with many creative twists. it might even bring a tear to your eye. this is by far my favorite Z.A. Maxfield story

Phantastic!

It’s been about 7yrs since I read this book and the stor is still just as amazing!! One of my fave ZAM stories.

The Narration: 3.5 Pants Off


It could have been better. It was passable at best and didn’t inspire the same feelings as reading it did. The voice for William just didn’t work for me, accent and all which is a bummer because I love William as a character.

Overall, nothing to rave about when it comes to the narration but still enjoyable enough.

Definitely don't let the title deter you.

Glad I read and listened to reviews. I too kept bypassing because of the title and "mobster" reference in book preview. Couldn't stop listening.

Ignore title & cover art

The title & cover art misled me into thinking this was fantasy and / or historical, but it is not. I would have listened long ago had I known it was a contemporary story set among gangsters and Mormons.

Amazing (Small Spoiler)

I’ve listened to hundreds of romance audio books and this is in my top ten forever. It’s beautiful and heart breaking and Noah (the narrator) is outstanding. There is nothing I didn’t love about this audio book. There is a HEA.

Nice Surprise

Sweet story, intense at times. Well worth a credit. Cover art and title are somewhat misleading. Narrator is very good.

So Exciting!

Wow, this story was spectacular - so exciting! I enjoyed all the twists and turns, and there were so many subtleties to the plot, I really had no idea how there could possibly be a happily ever after for these two. Just beautifully done.

Audio, performed by Noah Michael Levine, is just okay.

Beautiful

I’m not used to MM stories and I wasn’t sure what to expect but certainly not this beautiful story. You might not agree with the characters lifestyle or actions but there is so much love and passion.

Noah Michael Levine is splendid like always! And did I mention the Spanish 🤩. Sizzling hot!

WTF?!? Why didn't I read this sooner?!?

Here's the SHORT version for people who just read the first few sentences of review (like me). IGNORE the cover art AND the title; THIS BOOK ROCKS! and truly THIS PERFORMER ROCKS! if you want to know more (NO SPOILERS), keep reading:

I put this in my library a while ago, but kept skipping it because of the title/cover-art/summary. I'm new to m/m romance, and I'm much more interested in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy sub-genre (gay elves rule!). So the TITLE caught my attention, and the COVER turned me off, since it was clearly NOT about an Egyptian king and his gay lover. Then, the first few paragraphs of the summary make it seem as if it's about mob bosses and the kidnapping of his lover. And although THAT HAPPENS in the first few pages, it's NOT what this book is about. Finally, after MONTHS of passing it over, at a time with nothing to listen to, I open up The Pharaoh's Concubine.

um... WOW. This is a great story with captivating characters! I REALLY wish I had read this sooner! I've listened to some terrible books before I found this one. Where the smex was poorly set up and characters and plots go underdeveloped in exchange for quick smexy-time! This book makes us wait a bit and it is worth it. (not that there's not plenty, there is. But it's developed very well beforehand).

Then the story takes unexpected turns with great nuance and brings in characters that have unexpected depth and I ended up enjoying it thoroughly. The stance on "the gay" from the Mormon perspective, Latino gang perspective and even Russian & Vegas mafia perspective are all a surprise for a book titled "The Pharaoh's Concubine." It's just a surprising book considering its marketing here.

The narrator does a wonderful job of distinguishing the characters and speaking clearly and effectively. And although other reviewers have criticized his latino accent, having just come from a book with a **terrible** narrator, I jumped for joy at hearing Noah Michael Levine handle this story well, latino accent or not.

I can't actually comment on the ending because it was SPOILED for me by another review here claiming "small spoiler." Nothing small about it. So although I could see the end coming, I still listened all the way to the end because I'd enjoyed the rest of this book SO MUCH!

WELL WORTH A CREDIT, WELL WORTH A LISTEN.

EDIT: Since I wrote this review, the cover art has changed! It's Waaaay better! The model looks much closer to Z.A.'s description of Dylan, plus the Las Vegas/Utah imagery helps us understand what the novel's really about. I'm not the only person to complain about the cover art, so I'm glad I might have helped make that change and kudos to Audible and Z.A. for listen to their listeners!!

Now imma go look for more Z.A. Maxfield and more Noah Michael Levine.