The Prince & the Player

Dirty Players #1

By: Tia Louise

Narrated by: Joel Froomkin, Natalie Duke

Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's Summary

Let the games begin....

Runaway Zelda Wilder will do whatever it takes to secure a better life for her and her sister, Ava. Crown Prince Rowan Westringham Tate will do whatever it takes to preserve his small country.

"Playboy Prince" MacCallum Lockwood Tate will do whatever it takes to steal Zelda's heart....

When Zee is blackmailed into humiliating the brooding future king, she never expects to be pulled into a web of international intrigue - or to fall for Rowan's naughty younger brother, Cal.

Cal is determined to capture the sexy player, but Zelda is in over her head with very dangerous men. Time is running out, and it may be too late for the prince to save this player.

©2016 TLM Productions LLC (P)2016 TLM Productions LLC

Why did it take so long !

I've had this in my library for a very long time I can't believe I didn't listen to it until now. If you own it listen to it, if you don't then buy it, you will not be disappointed. Wonderful narration by both actors, enjoy it very much.

Fun story!

What did you like best about this story?

I thought the storyline was fun. Yes it was a play on pauper meets and falls in love with Prince, but it was somewhat unique.

Which character – as performed by Joel Froomkin and Natalie Duke – was your favorite?

Both narrators did a great job. I loved Natalie Duke's portrayal of Zee.

Any additional comments?

The storyline kept me engaged throughout. It was fast paced and well thought out. Can't wait for A Player for a Princess.

I so enjoyed listening to this!

5 Crazy Ass Must Listen/Read Stars!!!!!

Let's talk narrators. They were amazing. I really felt like they suited the characters and brought them to life.
Next, storyline. I didn't really know what to expect with this one after reading the blurb. I've been quite the audiobook whore lately so I didn't hesitate to hit one-click after seeing the ebook was 99 cents and $1.99 for audio narration. Hello, that was a no-brainer for me. I digress. So, the storyline. I was immediately intrigued right from the start. I did like the twist in which the characters don't fall for who they are supposed to fall for. And then throw in more twists and turns, and ups and downs and it became quite the roller coaster ride of a read.
Now for the characters themselves. I loved them all with the exception of Seth. I'm not too sure about him yet. He binged my creeper radar. Cal and Zelda are explosive and my heart sped up every time they were together. Cal sure heated up my kindle. I loved their banter. Rowan and Ava surprised me and I instantly was championing for them to get together.
And lastly, I need A Player for a Princess like yesterday. I need to know what happens. Especially, after that doozy of a cliffy ending.
Grab this up now! Heck the price is more than worth it!

omg this book was awesome I love the emotion

I loved this one there was so much emotion but yet at same time so many thrills I loved the way one sister did all of the jobs while the other sister was beautiful and innocent while it started out as a job they ended up being emotionally invested definetly a five star Audio and read

My heart

It has been a long time since i have read this story and listening to this story with the amazing narration done by Joel and Natalie brought my love of this story back to life. I think the narrators did an excellent job portraying the characters and really had the perfect depth and inflection to bring this story to life.

This book was such a ride. There were the perfect number of turns blended with a great love story and I was cheering for both couples. Truthfully thought I love Cal. Tia Louise wrote an amazing story that hooks you straight from the beginning with this modern day Cinderella.She does a great job at developing the characters and leaves you with very few details left untold which I love.

Meh

The storyline was too predictable for my taste. That, and the characters all seemed to get on my nerves. How do the sisters not know about their attraction for the other guys? Why does Ava’s beauty have to be mentioned every five seconds? Why did it seem like instalove for Roman and Ava? Z and Cal literally fall into bed within days of meeting. I wish the author had developed the plot and characters more. It seems too unbelievable to me. This book was my least favorite on Audible thus far.

Wow! Just Wow!

Oh, my gosh, this audiobook had everything I love! Humor, suspense, romance, intrigue, unexpected plot twists, great characters, and action/adventure! I didn't want it to end! And I got my wish since it actually didn't. One romance is settled in this one, but Zelda's story is continued in A Player for a Princess.

This was my introduction to Tia Louise, and it made her one of my favorite authors. I will definitely buy more from her.

I loved both narrators. Froomkin's accent was wonderful. I usually hate listening to men trying to do women's voices, but he was pretty good at it and it didn't grate on my nerves like it usually does, and Duke was great at all the voices she did. In fact, when I picture Cal's voice, it's her rendition of it that I hear since Cal was in more scenes with Zelda than with Rowan (I think). However, I felt the production would have been better if the narration had been integrated, and the two narrators had worked together and recorded as a team, with Froomkin doing all the male parts and Duke doing all the female parts. It takes me out of the story when I'm used to the sound of Duke's voice as Zelda, then in the next chapter it's completely different as Froomkin becomes Zelda. I got used to it pretty quickly in this aubiobook, though, probably because of the quality of both narrators. Of all the books I've listened to with this type of narration, this one was the most well done by far and it's one of my favorite audiobooks ever, so I just couldn't deduct a star. I plan to look for more audiobooks from both of these new-to-me narrators as well as from the author, Tia Louise.

LOVE TIA!

What did you love best about The Prince & The Player: Dirty Cinderella?

This book is completely Amazing! It has everything I want in a romance... love, SEX, hit guys, and suspense!

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Prince & The Player: Dirty Cinderella?

See, this book is so awesome. There isn't moments, per say, it flows so naturally. But... if I had to pick I lived the beach moment when Z hurt her ankle. It was just so funny!

Which character – as performed by Joel Froomkin and Natalie Duke – was your favorite?

Ummm... a favorite? I adored them both. But I think Natalie Duke old be my favorite.

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

Cinderella meets Ocean Eleven!

Unputdownable Roller Coaster

I am going to review both The Prince & The Player and A Player for a Princess by Tia Louise together since they make up the Dirty Players Duet, and can not be read without each other. Let me tell you, this duet gave me so much more than I bargained for! Back in the 90s, I was into the mystery/lawyer, exciting crime books a la John Grisham's The Firm. I realized reading this duet that I still love that type of excitement in my romances. The Dirty Player's Duet is billed like this:

"Cinderella meets Ocean's Eleven in this ADULT CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE featuring secrets, lies, royal high jinks, scams and double-crosses; breathless, swooning lust, cocky princes, dominant alpha future-kings, and crafty courtiers, who are not always what they seem. "

The duet brought all of this and more. Interestingly, this is about two couples. It is told by the female in one couple and the male in the other which is strange, unique, and it worked once I got the hang of it. At first, I had some trouble with the male narrator. In the first book, The Prince & The Player, he was so not sexy. He sounded kind of old to me and I usually find British accents sexy. In the second book, I figured he must have grown on me because he didn't bother me. I realized it was a different narrator after finishing both! They did a great job on continuity, because I can't believe I didn't realize. In this case, I am going to judge the story without the narration, and will discuss the narration further at the end. Because honestly, the story completely won me over despite not loving the male narrator.

We begin with two American sisters, Zelda "Zee" and Ava Wilder. They have had a really rough life, and Zelda does anything to take care of her younger sister, running cons and cheating at casinos while the beautiful Ava causes distractions and dabbles in pickpocketing. When they are caught by a wealthy stranger, they had to do what he said or go to jail. Zee's job--seduce the Crown Prince of Monagasco in order to discredit him. So Zelda and Ava were whisked away in luxury to Monagasco.

“Zelda Wilder is no princess. The closest I am is a dirty Cinderella, an orphan on the run, and that’s not the kind of girl for a prince.”

Rowan Westingham Tate and MacCallum Lockwood Tate are young handsome royalty. Since Rowan is older, he assumes the King position, but his younger brother, Cal, the Prince, is there to run the country with him. While Zee kept trying to seduce Rowan like she was supposed to, she was so attracted to Cal. And as we hear from Rowan, he quickly became obsessed with Ava.

“Her fingers thread with mine, and I know what I want. I know for the first time, and I feel complete.”

The problem is Zee's orders are to snag the King, not the prince! But the King had some other plans for Ava, and he only had eyes for her.

The end of book one started getting dangerous and exciting, and ends on a small cliffy, but luckily, I had book 2 queued up, and I plowed right ahead. While I loved The Prince and the Player, I loved A Player for a Princess (book 2) even more. Book two made the sweeter, lighter story get a little darker, a little sexier, and a lot more action-packed. So action-packed that for the first time I actually couldn't do anything else while listening. I just stood there in the kitchen I was supposed to be cleaning, and listened, biting my nails.

Twists and turns, super scary moments, very sexy times and super romantic times, A Player for a Princess had it all.

I will say, I was partial to Zee and Cal, because I think we were supposed to be, being in Zee's head a lot more than Rowan's, or so it seemed.

Likes:

•A totally unique way of telling a story about two couples, having one voice from each couple.
•So much action, romance and sexiness!
•There were lots of lighter, funnier moments as well.
•An interesting, very twisted storyline that I never had trouble following.
•Just the right amount of detail to make you picture it all, but never too much to bore you.
•I can totally see this as a big screen movie. It would adapt really well to screen.
•Kept my headphones glued in my ears and couldn't stop listening.
•Loved the female narrator.
•Some super-hot sexing!
•The covers stand out as unique in a sea of same.

Dislikes:

•It took a little bit of time to get in the groove of the two narrators not being together romantically.
•See narration notes below.

Narration Notes:

•Different recording quality for each speaker. Background noise for the girl, and not for the guy. (I noticed this in the 2nd book, it may not have been there in the first).
•At first, I really really did not like the male narrator. So much so in fact, I thought about stopping a few times, but I had made a commitment to read it so I wanted to see it through (so glad I did). At first he sounds old. Instead of his accent being sexy, he sounded like an old, uptight butler. In book two, I noticed he was OK after all. I thought he must have grown on me, but then I found out book two was a different guy! LOL
•I enjoyed all the female narration, and not loving the male wasn't enough to take away my enjoyment of the book, but I must admit, had he been totally sexy I think it would have elevated the whole duet to 5 stars or maybe even 5+ range, but it's so hard to tell.

The Down & Dirty:
The Dirty Players Duet is a Cinderella Story filled with deception, lies, action, espionage, sabotage, kidnapping, hot sex, romance, political intrigue, human trafficking, assassination plots and more. It was truly an unputdownable roller coaster ride of a read that grabbed me so much I wasn't able to do anything but listen. The Dirty Players Duet needed to span two books because it is truly an epic tale of two couples told in a very unique way. My only complaint would be the male narrator in the first book, who had no sex appeal at all.. Still, I highly recommend this series, however you read it.

Rating: 4.5 stars (first book 4.25-4.5, second book 4.75), Heat 4.25, Narration 3.5

No

I don't know how to explain how bad the narrators caused this story to tank fast.

Fast-paced and refreshing!

THE PRINCE & THE PLAYER. Oh, this book was so very refreshing! Just simply addicting – from the unique way of storytelling to the characters and the narration. It’s different. In an amazing way. We get two perspectives – Zelda’s and Rowan’s – the twist: It’s not the two people who fall for one another. No, each one falls for the other’s sibling. And while the blurb already hinted at that, it still caught me unaware. I loved it!

So, Zelda and Ava Wilder. They both had a rough life, Zelda taking care for her baby sister since they were kids – no matter the costs: She will do everything to ensure her little sister’s well-being – her happiness … even if that means conning a crown prince. What does it matter if it’s for the greater good of the country, right? Or so she is made to believe …

Rowan Westringham Tate and MacCallum Lockwood Tate. Princes of Monagasco, who are very close as brothers, with Rowan doing everything in his might to do his country justice since their dad’s passing, while Cal is infamously known as the playboy prince. If there weren’t the people who wanted them out of the picture …

With Zelda falling for the playboy prince and her younger sister (I want to especially learn more about her and her past!) falling for the heir of the throne, who also loves to race (hello, contradiction – I’m still on the fence if I find that hobby odd or admirable for someone like him), the reader is following two love stories on top of the intrigue and deceit going on, which makes this one helluva packed and fast-paced, sometimes even kinda crazy storyline (and sadly a bit too much insta-love times two as well). Pay close attention, or you will lose track of what’s happening here!

I loved how things turned out for Rowan and Ava, though I still crave more of these two, because they are just so adorably swoony together – but Zelda … seriously, what the … happened here?? I was not prepared for that cliffhanger by a long shot – I need book two!!

The narration was done by Natalie Duke and Joel Froomkin. It was my first M/F romance narration by Joel and my first listen by Natalie altogether. I loooved Joel’s French accents! They made it hard to listen to on my commute (because yes, they were that strong), but still, haha. … which made me also miss those accents whenever Natalie was giving voice to the same characters, as she hardly did any accent, really.

Sultry and dramatic!

Zelda, the con-woman and her little sister Ava found themselves in quite the predicament when they were outed during a con and had to take on an even bigger one to survive unscathed. Make the crown prince fall in love with you, betray his trust and break his heart. Easy-peasy, right? Wrong! So wrong!

I thought this story was not only quite comical but also extremely sweet and sultry! There was the right balance of romance, suspense, and drama. I thought I’d love the main hero Rowan, but it was his brother Cal who stole my heart!!! Both royal men were spectacular in their own ways and brought something different to the story.

They were equally matched with Zelda and Ava. Both women were spunky and sweet, and wise beyond their years due to their traumatic upbringing. I loved Zelda’s blunt demeanor and Ava’s innocent disposition. They were inseparable and always looked out for one another. It was completely endearing, the close relationship these sisters shared.

I thought the story line was a little crazy but it made for a fun read. I just wished more time was spent on the couples and less on the ins and outs of Royal life and what the future king was trying to accomplish. The racing hobby was entirely odd for the hero and seemed out of place.

I didn’t know this book would end in a cliffhanger, but I liked where it left off and can’t wait to read the next book.

I listened to this book on audio, which proved to be more difficult than I expected due to the narrators’ accents. I felt like I would have enjoyed the story more if I’d read it physically due to the differences in phrasing between the States and the fictitious country the heroes were from. A bit was lost in translation.

MAKE BELIEVE

A modern day make believe of where an orphan come the person who'd do most things to make money, who actually fall for the person they'd meant to ensnare & on top of that, the person is 🌈💘