The Steam Room

By: Olivia Monroe

Narrated by: Baylee Day

Length: 4 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

Griffin Marks is bitter and jaded after breaking up with another cheating boyfriend. All he wants is someone to appreciate his passion for landscaping and love him for who he is without cheating on him. Is being faithful so tricky?

When Kit Smithfield joins Griffin in the club’s steam room, he opens a door that neither of them can close again. The problem is that Kit’s never been with a man before, and the last thing Griffin wants is to get involved with someone who isn’t sure what he wants.

Can Kit convince Griffin that he is worth his time and effort? Or will Griffin find Kit is no different from the last five men he has dated?

©2022 Olivia Monroe (P)2022 Olivia Monroe

Kit and Griffin

Story review: Griffin has just ended his relationship with Blake after this one seems to end like all the others - a partner who's more interested in playing the field than having a meaningful relationship with one another. He decided that he's not interested in starting anything with someone new. Kit has been watching Griffin and is interested in exploring something with Griffin. Like any relationship it takes both partners communicating and being open with one another, and Kit and Griffin will have to do that as they explore their emotional and sexual relationship with one another. They have some ups and downs as they reach for their HEA. Short, sexy quick story!

Audio review: I wasn't too wowed by the narrator on this. I find it disconcerting to have a female narrator when this is an MM romance. I've read the story before as an ebook and I just can't reconcile a female voice with the characters.

The Steam Room!

This is a MM story about Griffin and Kit. This is not my usual type of read or in this case listen but I like this author. I did pick this one up not fully reading the description. However, it was still a good story about to men meeting in the steam room. It is a steamy story, in more than one way, but I like how their story develops into something more and unexpected. I like the characters as well. The narrator did a get job as well.

Steamy, But Flawed

"The Steam Room" definitely lived up to its name as far as the romance is concerned. The love scenes are plentiful and passionate. I am an avid MM Romance reader, and while this book wasn't bad by any stretch, it wasn't my cup of tea. The characters were a bit underdeveloped. I found nothing charming or endearing about Griffin. I found no reason to root for someone who just seemed insecure and capricious. Kit seemed a bit obsessed at first, but his character showed some growth throughout the plot.
On to the narration. I'm sorry, but it was pretty hard to listen to. There were several spots throughout the audiobook where you could hear loud clicks during pauses that would completely take you out of the story. Speaking of pauses, I found the narrator's pauses between dialog to be excessive. I ended up playing it on 1.5x speed just to ease some of my frustration.
Overall, Olivia Monroe did a good job on this book. It personally wasn't for me, and I would recommend reading it rather than listening to the audiobook.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Love The Story, NOT the Narration

Audiobook Review:

I read this book months ago, but I recently had the opportunity to also listen to the audiobook, narrated by Baylee Day. I was very thrown off at first when I realized the narrator was a woman instead of a man. I haven't listened to too many audiobooks, and yes those I've listened to have had a male narrator voicing a female character's lines, or a female narrator voicing a male character's lines and it was fine. But I was disappointed to listen to a mm romance with only female narration and no sexy male voice to go along with it. It's no different than I'd feel if I was listening to a lesbian romance- I'd want female narrator(s) not male.

I also hated the pauses in dialogue and conversation. They just felt very awkward to me and threw me out of the story. But she didn't distinguish between the men's voices- her voice always sounded the same. So I guess the reason for the pauses was so the listener would know she was switching characters. Some pauses were 5 seconds long. I listened to a little over an hour of the book before I stopped and did not finish. Though the narrator spoke clearly, I just couldn't stand the pauses, and didn't want to listen to these characters through female narration anymore. It wasn't for me.

Performance: 1 star

Book Review:

I loved this book. Kit is attracted to Griffin but has never been with a man before and questions if he is gay. Griffin has been cheated on by every man he's been in a relationship with. His latest was no different, and he broke up with his ex after three years. The last thing he wanted was to get involved with anyone else so soon. He was intrigued and a little confused by Kit. But the chemistry between them is clear. I loved watching this relationship develop. It wasn't easy and had some ups and downs. I really loved both these characters. This is the first book I've read by this author and I will definitely be looking for more. 5 stars.

Short and sweet

I got a free promo code for the audio version.
The first thing that struck me was that the narrator was female but the characters were male. It deducted a bit from the story as I had to keep reminding myself that it was a male perspective in a mm romance. She was however a fine narrator.
It is a full romance and not just a short erotica, as the title hints at.
It’s a really sweet story about a gay awakening a worth reading or listening to.

Griffin & Kit

Enjoyed the characters and story. Love buff tattooed characters! Kit was a good choice for Griffin. I did think his beginning behavior was a little stalker-ish.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Great book

I thought that this was really good book. I really Griffin and Kit together with great connection and chemistry. These two had some ups and downs like any other couple but they did get an HEA that was great. While this book was great, I was not thrilled with the narration. I do not believe Baylee Day was the right pick for a MM romance.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

loved it

Excellent story and characters. I appreciate the speaker was not rushed, which let the story flow more naturally. With the details and backstory, i was better and to understand their reactions. Also, definitely a bit steamy in some spots. good book.
I receive a free copy of this book via Booksprout and an voluntarily leaving a review.

Two Men, One Steamy Room

Griffin’s been cheated on and burned by lovers before. Kit’s not sure he’s gay, but he’s pretty sure he’s attracted to Griffin. These two push and pull each other, uncertain in their relationship status, but certain in their attraction to one another. Griffin is so wonderful in his education of Kit is all things sexual - woowee, that scene was hot! I listened to this on audiobook, rather than my usual means of book consumption. The story was good, but some of the narration was distracting; A) It’s a woman narrating an MM Erotica novel - I was all set to listen to some dreamy and deep voice, and B) odd pauses after many of the sentences then limited pauses before transitioning to a new chapter threw me off. Great story, narration not the best but not the worst.

Griffin and Kit

I really enjoyed this quick story. I loved that they finally found their HEA after all the exploration together. I did have a hard time with the narrator being female for a MM romance story.

I received an ARC and this is my unbiased opinion