Thorn in His Side

By: Helen Juliet

Narrated by: Kieran Flitton

Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

The last thing beautiful, inexperienced Joshua Bellamy wants is an arranged marriage with the terrifying Darius Legrand. But if Joshua wants to save himself and his family from being thrown onto the streets by Darius’s father, he has no choice.

However, when Darius goes to extreme lengths to rescue Joshua from near-death, Joshua has to wonder if there’s more to his beastly husband than he previously thought.

Darius Legrand, a former captain, is used to being manipulated by his cruel father, but when Joshua is dragged into the feud between their families, he decides something has to change.

Protecting Joshua is one thing, but Darius knows that falling in love can’t be an option. Someone so young and beautiful could never give his heart to an older, ill-tempered brute like Darius.

Joshua is determined to bring joy to Darius’s life again, and Darius refuses to let Joshua hide his sweetness from the world any longer. Over time, it becomes clear that despite their differences, their hearts are drawing closer together.

But can happiness ever be possible for a rose and a thorn, when Darius’s father will go to any lengths to see his deadly game through?

Thorn in His Side is a steamy, stand-alone MM romance novel featuring tender bubble baths, a stubborn but loyal horse, thunderstorms, enough healing touches to mend any broken heart, and a guaranteed HEA with absolutely no cliff-hanger.

©2020 Helen Juliet (P)2020 Helen Juliet

I thought we were done with virgin ad nausea issue

didn't finish. so much hang up on one of the characters being a virgin (not by choice but because he's too pretty) and therefore not worthy of the other. then he was praised because no one else will ever touch him. it overwhelmed the rest of the story. "oh no, you haven't had anal with me, you don't love me". I have no clue what happened to evil dad and I wanted more zues. not sure I'll listen to anything else by this author.

Love it!

I have really loving these retelling of classic fairytale that Helen Juliet is writing. Joshua and Darius is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast which is one of my favorite fairytale. I just love this twist on this retelling and Kieran Flitton makes me love this even more. He does an absolutely fantastic job with this narration. I just love listening and couldn't stop listening. Just absolutely love this one!

Enjoyed It

Modern-day Beauty and the Beast with a Wicked Queen vibe
This is a beautiful story about two people forced together, but find happiness anyway. Joshua is so sweet and innocent and Darius is a broken soul.

Kieran Flitton did an amazing job with the voices, his pacing and different pitching was a pleasure.

Retelling of one of my favorite fairytales!

Thorne in His Side by Helen Juliet is the retelling of the classic Beauty and the Beast, with an MM twist and minus the talking objects. Nonetheless, it has your villain, beauty and beast (not complaining there, who doesn’t love a misunderstood scared brut?).

Our beauty, virgin Joshua Bellamy, is forced by the villain to marry his son, Darius, our ‘beast’, in order to save his father and his company. Without giving the story away any further, I will say that Thorne in His Side delivered a wonderful story with all the feels!

And the narrator? Wow! I love me a narrator with an accent and Kieran Flitton went above and beyond, I love it! His voice drew me in and had me til the very end! I will definitely look out for this narrator in the future.

Overall, if you love fairytales with a little dirty (wink wink), then Thorne in His Side will suit you just fine. Five lovely roses for Helen Juliet’s fairytale. Happy listening all!

Absolutely Adored this one

I absolutely adored this story - both in the book itself and the narration. The story of strangers to lovers brought together by the evil dad. I was hooked from the start on this story. The main characters are so different - one some what meek, young, and now locked away. The other so gruff and in his own self prison. Somewhat a story telling of Beauty and the Beast. What a great story. And Kieran does the guys some much justice from the sad, to the frustration and angry. Then to the love. What a great telling.

A beautiful m/m retelling of Beauty and The Beast.

Beauty and The Beast is one of my favourite fairy-tales, so when I learned that Helen Juliet, one of my favourite authors, was writing a contemporary m/m version of it, I was stoked! And I am so, so in love now that I have read it!
I loved the initial resistance from Darius’s side, when he’s trying to avoid his feelings not to put Joshua in danger. And Joshua’s initial fear and then the gradual thawing between them until a beautiful love blossoms…. Of course there’s an evil, unhinged man (Darius’ father) that tries to destroy their happiness, but their love will prove stronger than hate.
There’s also an adorable little pup, Zeus, a protective battle horse, Heph, and a number of fierce employees, which complete Darius & Joshua’s little family.
Loved Kieran Flitton's narration!

Oh Petal.

This was an angsty but sweet romance. The plot was similar to Beauty and the Beast but with two men. It was a bit saccharine, not really my taste. But if you like things a bit sappy you’ll like this. The writing is good the narration is good.
The main thing I dislike is that Joshua seamed like a typical female heroine from a harlequin romance, virginal, dainty , blushing. But the writer just changed the name to a male instead of female to make it LGBTQ relevant.

great listen

Thorn in His Side by Helen Juliet mixes steam with tender. Its an m/m romance about an arranged marriage, falling in real love, and uncovering betrayals. The writing is well done, the plot entertaining and the characters are wonderful. Fantastic story with sweetness and heat. Kieran provides a wonderfully entertaining performance in voice-work and a smooth recording.

Retelling of Beauty and the Beast...

I wish I would have been warned this was a retelling. I don't think I would have bothered. The writing was decent, though I don't think the two main characters had an actual conversation until halfway through the book. The villain was WAY too over the top to be believable, and the foreshadowing is as subtle as a bat to the face. Also, there is seriously an HOUR of content AFTER the resolution of the story. I would have liked to have had a flash forward to them having kids or something, but I just couldn't bring myself to wait that long for it. I quit with over 20 minutes to go and that was still BEFORE the "epilogue". I also skipped through the final sex scene. It felt gratuitous and exploitative being after any story or character development... I hate when authors do that. Cheapens the whole experience in my opinion.

incredible

An amazing retelling of Beauty & the Beast. I loved every word! I especially appreciated how the story avoided tropes like "men hating women," and fully embraced the challenging of heterosexist norms. Jeez. So good.