Top Secret

De: Sarina Bowen, Elle Kennedy

Narrado por: Teddy Hamilton, Christian Fox

Best-selling authors Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy return with their first Male/Male romance in 3 years.

LobsterShorts, 21. Jock. Secretly a science geek. Hot AF.

LobsterShorts: So. Here goes. For her birthday, my girlfriend wants…a threesome.

SinnerThree: Then you’ve come to the right hookup app.

LobsterShorts: Have you done this sort of thing before? With another guy?

SinnerThree: All the time. I’m an equal opportunity player. You?

LobsterShorts: [crickets!]

SinnerThree, 21. Finance major. Secretly a male dancer. Hot AF.

SinnerThree: Well, I’m down if you are. My life is kind of a mess right now. School, work, family stress. Oh, and I live next door to the most annoying dude in the world. I need the distraction. Are you sure you want this?

LobsterShorts: I might want it a little more than I’m willing to admit.

SinnerThree: Hey, nothing wrong with pushing your boundaries....

LobsterShorts: Tell that to my control-freak father. Anyway. What if this threesome is awkward?

SinnerThree: Then it’s awkward. It’s not like we’ll ever have to see each other again. Right? Just promise you won’t fall in love with me.

LobsterShorts: Now wouldn’t that be life-changing....

Q&A about Top Secret:

Q: Have we met these characters before in another book?
A: No! These guys are brand new, and we can’t wait for you to meet them.

Q: Is this story MM? Or is it a MMF / MFM / menage?
A: This book is MM.

Q: Is this a love triangle story?
A: Not really. You’ll see.

©2019 Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy (P)2019 Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy

Entertaining

My namesake has a birthday coming up. And for a birthday present she asks her long-term boyfriend Keaton for a threesome to spice up their sex life. So said boyfriend, never backing out from a challenge downloads an app, sets up a profile (LobsterShorts) and start searching for the second guy Annika wished for. Soon SinnerThree has contacted him and it’s not long before the two are messaging one another daily. It starts with SinnerThree wanting to know how far and what Keaton is comfortable with. Exchanging fantasies and desires and wants turns into sharing their daily struggles, family issues and banter in general.

I loved this part, the beginning. I loved the banter and Keaton’s obscure knowledge in mating rituals for sea slugs or masturbating kangaroos that he so happily shared. I felt the draw between the two. Felt Keaton’s curiousness, awareness, and awakening, not to mention the UST was off the charts. When T-day (threesome day) arrived and their identities were revealed that chemistry kind of fizzled out a bit and a new can of worms were opened up. Because these two men has not only met before, they aren’t exactly what you’d call friends.

My feelings towards Luke (SinnerThree) are a bit conflicted. On the one hand I really felt for him and the shitty hand he’d been dealt in life. His struggles to make ends meet, how his family keeps using him and how lonely he really is. On the other hand all that shittiness doesn’t give him an out on how he treated Keaton, constantly pushing him away. I get that he was proud, but it kind of went beyond that and into the ridiculous. At the same time, he was also pursuing him physically – talk about mixed signals.

I also have to say a couple of things about the girlfriend. Yes Keaton and Annika are together for the first part of this book (no we don’t really get any details beyond a close friendship – so don’t worry, there are no girl parts here). Her presence while there doesn’t take over in any way, she’s more like a secondary character adding a bit of depth to the story. Just like the frat brothers and their antics.

Top Secret is narrated by both Teddy Hamilton and Christopher Fox and man that was the best part of this book. They were beyond fabulous and I loved every second of it. Fox and Hamilton have very distinct voices, and it’s easy to tell them apart. However, they worked so smoothly together that the listener didn’t notice the switches. And by that I mean that obviously we hear the new voice, know that we’ve switched POV, but that’s all. The volume, intensity, tone and feel of the book is there in the changes.

They both also captured all of the characters and their feelings just right. I loved that you could feel Keaton’s discovery of himself. That budding curiosity, the nervousness and want was there in every word. The same went for Luke and his feelings towards his family. The hope he didn’t want to feel, the rejection and disappointment of always being used. It was all crystal clear and it felt like you were right there beside them and go through it all when they do. I do hope to listen to many more productions by Hamilton and Fox in the future, because listening to this book was a treat.

A copy of this book was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review for Love Bytes.

Five Hot Hot Stars!

A fantastic new audiobook by Sarina and Elle and they can really tell a story the best way! Sizzling hot characters brought to life by Teddy Hamilton and Christian Fox! This one is a Must! Loved every minute of it.

Absolutely Loved It!

What a great story. I have enjoyed every book I've listened to by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy. I love the narration of Teddy Hamilton and Christian Fox. This was just a well written story set in a college setting but with real life issues of family problems, tearing down walls, accepting love, and of course coming out. The narration pairing was perfect. Deserves more than 5 stars and well worth my credit.

A great book made special by the narrators

'Top Secret' is my new favorite nonparanormal gay romantic novel (because the top spot in gay paranormal still goes to 'Carry On' by Rainbow Rowell), and that's thanks to a top-notch audiobook. Teddy Hamilton and Christian Fox take these well-drawn characters and bring them alive with interesting and considered performances. As a result Keaton and Luke, already layered and well written, became a couple of guys I thoroughly enjoyed spending 9 hours and 25 minutes getting to know.

An addicting read!

I don't usually care for stories that read as emails or texts back and forth. I am grateful that I had an open mind this time, as this hot story blew my socks off. At a peak point in the story, I was blindsided by a twist. Well written! Expertly narrated!