Under Locke

By: Mariana Zapata

Narrated by: Callie Dalton

Length: 16 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's Summary

He was my boss, my brother's friend, a widow, an ex-felon, and a man I'd seen casually with a handful of women. But he was everything that gripped me, both the good and the bad. Worst case scenario: If things turned awkward between us, I could go somewhere else. I'd gotten over epic heartbreak before; one more wouldn't kill me.

After moving to Austin following six months of unemployment back home, Iris Taylor knows she should be glad to have landed a job so quickly... even if the business is owned by a member of the same motorcycle club her estranged father used to belong to. Except Dex Locke might just be the biggest jerk she's ever met. He's rude and impatient, and he doesn't know how to tell time. And the last thing they ever expected was each other.

Contains mature themes.

©2014 Mariana Zapata (P)2014 Tantor

ALL ABOUT THE BODY LANGUAGE IN THIS ONE!

This was a really fun and enjoyable audiobook! I thought Callie Dalton did a great job narrating and representing the heroine, Iris Taylor well. The story is told through Iris's POV and she is an interesting character. Iris has her own story filled with heartache and tragedy, but OMG she's definitely got fight in her, and I loved that! Iris's thoughts are funny because she can be so crude and tends to hyper-focus on the feeling of throwing up or passing gas during stressful situations...a bit immature, but so funny! I liked the hero, Dex Locke, he had great sex appeal...masculine, brooding, moody, but very interested.....I loved how Iris and Dex clashed at first, but that's where all of the body language came into play. When Iris describes Dex you can't help but feel that his body language was screaming for her. The romance developed very nicely...it felt natural and each moment built off of the previous. When they finally come together, the reader is as fully invested in the romance as the leads because there was so much depth that had been created before they decided on making it a "forever" kind of love.

The plot, conflict, and build-up was nicely employed throughout this book. There was never a time where I was bored or felt that it slowed down. In this book you get a great brother-sister relationship, nicely developed steamy romance, great action and plot filled with ominous bikers, and fun and meaningful, surrounding characters. It's true this is not a traditional biker story, but I'm not complaining. Mariana Zapata did a great job! Her writing was fun and lively. Great audiobook!

An Unusually Sweet MC Romance

The story was far from what I've read of other MCs but it was just as enjoyable. The sharp edges of bikers has been smoothed in this book so there's not so much roughness. Characters were nice and the love story progresses naturally. There was some time lapses / transitions that were confusing in audio. Other than that, the narrator performed well.

eh.. not my favorite

sure, who doesn't want a smokin' HOT biker with a temper but loyal and fiercely passionate lover - a.k.a Dex Locke. for the male lead, all i can imagine is Charlie Hunnam from Sons of Anarchy. the bad boy with a bike. need i say more?

as for the female lead, Iris.... at first, I liked her. Sweet, considerate, gentle and someone who loves her family very much. but after a while, she just became annoying. being meek is bearable but every time she got butt hurt, she just became such a cry-baby. every single time. A bit immature for her age like she's a teen who pouts around and holds grudges every time her feelings got hurt.

I like a strong, independent, mature heroine who knows how to defend herself and kick ass either verbally or physically and Iris ISN'T it. i really don't know why there was a need for her to explicitly explain every single thing (monologue) before she just gets to the point. it got tiring towards the end about her blabbing about everything.

overall, it was ok. I love KULTI and LINGUS better than this.

but 2 thumbs up for the narrator Callie Dalton. awesome narration as always

Great book!

This was a well written and thought out story. It's long but every second was worth it. I laughed and cried. I wish the book was even longer and told a little more in the epilogue. I'm going to listen to the book again.

A WINNER! This was a great one.

What is not to like about this book. It has all the right components. Dex and Iris are the couple! Loved the way the they grew in their relationship. Now, this is a long book. Let me tell you, in no way did it seem long. I actually hated for it to end. The narrator was spot. Love listening to her. Great job. Only one problem. Audible only has one book of Ms. Zapata. Come on Audible, let us have more!!!!! Please!!!!

Great book!

Thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this book. Loved how it brought in the Reaper's MC from Joanna Wilde's Reaper's MC series. The only disappointing part is that there isn't another book to follow it up. Fingers cross there will be soon.

FIRST WAR, THEN TERMS OF SURRENDER & FINALLY LOVE

When timid, virginal and naive Iris first meets Dex, the sexy and drop dead gorgeous owner of Pins and Needles the Tattoo Shop she hopes to get a job in, she couldn't stop drooling at his flawless face, 6' 3" smokin hot body and colorful tattoos. But as soon as he opened his mouth his arrogant, rude, impatient and alpha personality came out and she hated the jerk. He, along with other characters, are members of the Widows MC but this isn't really an MC listen. However, and after a lot of arguing, they slowly learn to trust each other but the poop really hits the fan when The Reapers MC comes to collect on a debt that her dead-beat Dad owes (who she hasn't seen for years) and he has run off with the money..... so they're threatening her and her brother for the cash.

Told from Iris' POV this is a long long listen with a lot of her internal thoughts and feelings but it's got witty banter, interesting secondary characters, a bit of angst, romance and sex (eventually) and a Hero that is so sexy with his six pack, piercings and tattoos who (thankfully) undergoes some character growth to become thoughtful, possessive, kind and loving too. There's also a very close and tight relationship with her brother which comes across really well and you feel their bond.

My only negative would be that sometimes Iris came across as immature in her thoughts and some of her 'off the scale' stupid actions. But hey, she had endured a lot in her life so I'll cut her some slack and she did learn from her mistakes.

Worth a credit? Very enjoyable and entertaining but don't expect the usual bad-ass biker book as this is loosely based around a 'milder' spin-off MC with it's alpha members all doing legitimate jobs. Yes, there's the bikes, the cuts, the attitudes but it's a tamed down version which doesn't make it bad but just different. A HEA ending with a great Epilogue. All this makes it, IMHO, a well narrated creditworthy listen.

Yummy!

I love the cliche stories of the virginal good girl and the sexy asshole biker!! I also like that there is a somewhat exciting yet sad backstory. Plus the author provides a nice build up with the chase and conflicting feelings instead of having the characters jump into bed within the first 2 chapters.

YA Romance

Any additional comments?

This books seemed more aimed for the YA crowd than 25 and up crowd since the leading female character is immature in mind if not in body..a lot of indicision and lack of self-esteem and self-confidence that she exhibits, crys a lot everytime Dex says harsh words to her or yells at her. I'm not sure I'd enjoy listening to this again.

Amazing!

Loved the book and this audio brings it to life. Narration is spot on and depicted Iris's voice to perfection.

Even better when read to you!

I absolutely love this book. I have both the audio and the kindle version. The kindle version is on my favourite page, to read when the urge strikes and I need a lift. The audio version will blow you away. Callie Dalton brings Riss, Dex and the rest of Pins and Needles to life. Stunning story and very believable. Me I love it, please try it too....

what can I say

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would definitely recommend this book,was sorry when it finished.

What did you like best about this story?

everything it was funny,laugh out loud funny at times as well as serious.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

the one that had me laughing out loud at 1.30 am [do'nt know what neighbours must have thought!] she was trying to think of an excuse and ended up using tampax as the excuse!

Zapata at her best

This book is up there with "The Wall of Winnipeg and me", my two favourite works from this author. She has such a knack for creating controversial but ultimately lovable characters. The story just pulled me in and I couldn't stop listening until I finished it, even though at times I hated Dex and other times I thought Iris needed such a kick up her backside. But that's the thing, people are not black and white and Ms Zapata is so so good at capturing these nuances.

Audio ruined the book for me!

I have read all Mariana Zapata book repeatedly and absolutely loved them all. Decided to purchase the audio for this so I could listen to it while at work, however I find the narrator a little irritating (sorry!!) and a character I loved when I read in my head, annoying when listening to it read by someone else, I don't think I'll get anymore of these on audio, and just stick to reading them.

Very slow

I bought this audiobook because I absolutely loved ‘The Wall of Winnipeg and Me’, so I thought I would give this one a shot. I know Mariana Zapata is consider a slow burn author but boy was this book hard to listen to - it was that slow. To be completely honest I’ve only got maybe 1/3 of the way through so the rest might be good but I’ve stopped listening to it for now and may go back and give it another shot in the future but for now I’m moving on to something else.

great romantic story

what a lovely storyline.what woman doesnt love the idea of a loyal bad boy 😊

Enjoyable read

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I really enjoy books by this author. Kulti , another book by this author is one if my favourites. The story is engaging and several times I found myself smiling

What did you like best about this story?

although this story is similar to many if this genre, the story is well written and narrated.

Have you listened to any of Callie Dalton’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Kulti and Jet ( one of the highly enjoyable Marked Men series) were both narrated by Callie Dalton both of which I loved

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Unfortunately I attempted to listen in one sitting but at the same time feeling that I would be sad for the story to come to an end.

a great way go enjoy an exceptional story.

I am new to audio books and I have been avoiding this book as it is one of my favourite books and I was worried I wouldn't like the performance. After a few minutes of adjustment I can happily say that Iris and Dex were better than I hoped. It is a great slow burn story of romance, friendship and family. I love Iris as a character, she is strong through necessity but she isn't perfect and owns up to it, or blames her hormones. Dex is a beautifully flawed grump who you would definitely want on your side anytime and also in your bed. I would definitely recommend this book to someone who likes the alpha guy, laughs at their own family's antics and likes a full story packed with detail.

Ok...

Overall the book was fine, I struggled with Iris's character, she seemed immature and her 'that's what she' said joke funny the first time but after that no so much. The author has a tendency to exaggerate things such as iris was eavesdropping on a phone call and apparently she waited for a few minutes to see if anything else would be said when it's quite clear the conversation is over. I know it's not much but this sort of writing seed to occurs regularly and I found myself rolling my eyes and getting annoyed. If those little bits of stupid were removed Id have given the book 4 stars.
The narrator did a good job, was pretty good at getting the pace and emotion right. 4 stars for the narrator