Unearthed

An Upending Tad Spinoff: Max and Sean (The Dungeon Black Duology, Book 1)

By: Kora Knight

Narrated by: Michael Dean

Length: 15 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Love. The most powerful force in existence, but also the most ruthless. Cunning and deceptive. Man’s greatest Achilles heel. Leaving all who embrace it weak and vulnerable.

At least that’s how Dom-for-hire Max Kelley sees it, after the love of his life knocked him on his ass. A brutal blow that not only stole his breath, but decimated his ability to trust. Turning him cold and cynical. The TKO he never saw coming.

Love. A mistake Max won’t ever make again.

Meaning no more relationships—not exactly a hardship. Just the thought of dating makes him queasy, and one of the reasons he doms for a living. To sexually engage without the poison of intimacy. The other reason? To keep his demons sated. With whips and chains, and scandalous kink. A fiery mix that always hits the spot.

That is, until a bright-eyed beauty walks into his life and refuses to leave.

Sean Matthews. College senior and flirt extraordinaire. Max’s newest—and greenest—client sub. Man, is he delicious; able to push Max’s buttons, able to make him crave the things he knows he shouldn’t. Sound the alarm, this can only mean trouble. Unfortunately, deterring Sean proves virtually impossible, and now Max finds himself at a crossroads.

Man up and kick his favorite sub to the curb…or succumb to his own caged desires.

Warning: This BDSM romance contains intensely explicit scenes both inside and out of the dungeon. It also as references sensitive matters involving teens and child abuse that some might find disturbing.

Note from the author: While this duology can be considered a stand alone, I highly recommend listeners visit the prior series (Upending Tad: A Journey of Erotic Discovery) first for two reasons: It was the chemistry of Tad and Scott that started it all and won these books such a devoted following. But also, the love interests in Unearthed (Max and Sean) were first featured in the previously mentioned series, giving the listener a unique first impression of them from Tad and Scott's POV. Most listeners would agree that Max definitely made his mark in a very striking way long before Unearthed ever came to be.

©2016 Kora Knight (P)2022 Kora Knight

Enjoyed It a Lot

I read this book years ago and was very excited to see it in audio. Max is such a Tall, Dark and Handsome brooding artist and Sean is a Ray of Sunlight, when these grumpy and sunshine come together, the sparks fly in more ways than one. I enjoyed character development and hot and steamy moments very much. Narrator did a great job with voices and telling this story, his talented work made this book into a perfect listening experience. I am so excited that part 2 is now available in audio, can't wait to listen to the rest of their story. Highly recommend.

Woah...

This is awesome. Michael is a brilliant narrator. I love how he "gets into" the scenes. Kora Knight is absolutely one of the best writer's I know. How does she come up with these ideas. Come on I need the next book...Sean and Max are great for each other, we just need Max to realizes it for himself.

Hot, Sweet, Emotional with Great Narration!

I'm not always the best at leaving reviews. I'd read this series quite some time ago and enjoyed it. I love that most of the characters have some sort of life challenges, angst, that they go through. You get attached to them and their struggles and want to see them find happiness.
I love the mix of angst, kink, hotness, challenges, and humor.
Also, I really enjoy Michael's narration. His voice is soothing, and he does a good job differentiating characters, so even if you don't pay attention for a moment, you can instantly pick back up and know who's talking. He also brings the right amount of emotion without over acting.

So sexy!

Kora Knight writes sex scenes that are incredibly erotic, intimate and vivid. She doesn’t use the same descriptions over and over. I’m enjoying the story, and finally hearing Max’s background story makes me understand why he’s unwilling to let anyone close enough to hurt him again. Kevin’s death was so heartbreaking; conversion therapy is like a lobotomy of spirit.
Michael Dean is the perfect narrator for this series. He does gruff and growls so well!
It was fun to meet Tad and Scott again, albeit tangentially. Sometimes spin-offs fall flat, depending on previous success to bring in the audience. Kora Knight has written a fantastic spin-off that could stand on its own easily.

Upending Max

First I have to say I read this series when it was released years ago, and although I thoroughly enjoyed it then, hearing it in audio reminded me of all the details I had forgotten and why I couldn’t wait for it’s release. This series is a spinoff from the Upending Tad series which I highly recommend reading first. Yes, you can read this series as a standalone but you get a more in depth picture of all the relationships between the characters when you read the books in order.

We were first introduced to Max and Sean in Scott and Tad’s story but never fully understood the reasons why Max came across as a wonderful and caring friend to Scott but a seemingly hard and sometimes Dark Dom with his subs. In Unearthed we get a very clear picture of how Max came to be.

Max comes across as ass to be honest until you see his friendship with Scott. As a friend he’s caring and loyal. As a Dom he’s strict, aloof and very broody. The only person that sees his caring side is Scott who is his roommate, who he treats like a little brother. Max teaches a sculpting class and is a Dom for hire at night. A chance meeting occurs when Sean models for Maxs sculpting class. The attraction is immediate and from there the two men begin a journey neither is expecting or looking for,

Sean is a fun loving carefree and gorgeous soon to be college graduate. He seems to have his life under control and is content with everything as is. But Sean has a secret he’s been hiding since childhood. It’s something he’s never talked about and never examined too closely. Life is what it is and he’s fine with who he is until he meets Max, the very disciplined, sometimes cold and very broody Dom.

I thoroughly enjoyed the push and pull dynamic between the two MC’s. They both are discovering things about themselves and each other. Sean discovers things about kink he never thought of while Max learns that his hard won discipline of keeping subs at arms length isn’t as easy as he first believed when he’s with Sean.
Both men are struggling, trying to come to terms with the major changes taking place in their lives after. One wants to prove this is no big deal because it’s just sex while the other wants to prove that it’s more.

This story kept me riveted as I listened to Michael Dean’s voice bring each character to life. I can’t wait for book 2. Loved this! I highly recommend this audio and I give it 4.5 stars.

The Best

This is one of the best written and narrated books I've ever heard. This story will break you in the best way, it's not an easy listen, but a worthwhile one. Dark, real, intriguing, and lovely. Highly recommend!

Fantastic!

Words cannot express how much I loved this audiobook! It has been one of my favorite ebooks for a long time and when I heard that Michael Dean was narrating, I knew it would be amazing. And I am thrilled to say I wasn't wrong! If you love compelling romances with a healthy dose of well written angst, check this one out. It is absolutely fantastic!

So gooooood

As my experience with all of korras books this was amazing. I loved how we got understanding of why max is the way he is from pure gut wrenching heart breaking tragedy, it had me in tears. Which really laid the framework for his internal struggle with his budding feelings amid incredible spicy scenes. I will be immediately listening to the next one. Cannot recommend enough!

Well

I was about to panic because I thought there was only one book! I am liking this back story and own storyline. Dynamic, angst, heartwrenching, and hot 🔥. At parts my body just twitched with excitement, hopefully the second part will be more so.

Wild ride

Wow!! this was definitely a wild ride. from start to the end Max is a pile of turmoil. from losing his childhood love to finding his perfect sub. a sub that wants so much more, not knowing he'll most likely never get it. catching feelings that may never be shared or may end in losing his Dom. finally earning the right to call him Maximus. Max calling Sean his toy a treasure...