Loved this book!

If you could sum up Winters Heat in three words, what would they be?

Audiobook listened to and reviewed by Kim
for Read Your Writes Book Reviews

I've read Winters Heat previously and completely loved the book. When Cristin Harber put out a call for an audiobook review I was totally game. Then I thought, "Crap. I don't like audiobooks. They bore me and the narration is cheesy." Thus, I'm the perfect person to review an audiobook, right? Yes, no. I honestly have no idea.

I loved this book from the start with its larger than life Alpha hero who has a heart of gold and risks his life to protect the woman he's waited his whole life for. The heroine isn't too bad herself. Mia seems like a damsel in distress although she's anything but. She's strong with wounds of her own she’s trying to overcome. She's a survivor. The secondary characters in the book, from Colby's mother to his team members are great. The book gives you hot love scenes, intense fighting, and some comic relief.

What other book might you compare Winters Heat to and why?

Winters Heat and Cristin Harber's books are in a league all their own.

What about Jeffrey Kafer’s performance did you like?

I think Jeffrey Kafer did a wonderful job. He completely kept my interest. Never once did I find myself wandering off into the unknown. He was able to voice multiple characters. I think he nailed the voice for Jared, leader of Team Titan. I kept thinking Jeffery's Colby voice reminded me of someone, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure it out. Half way through, John Wayne popped into my head. It was so not the voice I had in my head of Colby when I read the book. I loved that Jeffrey was able to portray a woman's voice, without doing it in a falsetto. Because seriously, women don't sound like that. Jeffrey was also able to pull off a Spanish accent and make it believable.

Winters Heat is one of my favorite books so when the narration got to the part of the book that originally sold me on reading the book I felt a little let down. I felt more urgency and intensity when I read the book myself. I loved revisiting Mia and Colby's story via an audiobook. I was surprised with details I missed while reading it myself.

I really hope that if Cristin turns the other Titan books into audio books that she continues to have Jeffrey do the narration.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

hot love scenes, intense fighting, and some comic relief

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

15 people found this helpful

Suspense, hot sex and great heart!

What did you love best about Winters Heat?

Titan group agent, Colby Winters leaves on a routine assignment and finds himself on the most worth while assignment of his life. Colby appears to be the typical no strings attached ex-military man that finds himself mesmerized by an infuriating yet intriguing Mia Kensington, when he saves her from abduction while she's trying to intercept a top secret package from a dangerous drug cartel. Mia, a military therapist, is strong willed, smart, and the most beautiful woman Colby Winters has ever seen. She is quick witted, stubborn and selfless, but has built up walls that Colby has a hard time penetrating. Later on, we learn that Colby has a much deeper side than Mia realizes. His home life surprises her and shows his softer side. On their road trip, in attempt to keep the package safe and her alive, Colby can't keep his need for her at bay. He feels emotions that he's never felt before and encourages Mia to share herself with him, in more ways than one! His yearning not only for her body,but for the feisty woman within is deterred from her built up walls and her growing arousal for this testosterone filled man. She attempts to keep him at bay but the chemistry between these two is palpable. Mia can't keep herself from this alpha male and when she's pulled away from him, she realizes her true feelings. Colby breaks down her walls in attempt to help her to trust and love again after a surprising and saddening confession. She has her own fears to overcome, but when the going gets tough, Mia gets tougher. Colby finds that he has be with her, even though he knows that is not a safe life for her. His mind and his heart rage a war. Mia and Colby are pulled away from each other multiple times, but they keep finding the way back to one another. The sex scenes are steamy and the love is felt throughout the writing. The narrator, Jeffrey Kafer, is well spoken and displays emotion through his voice. The expressive way he portrays each character is distinctive. I could almost see the expressions on the characters faces. The way he can transition from a stern military man to a serene calm woman is effortless. This is my first read my Cristen Harber and I enjoyed this story. She kept me interested throughout the book and portrayed each character well, causing me to care about not only the two main characters, but the rest of the Titan Team, as well. The arguing, the steam and the suspense kept me riveted throughout the story. I recommend this book to anyone that likes a little bit of suspense, action, hot sex and true love.

Review may also be seen @ Books, Coffee, and Wine!

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

13 people found this helpful

OMG! Story ruined by the author!

Ok, really?! So they just met about 20 pages ago. I am on page 35 and the are making out hot and heavy, close to having sex in his truck, on the side of the road. Meanwhile she believes she is kidnapped. They stop the making out, clothes tugging, zipper sliding etc,. due to interruption of sorts and a shaking a head to clear the lust.

WHY do authors put sex in a book by page 35? Just ruined what was a potentially good story! Geez, so totally and completely disappointing. A gradual attraction so much more attractive to a reader. This just made the book so unbelievable and forced the relationship. This book just ended up on my did not finish bookshelf.

As for the narration, it was good. Nothing wrong with the narrator ruining this book, the author did that by herself. Just sayin....

So glad this was free on amazon and 1.99 for audible whispersync. I should return it for my 1.99 back. grrrrrrrr

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

Great New Sexy Series

There are an awful lot of romance books floating around, and it can be hard to find something original to write. I think Harber did a pretty good job with that. Colby Winters is a mercenary, but he's also... other things you don't normally find in these books. I have a hard and fast rule against any kind of spoiler in my reviews, so you're just going to have to trust me on this.

Mia Kensington isn't your usual too-headstrong-for-her-own-good heroine, either. I liked her, actually. She takes care of herself and she grows. But she's not stupid and doesn't put herself into ridiculously dangerous situations just to prove she's independent. Thank god; I hate those women.

The overall story is pretty good. There's plenty of action, plenty of decent dialogue, plenty of internal and external conflict, and plenty of lovin'.

I don't know if this is Harber's first book or not, but I think it might be. If so, there is plenty of room for improvement in both storytelling and construction. Which is not to say that this book isn't worth reading, because it is. I hope the next book in the series is better.

Actually, the character I ended up liking best, besides Colby's mom, is Cash, the star of the next book. Cash is a colleague and friend of Winter's, and he actually made me laugh. I'm looking forward to Cash's story, and to what I hope will be an improvement in Harber's style; she's good, but she can get better.

Jeffrey Kafer has a good voice and once I got used to the pace of his reading the delivery of the story was good. However, at the begining his voice was a bit confucing and I had to reverse and listen to parts over.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

I was in whispersync heaven!

Any additional comments?

After having read one of the novellas and book 2 in the series before I decided to start at the beginning and give this series a go... AND I did this as an audiobook, which was the best idea EVER!
I honestly think I enjoyed this way way way better read to me by Jeffrey Kafer than reading it myself. His voice... is just want this book needed. Seriously! I have in fact decided to wait for the rest of the series to be published as audiobooks -cause well, Kafer's voice is too much of an enticement to pass up.
There is allot of action, alpha dudes and some pretty good smut.. a fun suspense romance. In some ways this is nothing new- oh wait actually in many ways this is absolutely nothing new. Harber has not reinvented the wheel. It isn't some great liturarly feat as well. But it is well written and rather entertaining. Especially when read by Mr. Kafer.
Which is possibly the most surprising thing ever. When I started this I wasn't so sure I was gonna like it- I mean the deep rather alpha sounding dude voice that was reading it... well I wasn't sure at all. But I thought to myself- oh well, thank goodness for whispersync
--BTW I really adore whispersync it's the best invention straight after my kindle
But as I said now plenty of times I ended up loving the narration. It's just how I would imagine Winter to sound like.
So besides the usual usual this is an entertaining action cute & fluffy with a good dose of smut. If you thinking about getting it- get the audio- I promise you won't regret it!

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

short spurts of suspense mixed with great sex

I saw the reviews but since the book was on sale I decided to take a chance. I admit there are some steamy sex scenes but the story is a bit flat. The hero falls for a girl he does not even initially find attractive but then sees how beautiful she is within the first chapter. The lovesick behavior takes place shortly after that. It is very unbelievable since she does nothing to strike this heat within him especially since he is made out to be super attractive and desirable and has women supposedly throwing themselves at him. I just did not see personality or physical attributes that made her that irresistible for the hero. Beyond this point though the Columbian Cartel is taken over and first and second men in command are taken over in their own property AND country by a handful of seals. Yes. You heard me correctly. If it were that easy, the US can wipe out the drug lords all over South America with just a handful of seals. Unbelievable story, unrealistic scenes and poorly developed characters. Stay away is all I can recommend.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

A private security group you will love

If you could sum up Winters Heat in three words, what would they be?

Exciting, suspenseful, action-packed

What other book might you compare Winters Heat to and why?

I would compare Winter's Heat to Julie Ann Walker's Black Knights series. A bunch of bad boys, who all have some type of military background, who have gotten together to work outside the law, sometimes, to right wrongs.

What does Jeffrey Kafer bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I have read the book, and I also got the audio version. Jeffrey Kafer has the inflections and the nuances of the character's feelings and emotions down pat. He makes you think that you are in the character's mind, and that you ARE that person.

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

Yes, I could have listened to it all in one sitting. However, that was not feasible for me. I found myself rewinding it a lot, to revisit a certain scene or the thoughts of a character.

Any additional comments?

This is only my second Audible book. I was impressed with the clarity of the narrator, and the fact that he was able to change his inflections and tonal quality to really give you the perspective of a scene from that character's view

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

Misleading Category

If you like Harlequin romances with a heavy dose of porn, then this drivel is for you. Very disappointed that Amazon would even consider placing this book in the Mystery/Action category. The book actually had potential if the romance had been balanced with the development of the relationship between the members of team Titan. The, story line of the list of undercover agents could have been fleshed out to make it believable. Don't misunderstand, I like action stories where the alpha male has a personal life, but this story focused 80% on the romance and more than graphic sex scenes. Please Amazon leave this "me Tarzan you Jane" junk in the romance category so readers know what they are buying.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

Boring

These characters are unbelievable. The story is canned and forced. It has a fun beginning, but that is about it. The reader's voice is difficult because it is so deep. Need to get to sleep fast? This is the book.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

One dimensional, repetitive, boring

Boring! The entire 3 hours that I bothered to listened to (leaving 5 hours that I did not bother listening to) consisted of Winters talking about how hard his cock was...interspersed with gunplay every 10-15 minutes. Total waste of my time.

The narrator really forces the hardbitten, Sam Spade type of storytelling. Way too camp.

This book/production shows no respect for the audience.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful