Brody Ellis is down on his luck, and to make matters worse, he is broke. His sister Molly desperately needs her medication, which he simply can not afford. But he is willing to do anything to provide for her, even if it means holding up a convenience store. As Brody flees the scene of his crime, he bumps into a woman. This chance encounter will set in motion events that will damn near destroy them all.

Lola on fire is a fast-paced and gritty crime novel that will have you on the edge of your seat with your heart pounding . You will find yourself eager to keep reading to see what happens next. Seriously, I devoured this book in two days! It is full of excellent twists that you won't see coming!I personally listened to the audiobook and found the narrator to be quite enthralling.

As always thank you to the publisher and netgalley for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review

Lola on Fire. By Rio Youers, Narrator: Jim Meskimen. 2021. HarperAudio (ARC Audiobook).

Lola on Fire is an entertaining twist-&-turn action read. The narrator did a fantastic job delivering discernible characters, be they tragic or twisted.

I will preface this review again by saying this was also an ALC Audiobook I got from Netgalley that was synthesized. Synthesized Audiobooks are no way to listen to audiobooks. If anyone cares to hear my opinion, listen to audiobooks with professional narrators like, Jim Meskimen who narrators this audiobook. He was freaking amazing!!!

AUDIOBOOK: Lola on Fire
AUTHOR: Rio Youers
NARRATOR: Jim Meskimen
FORMAT: Audiobook from library
SOURCE: @netgalley
LENGTH: 11 hrs 49 min at 1X speed
PUBLISHER: @harperaudio
PUBLISHED: February 2021

I really wish I was able to enjoy this book when I got it from Netgalley. I am so glad that I got this from my library, finally. This book needs a lot more bookstagram attention!!

This book is a an action packed thriller, with some family drama that makes this the perfect explosive combination!!

This book doesn’t or shouldn’t have a lot of set up. Just go in blind and enjoy the action packed thriller!!

This #tuesdaythriller is perfect if you like
🔥 Crime Fiction
🔥 Action Thriller
🔥 Mysterious
🔥 Suspenseful
🔥 Fast Paced
🔥 Bad Ass Female Protagonist

I loved all the elements of this book, and I hope it becomes a series, there is great potential there. And then a cinematic experience!!

Thank you so much to net galley and the publisher for sending me a copy of this audiobook. It was pretty interesting and I look forward to reading more from the author.

From beginning to end, this book was mostly nonstop action. Consider taken, but with a woman instead of a man. The story of Lola, a trained mafia mercenary who wants to leave the life behind, is told in Lola on Fire. She flees, adopts a new identity, and starts a family, only to be forced to flee again. Her past finally catches up with her.
LOLA ON FIRE has the kind of characters you root for, the kind of flawed characters you want to triumph over even if you know they don't deserve it. The villains are larger than life and the type you love to despise.
My only complaint was that things seemed to happen a little too conveniently for the protagonist at times. Overall, a quick and enjoyable read that will keep you turning the pages.

I'm not sure what I expected when I went into Lola On Fire. In fact, I'm not sure I'd even read the description prior to reading. I think maybe I just saw the cover and requested it on Netgalley. But the intro was super high intensity and the book had a really great storyline that I wasn't anticipating.

Based on the intro and the title, I really expected the novel to more closely follow Lola Bear, but she's not at all the focus of the story. Instead the story focused on a younger male, one that’s scared and unsure but also loves big and will do anything he can to keep his sister safe.

Though the story really begins with a prologue of Lola kicking ass and taking names, it then switches to the storyline with Brody where he’s robbing a convenience store to get money that will help him pay for his sister’s medicine. It’s a classic scenario of the Heinz Dilemma. Is it unethical to steal something that is saving a life? During his big criminal experience, he loses his wallet, leading to a big blackmailing scheme that sets up the rest of the book.

I enjoyed the book. It was written well and I really liked the plot. As mentioned, I expected the story to follow a different character, but I have a certain soft spot for stories that start conversations about the inaccessibility of life-giving medications.

I found Brody to be pretty damn annoying, but I also appreciated that he was really just a “normal guy” trying to help out his sister when he’s thrown into a situation that no regular person would know how to handle.

My biggest complaint is the intense amount of gun violence. Like, it’s a lot. I understand it in many forms of entertainment but this was my first time really being like “damn, is there this much shooting in other forms of media?!”. So I think it could’ve been just as good with less guns.

Overall though, it was a good and exciting story.

This just did not do it for me. I could not get into the story at all. Despite my best efforts, it just wasn't enough to get past the text-to-voice narrator, which made this painful to listen to.

*Received for free from netgalley for honest review* found this book really annoying at first, ended up being pretty good i guess but overall not that great...

If you like shoot 'em up movies, Lola on Fire is probably right up your alley. And it does work well as a good bit of escapism - it's certainly not like anything remotely close to this is gonna happen in my real life. The story is fast paced and entertaining. It's also terribly predictable even with all the crazy going on.. Excitement and action aside, I still felt like something was missing here, and I think it all boils down to more action than substance. I just didn't connect with any of the characters or their stories, and I think that comes right back to this story relying a bit too much on the action to keep it alive. I will say that Jim Meskimen does a solid job as narrator. He has a voice that's well suited to the genre, and I would listen to him again. In the end, this one fell a bit short for me,. It's not a bad book, but it isn't something that will stay with me either, leaving me somewhere in the fair to middlin range.

Lola on Fire is an action packed thriller and family drama. I could not believe the main character, Brody's bad luck. You just feel for this guy I mean just when you think his luck can't get any worse... This book had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. It was fast paced and had me hooked from the beginning. The author did a great job of tying the back story in and giving you bits and pieces so you didn't get confused or wondering what was going on. While I enjoyed this story I will not be purchasing it for the high school I work for . I will recommend it to my friends though..
Thank you the author, publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an early audio copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Sorry I did not like the book/audio. I didnt finish this one, but I did do a feature. I have linked my feature of this book. Sorry for the inconvenience. Thanks for the opportunity.

I so enjoyed this book. This was a thriller with a lot of action, but also was a family drama. Brody and his sister Molly become pawns in a mysterious game which takes them across the country running for their lives. They decide they must find their long lost mother, before Jimmy Latzo, a notorious mobster, finds them first. I was on the edge of my seat listening to this. This is also full of heart as well as action. As far as action thrillers go, this one is a 4 star.

Rating: 8.0/10

Thanks to the publisher and author for a copy of Lola on Fire for review consideration. This did not influence my thoughts or opinions.

Lola on Fire is a pedal to the medal, pulse-pounding crime caper turned action thriller that was as explosive as it was heartwarming. I’m always down for what Youers brings to the table and this one was no exception.

I have been a fan of Rio Youers for a while now, having devoured some of his more recent novels like Westlake Soul, The Forgotten Girl, and Halcyon as soon as copies were in my possession. He has a penchant for bringing the reader directly into the story on page one and having you emotionally involved with the characters seamlessly. On top of that, his stories are some of the most original I’ve read and quite unputdownable.

With Lola on Fire, while we have seen crime capers/action thrillers with BA male and female protagonists, this one just felt different; and it could be the way in which Youers framed the story. While the reader becomes familiar with Lola in the onset, the main storyline actually revolves around Brody Ellis and the absolute mess he has gotten himself into: the robbery, the frame job, and, well, the fact that he is now running away from a mobster with little to no cash and his sister. How in the world do they actually expect to get out of their predicament?

This was a very straight-forward thriller, unlike some of the author’s previous works that took a little bit of imagination and perhaps some re-read pages. It was also a bit more cinematic which kept the adrenaline up and allowed for continued engagement with the story; it read more like a movie, one with a quicker pace that allowed for a faster read (if that makes any sense). It also helped that I felt an instantaneous connection with Brody, especially through the struggles he and his sister endure on the daily. While he doesn’t like the prototypical “savior” type at the beginning, he does some very quick growing up as they put rubber to the streets across the states.

All in all, if you enjoy action packed thrillers that are more on the crime side of things, this is an excellent grab from one of my favorite authors.

This book is on fire. It’s nonstop action from the first page to the last, and it will draw you in and hold you tight until you read the final word. While it gets a bit raw at times, it’s everything a thriller should be: well-written, filled with a good story and a great plot, and enough twists and turns to make your head whirl, in a good way.

Brody Ellis, abandoned by his mother and left without a father, does something he knew was wrong. But he needed money to help his sister. He does his best to make sure no one will get hurt when he robs a convenience store, but he couldn’t prepare for how things were about to go horribly wrong and upturn his life.

When he receives a call from Blair Mayo telling him she’s found his lost wallet, he can’t even guess that his world is about to spin out of control and drag him into his mother’s deep, dark past.

This was a remarkable book. It’s a coming of age story mixed with a tale of family love and organized crime viciousness. Brody, with his sister Molly’s help, attempts to outrun Blair and Jimmy Latzo as they hunt him down from one side of the country to the other.

The ending of the book will leave you feeling warm and wonderful. It ties up all the loose ends and sets up a happily ever after for you to ponder.

I listened to the audiobook version, which I received from Netgalley. The narration was spot on, offering everything the book needed to come to life. The narrator has an easy to listen to voice and provided the perfect performance. I’m not a big fan of books about organized crime, but this book was different. This book is more about family sacrifice. I can’t recommend his book highly enough.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley. I thank them for their generosity, but it had no effect on this review. All opinions in this review reflect my true and honest reactions to reading this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Audio for this audiobook arc in exchange for an honest review.

I thought the audiobook itself was done very well and was easy to listen to. As for the story, I thought it was pretty good. It's your standard action thriller story that captures your attention quickly and throws you for a loop with its twists.

It's about a brother and sister running away from a mobster that wants them dead for certain reasons. The characters were decent and the action was good, but I found myself a little bored through the middle portion of the book.

3.5/5

Brody, a desperate young man robs a convenience store to get money to pay for medicine for his younger sister and gets blackmailed by a witness into burglary. Instead of getting away with his original crime, he just ends up in more trouble with a mobster who holds a grudge against someone from his past.

As a huge fan of the author after reading WESTLAKE SOUL, I couldn’t wait to read this thriller. My expectations were sky high and Youers met every single one.

The book starts off with a bang, literally, as Lola Bear, muscle for a mobster, goes on a full on attack of her boss, and his minions, burning bridges and putting a price on her head. Then, the point of view shifts to Brody’s.

It’s pretty impossible not to like Brody and empathize with him. He’s a kid with a good heart who’s forced to commit a crime in order to pay rent and get necessities. His life has gone from bad to worse after the departure of his mother and the sudden death of his father. His desire to see the best in people turns somewhat cynical as the story progresses and not trusting becomes a necessary survival trait.

His plucky sister, Molly, refuses to let her medical issues hold her back. Her savvy computer and detection skills make her an asset when less skilled authors might have made her only a liability.

While the title is all about Lola, the book is more about Brody. Lola plays an important role as does Blair, a young, smart Lola-wannabe. Both women make fascinating characters, as does pretty much every cast member even the quite minor ones, which along with perfect pacing may be Youers’s superpower.

My only criticism of the book is that the characters were so great, I wanted more more more. For example, Brody and Molly turn to a preacher for help, and the gentleman, with his fascinating past and present vocation mad him a scene stealer. But more time with him wouldn’t have served the book, which built to the inevitable all out battle to the death.

Jim Meskimen, the narrator, did an amazing job to bring the story to life. His voice is pleasant, and he distinctly voiced the characters. His narration definitely added to the addictiveness of the reading experience. I kept wanting to listen longer.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced audiobook copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Audio for providing an Advance Reader Copy.

The narrator is fsntantistic at not only handling the entire cast on his own, but the different emotional layers.

He navigates from the emotional to violent, to the manipulative, to the fearful and angry on a dime. And then at times different characters are seething with multiple sides of these emotions at once.

Even when two, three or more of these characters are colliding in one scene, and all these emotions are coming to a head, he masterfully maintains the lens that each character views the situation, each other and how they interact without ever losing the brilliant voice Rio Youers gave each character.

His phrasing, intonation and to pacing in the context of the how the story ebbs with action vs information gathering, planning and emotional reaction, and traumatic toll is also well aligned.

I could not put this book down! Lola on Fire was a great crime thriller that I was completely engrossed in. I flip-flopped between the text copy and the audio book. Both were great! Lola is a complete bad ass , and I kinda want to be her when I grow up (minus the mob stuff and the murder stuff, plus I'm 32 years old lol) Loved the whole idea and concept of the story line except the last scene was too gruesome (even for me). I thought it could of used more creativity/twists to make the ending even better, but its still a solid 4 stars for me.

*Thank you to @bibliolifestyle @rioyouers @williammorrow for the finished copy and @netgalley and @harperaudio for the audiobook version in exchange for an honest review.*

A fast paced thriller, which I really enjoyed. It was very easy to get lost in the book. I will say it is a dark thriller, it for sure has some action in it. I would compare it to John Wick.

I got to listen to the audio, which was quite nice.
***I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.***





***I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.***

DNF at 21%. Not for me. Just couldn’t get into the story. A bit too drawn out for me. Thanks netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.