The description of FIFTY SHADES OF GREY meets hard-bodied ex-Navy SEALs is accurate. The fact Jack is a former Navy SEAL seems to have little to do with the story other than the assignment he and his team are given at the beginning of the story which is thrown in between the multiple sexual encounters between Poppy and him. The sex scenes are quite descriptive, even more so it seems through the audiobook. The book was more about the love Poppy has always felt for Jack, and there needed to be a way to bring him back into her life. I don't feel Jack's mission's plot point is necessary. It seems forced into making Jack a big, tough Navy SEAL guy coming into town and everyone should be cautious.

I think there could have been more of a storyline written around the great sex scenes with a little more creativity.

This book was pretty good overall. The characters motivations made enough sense, and the relationships were developed enough. However, I was not the biggest fan on the type of relationship the main characters had. They had known each other since she was 7 and he was 14, and while nothing happened between them until she was 18, the age gap combined with how long they knew each other made me a bit uncomfortable. As I finished the book I had not felt the need to read more books in the series until I got to the epilogue which left me on the edge of my seat. I was genuinely surprised at the turn the book took. I listened to this as an audiobook and enjoyed the narration. I think the narrators were a good fit for their characters and did a very good job.

2/5 This book is just ok, I had to DNF, and I rarely ever do that. This is for a very specific audience, and I don't think I'm it. The plot feels like an afterthought to the "activities" - it's just that, a backdrop. It makes it very hard to care about the characters at all. The story needs more development. The start of the book is jarring, and leaves you wondering if you accidentally started in the middle of a book. The language is offputting - I don't mind strong or mature language, it's just unrealistic. You NEED to read trigger warnings if you have any, because this book dives RIGHT in to SA. I don't have triggers, but I recognize that many do.

Nobody refers to their body in anatomically correct terms like that during intimacy. The voice being used feels very much like a male trying to write as they think a woman sounds like, or like AI trying to write in an erotic voice. I would suggest about drastic reduction of the use of the word "moist" and its iterations, and tone down the possessiveness and red flags on the MMC. While I understand the escapism and fantasy, it's not believable that EVERY man is over 6'5" and dressed as a marine-SEAL-biker-mountain climber-lumberjack-bodybuilder-country boy with 2 first names. The "baby girl" and "sugar girl" pet names are excessive. The writing is 50% adjectives, 25% adverbs and all that's left is 25% for plot and character development - and the male characters suffer from that affliction of not using pronounces "Want you to..." or "need you to" (they never say complete sentences, such as "*I* want you to...") - in a very stereotypical neanderthal-ish voice. If what you want is pure "adult film with a vague plot" then this is perfect for you. If you want some substance, this is probably not quite your style. I'll give it a 5-star rating on spice alone. The narrator sounds completely disconnected and uninterested, like they're reading from a script with no sense of the content, and it's a bit halting and off-putting, and she doesn't voice male characters well at all. Please know, I say all of this as a person who ENJOYS smut generally.

Ok- there is a lot to like about this book. Lora Leigh is really good at establishing a new world, and she certainly set this up for a promising series. I loved the drop ins of well established characters from a different series (which I devoured btw) so that was fun!
My only complaints came from the narrator and the terrible “ southern” accent she saddled Poppy with, the constant use of every characters first and middle name ( I get that this is something that happens here in the south, but it was super difficult to hear it for the entire book) , and the fact that Jack was a jerk for most of the story. Surprising, because Lora has done the über possessive alpha males before, but there was always something underneath that felt they were more than chest thumping cavemen. Jack had very brief glimmers of that, but it was grating in this day and age with that “my woman” crap.
All that said, it has an interesting premise for a new series. I will check out the next installment for sure, to see where she’s taking the story.
**Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advanced copy.**

The storyline was based around Poppy and Jack who were childhood friends turned lovers. While the connection and chemistry were semi-present with Poppy and Jack, the lack of depth in their characters made their romance feel contrived and forced. Despite their spark, the relationship between Poppy and Jack lacked the emotional depth needed to truly captivate. Their story failed to leave a lasting impression and felt like a missed opportunity for a more engaging and compelling narrative. Their story just fell flat. 


Beyond the romance, the plot line was boring. It was hard to pay attention because I was genuinely not interested. It was not intriguing. I found myself constantly checking the time, counting down the minutes until the audiobook was over. The characters lacked depth, and the dialogue felt forced. Overall, I was left feeling disappointed and wishing I hadn't requested the ALC. 


It's possible I would have liked this as a digital or physical copy, but this book was not good as an audiobook. The narrator's voice in general sounds almost robotic. I feel this audiobook needs dual narration. A different voice for the male character is necessary. The male voice is too cringy. Especially cringy in the spicy scenes. The spicy segments were well written, but overall, the narration of the male character's dialogue by a female voice was distracting and diminished the impact of the spicy scenes. It was uncomfortable to listen to. The male narrator's voice took away from the intensity of those moments. It was hard to fully immerse myself in the story when the male character's dialogue was being read in a female's voice. Jack's character is meant to be an alpha male, so it would have been more effective to have a male narrator for Jack's character to fully capture that alpha male persona. This choice in narration took away from the authenticity and believability of the story, making it difficult to listen to and fully engage with the character and the plot. Having a female voice for a male character works for an audiobook sometimes, but in this book, Brianna Bronte was a less-than-ideal narrator for Jack's character.


Ultimately, I couldn't finish this audiobook. I had to DNF and I hate DNFing a book. I got about 70% through and had to call it quits. I have plenty of other books on my TBR to get to than to waste my time with this cringy audiobook. Life is too short to force myself to finish a book that I'm not enjoying. I'll just have to chalk this one up as a loss and move on to something else. It's all part of the reading journey, and not every book is going to be a winner for me. Time to move on and find my next great read. I feel bad harping on a book, but this one just wasn't for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Play Dirty
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It was a very enjoyable read! A little romance & thrills mixed with suspense. You could feel the chemistry coming off the pages. Excited to read her next book. It kept me turning the Pages. I didn't want to stop the story to sleep or eat. LOL
Thank you NetGallery!!

I did not finish Play Dirty by Lora Leigh. To be honest, I barely made it through chapter one. Incidents occurred in both the prologue and in chapter one that I was not expecting, and I did not continue reading.

Lora Leigh is a great storyteller and I love all her stories, especially those spicy scenes she weaves in. Play Dirty is a great cast of some hardened military men and their ladies. While this isn't a favorite of her books, I enjoyed the storyline and the opening to the next trilogy of military novels she has.

Play Dirty
Tempting SEALs: Triton, Book 1

I Picked Up This Book Because: I’ve liked the author’s past works. .

Media Type: Audiobook
Source: Netgalley
Dates Read: 3/16/24 - 3/19/24
Stars: DNF- No Rating
Narrator(s): Brianna Bronte

The Characters:

Poppy
Jack
Poppy’s brothers, Jack’s other team members

The Story:

At this point I am forcing myself to pick this up. Romantic Suspense with a second chance and a dash of kink is usually right up my alley but I cannot connect with these characters and their chemistry seems forced. I also don’t care for the narrator's male voice. I’ve fought the good fight and I'm giving up.

2/5 Stars. Thank you, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook of Play Dirty by Lora Leigh narrated by Brianna Bronte.

I almost DNF around 85% but pushed through and sped up the speed reading towards the end. The narrator was great but man did I feel like it was dragging. It has been a while since I've read one of Lora Leigh's books and thought I'd get back into her reading...unfortunately, I can't say that this was the book to make me feel like I've been missing out. This was not the book for me, there were a few trigger warnings - horrible alpha male. I guess you can blame it on my background history with military men and it was just not that great. Don't get me wrong, some of the scenes were hot and sexy...but I just could not get into the plot as much as I thought I would.

The narrator was good...but I think this book should've had multiple narrators. Could not get into as well as I thought I would. I tried but just could not enjoy it.

Definitely, check the trigger warnings. There are some sensitive subjects touched on.
I listened to the audiobook. The narration was good. It was slow but that's what speed adjustments are for. I am fairly new to audiobooks but I think I would have enjoyed this more in physical form. Not due to the narration, more the topics of the book and a bit of jumping around on topics. I feel it would have been easier to follow in a physical book.
There are spicy scenes - open door spicy, that were done very well. There was good balance between spice and plot.

DNF (45%). I couldn't finish this book. It was a bit too much spice for me... with a very demanding male character. I guess I should have realized that by the title and others reviews, but honestly, I didn't think Jack could be that bad. He was, oh he was - severe alpha male, like too much for me. I couldn't finish it. The narration was bothersome at first, especially Jack's. Poppy's was okay, I felt, being from the South. They grew on me, then would grate on me again later.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this audio recording. This book just wasn't for me and I would put it in more in erotica than romance. If it were labeled that, I would have been less likely to request it.

Meh. Good, not great. Some of the spice was a little cringe, especially in the MMC voice. Interesting story line but felt it was lacking something just not sure what. I was entertained but probably won’t read any more in the series.

I loved the start of the book. I felt it was a solid beginning to build up the background for the main characters. Though there should be a trigger warning list. (I had the audiobook version so I'm not sure if the physical book had one and the audiobook didn't include it). The main character Jack, though I did like his character in the beginning, I ended up hating the longer the story went on. Also, WTF is up with the sudden change into making this almost like a scifi with the AI component in the end being uber realistic and the epilogue? Too much.

I received the ARC audiobook through NetGalley.

Jack and Poppy's story is a second chance at love. Poppy has always loved Jack from the first time she rescued him when she was 7 years old. He was never good enough for her and now he's back and he can't stay away from her. Poppy is in trouble that she doesn't even know about and Jack will keep her safe no matter the cost.

The story was good and held my attention. Jack was a little much for me at times. Very alpha. Poppy was a pretty strong leading lady. Their chemistry was so hot! Needed a cold shower! The story was good and fast paced. The evil they are battling was so intriguing to me and something so possible in our future that it's scary. I can't wait to see where this series goes!

The narrators did a great job with this one. Told the story very well.

I’ve been in a terrible car crash before where the whiplash was almost lethal. And it still wasn’t as bad as what I just endured during this book. There is no indication of when one character’s pov ends and another begins. And because it’s in 3rd person it takes me until I’m halfway through the passage to figure it out. That’s just one problem.
The story… there’s either too much going on or not enough. And it felt like there was exactly two settings. The house and the bar. With random scenes around at random places.
Honestly I struggled to finish this one and might not have if not given for free in exchange for my review. This is a series, or so it seems, and I unfortunately will not be continuing.

Poppy has always loved Jack since she was 7 years old. Jack has always looked after Poppy since she found him hiding from his dad. Jack has had a hard childhood and his only goal was to keep Poppy safe when he was around her. Jack has been a Navy Seal who sometimes goes to far to make a wrong right. When Jack has taken a mission back in his home town, he knows that this will be the hardest mission ever. The tenson between both Poppy and Jack comes full circle when they finally give in to their true feelings. This book is full of lusty scenes. If you like Katee Robert books then Lora Leigh's book is for you.

Play Dirty by Lora Leigh has a lot of potential. The book starts with Poppy and Jack as children and teens. They trauma bond over a near rape. Then he goes off to the service and comes back to town with the intention of using her to get close to his target. It had a little suspense and mystery revolving around the person or persons that Jake was investigating. The story had heat although in some parts I wished it hadn’t.

“Poppy, I could bathe in the blood of anyone that dared to attempt to hurt you and step out of it feeling good about myself and what I’d done”. Probably the best line in the entire book, and it’s used twice. This line was actually pretty hot. They had great chemistry and I wish the author had used that to build on the romance aspect.

I gave the book multiple chances and almost stopped reading multiple times. The first was after an attempted assault and then Jack fools around with her. Like what?? The storyline was very confusing and adding in AI. I wanted more. More something. The romance itself was flat. He comes back and the trauma bond from the beginning is still there and bam, they are a couple. The AI thrown in was confusing and hard to follow.

I liked Poppy and felt she had spunk. She wasn’t afraid to defend herself, no matter what.
I like alpha males but Jack fell flat in other ways that he just came across as overbearing.

Narrator was good.

Tropes
Ex military
Friends to lovers
Alpha male

It definitely wouldn’t be a book I would reread or need to add to my physical collection. I would probably try the next in the series but wouldn’t put it high on my list. The story repeats and lines are repeated several times.

This book is about a ex Navy Seal that has control of his team and his woman. I honestly didn't think I was going to like it when I first started the book, but I definitely got pulled in. I don't normally like controlling men, but the storyline makes since and changed my mind. The ended was so unexpected and the uncertainty of what was going on hold your attention. Did I mention this book is spicy in a very good way! Very steamy. I did listen to the audio version and the narration was great!

Trigger warnings: Strong male control, adult content, age gap, language, smoking, drinking, drugs, murder

Play Dirty had a lot of potential, but fell flat for me. I didn’t enjoy the main male character, Jack. He was a little too controlling and I didn’t always like the way he spoke to Poppy. There were a lot of cringe moments unfortunately. I wish that there would have been two narrators. Brianne Brontë did a great job with narrating Poppy’s lines. But she just made her voice deeper for Jack’s lines. Definitely a spicy romance book with some interesting scenes. Also, I was a little confused by the ending as well… definitely left it for there to be a second book after this one.
Thank you to NetGalley, MacMillion Audio and the author for allowing me to listen and review this audiobook!