It’s short but fun! I am unsure what the age gap is exactly but it’s not exactly for me… that being said it was entertaining otherwise!

Run Darling
Toy Runners Series
2 stars
I'm not sure what I was expecting going into this but for me, it wasn't that great. I loved the whole toy thing with a holiday theme. It just ran way too fast and was just a lot in a short amount of time. I think I'll give it another try but start from the beginning of the series, so I know whose who is and what is what.

Run Darling is an interesting fantasy holiday read! It's fast paced and very steamy! Not much plot but the "toys" with the christmas theme were a great touch!

This book is a raunchy dip into santa-esque world of toy delivery and christmas magic. Arabella is the newest toy runner in her magical toy runner family and she has something to prove. This Christmas may be her only chance to prove to her family that she deserves a place in the family business, prove to herself that her dreams can be reality, and prove to Rhyne, her dream man, that they belong together. Rhyne, however, is her bodyguard, her brother's best friends, 15 years her senior, and wholly off limits...except maybe he isn't.

This book includes:
- age gap romance
- loose use of bodyguard and brother's bff tropes
- toys of all fun shapes and sizes
- supernatural santa elements
- dual POV with unique narrators for each protagonist

"Run Darling" just wasn't for me. I found the dialogue cringy and the narrative style was very tell not show. I also felt there was some POV mixing from third person omnipresent and first person limited. For example, Arabella might say that she can't bring herself to turn around a face Rhyne, but then will describe what Rhyne's expression is while still insisting she hasn't turned to look at him. I also felt that the trope use was gimmicky and I wish readers would have gotten a second to get to know the characters and the world before we were thrown into the extracurricular activities.

The general audiobook production was good, however, I found it grating the way Arabella's narrator over pronounced the character's hispanic last names. As a native spanish speaker, it was really hard for me to get past. I also don't think the narration needed to use each characters first and last name together so often (like every 15-30 words), but that may again be personal preference.

I'm sure there are readers who would enjoy this, it's just not for me.

I received this audiobook as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, TAdriana Herrera, and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to review this book. This review has been posted to GoodReads check out my profile https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/62314863

Thank you NetGalley and the Publisher for an advanced audio copy of Run Darling by Adriana Herrera in exchange of an honest review.

"Adriana Herrera's 'Run Darling' is a delightful holiday romance that combines an age-gap trope with the forbidden allure of a brother's best friend and a bodyguard element. The story revolves around Arabella and Rhyne, whose unexpected encounter during a Christmas shopping trip leads to rekindled feelings and undeniable chemistry. The romance between them is surprisingly sweet, and the steamy scenes are captivatingly written, adding an extra level of passion to the narrative. Despite its short length, Herrera manages to craft a fully fleshed out world, immersing readers in the festive atmosphere of the holiday season. However, some readers might have mixed feelings about the narrators of the audiobook, particularly when it comes to the delivery of the sex scenes. That being said, the audiobook provides a quick and tantalizing holiday escape.. Overall, 'Run Darling' is a heartwarming and tantalizing romance that will leave readers feeling festive and satisfied."

I’m honestly not sure what I just read, but I know it was unhinged, spicy, insane, and so thoroughly entertaining I will be reading the other novellas in the series, for sure.

This is an erotic novel. The plot is just spice. This is an omegaverse second-chance brother's best friend bodyguard she-sells-sex-toys santa’s helpers in the North Pole she’s always wanted him erotic novella and it was amazing.

It’s short and sweet but it packs a punch. I definitely recommend the audio, the narrators did a fantastic job.

thank you to netgalley and adriana herrera for providing me with this alc in exchange for my honest thoughts <3

holy crap y'all this was hot!! i'd seen so many bookstagrammers talking about the steam, but i was not prepared!! i enjoyed the rest of the toy runners series because of just how fun, hot, and unhinged they are. this brother's best friend, age-gap, omegaverse, holiday romance was pure smut that served up just the thing one needs to warm up during the winter season!!! as usual, the latinx rep was so well done as usual. definitely going to be picking up more of adriana herrera's holiday romances after this delightful series!!

Wow. This audiobook had me in a chokehold with the first half. Then it got a little weird, but it was still interesting!

This one jumps right into action but it’s a bit overwhelming from my view. Including “toys” with a Christmas theme is actually pretty clever but it was a bit too erotic for what I was expecting. Also very short so the whole thing felt like intimacy and I didn’t love that.

There's romance and then there's erotic. And Run Darling definitely falls more on the erotica side.
Arabella has had a major crush on Rhyne forever. But he's her brother's best friend. Now that she's all grown up and confident in who she is, Rhyne cannot deny his attraction. And, Well, dang 🥵🔥
This is fast paced with a little plot and a lot of sex and imprinting on one another.. Enough to heat up your cold, winter nights.
The audio was pretty good. I much preferred the female narrator over the male for their performances of the characters. I expected something different for Rhyne.
Overall, a smut heavy listen with diverse characters that definitely heats you up. 3.5 stars

Performance: this was such a steamy read but I wasn’t really a fan of either voice actor or actress.


Review:
All I can say is HOLY SMUT. This book is not what I expected it to be and it has some great smut in these pages. I have to say that I have not news the other two books in the Toy Runners series so I felt a little lost when reading. The majority of the book is them being hot and dirty with one another while waiting for the plot to continue.

Merry Christmas Papi (;

This is an erotic NSFW Christmas novella, I was defiantly not expecting this to play out loud on my phone at work during a spicy scene... Thanks to NetGalley & Dreamscape Media for the ARC of Toy Runners book 3! (:

Run Darling
By: Adriana Herrera
Narrated by: Victor Quixabas, Ramona Master
Series: Toy Runners, Book 3
Release date: 12-05-23

3.5

This was an erotic Christmas novella so it won’t be to everyone’s taste, but I love Adriana Herrera’s writing so much that I am in the process of reading her entire backlist and will continue to read anything she releases.

Run Darling is an age gap/brother’s best friend/bodyguard romance where Arabella is out buying sex toys for this year’s Christmas run and for reasons ends up stuck with Rhyne, her older brother’s best friend who she once confessed her love to only to get rejected. The romance was surprisingly sweet, the sec scenes were steamy, and I was honestly surprised at how fleshed out the world was for how short the book was.

I didn’t love the narrators but I’m not sure how much of that was actually the narrators and how much was not generally preferring to listen to sex scenes. That being said, the audiobook was under 3.5 hours so if Christmas smut will help you get into the holiday season or you need a quick read to reach your Goodreads goal I recommend this!

3.5 ★

Okay LMAO. I did not expect this to turn out the way that it did. I was out here running in thinking it was gonna be this cute holiday romance featuring Latinx characters but instead I got some heavy Christmas smut featuring Santa's elves with grumpy x brat, age gap (25-40), a growly throw-her-on-his-shoulder-and-whisk-her-off-to-ravage-her brother's best friend, and a whole lot of smutty toys.

It was fun and just as expected for Christmas smut, although there were some scenes that had me cringing. In any case the good news is she really does know how to jingle his bells!

The narrators weren't my cup of tea at all but the book itself was quite fun. Thanks to Dreamscape Media for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Another super hot and spicy holiday book from Adriana Herrera! As long as she keeps writing them I will keep reading! This one was 🔥

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for this ARC!

I had no idea what this book was about lol I requested it because Adriana Herrera is one of my favorites! And WOW! I was not expecting erotica! lol but heck this was freaking hot!!! So good! I am a smut fan so I enjoyed this but trust me if you are shy don’t read this lol if you love smut grab this FAST!! You will love it! And LatinX rep is always great!

I thought this was a romance, so I was surprised to find that it's actually erotica. Erotica is not my thing, but it was my mistake, this was an ARC, and it's short (<3.5 hours as an audiobook, and even shorter because I listened at 2x speed) so I soldiered on while cooking... until about a third of the way in, when I just could not go on. Still, I gave it 3 stars instead of 1 because the problem was my taste (I don't like the genre) and not the work itself.

So, first off, this is Santa's elves porn. I was surprised by how childish the reader sounded, complete with upspeak, given that it's porn... but I guess that's because she's meant to be an elf? Maybe fans of bratty sub vibes could like it.

I think this'll be a fit for people who like:

- one bed trope (it's present)
- gruff MMCs
- off-page (pre-story) pining
- holiday naughtiness

I stopped because, while it was amusing to listen to porn while chopping oblong veggies with a sharp, sharp knife, erotica just isn't for me. I should have known, based on her job working with sex toys, but I thought this was a romance with an FMC who had an unconventional career and I thought that would be hilarious and ripe for antics and gaffs.

Thanks, NetGalley and Adriana Herrera, for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Arabella and Rhyne are hot enough to melt your face off. Truly. The narrators brought a new level of hotness to this story too. I have loved this series so much. Latinx, queer, sexy as hell and so much more!

Run Darling started out strong for me, but lost my interest part way through.
In the beginning I thought the FMC was funny and I adored her, but I felt both her character and the writing devolved. It started out funny, bratty and feisty, and eventually transitioned into too cringy for my tastes.

I knew I was signing up for a quick, smutty holiday themed novella, but unfortunately this book was a miss for me. And there are days where I love an all smut, no plot book, but today wasn't that day.

I would like to say that Ramona Master was a fantastic narrator. She was engaging and believable. She's honestly probably why I continued listening rather than just DNFing when I began to lose interest. Victor Quixabas also narrated it well, however during his parts were where I began to lose interest in the book. I think that correlates more to the story than to his narration, but it's still noteworthy.