***4 ‘Mmmm…Elevators’ Stars***

I don’t think I’ve ever laughed/snorted this much while listening to a book while going through a string of various emotions AND needing a really damn cold shower in a long time, but Black Balled did it. In part it was the story itself. RomCom/Satire/MMRomance all done up in a nice in your face yet don’t take me too damn seriously package. The other part was definitely Joel Leslie’s performance that drove this baby home by bringing out each character’s personality and emotions.

Both Troy and Larson are both pompous and arrogant, but they are also both honorable and vulnerable in equal measure In simple terms they represent everything we love and hate about humanity and that makes it hard to not like them both. Neither is perfect, far from it actually, and they’ve both dealt with emotional blows that they have a difficult time coming to terms with. With both of these headstrong alpha males needing to get the last word in, things get a little crazy, but that crazy puts them in each others orbit and it was fun to see them dance around each other, slinging barbs and then watching as they fell unexpectedly for each other. The banter was witty, the sexual heat between them was intense and it was quite entertaining to see just how similar they were when you got down to the bare bones of things.

Outside of the two headstrong self proclaimed ego maniacs going head to head *waggles eyebrows* their backstories and the twists and turns that bring them together were interesting and well thought out, and a little surprising which I loved. Each step made sense and I enjoyed seeing how it all worked out in the end. I loved Ida and Muffy and those bonus chapters were brilliant and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what’s up with these

This was my first experience with Joel Leslie narrating and he did an amazing job. It typically takes me a few chapters to get used to a new narrator, but it didn’t even take that long for my ear to become accustomed to his timber and flow of his voice. It was easy to figure out which character was speaking and holy hell does this man to pompous and arrogant like a champ, but he also does vulnerable and smexy just as well.

~ Copy received from the authors & voluntarily reviewed ~