Ben Fortune

A Shifter Love Story (Blackstone Academy, Book 2)

By: Elizabeth Dear

Narrated by: Michael Gallagher, Gregory Salinas

When my family finally left our little close-minded pack of assholes back in Utah to join a huge progressive pack in Northwest Louisiana, I thought I’d finally be free of the chains of judgment, scrutiny, and homophobia that had tainted my life with our old pack. I thought I was done with labels and pack drama, and I was ready to fly through my last two years of high school winning friends and influencing people with my stunning charisma—in spite of the fact that we were supposed to be lowly omega wolves.

But when the Alpha’s son rejects my beloved sister as his fated mate on our very first day at Blackstone Academy, his callousness and stupidity kick off a chain of events that embroils us both in the drama we wanted to avoid, both at school and within the pack at large.

It also entangles me with the Alpha Heir’s best friend and beta wolf, Thad James, and I can’t seem to fight my attraction to him—not that I try very hard. He’s a stuck-up, beautiful, cocky asshole behind those sexy-as-f--k glasses, and I make it my life’s goal to knock him off his game while he fights the intense chemistry between us.

For him, there could never be anything serious between us because of who he thinks I am.

And who am I? I’m Ben Fortune, and I’m going to get what I want.

This is a new adult, academy-based paranormal M/M romance. While it can be read as a stand-alone, it is highly encouraged that you listen to Mave’s book (Blackstone Academy, Book 1) for a better listening experience. As always, this book is intended for the 18+ crowd and contains a lot of swearing and some spicy boy-on-boy action. If that all sounds like your jam, then dive in!

©2021 Elizabeth Dear Publishing (P)2022 Elizabeth Dear Publishing

Ben Fortune

I loved the book and loved the audiobook equally! Lots of things that happened in Mave’s book are shown here but on Ben’s POV.

Great storytelling, engaging main characters and the steamy scenes were just right!

great second addition to Mave's story

I usually don't like high school characters because of their immature natures, but most of the kids in this story have been hardened already, so it's more of an adult story. Dear writes very well with a plot that seamlessly meshes with the romance. this one has the heartbreak of prejudice by class system, the steadfastness of personal confidence of self worth, and the happy tone of true love. not much homophobia here; the pack is very open to LGBT couples. can't wait for the next story!

Narration and Story are on point and fantastic!!!!

I absolutely love Ben and Thad's story and now that I get to listen to it on audio, it's even better.

The narrators definitely allow you to be immersed into the story. I loved their voices but it took me a minute to remember it was set in high school with Thad's voice since it's so deep. I'm sure there are kids in their late teens with deep voices but it's been a while since I was in high school, so it threw me off a bit.

My new favorite MM audiobook!

I loved reading this book and I loved the audio version even more! The narrators do an exceptional job of bringing Ben and Thad to life, with all of their sexual tension and banter. Michael Gallagher really showcases the playful, fun, antagonistic attitude of Ben, as well as his strength and loyalty to those he cares about. Gregory Salinas is the perfect voice for Thad and he really nailed his uptight, condescending tone. I 100% recommend this to anyone who loves MM audiobooks like I do!!!

Ben Got His HEA!

This book did something I wasn't expecting it to do. It interweaved Ben's story into Mave's story (Book #1) in an interesting way. In this book, we get to see what was happening with Ben while Mave was being put through the wringer in her book.

Being in Ben's head and seeing what Mave was going through put a different perspective on things in the best way. I also liked getting to know him. He was very self-assured and confident in himself. I loved how he never mistreated anyone who was "beneath" him in the pack hierarchy. The way he made Thad stew in the consequences of his own actions was glorious.

I disliked Thad for probably the first 50% or so of this novel. He was an arrogant *ss who deserved everything he got. Personally, I would have liked to see him grovel more. I did eventually warm up to him though. He become a much more down-to-earth person as the relationship with Ben progressed. Deep down, I still think Ben could have done better if I'm being brutally honest.

The ending was great but the epilogues were jarring. It gave a glimpse into Knox's story but what the author wasn't counting on is that even though he's been reformed and has "grown" I'd much rather get Harriet's story than Knox's. Fingers crossed she'll get her own book!

Onto what I loved about this book: the LGBTQ+ representation. It's great to see characters from the community who play an integral role in a plot who don't get killed, tortured, or traumatized for shock value. I loved that Ben's parent's moved heaven and earth to protect their son from the prejudice of their old pack. It's not every day that parents in books actually do some good and protect their kids (at least in the books I read 😅).

Onto what rubbed me the wrong way: The slut-shaming was still really, really, really annoying. Catching glimpses of the air-headed characters doing it to Mave from Ben's POV was still very annoying. I still think the overall story (Book #1 and #2) could have done with much less if any at all of this particular trope.

The Audio Book:

Listening to this book made me realize that I can actually like male narrated audio books as long as there isn't a female narrator in the production. Through this experience, I learned that what bothers me SO much with male narrators isn't necessarily the lack of female voices/tones it's the comparison I automatically draw when a female narrator switches the POV every other chapter. My brain gravitates to the female narrator because they usually have a bigger range of believable male and female voices than male narrators. With this narration, because there was no switch off from male to female narrator the story was much more enjoyable because I wasn't actively dreading the male narrated chapters because the voices sounded funny.

With that being said the narration was good! Though the male characters did get jumbled up a few times in my head because there was so little distinction between their voices. This audio book also didn't have any weird noises in the background.

* I won a free copy of this audiobook via a giveaway. All opinions in this review are my own.

Love it

I have listened to this book over 6 times love the character interactions would recommend this book

Awesome story

Great Enemies to Lovers Story. Narration was spot on and made this book even better. I did not listen to book one and I had NO problem understanding what was going on. this is definitely a stand alone. well worth the credit and your time to listen.

Amazing!

This book was wonderful in print form, but in Audio form it is even better. The voice actors do an absolutely amazing job! You don’t want to miss this!

Excellent!

Wonderful narration and a wonderful story!
I absolutely fell in love with Ben, he’s got such an attitude but he’s really a sweetheart!

Ben

Loved Ben and Thad’s story can not wait for Knox’s story. Would love to have Asher’s story