Caged

The Defiant Kings, Book 1

By: Bella Matthews

Narrated by: Gabriel Spires, Heather Firth

Why are the cocky ones always the hardest to resist?

This man is temptation personified. He’s six feet four inches of rock-solid, golden muscles that are inked to perfection and proudly displayed every time he steps into the cage. I’m the idiot who agreed to stay with him for the next few days.

Hudson “The King” Kingston knew he had a fight coming up when he risked himself to save me. How could I say no when he needed a friend to help him out?

Because that’s exactly what we’ve always been—friends. Friends who flirt. Friends who tease. Friends who never cross that line. Ever.

The problem is the more time we spend together, the more things shift between us. But no matter how much I wish he could be my first, he’s never been a relationship guy, and I refuse to settle for anything less.

I know I can trust him with my life, but can I trust him with my heart?

©2022 Bella Matthews (P)2023 Podium Audio

Love this book

I love that he took his time to touching her and he make sure that she was wanted all time

loving the book!

I left the book. I just wish it was longer like that. there was more to their story

Not my favorite but worth a credit.

I’m enjoying Bella Matthews as an author for easy listening escapism. I love the Kingston family antics. I felt as though some storylines could have been explored a bit more. But, overall it was good.

Loved it

This was my first time listening to Caged and the narration was so good I didn’t really notice it was dual not duet.

I first read this story when it came out as an arc and fell so in love with Bella’s books I went down the rabbit hole and have read all her books.

Loved it!!😍

Fantastic narrators really brought Hudson and Maddie to life!! I loved everything about their connection— the flirty banter, his sensitivity to her limitations, the friendship, the super spicy chemistry, the love!! The world building of these family and friend groups is unmatched, and both these narrators did an amazing job juggling everyone!!

A friends to lovers fighter romance filled with family, a broken past and so much love!

How in the world did I not know about this book, this author and this series?!? Caged is such a fun and flirty friends to lovers storyline with an MMA fighter and a broken heroine. I was not only hooked into Maddie & Hudson’s story but also the whole family of characters in this book!! Caged starts The Defiant King series but there are some relationships established from previous books that I cannot wait to go back and read!

I completely loved this book on audio! Heather Firth & Gabriel Spires are new to me narrators but I just fell in LOVE with their voices! They were enjoyable and just made the characters feel so realistic in their performance. They used different inflections perfectly while narrating that helped articulate the moments of the book from the fun banter, to the heartbreaking sadness, and even those breathy comments for the spice! Also, Gabriel’s female voice was so adorable and perfect!! I already want to find more narrations by these two as they made this story so incredibly easy to listen to for me!

Overview: Hudson King comes from a rich family dynasty and Maddie teaches a yoga classes at the MMA gym he goes to. They have become friends through their mutual friends over the years. Hudson loves to flirt with her but he is known as a manwhore and Maddie knows she’d get crushed if she gave him her v-card. Their slow burn romance is a satisfying build up that starts with some mystery that puts them in a forced proximity situation. Overall, if you’re looking for an enjoyable well paced read with family, friends, MMA fighting and spice (with some some added metal) then I definitely recommend this book!

Bella does it again

Loved the story, loved Hudson, love the Kingstons! I’m not sure the male narrator would’ve been my choice for Hudson’s voice but I still really enjoyed it!

Round for Round

I really enjoyed Hudson and Madison’s story. They’ve always had a thing for each other, but neither thought the other felt the same. Hud is an MMA fighter and she has many talents, but also works at the guy with him as a yoga instructor. Their chemistry was fun and flirty. Someone tries breaking into the gym and now Hud wants Mads with him. Their friendship builds into this beautiful relationship. She lets him in and he treats her like a goddess! The audio was fantastic, I love these narrators!

Read: 🎧
MMC: Hudson Kingston
FMC: Madison Dixon
Spice: 2🌶️
Tropes: MMA Fighter, Friends to Lovers, Reformed Playboy, Virgin h

Laughable

Okay I like cheesy, but this was awful. The story was lame, the whole thing took place in a week, the narrator was cringey. Absolutely not

Missed for me

This story had all the right elements to be great, but in the end it fell short for me. Why? I can’t put my finger on it exactly, but it almost felt the the shell of a story that missing the insides. The beginning was slow to build but then the end was somehow too rushed. The drama felt too dramatic, but the suspense/mystery felt like an afterthought. Just ok for me.