Cuddling Sucks in Coffins

The Slayer's Reverse Harem, Book 2

By: Holly Ryan

Narrated by: Melissa Schwairy

Betraying him might save her life...but at risk of losing him forever.

Belle Harrison, vampire slayer, would give anything for a simple night of patrolling on her own damn terms. But the graveyard is crawling with creeps with hidden agendas. Not to mention the dark unknown that wants to take her out.

And we’re not talking dates here, people.

Good thing Belle has three panty-melting vampires to help her.

Except one of her guys has a past that’s catching up with him. Violently. Belle’s fairly certain she can save him. But if she betrays him, she’ll gain a wealth of knowledge that could help her survive the dark unknown.

A lot is at stake, including everything that makes her the slayer she is, and it just plain sucks.

©2018 Holly Ryan (P)2018 Holly Ryan

A Great Follow Up

Rating: 4.5 Stars

I still don't feel that the term Reverse Harem fits with this series. It continues the adventures of Belle Harrison but this time we get to see more of her relationship with three men. The story continues right where the first book left off and builds on the relationship of the four of them. We also get to see how those men came to be. Part of that previous life has filtered into what Belle does.

This was my second listen for both the author and the narrator. Our author gave me a second reminder of what I love about the paranormal romance genre. The difference from the first book was that I didn't want to be multitasking while getting to know more about these two women and the characters their helping get to know. Ms. Ryan still feeds my love for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series and I've gotten used to Ms. Schwairy telling me a good story. Still thinking that I need to do a relisten around Halloweentime - especially when you think about where Belle's job takes her. What better time to get up close and personal with the unexplained?

I'm still finding the story too short - but that's a good thing. The good news is that I'm finding myself getting hooked on this series. The sound issues I had in the first book didn't seem to make an appearance here so it made it much easier to listen instead of wondering when I was going to hear something I shouldn't. But there's a sadness to my story. I see that there are more books to Belle's adventures but I'm not seeing anymore audiobooks but I do see books and that's where the sadness comes in. The good news to my story is that Ms. Ryan does have other books in the series that I can read as opposed to listening to. And that won't stop me for watching out for more audiobooks either.

I voluntarily reviewed an Audiobook copy of this book.

Cuddling Sucks in Coffins

This series continues to be great with heroine Belle Harrison and her vampires. Melissa Schwarz is a really good voice actor. I thoroughly enjoyed her performance. I was given this free copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Fantastic

Great addition to this series. Another fantastic audiobook with plenty in it. Narrator did a fantastic job also on this.

This series is getting better and better.

This is the second book in The Slayers Reverse Harem series and it picks up where Vampires Don't Give Hickeys left off.
Ramping up the action, this instalment was high on fantasy horror and fear packed, tension. The graveyards terrifying prowlers are still out to take the slayer down.
Belle is offered the chance to learn things that could save her, but at the expense of one of her Vamps. They have shown her such security and support (not to mention intense passion.) You will have to read / listen to this to discover whether Belle can betray one of her loyal lovers to save herself.
Once again I cannot fault the narration by Melissa Schwairy. She maintained the high level of vocal acting, with the same distinct character voices and fabulous narration. I imagine that as a narrator, it must be hard to walk the fine line when doing intimate scenes, and boy, are there some steamy scenes, but as with Vampires Don't Give Hickeys these scenes were sensual and flowed with the story.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Holly Ryan. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

A LOT OF FUN IN THE DARK

CUDDLING SUCKS IN COFFINS is the second of five books in the Slayer’s Reverse Harem series. They do need to be read in the order of release.

This is another quick story in this reverse harem paranormal romance series. Though Belle speaks of fantasies of being with all of her vamps, she remains a one-at-a-time lover so far. I hope that she will explore more of those fantasies in future stories.

The big, dark, unknown nasty, that is currently known as Paul has some frightening magic that kept me glued to my car seat and mad at the rain that was entirely too loud at times (LOL). You can bet I was rewinding to hear what the rain had washed away.

I definitely want to listen to the rest of this series! I encourage anyone who enjoys paranormal smexy short stories to join the fun.

My final thought: I love the titles! If you follow me at all, you know I love puns, playing on words, and playing with words. I say, “Well done, Miss Ryan!”

Narration: The narrator, Melissa Schwairy, is a masterful storyteller. She gives her characters individual voices with emotions that match the text. She enunciates and pronounces well. I’ve already started a relisten, just to enjoy the narration again.

Note: While I received this book as a gifted audiobook copy via Audiobookworm, my opinions are my own and are given freely.


Title: CUDDLING SUCKS IN COFFINS
Series: Slayer’s Reverse Harem #2
Category /Genre: Paranormal Romance
Recommended for: 18+ due to sexual content
Listenability: NSFW
Received from: Holly Ryan (as an Audible gifted copy)

Cuddling Sucks in Coffins

So now that the Devil’s offer of marriage is off of the table, there is still that pesky bit about a darkness that is supposed to claim her before her twenty-first birthday. What a mess right?! Belle is pretty sure that the darkness goes by the name of Paul, but can she really be sure? What if this is the first challenge out of several to come? Ryan has a no-nonsense, kick-ass female heroine who has some impossible decisions to make and this second installment continues to engulf readers on her journey to find answers.

Belle Harrison now has not one, but three vampire lovers. Talk about epic fail in the Vampire Slayer arena. These vampires are different though; they are not mindless, soulless creatures who are ruled by their hunger like the ones that she typically slays. Rather, they are smart, caring, and compassionate. The selling point–wait for it–they dedicate their lives to those in need! How can you kill anyone like that? Apparently, there is still someone who wants revenge against one of her beloved vampires. When Belle runs into him unexpectedly while on patrol, she may not have any other way to protect her lover other than to agree to work with this new assailant who claims to have information about an invaluable group. As if that was enough–there is still Paul–lingering in the shadows, just waiting for his chance to strike.

Ryan has a fantastic short story, filled with creativity and originality. The pace is very quick, but easy to follow. The story appears to be written fairly well. Since this review compliments the audiobook, the narrator was magnificent with her voice relay. The scenes are vivid for the imagination and characters are entertaining. This is the second installment in the Slayer’s Reverse Harem Series; however, it is not recommended as a standalone. Due to previous information revealed in the first installment, a reader may become lost or confused with reading the second installment first. If you are interested in paranormal romance and suspense, this may be a perfect fit.

An audiobook was provided to Turning Another Page by Audiobookworm Promotions and in no way affects the honesty of this review. We provide a five-star rating to Cuddling Sucks in Coffins by Holly Ryan.

Loved it

I loved this series. Belle is a kick ass vampire hunter who ends up falling for 3 vampires who are HAF. Very steamy.

Worth the listen

While not as intriguing as the first book, cuddling in coffins was definitely worth the listen. Looking forward to book three

A little slower-moving than Book 1

**I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Holly Ryan. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.**

A lot more time is spent on the sexual shenanigans in Book 2 of this series, occasionally at the expense of plot advancement. Threats abound and there’s a finite deadline for figuring shit out, and yet Belle is way more distracted by dick than seems reasonable—even if it is attached to impressive, go-all-night, supernatural hotties. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed the book and Ms. Ryan wrote those scenes very well, I just wish the sex hadn’t been in lieu of character development.

Belle and her vampire lovers faced some interesting (and kinda icky) challenges in Book 2. As if the threat of a Dark Unknown out to end Belle’s life wasn’t trouble enough, a new complication in the form of another vampire bent on revenge really upped the stakes. How the citizens of Podunk City remain completely ignorant to what’s happening is beyond me, especially when they briefly become the zombie-like, murderous, maniacal puppets of a madman. Ignorance is bliss, I guess, and magic explains everything? Anyway, there’s not much character development happening here; it all pretty much happened in Book 1 and now the characters are walking through the story, fully formed (or at least as fleshed out as the author seemed willing to spend time making them). Not a bad thing in books as short as these, but it did leave me wanting a little more flesh on the character bones.

I’m glad Melissa Schwairy read this second book. After listening to a longer series like The Dresden Files, I’ve come to really appreciate it when the same narrator reads all the books. It just adds an extra level of immersion to know you’re going to hear the characters the same way each time, and that narrator becomes the characters. As with Book 1, the audio quality was professional and uninterrupted by background noise, weird pauses, or bad splicing.

Bottom line: "Cuddling Sucks in Coffins" was a nice, if somewhat slow-moving, sequel to "Vampires Don't Give Hickeys" and recommended for lovers of paranormal romances, reverse harems, and good narrators.