Distance

Beneath the Mask Series, Book 1

By: Luna Mason

Narrated by: Noel Harrison, Zara Hampton-Brown

Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

Keller

From a poor underground street fighter, I rose to fame as the world heavyweight boxing champion. No one knew I was also a monster who hunted in the shadows.

Trapped in the mafia until my debts were paid. A simple deal held my freedom—unify my belts.

It seemed simple until an enchanting British firecracker landed on my lap, knocking me sideways. Wanting her was dangerous for us both, but I took her anyway. Leaving me with the choice, fight for my freedom or hers.

When the truth is unmasked, could she still love me? Would love be enough to battle our demons and come out on top?

Sienna

Newly single and focusing on building my life in New York, I’ve sworn off men for the foreseeable. No one had ever stuck around long enough to let me believe in fairytales anyway.

That was until him.

He tried to hide himself from me, but I couldn’t stay away.

When the mask shattered and the truth was revealed, could I still stay? Even if it meant my life was at stake.

Could we get past our fear of love and fight for our happily ever after?

Distance is book one in the Beneath the Mask series, a series of stand-alone dark mafia romances. Distance is a mafia cross-sports romance, full of spice and suspense.

©2023 Luna Mason (P)2023 Blue Nose Publishing

The voice acting is terrible!

I could barely get thru this audio book bc of the bad voice acting. Just read the book! You don't have to act it out, (in a bad accent) and add moaning and other sound effects. I had secondhand. I had to read the book instead of listen.

it was smutty!

loved the story. wasn't much for surprises though. it ended how I figured it would and the little surprises that did happen you could figure out pretty easily.

TikTok didn't steer me wrong

Found this title on TikTok and it was just want I wanted!! Perfect balance of romance and spicy content.

Quick Read. Not bad but funny narration.

Narration
Noel Harrison voice wasn't bad but it felt like a character trying to be made. His voice had moments where it reminded me of Optimus Prime from Transformers because he would have robotic way of talking. Zara Hampton-Brown voice isn't bad but I wasn't really a fan of hers after Wicked Beauty. Her British accent kept making me cringe.

Story
This story about "Distance" is the basically the distance that they are trying to keep from each other but honestly fail very very quickly. The dialogue fell into the humor(for me), the way that the characters acted toward each other. It was a quick read and had spicy moments. although I could not really tell what the plot was and this book didn't have any character developments. Again it was a decent read for my first book of the year. She could have done so much more with the plot and the characters but I think this just happens when the book gets overly hyped and I end up expecting so much more.

Keller
This character was interesting and had so much that the author could have played on. She definitely played on the forbidden romance which went with dark romance but it was only forbidden or unattainable for like the briefest of moments. He is the usual brooding, grumpy, aggressive, and overprotective man.

Sienna
This character had so much story and much to work with; she was an interesting character but her personality diminished my interest a bit.

Mafia Romance, it’s exactly that

This dark romance was a story about your seemingly average girl and boxer involved in the mafia. Both emotionally broken and unexpectedly find each other. They get caught up in a whirlwind romance and have an incredible time enjoying their erotic fantasies together. Although it was a tad “too good to be true” in terms of their relationship for me, it was an overall good read.

Mafia Romance!

This is the first book in the Beneath the Mask Series, a mafia romance. Keller and Sienna's story is filled with miscommunication, push and pull, and ups and downs. Keller is enigmatic, alpha, ruthless, possessive, and protective. Sienna is beautiful, naive, strong, and determined. The are opposites attract, and they are perfect together. I liked the instant attraction and the sizzling chemistry. The cast of supporting characters is impressive. Noel Harrison and Zara Hampton-Brown did an excellent job bringing this story to life. I enjoyed it. Looking forward to listening to Detonate, the next book in the series. #BlueNoseAudio

They’re tropes, not people

The way the narrator speaks some of the more ridiculous lines definitely makes it worse - like they’re cartoon idiot tough guys - but even without that, the book would feel disingenuous. The characters are hyper emotional which is fine but their decisions make no sense. For example, he wants her back but when she asks for a kiss he says no and they go back to being tortured and heartbroken even though in both their inner monologues they’ve said they want to be together and understand the other person? It’s just manufactured drama when there could have been real drama. And how is he so full of darkness but he just keeps threatening her ex instead of doing anything to eliminate the threat?

Enjoyable

I love mafia romance and I think this book was done well. It was entertaining. The characters were likable and it was easy to follow. I will listen to it again in the future.

narrators

This would be better in duet. The narrators voices don't cross over well. It has me laughing at parts that shouldn't be funny.

If I had time to sit still, I would read on KU instead.

Why aren't all books done in duet? 🤔

Jaw Dropping

This book was amazing, not once did it let me down. If you like the dark smutty type of books then this book for you.