Ignite

By: R.J. Lewis

Narrated by: Seren Schlesinger

They grew up together as the closest of friends...and then more. When Sara Nolan and Jaxon Barlow decided to be together, their relationship as a young couple was consumed by a love that was both passionate and beautiful. Sara had it all when it came to a boyfriend: romance, trust, and a protector of all things bad. Jaxon had given her his bleeding heart for the keeping.

The last thing Sara expected was to ruin it all. Falling into a darkness that turned her loving relationship into a chaos of deceit and violence, she walked away from the pain she was inflicting on the man she loved, never seeking to return again.

But when Sara is forced to return to her hometown, she didn't anticipate for Jaxon to be there. Nor does she anticipate the change in him; a change so harsh and callous, he is a stranger with a dangerous agenda of his own. Ignited by her past feelings and the reminder of the guilt she carries in her heart, Sara attempts to avoid Jaxon at all costs… only to find herself trying to pull him out of the same darkness she was once in.

Warning: There are many adult situations in this book that might be offensive to some listeners. Sexual situations and strong language especially. Book is intended for mature listeners.

This is part one of two books. Ignite number two, titled Burn, is out now.

©2014 R.J. Lewis (P)2021 R.J. Lewis

Second chance biker romance

Ignite was a combination of genres. It was young love between childhood friends. It was a second chance at love after sabotaging it the first time. It was a biker story that was subtle yet bold.
Jaxon and Sara found friendship in each other when he was ten years old and she was eight. He stood up for her when she was bullied. From that moment going forward they were inseparable. Over the years there friendship grew. It wasn’t until her senior year in high school when Jaxon realized what was standing right in front of him.
Sara had a lot of growing up to do. She needed to find her footing in the world after years of living with an alcoholic mother and an abusive father. Jaxon was always there to save her. Lucinda was the mom she relied on when her own mother turned a blind eye.
Jaxon and Sara grew up in the projects of Gosnells. There’s a lot of crime in certain parts of Gosnells with the bikers located there. A lot of seedy people slumming it at night. Sara remained ignorant of the bikers claiming territory in the area she grew up in. When she returned five years later she finally was exposed to both the Scorpions and the Black-Backed Jackals.

I’m revisiting Ignite after having read it back in 2014. Back then Ignite was the first book I read by RJ Lewis. It was also during a time when biker romances hit the market hard. It’s fascinating to me revisiting a book after so many years. What I remembered fondly about this book back then resonated with me. That’s until my revisit. I’m on the fence with how I feel today versus how I felt back then. If I had to rate it today I’m sad to say I wouldn’t give it the same rating. I’m staying with my rating because what I felt at that time was a stepping stone in my reading process. I thank RJ Lewis for the growth and opportunity to find original reading material.

Narrator:
Seren Schlesinger is the solo female performer of Ignite. It’s hard to fathom that I read this book seven years ago and it’s finally available on audiobook. I listened using the audible app at 1.8x speed. Listening time is 9 hours 23 minutes.

She is a multilingual Voice Over Artist with years of professional acting experience. This is my first time listening to one of her audiobook performances. First off I struggle with solo performing artist who have to voice multiple characters especially male characters. Given that Jaxon’s character is part of a biker gang I would expect a rough deep sexy voice to go along with his part. But that’s not what Serena’s performance provided. I tend to be extremely picky in my preferences regarding women performing male sounds and tones. Rarely do I find a narrator who can perform the right sound of a guy.
I’m slightly disappointed this wasn’t an unabridged audiobook. I enjoy listening to audiobooks while following along with my ebook. While there weren’t too many noticeable changes to distract from following along I still was taken back by the revision.
Serena’s performance of Sara’s character wasn’t what I envisioned of her. Often times her tone was loud and screechy. I listened with headphones and when Sara’s character was angry and yelling I had to pull away my headphones from my ears.
I preferred the third person performance. Seren offered a more soothing even toned voice.

This wasn’t one of those experiences where my listening experience was enhanced. I actually preferred the way I experienced it with me reading Ignite. The voices I imagined in my mind sounded better than what Seren provided.