Plum

De: Cate C. Wells

Narrado por: Jillian Macie, Tor Thom

Plum

Life didn't give me a silver spoon. It gave me tetanus. When Adam Wade walks into my club, I know I'm in trouble. His money I can handle. But sweet words, gentle hands? I don't know what to do with that. Eventually, he's gonna wise up and walk away. If I let him in, what'll be left of me when he goes?

Adam

I'm the adopted son of the man who owns the city. I was born into nothing, and I've earned my seat at the table. But at night, when I can't sleep, I'm haunted by the pieces of myself I've disowned to make it this far.

I don't know why Plum caught my eye, but I can't look away. Maybe it's her brave face, her fight, her quirks. I'm obsessed, all-in with my eyes screwed shut. Then life throws a harsh light on our choices. I'm forced to face the ugly truth of what she's done to survive—and what I'll have to sacrifice to be with her.

Plum's a fighter, but would she fight for us? And if I give up everything for her, who will I be?

Contains mature themes.

©2020 Cate C. Wells (P)2020 Tantor Media

Perfect Narration! Loved ❤️

I absolutely love Cate C. Wells’ books, so of course I had to listen to the Plum audiobook the moment it was released. I’d already read the ebook, but if you’ve read anything by Cate, you know her writing pulls you in completely. There’s something about the way she captures human connection—down to the smallest, most meaningful details—that sticks with you.
Hearing the story come to life through such perfect narration made me fall in love with these characters all over again. A couple of my favorites, for sure.
Highly recommend!

Excellent story well narrated

When we first meet Jo-Beth Connoly, aka Plum, she’s at work. Adam Wade is watching her give his step brother and business partner a bl*w job in a private room at The White Van, a strip club run by the Steel Bones Motorcycle Club. Adam’s brother tries to short Plum on money and a fight ensues. Adam gives Plum more money than she’s owed to settle the issue. Plum is concerned Adam may think they have some sort of pay in advance thing going. Adam is intrigued by Jo-Beth and pays her to go to dinner with him. It’s a little bit like Pretty Woman, in that a rich man hires a s*x worker and they develop a romantic relationship. Except that Plum is a better story. I love it.

No one writes quite like Cate C. Wells. Her romances have joined the ranks of my favorites because no matter how bananas the premise, her characters are grounded and she dives into the kinds of things I like to contemplate, like the structures of oppression, without sacrificing story. Jo-Beth and Adam have in their own ways, been turned into commodities – valued for what they provide rather than for who they are. In a lot of ways, they also see themselves as goods and services. The secret though, is that Cate C. Wells is writing them as humans, people with inherent worth. That makes all the difference in keeping Jo-Beth from becoming either trauma porn or a hooker with a heart of gold who must be saved from her life of s*x work. Adam is so confused by his attraction to Jo-Beth, and he treats her like a commodity a couple of times. Once he realizes that the love his family has for him is conditioned on what he provides, he’s able to understand the connection he has with Jo-Beth. We really needed that epilogue, because we needed to see Adam down the road fully valuing Jo-Beth as a partner.

I don’t tend to like motorcycle club romances because they tend to lean into gender stereotypes. What I’ve come to appreciate about Wells’ approach to the MC life is that yes, most of the characters are happily insisting that women don’t get involved in “club business” and dividing women into categories according to their s*xual availability. Except that there are an awful lot of exceptions. Harper Ruth is the club lawyer and all up in club business. Pig Iron’s wife, Deb, is the brains behind the club’s finances. The guys are really just in charge of the construction business and murder. Plum does a lot to draw back the curtain on the realities of life for women in the MC. The relationships between men and women are complex, and the border between Old Lady and Sweet Butt isn’t as solid as the men think it is.

I’ve read Plum a few times. This time I listened to the recently released audiobook, narrated by Jillian Macie and Tor Thom, who also narrate the other Steel Bones MC audio books. I now associate their voices with this world I return to over and over again. They do a great job of bringing the characters and world to life.