Shattered Glass

By: Dani Alexander

Narrated by: Joseph Northton

A male prostitute, a mangy cat, a murder, and an obsession that threatens his career, his impending marriage and his life...nothing is going as planned for Austin Glass.

Austin Glass seems to have it all: a loving fiancée, a future with the FBI, and a healthy-sized trust fund. At least on the surface. He also has a grin and a wisecrack for every situation. But the smile he presents to the world hides a painful past he’s buried too deeply to remember, and his quips mask bitterness and insecurity. Austin has himself and most of the whole world fooled - until he meets a redhead in a pair of bunny slippers.

As events unfold in the biggest case of his life, Austin’s carefully planned future unravels, and he finds himself pushed into making quick, life-changing decisions. But can he trust himself or anything he feels, when each event seems to be just a series of volatile reactions?

©2012 Dani Alexander (P)2014 Dani Alexander

Fabulous!

What did you love best about Shattered Glass?

The narration brings the book alive and adds a whole new dimension to enjoying this book. I've read and re-read this book at least 3 times (while anxiously awaiting Cai's book), but the audiobook made it feel like a new experience. The narrator's voice is spot on for how I imagined Austin, Cai and Darryl. The supporting characters are well-voiced, too.

A Very Different Kind of Love Story!!! ❤️

I enjoyed the story and loved the two main characters so much! Joseph Northton did an excellent job with all of the character voices in the story but Peter and Austin were my favorites. I wish that the second book was forthcoming, but it’s been 7 years since he wrote this one, so I’m not holding my breath. Definitely give this one a go though!!!

Witty and sexy

What made the experience of listening to Shattered Glass the most enjoyable?

The witty dialogue is in most cases laugh out loud. The monologue and the thought processes of Austin are hilarious at times and help us understand him and sometimes forgive his actions. Both leads are strong in but flawed in their own way but complement each other very well.

It is my first book from this author but it will definitely not be the last. The story never slows, its one thing after another with lots of twists and turns. There is no big revelation at the end of the book as most books are but lost of 90 degree turns that catch you off guard and keep you riveted to the book. The romance is always there and developing with its own ups and downs. I finished this book in 2 days it was that good. Even though there is no amex per say but there are definitely other things which for me were enough. This story and the writing was so good you did not need heavy smex scenes to keep your interest.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I cannot even choose. I liked both main characters, Austin and Peter as well as Kaye. The ending hints at a possibility of the next book and I cannot wait. It will be on my auto download for sure.

Have you listened to any of Joseph Northton’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

First time to listed to this narrator but it will not be my last. He has a good range of voices as well as accents. He can convey emotion and really draw you in. With more and more narrations he can only get better. Please Joseph narrate more books, you are on my auto download. If fact I searched for anything else he might have narrated but sadly this is the only one. He definitely added to the story

Any additional comments?

If you like m/m romance with a story then this book is for you. You will not regret getting it.

Extremely well written

Clever, witty & charming. The author is gifted & I wish there were more books by her. So many m/m romances are without substance. This one is dense by comparison & well worth a credit - as I write this while listening for the second time.

Fun and easy

Easy listen and kind of fun twist on a detective story. Don't expect Sherlock Holmes or Shakespeare and you'll have a blast.

Loved!!

Any additional comments?

I read the book about a year ago and loved it. This time listening was a different experience but just as good. The narrator did a great job and made the story come to life.

This narration was fantastic!!!

Where does Shattered Glass rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I'm very, very picky about my narrators...this one ranks near the top, though!

What was one of the most memorable moments of Shattered Glass?

The banter between both Austin and Peter, and Austin and Luis was fabulous. Austin is hilarious, and snarky, and awesome.

What does Joseph Northton bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Great voices. Great accents. Just the perfect casual cadence that I think was perfect for Austin. He was completely fantastic.

If you could rename Shattered Glass, what would you call it?

I wouldn't rename it. I loved the part where the title came into play...that's one of my favorite moments in a book, when the title comes to life in the story.

Great Narration

Loved this book when I read it years ago,. the audio brought it to life . I have never heard anything by Joseph Northton, he did a superb job.

One of the funniest stories ever!

Austin is a Denver police detective, on vice, who randomly meets and falls in love with Peter at a diner. It turns out that Peter is a sometimes-male-prostitute, but that doesn’t slow Austin down. Austin is also engaged to woman, but that doesn’t slow him down. Peter ends up being a key witness in one of Austin’s current cases, but that doesn’t slow him down. Ok, these things do slow him down, for like a second, but his attraction is strong enough to overcome these teeny tiny hurdles. Really, just because he’s never been gay before, or he might lose his chance at his dream job, or the fact that Peter does absolutely nothing to encourage his attention, why should those make him stop and think?
As the story progresses, Austin goes from gay to straight in like 0.2 seconds, but, he acknowledges this speed and we see that there were seeds of his gayness earlier in life but he’d been ignoring it for years.
The case Austin is on involves some of Peter’s past and possibly current lovers and human trafficking charges and if you aren’t paying close attention it can get pretty complex. In the end, Austin makes peace with his sexuality, convinces Peter to give him a chance and manages to solve the crime. Yay, HEA!

**
First let me tell you that this book is frickin' hysterical. Really, laugh out loud, hysterical. Every other line is a zinger.


I could put so many more quotes down. Every other page is either highlighted or bookmarked! Dani Alexander is amazingly funny and the story is super fast paced and quick witted so you have to read (or listen) carefully to follow along. That is no tragedy because the writing is excellent and so very funny.
The love story between Austin and Peter is not an ooey gooey one, but actually fairly pragmatic (once you get over Austin’s love at first sight). The two MCs are flawed with a capital F, and their love is as well. But, with a minimum of fanfare, the two do end up really devoted to one another and the epilogue gives us a brief glimpse at their happy future.

Another fantastic element of this book is the secondary characters (2 of whom are meant to have their own books coming out). Cai, Peter’s brother, is a manic-depressive artist who you can’t help but love and want to hug. Twinkerbelle, Peter’s friend Darryl, is a snarky queeny type who can’t find anything good about Austin until the very end and their banter is hysterical. Luis, Austin’s police partner, is a jaded older guy who believes in Austin even if can’t believe the things Austin does.

Anyhow, the whole dang cast is freakin’ funny and when they aren’t making you laugh, their touching back-stories will break your heart and make you cry.

This book talks about sex a lot, but there isn’t a heck of a lot of it between Austin and Peter. But the chemistry they do have is pretty hot and steamy. I thought Dani did an excellent job of handling the “first time” scenes in that there is a lot of “can I do this?” even though Austin is so attracted to Peter that he acts the aggressor.

I thought it was an amazing novel and I really look forward to the sequel(s), now over 2 years in the making. (I hear rumors it is actually slated out soon!)


Audio Version:
Joseph Northton does an amazing job! Peter’s family is Russian, Luis is Hispanic, Peter is from the southern US and Austin is from Colorado and Joseph does all their accents excellently. This is a very wordy and fast-paced, dialog-driven story and Joseph keeps up and keeps the listener engaged.

I absolutely loved the book and the audio version and highly recommend both.

Oh man! This was so funny!

Any additional comments?

Austin Glass is so ridiculously funny, no matter what he does or say it's forgivable. I loved that he just "embraced the gay" and he didn't give a d@mn what anyone had to say about it. Although there are some heart breaking moments, this story was so fun and refreshing to listen to. Xo