Silk & Sand

Seth & Raider, Book 1

By: Katherine Diane

Narrated by: Casey Jones

Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

The only thing worse than trekking across a dangerous desert on a nearly impossible mission? When your guide is intolerable—and irresistible.

Seth spends his days hunting down mystical artifacts. As a curator for the Arcanum College, that's his job. But when an arcanist murders a fellow scholar, Seth finds himself assigned instead to a dusty, thirsty, frustrating manhunt. Why him? Because, he's been told by his superiors, he's the only curator sufficiently tenacious and brutal for the job. (Seth resents that.)

When the murderer vanishes at the edge of a deadly desert, Seth finds himself in need of a guide. Unfortunately, the only one crazy enough for the job is Raider—a man with an easy grin who is clearly a thief, liar, and rogue. (He also has illegal quicksilver in his veins, and that arcane enhancement positively screams "I've done bad things.") The only thing worse than having to rely on such a reprobate? Finding him irresistibly attractive.

Raider might think the manhunt a foolish endeavor, but he's delighted by the prospect of breaking past the barriers of the gorgeous, rigidly self-controlled curator. That kind of intensity needs the right outlet (and Raider has such ideas). But Raider just might be asking for more trouble than he realizes—because he has barriers of his own, and some very dark secrets lurking behind them.

But that's not the only trouble looming. If Seth and Raider can survive their desert journey, Seth's manhunt will lead them into even greater dangers and mysteries.

Silk & Sand is a high-heat fantasy adventure that will take you to the most exotic locations and into the most twisted secrets. It will lure you in with action, humor, and sizzling tension—and will hook your heart with its emotional intensity and beautiful love. Be prepared to laugh, cry, and stay up all night with these two gorgeous, complicated, irresistible men. Seth and Raider's relationship is intense and sometimes rough but always safe. For mature listeners.

©2024 Katherine Diane (P)2024 Podium Audio

Long winded, ends on a cliffhanger

My first by this author and narrator.
Started out good, but quickly became, at least for me, a story about two people having adult relationships (s*x) while journeying across a desert.
And instead of each person talking to each other we get these incredibly long winded monologing paragraphs about self doubts and self reflection
It's all too much.

I did enjoy the baseline of the story and wished the author would have spent more time on that.
The end also ends on a cliffhanger, and I for one am not invested enough to continue with rest to find out what happens.

The narrator did a wonderful job of keeping the story itself going.