The Dark Path of Romance

Kim and Angel, Book 2

By: J. Judkins

Narrated by: Angela Dawe

For Kim and her memory-challenged girlfriend Angel, a job searching for signs of alien activity implies sanctioned permission to do what needs to be done. Turns out, they’re going to need it! What they lack in skill and training they make up for with tenacity. But as a fan of science-fiction in all its forms, Kim feels up to the challenge.

Their investigation attracts the notice of Naomi, an alien who’d rather find love and live in the world than enslave it. Naomi recognizes Angel as one of their own and dares to dream her own dreams of independence. If Angel could escape and become free, why couldn’t she? Fortunately, no one’s mentioned that becoming a supervillain isn’t necessarily the perfect way to blend in and avert suspicion.

And if the fate of the world hanging in the balance wasn’t bad enough, Kim suspects Angel wants to marry her! Kim believes she’s found the perfect solution to keep herself single and free, but lately her own motivations have come into question. Is seducing Angel to take away Angel’s reason to marry her really the best solution?

A sequel that finally answers the question, "Where the hell is book two?"

What are Angel’s origins? Will Kim ever catch a clue and embrace her love for Angel? Will Naomi and her chosen love interest survive Angel’s potentially fatal attempts at matchmaking? How far can the author take this "romance to extreme" concept before running out of ideas?

©2017 J. Judkins (P)2018 J. Judkins

Female narrator!

I really enjoyed the first book needless to say that when this audiobook came out I was excited! Then I heard the male narrator and I returned it right away and got my credit back! Now I hear there’s a new version with a female narrator and I said hallelujah!!! This book does not disappoint! It is one of the funniest stories I’ve heard in a while. It’s the kind of shake my head, I can’t believe it kind of comedies with an unexpected guffaw thrown in. Not a wasted credit anymore 😁

Silly and Clever

Not my usual genre, but I decided to listen to second in series to find out how their story goes on. Silly yet clever.

Fun read

This is my second listen and Angela Dawe does an awesome job! I'm so happy that this audio book was redone with a different narrator. I love how that the author paid homage to Scooby doo cartoon series.

nice follow up

I enjoy the sense of humor in the first book however I enjoyed this book even more as it delves further into angel’s background and the alien plot. i wish there was a third book as i would like to read more about this universe, or is it a galaxy like star wars?
kim can be a bit much at times with her excessive rumination and finding coil within coils in even the simplest statement, but overall one gets the sense that she means well and is growing as an individual...gradually.

Better than the first

I was hesitant about the narrator change but the new one did a great job. This book was hilarious and I loved every minute of it. I was literally rolling around my couch laughing my head off at one point. These books are ridiculous and remind me of old Scooby doo cartoons but I love it. 10/10 would listen again.

My new favorite scifi novel(s). Pls write more JJ!

I listened to this series at the expense of sleep and productivity lol! keep em comin J. Judkins and Angela Dawe(also my favorite narrator)!

Fantastic re-release with terrific narration!!!

This re-release features Angela Dawe as the narrator; initially, the book was released as an audiobook with a male narrator - Richard Coombs. Now, Coombs may very well be a terrific narrator…but…did I mention he’s a male? This is a book about four lesbians. I tried listening to perhaps 20 seconds of the audiobook sample before deciding it wasn’t for me. Happily, the author realized the error of his ways and recommissioned an audiobook version with one of the very best lesfic narrators in the business - Angela Dawe!

Angela’s voices were fantastic! Naomi took a bit of getting used to, but I quickly liked her voice too. Initially, I felt that the audio speed was too fast. Searching Google for "normal human speaking speed words per minute", the first result (not a sponsored result) is "The average person speaks at somewhere between 125 and 150 words per minute. It's always better to speak more slowly than quickly.

Chapter One of Dark Path to Romance is 12:36 long, and contains 2,086 words. That's 167 words/minute (wpm).

Using the Audible 75% level, the speed becomes 125 wpm. Very understandable, and more pleasant than 167 wpm..though....a bit slow for me.

Why Audible allows nothing between 75% and 100%...yet provides speeds at 1.25x, 1.5x, 1.75x, 2x, 2.5x, 3x and a particularly insane and unusable 3.5x is probably documentation for a true lack of users of audiobooks at Audible.
At an unavailable 90% speed we’d have 150 wpm. So, the Audible audiobook is empirically "too fast", and the "standard" range would be to play it back at 75-90% of the commercial file speaking speed.

Ahhh…but perhaps I nitpick. Please don’t be dissuaded by my geeky girl evaluation of what is a very enjoyable audiobook!

I rated the Kindle version of “Dark Path” 4*, and I rate the audiobook 4.6*, rounded up to 5* because it’s terrific fun and I’ll listen to it many times.

For the record, btw, I was offered a promo code for a free version of the original audiobook (with the male narrator), but I did not acquire the audiobook. That audiobook was also briefly available as part of the Audible Unlimited Romance subscription, and I did not access the book then either. I paid for the Angela Dawe version myself….and I’m very glad to have listened to the book.

Dark Path of Romance - Kim and Angel #2 is highly recommended for fans of silly sci-fi lesbian romance! There’s room for a book three….and I hope J. Judkins delivers!!

Here's my original review of the Kindle Version:

The Dark Path of Romance…Kim and Angel #2 picks up immediately after Book #1. The first book, A Date With Angel: And Other Things That Weren’t Supposed To Happen, is one of my favorite audiobooks - it struck a great (and unusual) balance between lesbian romance, sci-fi and comedy, and I’m glad to say that I also enjoyed the sequel - but with reservations. While the author corrects some of the writing flaws from Date With Angel, he introduces a few new ones in “Dark Path”.

Kim continues to have mixed feelings about her relationship with Angel. Oh, she now accepts that she enjoys sex, but she backtracks on her assertion of love for Angel, and decides to be the sexual aggressor so that Angel won’t feel compelled to marry her for sex. Yeah, she’s still slightly insane, but her plans do keep the book fun. Kim’s internal dialogs aren’t as repetitious nor as lengthy as they were in book one, and I was glad for the tighter writing.

We continue to see Angel primarily thorough Kim’s eyes, and Angel continues to concoct extravagant (and dangerous!) plans for the purpose of helping true love blossom. As one of the new MCs observes, both Kim and Angel are completely insane….”There seems to be a consensus on that,” Angel agrees.

Interactions between Kim and Angel continue to be fun, and their use of, and naming of, the alien device is both unexpected and fun. Conversations with Kim’s father provide further opportunities for terrific humor.

The two new MCs also have several hilarious interactions with each other, and with Kim and Angel, but it’s with these characters that “Dark Path” shows it’s biggest flaw: overall the book and these characters feel rushed to completion. There are several missed opportunities for minor editing and polish that would’ve really helped.

Naomi, an alien like Angel, yearns to be free of her masters and is thrilled to find that Angel found a way to freedom. She’s also astonishingly dim to be a high-ranking alien, and she embraces Kim’s suggestion to be a super villain as a path to individuality. Naomi also is hugely attracted to Melanie, a human, and her cluelessness as to Melanie’s mutual attraction results in some of the funniest parts of the book.

Melanie is the sanest of the four MCs, except for the fact that she’s hugely attracted to Naomi. Her role at Naomi’s cover company is never really explained satisfactorily (does she work for the government, spying on Naomi and the other aliens?), and she pretty much just serves as a straightman (in the comedic sense; she is after all actually a lesbian woman, not a straight man!) for Naomi and also for Angel’s plan to free Naomi.

A Date With Angel felt like a labor of love by the author. It was a bit on the long side, and I suspect he loved what he wrote too much to edit as much as it needed. “Dark Path” feels like lots of great ideas, has some very good dialogue and entertaining action, but I didn’t root for Naomi and Melanie nearly as much as I did for Kim and Angel in book one. I missed things like Kim’s slow recognition that she liked touching, kissing and being touched by Angel…and Angel’s growing realization that she too liked kissing Kim, and Angel trying to get to another base with Kim while Kim acts like she doesn’t want sex, but is constantly disappointed when sex doesn’t happen. There’s none of that level of interaction between Naomi and Melanie. Naomi and Melanie are more like a vaudeville act - funny but without any depth. Certainly their story didn’t really feel like a romance, despite the book title.

I think the author meant to finish this sequel some time ago, and suspect he finally decided it was overdue, and would spend time to just wrap it up. There is no cliffhanger, but the end does hint toward the possibility of a Book #3, continuing the adventures of Kim and Angel.

half awesome.

I love Angel and Kim as characters. I love their interactions; with each other as well as with others. the way that their side of the story unfolded was hilarious and engaging with just enough angst without getting super uncomfortable with it. the ending actually moved me which I honestly wasn't expecting. I absolutely love that they got their happy ending with neither of them sacrificing the awesome parts of their personalities.
Mel and Naomi however... wow, just wow. The thing that made Kim so amazing and engaging and funny was her ability to see all the possibilities to every situation before settling on the most outlandish one then forcing that one to come true. Naomi was honestly just irritating. I can get behind clueless and laugh at mistaking intentions. but she went so far beyond just clueless into intentional obtuseness. she stubbornly ignored the obvious signs Mel threw out to a degree that was vexing.

Really enjoyed it!

Better than expected. I like the character growth and the added backstory. There was actually a lot more explanation and depth added in this book than I was expecting. I hope we get a couple more books.

OMG, so funny and I wish there was a third book!!

please, please write another in this series. I have never enjoyed a Sci-Fi so much.