Trouble Comes in Threes

Fur, Fangs, and Felines, Book 1

By: M.A. Church

Narrated by: Ronald Ray Strickland

A snowstorm in the South - on New Year's Eve - is a perfect recipe for a catastrophe. After two soul-crushing bad breaks, Kirk's waiting for disaster number three to strike when, naturally, two stray cats arrive on his doorstep during the storm and decide to make themselves at home. Tenderhearted Kirk lets them stay, even though there's something decidedly odd about his overly friendly felines.

Out of the punishing weather and full of tuna, Dolf and Tal are happy to be snug in Kirk's house. But then their human goes outside for firewood and suffers a nasty fall that leaves him unconscious. Now the two cats have no choice but to reveal themselves.

Kirk wakes up to find the two kitties are actually Dolf and Tal. They're cat shifters - and his destined mates. Being part of a feline threesome is enough for Kirk to grapple with, but soon he learns they come from a clowder that doesn't believe humans and shifters should mix. Kirk knew those two cats would be trouble. Little does he know the real trouble lies ahead.

©2014 M.A. Church (P)2015 Dreamspinner Press

Really fun shifter series

Kirk is having a bad… life so far. His partner has left him, his house is falling apart and though he has his own garage – it’s early days and he worries about every penny. Suddenly, on a snowy new year’s night, 2 cats show up on his door. Little does he know these aren’t your average cats and they are in fact shifters and his mates!

Dolf and Tal are already mates when they scent Kirk. They both know he is their (uncommon but not impossible) third mate. They petition the alpha for the right to claim him and bring him into their “clowder” or group of cats. They are accepted… but that is where the easy stuff ends and the tough stuff begins.

Though it doesn’t take long, Kirk has to be convinced of the whole mating, shifting, moving part of his new life. The clowder is less than welcoming and this puts a rift in their relationship. To add to that, someone is targeting Kirk and physically attacking him as well.

Luckily, the clowder joins together to keep Kirk safe and we end up with a very HEA.

**

I loved this book! It was exciting and a unique but still traditional take on shifter romances. The threesome really worked for me. I thought that each truly added to the relationship and though Dolf and Tal were there together first, Kirk really added a needed dynamic that kept them closely bound.

I didn’t like a lot of the very light BDSM between Kirk and Dolf (not my taste) but it was mild enough I could skim it.

I hadn’t read this author before but I will definitely be looking for more from her in the future.

Hmmmmmm. Well, I like Ronald Ray Strickland’s voice. It’s very smooth and easy to listen to. He tries hard to infuse emotion into his reading and he does a little bit of voice differentiating. But… his voice doesn’t match the characters – they are very proper and crisp and his voice is just a bit too relaxed. The parts of the story that wasn’t dialog also came across very flat and monotone.

According to Audibles this is only his second narration, so I’m hoping that in time he’ll improve this technique. I also think he was matched poorly for this story, so that’s something he can’t control, either.

I think, overall, that though this didn’t add to my experience it didn’t detract, either. I loved the book and if you can’t read it, listening to this is a nice way to experience it, if not the most perfect way.


So… I stick with 4.5 of 5 stars as my rating – I still recommend it highly and if you can’t read it, don’t be afraid to listen to this very capable narration.

Story 4.5
Audio 4 of 5
overall 4.5 stars

Good Story, a Bit Disappointed in the Narrator

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I'd answer the most interesting thing would be that I've never heard/read a story that involved a poly-amorous group, let alone shifters. I like how they were able to reconcile that aspect pretty well, and give a little insight on how some group relationships work. Granted, I'm not poly myself, but I would be happy to hear more about how the relationships work.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

It was almost as if you could tell he was reading a book. There were so many incremental pauses, I would figure that was him moving back to start a new line in the book.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

I would probably like to see it, mostly because I would like to see how they would show, if at all, the shifting.

loved it and want more

This program (book) is an awesome read, Well read keeps the interest through out. You find yourself wanting to know more and hope all 3 of them find what they need with each other if only the real world would let them. Well worth the money spent and I hope there are more books on their progress in their community and the struggle and success of all their businesses,as audio books. I really hope book two becomes an audio book as well with the same person reading it. Well done with this book.

Great Story, Bad Narrator

I really enjoyed the story, but the narration left a lot to be desired. It sounds very awkward and stilted and makes it hard to fully enjoy the book. I would have enjoyed reading this story a lot more than listening to it.

Great Read, Painful Listen

I recommend that you read the book rather than listen to it. The story is an interesting (in a good way) tale and the characters are like-able. The narrator ruins it though. It sounds as though he is reading a textbook.

Comfort Listen

loved the book and the narrator is great. Took a bit to adjust to the heavy southern accent as it was pronounced but the story and performance made up for it. Will listen again.

Read. Don't listen.

The storyline is cute, but the narration is horrible. I wouldn't waste a credit on this if I were you. I took a chance on it because the narrator got mixed reviews. I managed to listen all the way through but it was painful.
As far as the story goes, the characters were likable. No one really stands out to me, but that might change if I read it myself. Heat level is about 3.5

A Cute Story

Darn it, I let that cute cover sway me... lots of sex, lots of explaining, and lots of coffee making.

Cute but bad

I would have loved this book if I had read it. The narrator was terrible and at times almost ruined it. However, the author's story was different and strong enough to keep me going. With a baby at home I don't get time to sit and read but I wish I could have with this one.

Not great audio.

Any additional comments?

1.5 Stars for Narration

It makes me unbelievably sad to give this rating - because the story is fun, sexy, dynamic, and definitely worth 4 stars - but the narration was HORRIBLE. I feel terribly that the author's very good, very interesting, and very well envisioned work was showcased as badly as it was by Ronald Ray Strickland's narration.

Yes, I said it. The narration is all capitals BAD. Strickland's timing, lack of character voice delineation, the editing, hell...everything was bad. It was like Strickland has never read a book aloud before, got put in a sound booth and told to go crazy, and someone was hoping it might pay off. Well, guess what? It did not pay off. Strickland has odd times where he doesn't enunciate particularly well, but then will suddenly over-enunciate. His speech is halting and then flows almost unnaturally. Also, there were too many times where the audio was badly edited/spliced and suddenly the sound would explode.

Now was it abysmal? No. I've heard worse and, luckily, the story itself saves it from being completely unlistenable. I kept listening because I really wanted to know what happens with Dolf, Tal and Kirk. But I would not recommend anyone get the audio for this.

I would definitely recommend the story - just not the audio.