Audio Review and Giveaway: The Other Book by Roe Horvat, narrated by Vance Bastian

08 June of 2019 by ButtonsMom2003

Story: 5

Performance: 4

4.5Overall score

A Very Moving Story

The Other Book By Roe Horvat, Narrated By Vance Bastian

Genre: Contemporary, Erotic, Romance, GLBTQ, MM

Released: May 31, 2019 audio, January 30, 2019 ebook

Publisher: Beaten Track Publishing

Series: Those Other Books, Book 1

Cover Design: Roe Horvat

Length: 4 hrs and 36 min / 42,000 words approx.

Performed by: Vance Bastian

Synopsis

It was supposed to be just sex… Famous last words.

Tyler doesn’t overthink pleasure and avoids complications. He knows it might be stupid to get involved with his closeted boss, but the temptation is too great. At first, the cold and beautiful Joel Sandstrom seems to loathe Tyler’s guts.

Except one late night at the office, his reasons become clear…and his control breaks.

Every time they touch, Joel’s stony face comes alive, harsh lines smooth out, and for a minute, he looks serene. Happy, even. Just sex – dirty, intense, spectacular sex.

During their covert encounters, Tyler discovers the power he has over the lonesome man, and it’s a heady feeling. What if he could set Joel free and give him peace of mind? When Tyler realizes how much Joel needs him, he doesn’t regret breaking his own rules.

Review

Reviewed by ButtonsMom2003

A Very Moving Story

I read The Other Book when it was first published at the end of January 2019. The review I wrote then will follow my comments about the narration.

This is the first book I’ve listened to by Vance Bastian. I liked his voice and really had no big issues with his narration of the story, but I’m kind of glad that I read this one first. I think that his voice sounded a bit too young for how I pictured Tyler in my head when I read the story. The story is told from Tyler’s POV so the dialogue is nearly all him. When Joel’s voice is needed it does change to something deeper but I still would have liked a bit more mature sounding voice for this book.

The Other Book is the first book I’ve read by Roe Horvat. I gather from the Author’s Note that this is a very different sort of book for him to write. Since I have no basis for comparison, I can only say how I felt about this story: I thought it was very moving and actually kind of wonderful.

It’s an erotic story but the various sexual situations are all between consenting adults and the way the scenes were written was so smooth and sensual; I could feel the love flowing between the characters (except in the early scenes when they were just getting off with each other).

This is another one of those books that I’m having a hard time describing how it made me feel. The way that Joel and Tyler first get together gave this an enemies-to-lovers vibe but that didn’t last too long. The story contains lots and lots of sex but if most of it was removed, the book would still have been a great romantic story. That may not have come out right… I wouldn’t want those scenes removed. I didn’t feel like the sex was there just to titillate; it added an element to the story that lets us see how Joel and Tyler’s relationship grew.

There are a few intense scenes with Joel’s homophobic father that made me so angry and so sad for Joel. I loved Tyler’s mother, though. She didn’t have a lot of scenes in the book but there were enough to know that she is a very caring person and that she has a good relationship with Tyler.

The Other Book was one that I couldn’t stop reading once I started and I was glued to my ereader all evening until I finished it. I don’t think I’ve ever read such a sensual and moving erotic MM story. It truly was a very touching story while also being very, very sexy. I hope that Roe Horvat writes more books like this.

Story: ♥♥♥♥♥

Narration: ♥♥♥♥

O Factor: Scorcher

Roe Horvat

Queer fiction author Roe Horvat was born in the post-communist wasteland of former Czechoslovakia. Equipped with a dark sense of sarcasm, Roe traveled Europe and finally settled in Sweden. He came out as transgender in 2017 and has been fabulous since. He loves Jane Austen, Douglas Adams, bad action movies, stand-up comedy, pale ale, and daiquiri, with equal passion. When not hiding in the studio doing graphics, he can be found trolling cafés in Gothenburg, writing, and people-watching.

Author Links

About Narrator

Vance Bastian

Vance Bastian is one of the founding hosts of the WROTE Podcast. He’s an author, an audiobook narrator, and a production editor who manages book projects. He has a degree in linguistics, and a sordid past as a model, an actor, and a director. Vance writes mostly fantasy, urban fantasy, historic fantasy, horror, and paranormal fiction. When nobody’s looking, he’s a complete sci-fi geek.

Narrator Links