Okay, look. We need to talk about the sheer audacity of a twenty-two-hour audiobook.
Twenty-two hours. Do you know how many episodes of Bluey that is? Do you know how many loads of laundry I folded while listening to this? (The answer is infinity. The laundry never ends. Neither did this book, but in a good way.)
I've been working my way through the Black Dagger Brotherhood series because sometimes you just need giant vampire warriors in leather pants to distract you from the fact that your toddler just painted the dog with yogurt. But Lover Mine? This was the big one. This is John Matthew's book. If you know, you know. If you don't—he's the damaged, silent type that makes every maternal instinct in my body fire off at once, mixed with... well, other feelings. (Don't tell my husband.)
The Voice in My Ear (And Why Speed Matters)
Let's be real about Jim Frangione. I read some reviews before diving in—because who has time to waste on a bad narrator?—and I saw people complaining that he's too slow or monotone.
Here is my hot take: If you aren't listening to audiobooks at 1.25x speed, you aren't living in the fast lane of modern parenting.
At normal speed? Yeah, Jim might sound a little like he's wading through molasses. He brings that same gravelly intensity to Lover Avenged, where it works beautifully for Rehvenge's darker storyline. But bump that speed up just a notch, and suddenly he transforms. He's got this deep, gravelly, "I've seen some stuff" voice that fits these vampire guys perfectly. It's velvety. It's gritty. It's the kind of voice that makes you stay in the car for an extra ten minutes in the driveway while the ice cream melts in the trunk.
And frankly, he had a massive challenge here. John Matthew is mute. The main romantic lead doesn't speak. Jim had to carry all that internal angst, all that signing, all that unspoken trauma without it feeling like a one-sided conversation. And he nailed it. You could feel John's frustration and rage just through the narration of his thoughts.
When The Story Gets Heavy (Like, Really Heavy)
I have to put a warning label on this one, ladies. This isn't a fluffy rom-com where the biggest problem is a miscommunication at a bakery.
There is some dark stuff in here. Xhex (the love interest, who is basically the toughest woman alive—goals, honestly) goes through a kidnapping plot that is pretty brutal. There were moments I had to pause because I was driving to swim lessons and it just felt wrong to listen to something so intense while Lucas was asking for a snack in the backseat.
But the payoff? Ugh. The emotional payoff.
John and Xhex are messy. They are both so damaged and stubborn. Watching them circle each other for twenty hours was exhausting but satisfying. It's that "fated mates" trope that I pretend to hate but secretly love. There's a specific scene near the end—no spoilers, I promise—where everything clicks into place, and I may or may not have teared up while waiting in the pickup line at Emma's school. (I blamed allergies. The other moms nodded sympathetically.)
Also, can we talk about the side plots? J.R. Ward loves her side plots. Sometimes I just want her to get back to the couple, but Jim Frangione manages to make the side characters distinct enough that I didn't get totally lost. Although, I admit, during the "Lasse" storyline, I might have zoned out a bit while scrubbing a pot. Ward does this in Lover At Last too—those side plots that sometimes pull focus but ultimately enrich the world.
Who's Got Time For This (And Who Should Make Time)
Because that's what 22 hours is for me. A month.
Short answer: Yes, it's worth it—if you're already invested in the Brotherhood. You can't skip this. John Matthew's journey has been building up for books, and seeing him finally get his happy ending (after dragging us through hell first) was cathartic. It's heavy, it's long, and it requires some strategic pausing when little ears are around because the spice level is... high. Very high.
Skip this if you haven't read the earlier books—you'll be lost. And if you need lighter fare right now, maybe save it for later. But for those moments when the house is finally quiet, or you're stuck in traffic and need to escape to a world where the problems are solved with swords and fangs instead of chore charts? It hits the spot.
Just remember: 1.25x speed. Trust me.
