Losing Control by Jen Frederick

Narrated by Kate Waldren

Lovers of the billionaire hero trope will likely enjoy Losing Control. While different in some respects from the typical Fifty-Shades-style stories, and definitely on the milder side of the spectrum, this story nonetheless features an alpha hero who is keen on controlling the heroine, though less due to his own flaws and more due to the heroine’s own, unfortunate set of circumstances. As is typical for this trope, the erotic nature of the passionate scenes is definitely towards the hotter end of the scale, both from a frequency and detailed nature, though the hero’s and heroine’s interactions are still, for the most part, of a vanilla variety. As a further enhancement to the plot there is also a mild romantic suspense overlay which serves as a somewhat entertaining secondary plot line. However, be forewarned, while the romantic arc is mostly resolved in Losing Control, the book does end in a mild cliffhanger primarily related to other matters. Therefore, if you want the full story, you will technically need to listen to Book 2, Taking Control, too. Fortunately, the second book is also now available in audio format.

Victoria, “Tiny,” is barely getting by. Her primary goal in life, at this stage in her life (25 years of age) is to make sure that her mother gets the treatments she needs to battle the cancer she is fighting. For a woman like Victoria, who has dyslexia, this means that she needs to take on whatever odd jobs she can find. One such job – which she suspects is less than on the up and up – is as a messenger for her step-brother.

While her step-brother has managed to provide Victoria with the means to making sure that her mother can continue with her treatments, his treatment of her is quite questionable, given his constant disparaging remarks concerning her intelligence. As if this weren’t bad enough, he hardly seems concerned with her safety – which, given the bike errands he sends her on and the “customers” he exposes her too, leaves a lot to be desired.

It is on one such errand that Tiny meets Ian Kerr. Ian is a well to do entrepreneur, who possesses confidence in abundance, but has his own mired past. Tiny immediately catches his eye, and though he initially resists, when he learns of her financial troubles, he proposes a very lucrative job offer for an equally unusual position. In exchange, Ian slowly begins taking on the decision making role in ensuring that Tiny’s standard of living, and that the care that she is able to provide to help her mother, is substantially elevated. If there is one thing that has always been at the top of Ian’s agenda, however, it is securing revenge for a past vendetta that changed his life. However, when the lines begin blurring between his needs for the future and his ability to achieve recompense for the past, Ian will be forced to choose between love and revenge.

Kate Waldren delivers a solid performance in Losing Control. This being my first experience with Ms. Waldren, I was pleased to find that I enjoyed both her female and male voices. Providing slightly nuanced distinctions between characters, even of the same gender, I had no difficulty distinguishing the speaker without need for reliance on dialogue tags. I also enjoyed Ms. Waldren’s general delivery style, which allowed the narration to blend effortlessly into the background, allowing the listener to sit back and enjoy the story

Perhaps my favorite part of her performance was Ms. Waldren’s depiction of Tiny. Ms. Waldren nailed Tiny’s persona perfectly. Blending together the elements to come across as both determined and brave, but still yet somewhat lacking in confidence, Ms. Waldren did a great job of bringing Tiny to life in a believable way that helped the listener empathize with her.

All in all, Losing Control is a decent, angst-filled, New Adult listen with a solid narration. In the right mood, particularly if you are looking for a listen of a more erotic nature, it is sure to hit the spot. I think perhaps this explains my overall rating, as at the time, I had just finished another erotic book, and was really hoping for a little more focus on the revenge/romantic suspense angle. Therefore, I found myself fast-forwarding through a few of the more blush-inducing scenes to try to explore the secondary plot.

BJ

Narration: B

Book Content: B-

Steam Factor: For your burning ears only

Violence Rating: Fighting

Genre: Contemporary Romance - New Adult

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Losing Control was provided to AudioGals by Brilliance Audio for a review.