Alex by Sawyer Bennett

Alex Cold Fury HockeyNarrated by Cris Dukehart and Graham Halstead

Sports romances are a guilty pleasure for me. I’m not a big sports fan; I don’t have favorite teams, and I wouldn’t recognize a famous athlete if they passed me on the side of the road. I do love sports themed romances, though!

Alexander Crossman is one of the best players the North Carolina Cold Fury hockey team has, and one of its most notorious. A day doesn’t go by that his name isn’t in the papers and magazines for some outrageous stunt. Alex doesn’t care though; he lives his life exactly as he wants. After one incident involving too much booze and too many floozies, his managers have had enough. They issue an ultimatum: straighten up his act or he’s finished with the Furies. Their idea of changing his image is working with some do-gooder on an anti-drug program for kids.

Sutton Price may have only just started the job at the community center but she’s been slowly making a name for herself. She loves counseling the youth that come into the center but it’s not where her passion is. She really wants to create a drug outreach program in elementary schools to target children that may otherwise get overlooked. She knows firsthand the troubles that kind of life can cause for children. Having someone famous like Alex help her reach the kids would be a big boon. Unfortunately, he’s not so easy to work with. But Sutton knows Alex’s behavior is all for show, that his prickly exterior hides a troubled soul.

Alex, book 1 in the Cold Fury Hockey series, isn’t as enjoyable as I prefer. Why? The snowball effect. There isn’t one big problem that makes me dislike it but a series of little issues that build throughout the book that weighs me down until I have nothing good to say. First, the book is told in present tense. Yes, this review (hopefully) is in present tense but I don’t enjoy it. It’s very difficult for my brain to see events as they occur; so reading a whole book using that form of writing was difficult. My brain would stutter around certain phrases and actions, causing me to stop my audio version and consult my digital copy to verify I’d heard the correct word.

Second, Alex is big jerk; a BIG one. And not one of those alpha types that Kristen Ashley is known—and loved—for. No, Alex is such an unlikeable guy fans refer to him as the Cold Fury’s MVP (most valuable prick). I could believe it. He had nothing good to say about anyone, he has no respect for the job he does, and treats women like tissues. Of course his behavior is explained but not in enough time to make me like him any better.

Third, the story felt very young to me, more YA than adult or even New Adult. Both characters act and think like high school kids. In Sutton’s case, it’s the constant references to her family’s financial problems and her wanting to help out and not be a burden. With Alex, it’s his thought processes and mannerisms. I was very surprised to discover he was 26; he seemed so much younger. He drops the f* bomb constantly; every other word is f* this, f* that. I’m going to go a little ghetto here and say he’s like some little punk acting street trying to impress his bros. I don’t mind cursing but I like my heroes to have a well-rounded vocabulary and show a depth of intelligence/common sense worthy of the heroine.

Lastly, while I can tell Alex treats Sutton differently–it fits in with how he begins to feels about her–I never felt his character positively changed to make a commitment to her. Especially since he *spoiler alert* leaves her because she is supposedly causing him to lose his focus about hockey. A sport, mind you, which he didn’t even care about until he met her. It didn’t make sense to me.

Of course, I haven’t forgotten the narration. Cris Dukehart is becoming a narrator I can count on for quality performances. However, her performance in Alex wasn’t as solid as I was expecting. Not because of technical issues but performance choices. She gives Alex a slight southern accent that is not represented by the character and one not replicated by Halstead. I know when there are dual narrators neither will sound exactly the same. I get that; however, a choice of accent with one narrator and not the other is different. The accent was only present when Alex spoke – that is deliberation.

As for Graham Halstead, I have never heard of him before now. His performance is middle of the road for me. It isn’t terrible; there aren’t many noticeable inhalations or parts where text is mispronounced. On the other hand, his performance isn’t so memorable and great. His characterization is consistent and his tone is pleasant to hear. He doesn’t attempt to modulate his voice too high for the feminine parts which but evens his voice out to give them a more even tone. Sadly, that’s all I remember in regards to his performance; like I said, a decent performance but not really an extraordinary one.

There were times with both narrators when I felt the tone of their performance didn’t match the tone of the book. For example, there was a scene where Sutton surprised Alex for his birthday—trench coat, high heels, high hair (you see where I’m going with this?)—where she is in the throes of passion but Dukehart’s pitch make her demands for more sound like hesitant questions. This dichotomy happened quite frequently and with both narrators.

Obviously you can see I am not exactly thrilled with this book. One of my fellow reviewers says this series improves and I hope so. I purchased the Book 2, Garrett, and plan to read it next.

Diana


Narration: Dukeheart B- Halstead C

Book Content: C-

Steam Factor: For your burning ears only

Violence: Minimal

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Alex was provided to AudioGals by Tantor Audio for review.

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