Next Book Review: AUDIO BOOK TOUR: Asher Black by Parker S. Huntington

Author: Parker S. Huntington

Narrators: Lacy Laurel

Length: 8 hours and 32 minutes

Publisher: PSH Publishing House

Released: Oct. 31, 2017

Genre: Romance

He was supposed to kill me. I had done the unthinkable. I called the cops on him, on his family, but he let me live. We became friends, and then... we fell in love.

Lucy Ives is a foster kid, running from her turbulent past. On her first night in New York City, she accidentally calls the cops on the mafia. When their fixer comes to kill her, he spares her life in exchange for a favor--be his fake fiance or die.

Parker S. Huntington is from Orange County, California, USA. She has a B.A. in Creative Writing from the University of California, Riverside and is currently pursuing a Master's in Liberal Arts in Literature and Creative Writing from Harvard University. She has two puppies, Bauer and Chloe, and lives with her boyfriend of four years--a real life alpha male, book-boyfriend-worthy hunk of a man. She is currently working on Book 3 of the Five Syndicates Series.

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Lacy lives the life of a full time wife, mother and household manager. Needing a temporary escape from time to time Lacy returned back to her first love - reading! After devouring everything she could get her hands on she thought, -what if she could mix her love of performance and literature in a professional capacity? Once getting involved in the world of book narration she quickly became hooked and when not with her family you can find her in her studio working hard to grow in her own storytelling abilities.

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Oh man, this audio book just oozes with sexual tension! How in the world did we make it through over half the book with a few kisses here and there? That goes to show you how perfectly of a romance this book truly was! You don’t need sex to make a romance… you need ROMANCE!! Asher Black was a book that was full of sweet words and longing.

I was genuinely surprised, and secretly thrilled, at some of the main character, Lucy’s, references to romance books. I couldn’t help but laugh out loud to hear all about the alpha males she has read about and how they compared to her “real life alpha male” or as we know him, Asher Black. While this book has some deep and deadly topics, there was this lighter side to it that really made it fun to listen too.

So on one side we have this sexy possibly mob fixer, who nearly an entire town is scared of, and he’s the CEO of a major fortune 500-type company and is raking it in! Then we have Lucy… Lucy, the orphan who has went from home to home and never seeing what real love is like. All her belongings fit in a duffel bag. Her last two years were spent traveling the world while volunteering. They really seem too different to work. But, work it did!

Parker S. Huntington is definitely an up-and-coming new author I’m going to be watching! I cannot believe this is her first novel! It was written perfectly! She was able to combine humor with the deepness… it’s seriously a real gift! Now, I wouldn’t say this book is believable or even relatable but it IS fantastic for a book to take you away! Mafia romances are some of my favorites and throw some suspense in and I’m sold! This book had it all!!

Now, the narration… Lacy Laurel… goodness could this woman have a sexier voice? I mean, really, it isn’t fair! You’d think it would be a bit strange having her do a male’s voice but it isn’t. She’s able to pull of changing her voice over. Now, I prefer males to do males but there wasn’t a male POV in this book. It was just Lucy’s POV with some males comments tossed in. So that worked. I do think if we had dual POV I wouldn’t be as in love with the performance of one sex doing both voices but who knows since it wasn’t the case here!

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Lacy Laurel.

The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Q&A with Author Parker S. Huntington

How did you select your narrator?
- Lacy and I connected through the Audio Loves group on Facebook. I posted in there, asking for narrator recommendations, since I was going through the process of putting an audition script up on ACX. She messaged me, and when I got her audition, I just knew she needed to be Lucy.
Were there any real life inspirations behind your writing?
- This is going to sound ridiculous, but Lucy is me—from our majors to our schooling to our geographic history to the mental rambling. I think that’s why I was able to write Asher Black so quickly.
How do you manage to avoid burn-out? What do you do to maintain your enthusiasm for writing?
- I’m working on my Master’s in Literature and Creative Writing right now, so I write a lot. I’m talking twenty-five thousand words a week. Minimum. But… what I write is often what I don’t want to write, which is actually how I avoid burn-out. After writing what I have to write for school, writing novels is a relief—an exercise that I thoroughly enjoy.
Is there a particular part of this story that you feel is more resonating in the audiobook performance than in the book format?
- Lucy is a mental rambler. Seriously. She goes on and on about the most ridiculous things, from social commentary to her self-named “Horny Lucy”… And Lacy is able to bring her character to life, narrating the mental rambles with such skill, it feels like her voice is the voice in my head. Did I mention how blessed I am to have Lacy as the narrator.
What do you say to those who view listening to audiobooks as “cheating” or as inferior to “real reading”?
- A while back, I encountered someone who wanted to read Asher Black, but she couldn’t due to her eyesight. I got to thinking: what can I do to make my book more accessible? This is where audiobooks come into play. It’s not about cheating or being inferior/superior. The reality is that, in today’s world, accessibility matters. People may choose to listen to audiobooks for so many reasons—it’s convenient, they commute, they have vision impairment, or they just plain like it. At the end of the day, who are we to judge other people’s choices? So long as we continue to make books accessible in every format, we’ll continue to promote reading… and isn’t that a great goal?
How did you celebrate after finishing this novel?
- I slept. A LOT. I wrote Asher Black in less than two weeks, which meant a lot of sleepless nights. By the time I was done, I was too exhausted to celebrate. It’s far from glamourous, I know, but hey—#authorproblems.
In your opinion, what are the pros and cons of writing a stand-alone novel vs. writing a series?
- For a standalone novel, you can be done with characters after writing, and you don’t have to worry about losing readers with each subsequent release. But as a writer (and reader), you get more time to delve into a world, and that’s an awesome experience for anyone.
Have any of your characters ever appeared in your dreams?
- My God, Asher is the man of my dreams. Does that count?
What bits of advice would you give to aspiring authors?
- I still consider myself an aspiring author, but I’d say to just do it. I spent a lot of time floundering and second guessing myself, wondering if I should take the risk (and it is a risk). But ultimately, I’ve been happier since deciding to do it. On a second note, writing is a business, and the best advice anyone could ever give, beyond craft advice, is to treat your writing like it’s a business. You have marketing, social media management, graphic design, customer service, business, writing, etc. to handle. It’ll be a lot to take care of, but if you’re on top of it, it’ll feel so rewarding.
What’s next for you?
- I published the second book in the series in July, and I’m currently working on Bastiano Romano, book three in The Five Syndicates series. Once I’m done, I’ll work on the Turner Triplets trilogy!