Grady Judd

Heartbreakers & Heroes, Book 1

By: Ciana Stone

Narrated by: J. Scott Bennett

Length: 5 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

If there was such a thing as an urban legend in Cotton Creek, it was Grady Judd. He'd broken the heart of every woman he'd ever kissed, and he'd kissed a plenty. Many tried to rope him, tie him down, and drag him to the altar, but Grady wasn't the marrying kind. In fact, no one was quite sure what kind of man Grady was. He showed up now and again, tended to his ranch, and then would disappear just as fast and never utter a word as to where he'd been when he came home again.

He was a sexy temptation, rolled up in a fine male package, and was all too willing to deliver a night of pleasure. He was also completely unwilling to let anyone inside his impenetrable wall. It was all fun and games or nothing at all.

Until he showed back up in Cotton Creek this time to discover that he's not the only heart breaker in town, which leads to a whole new game and an entirely new question. Could Grady Judd finally have met his match?

©2017 Syneca Featherstone (P)2018 Ciana Stone

More involved than the summary makes it sounds!

Grady Judd, book one of the Heartbreakers & Heroes series by Ciana Stone is a super fast-paced steamy romance with a bit of crime mixed in. The publishers summary really doesn't tell the whole summary of this book at all. This is the story of Charli and Grady. Charli is the new cop in town who kicks butt and takes numbers. Grady is the "rancher" who everyone in town drools over. Neither of them want a relationship and there's more to both of them than meets the eye. They're both ex-special forces and, well, on top of their attraction to each other that they're fighting, there's a killer out and about and they join forces to help bring this person down. There's some steamy scenes in this book, though nothing too crazy, so if you don't care for super graphic sex scenes, you're pretty safe. Overall, this was a good, solid listen. I definitely liked Charli's character the most. Grady was a pretty decent character, but Charli is a strong personality and I just enjoyed her character more.

J. Scott Bennett did a very good job with the narration. He handled both the male and female characters well and read with the perfect amount of emotion when and where needed. His voice definitely has an older tone to it, and I felt that this fit the story just fine. His female voices were feminine without being over the top and I was impressed with how he uniquely handled each character. I'd be more than happy to listen to another of his performances in the future. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher for an honest review.

Fun visit to Cotton Creek

When an author is able to create multiple series and correspond the characters into each, it makes the listen like a family visit! I didn't think I was going to go back to Cotton Creek after the conclusion of the Honky Tonk Angel series, but to my happy surprise, I am back at the bar with my friends and meeting new people! This story introduces Grady Judd as a love interest for our deputy, Charley! Charley is not looking for a relationship, and when Grady comes back to Cotton Creek with his reputation of love them and leave them, he fits her bill perfectly! Stone always provides a good back story for her characters and these two are interesting to get to know. There is always a hint of paranormal as well, giving a little spark to the story. I love the suspense featured in this one, Charley does get herself into a pretty scary predicament, and the results were not guaranteed to get us the happy ending! And what an ending! SURPRISE!! Love it! As well as getting to see Cody and Jackson, this book was a great listen!

Scott Bennett is the voice of Cotton Creek for me, and I love his narrations. He brings these characters to life, with the warmth of the hometown. He has a comfortable pacing that makes the listen very enjoyable.

👍🏼

Really enjoyed the story line although I just couldn't get past the narrators voice. Had a hard time following which character was talking at that time.

Good Story!

This book got off to a slow start. Grady was a love them and leave them type of guy, but for some reason he wanted to take it slow with Charli. We do get to see Charli in action as the Deputy of Cotton Creek. For a small town there seem to be a lot going on.

This audiobook was provided to me by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchanged for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast.

Grady Judd

Great characters and a story that yanks at the heartstrings at times, the narration was really good and brought the whole story to life

Grady and Charlie sitting in a tree?

I really enjoyed this book, except for one part. When Grady goes to the local Honkytonk a redheaded woman walks up and gives him a big O kiss. Then a short blonde comes up and tells the redhead to leave her man alone. While they’re arguing Grady just sits there then they start fist fighting and he leaves the bar. I thought if they want to betray him as a great guy why wouldn’t you say look ladies I am neither one of you man just stop the fighting. Instead he just walks out and although this is just a tiny part of the book it really got on my last nerve. Having said that the rest of the 99.9% of the book was really good! I loved it! If you love romance you would love it to sienna stone is a master when it comes to romance and it is made clear and for certain with Grady Judd that is why despite the above problem I still gave it five stars, because that is an issue that probably will only affect me LOL! I was given this book to post an honest review and here it is.

Brought back memories...

I really liked this narration. Not necessarily for the voice, it seemed somewhat older than the character, but it gave me the feeling TV of the old Dukes of Hazard narrator. "I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

Heartbreaker & Hero

Grady is runs roughshod over the hearts of women in Cotton Creek until he meets the new Sheriff’s Deputy Charli Sampson. Sparks fly immediately but she is not sure she can trust him……Grady on the other hand wants her in his life and will do whatever it takes to make that happen. Great HEA.

Hero and so much more

I enjoyed this listen featuring two souls who typically walk away. The idea of not looking for Mr. Forever but looking for Mr. Take-Me-There was cute. This book had some unbelievable aspects of Grady communicating with the dead. I really enjoyed the character of Deputy Charlie Rose and thought she was a good fit for Grady. This book has some unexpected twists and lets one's imagination take over for some scenes. I though that J.Scott Bennett did a great performance with all of the emotions that he portrayed. He is the perfect voice of a cowboy. I requested this review copy audiobook and have voluntarily written this review. Love can conquer all.

A bit of an unbelievable plot!

This book should probably be classified as romantic suspense. It is a bit slow moving at the start. The sex is merely implied. It is interesting that BDSM sex is implied, but nothing is acted out in the book. It is almost as if the author felt it necessary to get on the BDSM bandwagon in some way! Grady also has mystical powers that allow him to talk to the dead! Is the author trying to include paranormal as well as BDSM?

Grady is described as a heart-throb who “loves” them and leaves them. Yet Grady is the one who waits for something more meaningful with Charley? Both Grady and Charley have had their troubles and must face up to their past before they can admit to a relationship.

The book includes violence when Charley goes undercover and is captured. This operation is not explained too well. No explanation was given as to why the bad guys would do the horrible things that they did to these women. This made it a bit of an unbelievable plot element. The bad guys are really bad and the good guys are goody two-shoes good!

I listened to another book by this narrator and his voice takes a little getting used to for me at the beginning. However, I soon feel comfortable with his narration.

I received this free copy from the author/narrator and voluntarily offered an unbiased review.