It’s been a long time since I read an HP romance and it’ll be a long while yet before I do so again. Not because I didn’t enjoy Shock Greek Heir (what a ridiculous title: I loved it), but because I did. I shall now … Continue reading HP Romance Audiobook Review: Lynne Graham’s SHOCK GREEK HEIR
It’s been a long time since I read an HP romance and it’ll be a long while yet before I do so again. Not because I didn’t enjoy Shock Greek Heir (what a ridiculous title: I loved it), but because I did. I shall now bemoan the days of category-yore when every month, we looked forward to great reads by beloved authors. Even if they weren’t perfect, their meh-ness would tide us over. Category romance has flattened out, moved with the times, lost its cachet. When I see new titles, I’m leery to try any, having been disappointed time and again. What we can say about category romance, we can say about the genre as a whole. If you’re not a fan of romantasy, and I’m not, there’s not much bringing me to new titles and authors. Shock Greek Heir, at least for a little while, offered days of yore pleasures. To the blurb to clarify the goings-on:
Shock Greek Heir is a stranded and seduced, one night to pregnant, Greek billionaire romance…
He lost his memory…and gained an heir!
Running the family empire means Sebastian Pagonis must quit his playboy lifestyle. Cue the perfect detox: a week at sea, far from temptation. The hitch? Alluring crew member Bunny! Fortunately, she’s equally set on ignoring their chemistry… Until an accident strips away Sebastian’s memory—and ice-cold persona!
Suddenly Bunny’s employer barely resembles the arrogant Greek she first met, obliterating her last defense against their desire… Yet passion indulged in paradise has real-world consequences—Bunny’s pregnant! When Sebastian overcomes his amnesia, will their connection be as binding as their baby?
Most of the narrative actually takes place on the “stranded” rather than “sailing” side and Sebastian recovers from his amnesia not too far into it. Shock Greek Heir reproduces what I loved about my first Graham romance (gifted by my beloved friend V of the Shallowreader blog), The Greek’s Chosen Wife. It’s funny, the heroine doesn’t suffer the hero’s foolishness, and the hero has to be transformed from heart of stone to mushy love; the baby-filled epilogue (which I love) is the cherry on the cake in both instances. In romance, there’s the pleasure of the new and the pleasure of the familiar. Once you’ve read the genre for years, the latter dominates.
Sebastian’s virginal heart must engage as his moral sense is awakened by the heroine’s. And the heroine’s body must betray what her mind is telling her is a futile endeavour: to love this hero. Graham has nodded to the false idea of a virginal heroine by having Bunny (as wonderfully ludicrous a name as The Greek Chosen Wife‘s Pudding) have had a boyfriend-lover in the past. Not many, just one…but our HP is growing up! *sniff*
Sebastian has, as all HP heroes do, a loveless childhood and his little-boy pain must come through to the heroine so she can see past his present alpha-ness. Check, check, check. Graham fulfills all and more because she makes her narrative funny. Like Pudding, Bunny doesn’t take any gaff; only her body betrays her desire, not her heart. And she takes Sebastian on banter for banter. There’s no chin, but chin is implied.
In the meanwhile, Sebastian has to accept his insatiable desire for Bunny, not only in his bed, but as companion and sparring partner. The fact he confesses to Bunny when they are reunited after their rescue “I missed you” is a huge HP step to portraying the hero’s emotional maturity as a result of meeting the heroine. These elements are not new to the HP-Better, they are simply well-executed. Shock Greek Heir is well-paced, well-written, and delightfully enjoyable. The narrator, Melanie Crawley, does a great job of rendering Sebastian’s vulnerabilities and Bunny’s feistiness. As always, the love scenes, when read aloud, are trying, but I endured.
Lynne Graham’s Shock Greek Heir, audiobook version, is produced by Harlequin Audio and released on September 30th. I received an audio file from Harlequin Audio via the Netgalley app. The above is my honest, AI-banned opinion.
