The King (Original Sinners, #6) (Original Sinners: The White Years, #2)

by Tiffany Reisz

[Melanie]

This is an extremely hard review for me. I've loved this series since I read The Siren back when it first came out. I don't remember how I heard about it, but I'm really glad I did. Tiffany Reisz writes some of the best erotica out there. The characters she has developed are amazing in that you can't help but love all them, especially for their faults.

I own all the books in ebooks and audio. I usually read the ebook and then listen to the audio again later, because I love the stories so much. When I was given the chance to review the audiobook for The King, I decided to go straight to audio for this one. I really wish I hadn't. For this entire series, as much as I love it, it has not been a good series on audio. They change the narrator for each book. Some of the narrators are better than others, but none have been stellar. This changing around all the time has really hurt this series on audio. I'm not sure the reasoning behind the change, but it does a disservice to a series that is at the top of its genre.

Okay, now the story. It took me a little bit to get into the story. I believe that part of that is because of the narration. Once I finally got used to the narration, I was able to settle down into the story. While Kingsley isn't on the top of my favorite characters list in this series, I do like him a lot. I was worried that the lack of banter between him and Nora would bother me, but Kingsley seems to be able to banter with anyone.

There is a lot of Søren in this book, along with some characters that are new to the series. We get to see how Søren has been a part of Kingsley's life, even when he was not there physically. The majority of the story is Kingsley obsession with creating his BDSM kingdom and his fight with an evangelical minister (ala Westboro Baptist Church) for the building that will become The Eighth Circle.

There is no doubt in my mind that Tiffany Reisz is the queen of BDSM erotica. She writes a great story that has not only the sexiness you expect from erotica, but also a suspenseful story with deep and entertaining characters.

Narration
Let me start by saying that I don't think Elizabeth Hart is a bad narrator. I just don't think she was a good fit for this book. The story is told completely from Kingley's point of view. Her French accent isn't great, and the fact that the POV speaks with a French accent, meant that there was a lot of it. I did listen at an increased speed, because her pace was a little slow for me. I thought that her male voices seemed fine. I was able to distinguish between all the different characters. I would listen to this narrator again, I just don't think she is the narrator I would've picked her for this particular book.

I like to thank Tantor Audio for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.