Audio Review: BAMF by SJD Peterson – Narrated by Adam Dort

Title: BAMF

Author: SJD Peterson

Narrator:: Adam Dort

Run Time: 5 Hours, 58 Minutes

At a Glance: I liked BAMF and liked the give and take relationship Alex and Ridley grew into

Blurb: With his fauxhawk, sleeve tattoos, and visible piercings, Ridley Corbin has the whole bad ass vibe going on in spades. The image serves him well as the self-proclaimed protector of the underdog, and he wants nothing more than to be Alex Firestone’s hero.

Alex, a mild-mannered library assistant, has moved to Slater, a quiet college town, hoping to hide from his past. He keeps to himself, but that doesn’t save him from catching the unwanted attention of the campus bully. But not all is as it seems. Alex’s past comes calling, and it’s time he becomes top dog.

Review: If you like a little kink with your story, BAMF is the book for you. If you prefer to listen to a story about a mild-mannered library assistant and a bad-ass college student, then BAMF isn’t the book for you, and I have to say I feel the blurb for this book is misleading. I had never read SJD Peterson before mostly because I am not a fan of BDSM, and I know most of her books seem to work on some variation of that. The first half of this story was rough for me to read/listen to. I maybe would have been comfortable with the rough sex, but Ridley wasn’t and took the pain because he didn’t want to be seen as a weak, immature college student who didn’t have the confidence to stand up for himself. Pain and pleasure mixed together was the theme of the first couple of times Ridley and Alex got together, but the next morning the pleasure was gone and all that was left was the pain, described to us in detail, which isn’t an image I necessarily wanted to read about or listen to.

But, the second half of the book was great! And it was at this point (52% in the e-book) Ridley and Alex had to leave Michigan due to a real BAMF named Gutierrez trying to kill them. The FBI moved them to a safe house in Louisiana, where Alex and Ridley enjoyed long days of lovemaking, getting to know each other, fishing, but there was also just a little bit of suspense, waiting to see of Gutierrez’s men would show up to try and kill them again. The lovemaking settled down into partnership; they talked about family and griped about everyday duties such as cooking and dishes. I was hoping there would be another spike in the action, with Gutierrez finding them, but that was not in the cards. The story just kind of slowed to an anticlimactic finish, but they did have a happy ending, both realizing they needed each other.

I liked BAMF and liked the give and take relationship Alex and Ridley grew into. I also liked Adam Dort’s narration. I really thought his voice fit the characters. There’s not a lot of acting projected into the narration, but Adam just reading the story for some reason worked. My only recommendation for this book is to be aware of the rough sex scenes. It’s a good story, maybe just not what you’d expect from the blurb.