Grumpy As Hell

Hellman Brothers, Book 1

By: Marika Ray

Narrated by: Kyle Mason, Angelina Rocca

The town's hottest firefighter just put out the fire in my pants. Literally.

Ace Hellman. Star quarterback. Grumpy-as-hell firefighter. Chief pain in my ass.

He's beyond arrogant, inducing women to fake emergencies just to see his sexy swagger as he comes to save them. Not me though. That fire was a total accident. I swear. He and I actually have a long history of hating each other, starting with him ruining my live performance of the Nutcracker in kindergarten and ending with me being the only woman in town under forty whom he hasn't dated. I wear that title with pride.

Now that we've been roped into teaching a first aid class together, things can't get more awkward. He's determined to prove me wrong at every turn, and I'm determined to stop picturing him without his coveralls. I refuse to hide who I am, and Ace stands for everything I'm against.

He's so wrong for me the whole town knows it. So why do I feel like we start a fire every time we're together?

©2022 Marika Ray (P)2023 Tantor

Childhood enemies to lovers

The town's handsome, no second dates firefighting hero falls for the hippy girl who grabs his heart by teaching him to listen to his own. Lots of laugh out loud moments and emotional realizations that you come to expect from Marika Ray.

The audio performance was well paced and enjoyable but it took me awhile to appreciate the female narrator although over the course of the book, she really captured the soul of Addy.

Oh, how I love this book

I’m sorry to say I had not heard of this author before. Reading what the book was about I thought I would give it a shot. Oh my gosh am I glad I did because this was such an awesome book. I wish that the guys part was narrated differently as the voice didn’t match the character but the book is so good that after a while you just don’t even think about it. I highly highly suggest if you want a good read and you start with this one. It’s probably gonna be a while before the second one comes out but that’s OK good things come to those who wait

If by grumpy you mean slightly burned marshmallow

“Her voodoo-vortex was spreading and I was powerless to stop it.”
I have a soft spot for flower-child FMCs, from Shelly Long in Modern Family, to Drew Barrymore in 50 First Dates, or Jennifer Aniston in Along Came Polly.

“Communing with nature”
Sure, dancing naked in her backyard or pitching natural remedies was quirky, but it made for a light, bright hippie-dippie good time. The grumpy-sunshine dynamic ended up being more chocolate and granola opposites attract.

“Holy Shitake Mushrooms!”
Her cussing may be on the family friendly end, but this is a book with occasional F bombs and exuberant, open door, honk the horn sex. Looking forward to the other Hellman brothers and their HEAs.

the story overall was cute and embraced peoples differences.

There were some loose ends that were never cleared up. what did the brother need the oils for? Did he ever talk to his dad? did I skip a chapter??? wished the female voice always did he female parts and same with the male voice.

Swoony Hilarious romance perfection

I love a grumpy hero paired with a sunshiny heroine. Ace and Addy are perfect together. Ace is the grumpy uber responsible oldest of 5 boys and a fireman in Auburn Hill. He has dated almost all the eligible woman in town but never goes on second dates. Addy is the complete opposite, a free spirited forest loving yoga teacher. Ace and Addy have been enemies since kindergarten when Ace destroyed Addy’s flower crown. A bare chested fire incident starts Ace and Addy on their journey to their HEA and co-leading a class pushes their romance into the fast lane. The book does a phenomenal job of taking us on the journey of Ace and Addy as they struggle to transition from their individual fears and insecurities into learning to trust and depend on each other. The story has plenty of steamy scenes, sweet moments, stupid choices, laughter, crazy and quirky townspeople, and simmering and overwhelming feelings, all wrapped up in swoony heart squeezing love. The story was well written with relatable characters with depth and an engaging storyline that made me feel all the things. I’ll definitely keep reading this series.

Kyle Mason and Angelina Rocca did a wonderful job narrating the story and characters into life with enough change of inflection, tone and cadence to voice multiple characters quite well.