𝕃𝕒𝕪𝕝𝕒 ℝ𝕖𝕪𝕟𝕖 - 𝔻𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝔻𝕣𝕒𝕨 : LOVE IT

𝕃𝕒𝕪𝕝𝕒 ℝ𝕖𝕪𝕟𝕖 - 𝔻𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝔻𝕣𝕒𝕨: 𝔸 ℙ𝕖𝕣𝕗𝕖𝕔𝕥 ℙ𝕝𝕒𝕪 ℕ𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝
𝔸ℝℂ

This is the first book by the author that I've read, so far so good, I'll definitely read more books of hers in the future 🥰

A marriage of convenience is the solution both Special Agent Levi Bishop and Special Agent Emmitt Marshall were looking for to put closure to some past issues.

"ᴊᴇꜱᴜꜱ"
-"ɴᴏᴛ ᴊᴇꜱᴜꜱ, ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ᴍᴀʀꜱʜ, ᴀɴᴅ ɪ'ʟʟ ᴛᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴀꜱ ᴀ ʏᴇꜱ"

Levi finds it difficult to accept Marsh's presence in his home, he finds it difficult to explain the situation to his son especially after he became a widower and he tries to find a way to comfort his son and hold himself day after day with a feeling of guilt and pain in his heart. Marshall slowly finds his way into the heart of David, Levi's son, with chess games.
The boundaries are crumbling, the emotions are spreading everywhere, and yet everything is at the rate of a slow burn that burns every cell in my body🔥🔥🔥
Mariana Zapata Be careful, there is a competitor for your title here 😂

“ʜᴇʀᴇ, ᴍᴀʀꜱʜ.” ʜᴇ ꜱᴘʀᴇᴀᴅ ʜɪꜱ ᴀʀᴍꜱ ᴡɪᴅᴇ, ɪɴᴅɪᴄᴀᴛɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴏᴜꜱᴇ ᴀʀᴏᴜɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇᴍ. “ɪ ɴᴇᴇᴅ ᴀ ᴘᴀʀᴛɴᴇʀ ʜᴇʀᴇ.” ᴛʜᴇɴ ꜰᴏʟᴅᴇᴅ ʙᴏᴛʜ ʜᴀɴᴅꜱ ᴏᴠᴇʀ ʜɪꜱ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ. “ᴀɴᴅ ʜᴇʀᴇ.”
.
**Ended with a cliffhanger! Can't wait to listen to the next book 😍📚***

An audiobook copy of Dead Draw was provided by @valentine_pr_ and the author for the purpose of my honest review, all opinions are my own❤️‍🔥
Thank you for that🥰

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1 person found this helpful

A New Series by Layla Reyne

Dead Draw is the first book in Layla Reyne's new Perfect Play series. Clearly setting up the rest of the series, Ms. Reyne establishes both of the main characters, and gets them started in their relationship. I like their chemistry, and am looking forward to seeing where they go.

Layla Reyne always writes a clever, creative mystery.

Audio version performed by Christian Leatherman.

an audiobook copy of Dead Draw was provided for the purpose of my honest review, all opinions are my own

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loved

this was so amazing that I played games on my phone so that I didn't stop. can't wait for book 2!!!!

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Amazing!!

I absolutely loved this MM romantic suspense!

Emmett and Levi were amazing together and I loved the chemistry between them.


This was such a scorching and sexy listen

The narrator performed an amazing audio delivery and narration.

I definitely recommend this sexy as sin listen

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Terrific Story & Listen🎧 Gripping & Heartfelt!

Layla Reyne pens another fabulous multi-genre novel, the story grabbed my attention right from the start and captivated it the entire time. I enjoyed her writing style and the wonderful characters and storylines she created, they are interesting and original, easy to relate to and connect with, the characters are easy to care about too. The world building and character development is fantastic, as are the layers and complexity of the story. Special Agent Levi Bishop is struggling not only with the loss of his wife, but with his grieving son and making it so much worse he is struggling to stay afloat and is close to losing his house and his car. He is busy working on a case that is close to his heart, but a lead in the investigation falls flat and they think they know why, or rather, who was behind it. Special Agent Emmitt Marshall, hacker extraordinaire, wants to catch the terrorists who killed his mentor, and he comes up with a plan that would bring him closer to them and that plan includes asking another agent to pose as his husband. The same agent whose investigation he just screwed up, though his intention was to help and not hinder that operationI adored both lead characters, my heart went out to Levi and what he was going thru and Marsh just came in and stole my heart, a smooth talker with a big heart and personality. He gave Levi an out of his predicament, of course he takes it, but what happens after was not what he was expecting. I loved the chemistry between them and how well they worked together, also loved how Marsh was with David, Levi’s son. Besides the romance storyline, there is the case he is working on, a criminal investigation, and Marsh is involved with that, too. I loved how everything played out in this cleverly plotted story, there is plenty of drama, relationship and crime drama, mystery, action, thrilling suspense, heartfelt emotions and a slow burn romance. The author is not finished with these characters yet, so there is more to come for Levi and Marsh this fall, which I am looking forward to. Layla Reyne, thank you for another fantastic story and emotional rollercoaster ride.

🎧📚🎧 And for the terrific narration, Christian Leatherman is a talented narrator and a versatile voice artist, he gave each character their own voice and personality, making it easy to follow along and tell who is who. His portrayal of the characters was spot on, he took each role, ran with it and made it his own. You could hear how much heart he puts into his work as he captures the character’s emotions and projects them into his performance. Leatherman is an entertaining storyteller and a pleasure to listen to. Thank you for another great listen.

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Slow start love

Loved this story which had me listening till 2am and the slow southern drawl by the narrator makes it come alive, enjoy I know I did

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The Stetson and the Suit

Let me first start my review by saying this book might not have been possible if not for the messed up American health system. Canada’s not perfect, by any means, but universal healthcare means most people don’t lose everything because of catastrophic illness. If Levi’s wife’s illness hadn’t cost him almost everything, he wouldn’t be in the position of having to accept Marsh’s insane proposal. Because it’s nuts, right? Marry me and I’ll wipe out your debts. Oh, and maybe we can catch some bad guys. The second part never truly came into focus for me – how they could only succeed if they were married? Didn’t really matter – the book was good enough to stand as it was.

I was loving both these men. Marsh has swagger, but is also still reeling from the death of his mentor years ago. He’s been after the people who killed her and he’ll stop at nothing to catch them. Levi’s also on a mission. Women his wife helped have gone missing – along with plenty of other marginalized ones. He wants to shut down the traffickers before more people get hurt. Before more people die. Add in that he’s a grieving husband with a teenage son with attitude and it’s not a good situation.

Marsh brings some life back into Levi’s life. He engages Levi’s son by teaching him chess. He brings Levi and his son through some of the worst of the grief. But he also puts them in peril and the book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger with nothing resolved. Reyne’s deft hand at creating series means there’s more to come and I can’t wait.

Have to mention Christian Leatherman. He narrated Reyne’s Fog City books and he’s a perfect choice to pair up with her. A talented duo and I can’t wait to see what comes next.

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Loved this romantic suspense!

I really enjoyed this audiobook more than I expected! There is quite a bit of plot happening outside the romance, which can sometimes be annoying or fall flat. But for the set-up of this story, the combination of the two worked perfectly and I was totally intrigued by both the romance and the actual FBI investigation plot. If you occasionally dabble in crime/suspense reads in addition to loving the marriage of convenience trope, this story is the perfect combo of the two. Overall it was a very slow burn, but the heat that was served was scorching. This was my first read by this author, and the first time I’ve listened to this narrator and they did a fantastic job! The Texas accents were not over the top, but spot on (based on my experience living in Austin). Being that this is book 1 in the series there is a bit of a cliffhanger, but more to do with the FBI plot than the relationship.

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Love Marsh and Levi

I love this book. Dead Draw is a seriously strong start to the Perfect Play series. My experience, though, is I preferred reading the story than listening to it.

We've met Marsh, the larger than life cowboy/FBI agent, before when he showed up in Brad and Sean's books, but this time he's the star of the show alongside Levi Bishop - another FBI agent - as their cases collide and they need to find a way to work together to bring down bad guys that have caused both of them considerable pain and trouble.

I love a 'fake relationship to real feelings' story and Marsh and Levi fits the bill perfectly. We've got two very strong, well-rounded characters who are smart, loyal and absolutely committed to doing their job as well as to protecting the people they love. The intensity of their attraction but the slow burn of their relationship developing into something more physical is hot. Marsh's approach to getting to know David, Levi's son, is super sweet too in its way, as he has to overcome the teenager's surly (but equally sweet) protective streak for his small family. Yeah, I'm totally Team Marsh here!

The investigations that bring Levi and Marsh together are as gritty as you'd expect from this author. It's another poke into the seedy underbelly of a city's crime and corruption...well, it's the start of one at least. Dead Draw gives us a satisfying HFN, but I'm definitely ready for more to come from these guys...time to cowboy up!

The narration didn't really do the book justice on this occasion for me. It didn't really feel like an all-round performance. There were a few moments that brought me out of the story where I thought the narrator didn't quite hit the cues (pauses in the middle of sentences or phrases where they didn't fit) or it didn't work for me (I didn't notice any difference when Marsh was ‘dialling up’ his accent and, I appreciate it's really difficult for grown men to perform voices of girl children, but Lily's voice didn't work for me either). That said, it's not a really bad performance, these are just a few things that would affect my personal listening experience… others might not notice them at all.

It's 4.5* for the story, 3* for the performance.

A copy of the audiobook was provided by GRR. This is my honest review.

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What a great start to this trilogy.

I love a good “marriage of convenience” story; add in suspense, danger, and a cool hacker and this story was an even bigger hit for me. If you know Layla Reyne’s writing you already know that this story has a bit of a cliffhanger. The romance for the main couple is solid but the case they are working won’t be solved until the end of book three. The good news is that book two is available in ebook and audio, and book three releases in early June 2023 with the audio following very soon.

I loved how Marshall is with Levi and I especially love how he interacts with Levi’s son, David. Christian Leatherman does a wonderful job with all of the different voices needed in this book. My only complaint is that I think his pacing is off a bit at times – like pausing or not pausing when the sentence needed it. This was noticeable but didn’t ruin anything about the story for me and I promptly purchased book two after listening to this one.

I really loved Marshall when I first met him in What We May Be and this series is shaping up to be everything I could have wanted for him. What We May Be is an MMF standalone story that I highly recommend. However, it’s not necessary to read that before beginning this series.

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