A Real Good Bad Thing

By: Lauren Blakely

Narrated by: Stella Hunter, Ryan West

A sexy romantic comedy adventure from #1 NYT Bestseller Lauren Blakely, performed in duet by Stella Hunter and Ryan West!

After the year I’ve had, the last thing I need is a hot, tattooed, rugged stranger distracting me from my job.

But when the irresistible man I meet in a dive bar devastates me with a knee-weakening kiss, I throw caution to the wind and spend a scorching night in his arms on the beach.

The next day I discover he’s my brand new rival. We’re racing against time and each other to find millions in missing jewels for my family.

Bye bye hottie.

Except, I keep bumping into him as we chase clues, and he’s much savvier than I am at breaking and entering, plotting and twisting.

Maybe it's better to partner up.

But the more time I spend sneaking into nightclubs and art galleries with the cocky, dirty-talking treasure hunter, the more I want him to do bad things to me.

Soon, I’m not just sleeping with the enemy. I’m falling for a man who has no room in his life for me.

And that’s a real bad thing for my heart.

©2023 Lauren Blakely Books (P)2025 Lauren Blakely Books

Exhilarating, suspenseful and sexy story!

Blakely has done it again! She has given us an exhilarating, suspenseful and sexy story that captures you from page one and never lets go. Jake Hawkins is a rugged, former soldier who is now a 'Recovery Specialist'. He uses the skills he learned in army intelligence to recover stolen property for the rightful owners while raising and supporting his younger siblings. Ruby Ashley is re-building her eco-adventure tour company in vacation spots around the equator after her ex boyfriend nearly destroyed it. Ruby is sweet but brave and adventurous and never backs down from a challenge. When she learns that her step father, Eli, may have embezzled money, she is determined to uncover the truth. When she and Jake meet by chance in a bar over darts, the sparks begin to fly. Their banter is clever, and filled with hot, sexy innuendo. They can't deny their chemistry but have a hard time completely trusting each other. When they realize they are after the same man, they agree to team up. They have fun working in tandem, assembling the clues they uncover. But will their individual motives for the truth cause them to betray one another despite their passionate attraction? Jake and Ruby are wonderful characters. They are both smart, caring, and playful yet they challenge each other making them so perfect together. Blakely expertly introduces us to the other players in this mystery and reveals just enough clues to keep you turning the pages without making it predictable and lifeless. This allows the story to be all about the thrill of uncovering clues, the excitement of the chase, the fun and sexy banter, and the intense and fiery passion.
Stella Hunter and Ryan West are fabulous as Ruby and Jake. They easily deliver all the excitement, emotion, wit, and steam, as they bring these characters and story to life so beautifully. I loved every moment and was completely captivated from start to finish and possibly beyond?

The Performance

The book has a great storyline. One of my favorites. The thing for me that makes it the best is the performances by the narrators. Bravo to them.

Fun Story

This book takes a duet she wrote a long time ago and changes things to first person and changes the caper about some. I listened to those books a long time ago so not too much of this story felt familiar which was nice.


The story seemed to drag on a bit though and I had some trouble staying involved with it for a few days. I picked it back up yesterday with the desire to finish though and the story finished strong.

It was super interesting how Ruby ended up getting the closure from Eli that she needed as well as how she found a caper partner and a life partner in the process of finding this closure.

This gem was narrated by Ryan West and Stella Hunter.

Ryan has a yummy voice and such a good rhythm to his speaking! Deep and gruff!

Stella is just phenomenal! I love her soft sweet voice and cadence is perfection

I loved it!

Wow! I loved it! Jake and Ruby's story is fun, engaging, and heartwarming, filled with mystery and intrigue. I liked this enemies to lovers romance, filled with banter, slow burn, passion, and romance. Stella Hunter and Ryan West did an excellent job bringing this story to life. They are perfect as Jake and Ruby. The audio production is perfect. This audiobook is very pleasant to listen to. I enjoyed it.

Thrilling, steamy and seductive

This was a little different from past Lauren Blakely books and I enjoyed it so much! “A Real Good Bad Thing” is a thrilling, steamy and seductive enemies to lovers to partners rom-com suspense that was a great listen.

There’s a treasure hunt for some stolen diamonds, two people are after them and for different reasons. Ruby believes that they belonged to her former stepdad and that they should be for her mom whom he wronged in the past. Jake is a recovery specialist who was hired to recover them. The two meet on the beach one night and have an incredible time together. And both are equally shocked when they realize they are after the same treasures. They quickly figure out that they should work together to recover the diamonds and the chemistry they had the first night is still very much there.

I was excited to dive into this book because it was an old book that was no longer available. It has been revamped and it’s great. I loved Ruby from the beginning. She’s genuine, caring, and her drive to bring her business back to its former glory. Jake was a bit of a mystery at first, which I loved, and he opened up as the story went on. The chemistry between the two was apparent from the start and only grew stronger throughout the story. And their banter was great and had me laughing several times. The action of trying to find the diamonds had me even more invested in the story as they worked together.

Stella Hunter and Ryan West brought this story to life perfectly and I enjoyed their performances so much. Stella is always a pleasure to listen to and she was the perfect choice for Ruby. Ryan was great as Jake and his deep tone voice was exactly who I would have picked to narrate Jake.