Shameless Expectations

By: Adrian J. Smith

Narrated by: Quinn Riley, Lori Prince

Escaping the past is hard. Living in the present is harder.

Monti Schroeder is on a quest for peace. She has been since the moment she was born. But peace has remained elusive.

Living as a nomad, she takes work where she can get it. When her sister calls with a favor for her neurotic boss, Monti agrees to it for a few extra bucks. What Monti finds when she arrives is a woman just as broken as she is. And no matter what, she can't leave Athena to flounder on her own.

Athena Pruitt has made it through the last twenty-two years with one rule: Avoid everything uncomfortable. Her house has become her prison, and she is desperate for respite. Unable to handle physical touch, she's wary when her personal assistant hires a "special" masseuse who can help. But Monti isn't a typical massage therapist.

Each day, each massage, each moment Monti and Athena spend together they unravel just a little more. With wells of trauma and pain filling both to the brim, just what will happen when their vessels break?

Will Monti find peace? Will Athena learn to live without shame? Will they both mend their brokenness beyond repair?

Shameless Expectations is a book that crosses boundaries to find healing, a sapphic age-gap novel that explores deep trauma and the potential for healing decades later. If you're looking for a book that touches on hope and explores PTSD through the lens of romance, this is it.

©2024 Adrian J. Smith (P)2024 Podium Audio

solid story and great narration

the story was pretty good and the spice was good too. Lori and Quinn are some of the best narrators of sapphic audio books!

Painful yet beautiful

I thought this book did a beautiful job show two different women battling their own traumas but wanting to overcome them both individually and also for the other person.
I would give it a 3.5/5 on the spice level. There are several sex scenes, most of them are a decent length and descriptive.

10s across the board!

This was an emotional, honest, trauma filled, real life, tuff tackling, lovely and stressful storyline. The back and fourth of the MCs was such an excellent emotional roller-coaster with a touch of sister childhood trauma. This was an amazing story. I felt all the feels and every touch through the voices telling the story and I loved that two of my favorite narrators were phenomenal on this listen. I'm definitely adding this to my favs and I will re-listen.

Shameless Expectations

Loved the dual narration- two of the best! If you, or someone you care about, has been through trauma, you should read this book. Well done!

Magnificent narration by the best duo!

Such a deep, slow building story of healing and self discovery! There is also a love story. A story I will be listening to again due to the content and the brilliant adaptation of the writing to spoken words.