Audiobook Review – Temporary Bliss by BJ Harvey

Temporary Bliss by BJ Harvey

Narrated by Lucy Rivers. Also with Christian Fox.

Contemporary Romance. Can stand alone.

Published back in 2013, and on my kindle since then, I finally decided to get the audiobook of Temporary Bliss because BJ Harvey is coming to Wicked Book Weekend 2018. I’m so mad I waited 5 years! It was funny, dirty, angsty and different!

Mac was in a really bad relationship, and when she finally got out, she vowed never to get back in. With anyone.

“Walking away from this life, I make a vow to myself; never again will my life be dictated by a man, and never again will I let love lead me astray.”

Flash forward a couple of years, and Mackenna is a strong, independent woman with not one, not two, but THREE sexy fuck buddies. (No, sadly not together, but that may have been fun). I really liked this for a change. She wasn’t really slutty. They all satisfied a different need for her. They were all casual, and they all knew the deal.

Then she met Daniel.

“Shit! I need to tell him about the other penises in my life.”

Sigh…I loved ‘Delicious Daniel’.

But Mac just kept pushing this great guy away. I wanted to climb into the book and smack her upside the head. But Daniel stood pretty firm, or at least he says he did. I wouldn’t have minded seeing him work for it a little more, I’m not a big fan of waiting it out.

“I’m in so deep, I’ll take you however I can have you. I’ll wait, however long it takes. If these last few months with you have shown me anything, it’s that you’re meant to be mine. I know that already, F***, I’ve known if for awhile now. I’ve just been waiting for you to catch up.”

I think one of my favorite parts of Temporary Bliss was actually the friendship between Mac & Kate, and I really want to read Kate’s story.

“That is the beauty of having a best friend. They’ll walk over hot coals with you; they’ll tell you when you’re being dumb, and they bail you out of trouble, unless they’re sitting right beside you in the cell.”

Likes:

It’s a nice change to have a woman who has multiple partners (before hooking up with the hero).
The friendship between Mac and her roommate.
Made me laugh out loud.
Holy hot! I wasn’t expecting it to be so sexy! BJ is a dirty girl.
Loved all the side characters.

Dislikes:

I loved the first half, but then she fought it too long, and she started to piss me off.
I wasn’t thrilled with the flashbacks once she was with Daniel.
I felt like I didn’t get to know Daniel enough to be super invested.

The Narration:

Lucy Rivers is an amazing narrator. Though Christian Fox is credited, he is just a small guest.

The Down & Dirty:

I loved the fact that the heroine wasn’t a virgin and was a normal, on-the-slutty-side city girl and proud of it. She is sexually free and makes no apologies, Good for her! I loved her relationship with her best friend, and can’t wait for Kate’s story. I started out loving Mac but I did get pretty frustrated with her after a while. I felt bad for Delicious Daniel and kind of started thinking she didn’t deserve him.

But I love BJ’s writing style. I loved the humor and friendship. This book is 5 years old, I can’t imagine how much better BJ has gotten since then, and I look forward to reading more.