Hidden Truths: Truths and Lies Duet, Book 1 (Unabridged‪)‬

This starts off pretty much exactly like a ton of other books in this trope … so don’t expect any surprises or originality.

That said, I did like Talia, pretty much off the bat, so I hung in there. It’s very slow-paced and very cliché (typical, highly used mafia plot, unoriginal) until about 2 hours from the end, action finally starts to go down, and things heat up quite a bit. The action occurs in short spurts, and then it’s sorta slow-paced again, but it’s done well, as more is clearly just on the horizon, keeping me engaged.

By the time I got to the end, I was hooked. And after that wicked cliffhanger, I definitely will need to listen on to book 2—very well played on the part of the authors.

Overall: 3.5 stars.

Audio:
Overall not bad at all, but could’ve been better.
-It could be confusing at times, because both narrators pronounced the main a major character’s name inconsistently, sometimes saying Aris < as it sounds in an American accent, and one saying “Edd-es”. (I get it, I can’t roll my Rs and it sounds similar if I try to say it, however, one consistent pronunciation would’ve made it a lot more seamless to listen to.)
- Both have good voices and both more perform than read like robots, which is amazing. Dual cast that sounded like a full cast thanks to accents.
-However: each narrator works well individually. It seems like they did not work together at all. Whenever the male covered female dialogue, he made her sound like a petulant, weak little girl. It was absolutely awful and a striking conflict from how Sarah portrayed her, and how the authors designed her (as she’s actually wise beyond her years, grows up quickly after being forced to, strong and brave).

Hidden Truths - Part one of a duet
I found this to be a captivating listen with plenty of suspense and twists and turns throughout the story. I enjoyed Talia's character from the start - she was sweet and innocent but it really took her a while to start fighting and standing up for herself. Kostas is a mob boss with distorted views and he definitely treated Talia hot and then cold, she never knew which version of himself she would be getting. This was a slow burn but still delivered some hot and intense moments. There are some dark things that happen and I definitely recommend checking TW if you are a sensitive reader.

The story does end on a cliffhanger so be prepared to get the ebook since the audio isn't available yet. Sarah Puckett did a great with Talia while Jeffrey Holz did well with Kostas I did struggle with his voice for Talia and side characters but overall it turned out to be an entertaining listen with good narration.