Suck It

I’ll admit, I rolled my eyes at the ‘amnesiac fated mate’ setup—until about five minutes in, when our heroine, mid-panic over her missing memories, deadpans, *“At least I still know how to throw a fireball.”* That’s *Suck It* in a nutshell: it refuses to take itself too seriously, even when the lore gets dense. Hall’s worldbuilding is ambitious (ancient vampire politics! a magical order with *HR problems*!), but the plot never bogs down because the dialogue crackles and the chemistry between the leads is *electric*—and I mean that literally, given the number of times their arguments ignite spontaneous magic. Schroeder’s narration is *almost* flawless. Her comedic timing is impeccable—she lands jokes most narrators would stumble over—and her Drakon is *chef’s kiss*: a voice that oozes power without tipping into caricature. My only gripe? The action scenes occasionally blur together in the audio format; a few more distinct vocal cues for secondary characters (especially during the magical showdowns) would’ve helped. And while the pacing is generally tight, the mid-book lull—where the heroine’s memory recovery drags—feels longer in audio than it might on the page. Still, the payoff (a third-act twist that recontextualizes *everything*) is worth it. If you love romances where the heroine’s agency isn’t just a buzzword, and where the narrator makes you *feel* the smirk behind every line, this is your next listen. Just maybe don’t start it on your commute—you’ll miss your stop.