Raising Hell

By: Daryl Banner

Narrated by: Chris Chambers

Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

Thirsty?

Take one reckless party boy. (That's me.)

Add an irresistible, hunky math teacher. (He's stupid-hot and driving me crazy.)

Throw in one ice-princess baby sister who hates my guts. (We'll work on that later.)

And you get: One HELL-raising cocktail of trouble.

Welcome to my life. Please drink responsibly.

Contains mature themes.

©2018 Daryl Banner (P)2019 Tantor

THIS is one of my favorites

Sometimes when go to pick my next book I have to try and make sure in my mind I haven't already read it (I read a lot, so yes this happens). This particular book has actually stuck with me to the point that I think about it while reading other books. I compare little things that happen in them and think back to how this book portrayed a similar scene and this one always sounds better. The narrator's voice enhanced this book and it is probably what helped it to truly stay with me. The story is so different, super hot, and also very, very sweet. I have been making my way through the author's other books and when I am finished there, I plan to search out other books this narrator has done.

Absolutely Hilarious

This is by far the funniest Audiobook Daryl Banner ever wrote and I think I read all of them. Narrated by the talented Chris Chambers who makes it fun to listen, not sure how does it to get the different character voices sound so believable. I just wish Daryl would write more amusing books like this.

This one grabs you from the get go

If you were ever young and gay this is you or someone that was close to you. My dear friend Pablo is Mathew in real life. He is all of us and the decisions we make and lives we lead, the story is so good you can't put it down in places. There are parts that are cringe worthy for the writing of the characters actions. And parts that are too repetitive. Though overall a great read.

Ferocious, Intense, Non-Fairytale, and those places in between.

I liked the writing immensely, it dragged me through parts of the book and topics I wasn’t exactly prepared for.

I snapped this up as free by an author I admire, and probably for the first time in my life didn’t comb the reviews.

So, look. Trigger warnings from a reader. A main character has a substance abuse problem. There is grief, death, and many other kinds of loss. I can’t actually focus enough to give a good list, and some might count as spoilers.

There are many positives, things which made me grin ear to ear, and for something I found listed as a romance, with the typical model on the cover, this was _rough_ (warning: it’s not an easy escape-type of book for those dealing with, well, death, job loss, grief, denial, economic difference, borderline sexual harassment or homophobia at work, impulse control-you get me? That’s not all. It’s all I can type.) Good thing I knew Daryl Banner wrote in many genres, including dystopian.

Is this book all gloom? Nah. It’s bright, shiny, jumps forward in time, switches up styles and has fun with some best-seller formats. I won’t lie and say that like some shiny things it doesn’t have sharp edges.

Was it *romantic*? Hell, yeah. Was it too sharp or too real in places? Not exactly. It was real enough to say it’s not escapist, even if the time skips don’t drown the reader in the really difficult stuff. *He leaves that to our minds.* Which may or may not be a good thing. The author guides us in a loving direction, but depending on where you are in life, those gaps may haunt you a bit, if you have those things called feelings.

This isn’t meant to scare you off. I don’t write a lot of reviews, and this book might be considered ‘light’ by some people I’ve dealt with. I don’t think it is. It is, however, very loving, very kind. Even (or especially) to the reader.

In an entirely non-sexual way I will say the number of real raw life problems which showed up left me what my grandpa would call “rode hard and put away wet” (it’s about horses, cut it out). On the topic of sex, this has plenty of positive sex in it.
It’s not where I’d go *only* for a quick thrill unless you’re jaded.

So well yeah. I’m wrung out over going into this with assumptions I shouldn’t have made. It was worth the ride.

Damn, the man can write in a playful off-center way and leave me saying thanks for punching me in the gut along the way. Your mileage may differ. It’s quite a book.

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The narration was spot on for me, and that’s not an easy job to start with. Add the book’s style of moving quickly from thoughts to dialogue and it’s a grueling task. There were only a couple of times that I wondered if something had been said out loud, though. I was impressed overall.

OMG! I LOVE THE HELL OUT OF THIS STORY!

"Rasing Hell," was all the way on point. I fell in love with Mathew. I found myself answering his questions, and totally laughing at the words that kept coming out of his mouth. Mathew was hilarious. I totally enjoyed the way Mr. Daryl Banner wrote this story allowing Mathew's character to speak to the listener. It showed his creative side as an amazing author. Mr. Chris Chambers did an amazing job narrating the whole story. Also, his voice for Mathew brought the interaction with the character to the forefront. All of the characters did their part in making this story come to life. I highly recommend,"Rasing Hell," you will not be disappointed. ENJOY!

I had to hear it twice

The beginning of the book , is slow. But midway into it , the book gets really good. The love story is beautiful, and the parents saw what I did in the main character

A must listen!

This is easily my favorite Daryl Banner book. The cover is gorgeous. The audiobook narration is perfect. The characters and story are interesting and well written.

This is a story of grief and sibling relationships and finding oneself and unconditional love. The drama comes from outside of the romantic relationship which I always appreciate, especially with a story that has a lot of moving parts. Charlie is an absolute rock for both Matthew and Helen. I love the way he loves Matthew! Matthew’s “voice” and sass make for a hilarious narration, even during the heavier parts of the book. His journey through dealing with the death of his parents felt real and authentic. And he is so open with his emotions; gotta love a man who can be vulnerable.

I highly recommend. I loved it from start to finish.

Such a Great Story!!!

I so want all of Daryl’s books get made into a movie, but uncensored (of course). The story was good, the love story was moving and touching, and the erotic element was FIRE!

Verbalized facial expressions!

The story was very well written. It feels like it was written for the narrator. Wonderful job! Both the writer and narrator.

Awesome read!

I laughed & I cried -
This story was quite the emotion tugging ride! The unlikely pair of lovers are so fun and so filled passion!