Story Rating: 3.5 stars
Audio Rating: 4 stars
Narrator: Z.A. Martin
Length: 6 hours, 41 minutes
Audiobook Buy Links: Amazon/Audible | iBooks
Book Buy Links: Amazon | iBooks
Coming off of a bad date and a bad relationship, Callum decides that maybe an online connection would be best. He is looking for a Daddy and eager to explore the dynamics of being someone’s boy. Callum receives a fast response from Jack, who goes by DaddyJM online, a man that lives on the other side of the country. Callum is fine with the distance, at first, and looks forward to the rules and intimate encounters he shares from his computer.
Jack wasn’t looking for anything serious, and a man so far away certainly isn’t convenient. But Callum calls to all of Jack’s Daddy instincts and soon Callum becomes a regular part of his life online. But when Jack is admitted to the hospital and Callum is left wondering what happened to him, Jack has to decide what he wants with Callum and finds himself flying across the country to see him. The chemistry between the men is everything they knew it would be, but the two barely know each other from a day-to-day aspect, and it takes a little bit of time for them to be in sync on how to proceed. When a dangerous event shakes their newly built life together, Callum and Jack have to figure out how to rebuild and move forward together.
I was interested in listening to Worth the Wait after listening to Worth the Risk, the first book in the Giving Consent series. The timelines overlap each other and Jack and Callum are introduced in that first book. Jack lives in NY, and Callum lives in CA, and they connect online. Callum feels a little done with meeting people in person and seeks a Daddy he can connect with from home. I liked both of these characters, but some of the overall storyline didn’t resonate as much with me.
Jack answers Callum’s request immediately and their relationship moves quickly, almost too quickly, as in less than 24 hours after their first message, Callum is sending Jack full on intimate video. Callum then decides he’s all in for listening to Jack’s rules and the initial set up didn’t have enough of a foundation for me. The men then spend time online together and most of their interactions are based on sex. There isn’t much character development or history given to these guys. We learn later in the book that Callum had an emotionally abusive ex, but since it wasn’t written into the story much, it felt added on. We don’t learn anything about Jack or what his experience is with being in a Daddy role and Jack and Callum never really discuss it either. It’s more assumed that Jack is the Daddy and Callum likes calling him that and Jack likes hearing it.
When Jack moves to CA, his transition is incredibly easy and he is hired on the spot as a physical therapist because of who he knows. There was just something here at every turn that I had to go with to make the story work and it was a little too much for my tastes. I did like seeing the group of friends again, as the storylines run at the same time as each other and then move forward. The series is also based around a BDSM club that two of the characters own and it’s a place for the group to gather at times. While I would have liked more character development and more back story for Callum and Jack, the drama at the end added interest to the story and I do like this series as a whole and look forward to seeing the other characters get their books.
Z.A. Martin is the narrator for this series and I really enjoyed his performance in the first book. I still enjoyed this one, but just not as much. The lead characters both have distinct voices and it worked well to know who was speaking. Some of the voices did blend with other characters and one character would sound like the other at the start of a conversation until it evened out again. The characters from the previous books did retain the same voice and they were recognizable, but there were a few female characters in supporting roles and they all did sound mostly the same. The overall quality and sound is smooth and the audio is a recommended way to enjoy this series.
