- Performance: Ja'Air Bush is credited, but no review comments on the performance itself
- What it covers: Possessive alpha-hero romance, family loyalty, danger versus desire
- Feel: Hot-and-heavy with an undertone of menace
- Our call: Worth it if you want more of Deuce than of Salima's side of the story.
One of the five reviewers on this audiobook's page goes by the handle Read by Michelè, which reads either as a coincidence or as the funniest possible username for someone reviewing an audiobook without ever once mentioning Ja'Air Bush's narration. That small joke ends up setting the tone for how this entire review column behaves: five people showed up with strong feelings about Deuce Dillinger and Salima Navarro, and not a single one of them stuck around long enough to discuss how the book actually sounds out loud.
Deuce Knew What He Wanted, Period
Kimberly Brown opens The Dillinger Chronicles with a setup that leans fully into possessive-hero romance. Salima takes a job at the upscale Aura nightclub to support herself and her recovering mother, catches the eye of nightclub heir Deuce Dillinger, and spends the rest of the book negotiating exactly how much control she is willing to hand over to a man who is used to getting whatever he wants without much resistance from anyone around him. The synopsis frames Salima's resistance as the book's central tension, and the attached reviews confirm that this specific tension landed very differently depending on who was reading it.
The reviewer behind the review titled 'Duece Knew What He Wanted, Period,' the misspelling is theirs, and it recurs across the column, Deuce also turns up spelled 'Dice' in a separate review entirely, found Salima's resistance repetitive rather than compelling, writing plainly that Deuce's certainty and focus 'carried the romance' for her far more than the heroine's own arc did. Other reviewers landed the opposite way entirely, praising the couple's chemistry and banter without flagging any of that same fatigue. That split is genuinely worth knowing before you start: this is a hero-forward romance from the first page, and how much you enjoy it may depend heavily on how much patience you personally have for a heroine who spends book one mostly defined by what she is resisting rather than what she wants.
The danger layered on top of the romance is not incidental either. The synopsis promises rivals threatening both the relationship and Salima's own safety once she is pulled into Deuce's world of luxury and family loyalty, which gives the book a second gear beyond the will-they-won't-they question. None of the five reviews dwell much on that thriller-adjacent thread, they are far more interested in the two leads themselves, but it is present in the source material and worth expecting once the nightclub setting gives way to whatever conflict the Dillinger family's rivals bring with them.
Bush Narrates, but No Review Discusses It
As the first book in a new series, Deuce does exactly the job most series-openers are asked to do: it establishes the family, the Dillingers, the world of luxury, danger, and inherited power surrounding them, and the central couple, while leaving the door wide open for future installments built around side characters readers only glimpse here. One reviewer, titled 'I need More', writes 'Great intro into the family' and adds 'I definitely can't wait to see what unfolds with the others', asking for more before a second book even appears on this listing. If you enjoy series romance specifically for its long-haul family saga structure rather than a single, fully self-contained plot, this one is built squarely for that particular appetite.
Ja'Air Bush is credited as narrator, but none of the five reviews reach past the Deuce-and-Salima dynamic long enough to comment on the reading itself, not the pacing, not the voice work, not the way a nightclub scene might sound differently performed than it reads on the page. That absence is not unusual for a romance audiobook running on a small, enthusiastic review base rather than a large one, but it does mean you are choosing this specific narrator on the strength of the credit alone, with no listener confirmation yet of how the performance actually lands scene to scene.
Dreamscape Media publishes this one, and the December 2024 release date means it is still relatively new as series openers go, which likely explains why the review column tops out at five entries rather than the dozens a longer-running title might accumulate. Anyone deciding between text and audio for this specific series has very little audio-specific feedback to lean on either way, beyond the bare narrator credit itself.
Four Fives and a Four Don't Add Up
Several of the review bodies cut off mid-sentence on this listing, a scraping quirk that has nothing to do with the book itself, so do not assume a review's actual opinion ends wherever the visible text happens to stop. Ruby D. Page's review, for instance, is clearly still going when it cuts off mid thought about Kimberly Brown's writing. Do the arithmetic on the visible reviews and something does not line up cleanly: four perfect fives and one four add up to twenty-four points across five readers, yet a 4.7 average over five votes calls for twenty-three and a half, a fraction no whole-star rating can ever land on. Treat the badge as a broadly positive signal rather than a number you can verify against what is printed just above it.
If you are at all sensitive to romance built around a domineering love interest, it is worth knowing that going in rather than discovering it mid-listen. The synopsis itself uses the word 'domineering' to describe Deuce's personality and lifestyle directly, and the five reviews confirm the book leans fully into that dynamic rather than softening it for a broader audience. Readers who prefer a slower-building, more equal power dynamic between leads should sample a chapter first before committing a full credit.
Starting on Faith in an Unreviewed Narrator
This one is for readers who want an alpha-hero romance with a clear family-saga structure already visible ahead of it, who do not mind a heroine whose arc stays largely reactive across book one, and who are comfortable starting a brand-new series on faith in Ja'Air Bush's narration since no review has weighed in on it yet either way.
It is a tougher sell for anyone who wants a heroine driving the plot as much as the hero does, or if an audiobook with an unreachable rating and zero narration commentary leaves you wanting more proof before you commit a credit to it. Sample the opening chapter first if either of those describes your own reading preferences, since the rest of the Dillinger Chronicles will presumably lean on whatever groundwork this first installment lays down. Fans of nightclub-and-empire romance settings, where money and danger sit right next to the central relationship, will likely find the balance here familiar and satisfying rather than overloaded.
Before You Listen
Why do several reviews of this audiobook spell the hero's name differently?
Two reviewers write 'Duece' and one writes 'Dice' instead of Deuce, which is simply inconsistent spelling on the reviewers' own part rather than an error in the book itself. It matters if you go searching for more reactions under either alternate spelling later on.
Does the rating on this audiobook actually add up?
Not exactly. Four perfect scores and one four-star score add up to twenty-four points across five readers, but a 4.7 average calls for twenty-three and a half, a fraction whole-star voting simply cannot produce. Read the badge as a general positive signal rather than a precise, verifiable consensus.
