• Professional Distance

  • Thorne and Dash, Book 1
  • By: Silvia Violet
  • Narrated by: Greg Boudreaux
  • Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (443 ratings)

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Professional Distance  By  cover art

Professional Distance

By: Silvia Violet
Narrated by: Greg Boudreaux
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Publisher's summary

Thornwell Shipton is wealthy, uptight, closeted, and an incurable workaholic. A tragic love affair left him terrified of relationships, so he tells himself sex is better scheduled and paid for.

Riley Dashwood is young, easy-going, and comfortable in his own skin. He's a passionate baker and an aspiring chef, working as an escort to save up for culinary school.

They're clearly made for each other.

When Thorne hires Dash, it's lust at first sight. After a few scorching nights together, both men start to wonder if what's between them is more than physical, but their age gap and resistance to romance make them afraid to change their professional relationship to a personal one. Dash pushes Thorne to admit he wants things he's denied himself for years. Kinky things. Soft, caring things. Things that force him to open his heart, not just his body. To move forward, one or the other must take a risk and ask for what he really wants.

©2015 Silvia Violet (P)2016 Silvia Violet

What listeners say about Professional Distance

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A May/December romance, with a naughty twist.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes I would. It's very well written and conveyed.

What did you like best about this story?

The way the relationship between Thorne and Dash developed slowly over time.

Which scene was your favorite?

Shout out to Say Anything, the movie with John Cusack. Can't say more, you'll just have to listen.

If you could rename Professional Distance, what would you call it?

I hate this question. The title the Author gave the book is perfect, why mess with perfection?

Any additional comments?

Oh but I seriously enjoyed this book. Violet wove an amazing story for Thorne and Dash and Boudreaux does a fantastic job of bringing these characters, the Author's words to life. Early on you realize that Thorne has this unnatural need to be in control of everything, except in the bedroom. He allows himself one night a week to acquiesce that control and allow someone else to tell him what to do, to help him release all the pent up anxiety and stress. That's where Dash comes into play, pun intended. What starts out as a strictly business relationship slowly evolves into so much more. Dash pulls Thorne out of himself, shows him how to unwind and live.

Boudreaux is an auto buy for me much like his alter-ego, Tremblay. I don't think there is a character he can't bring to life. He also has this uncanny ability to convey the characters emotions in a way that you can feel what they are feeling while listening. Of course, he's only as good as the story which is where the Author comes in. Violet wrote such a great story, a May/December romance with a twist. Definitely a must listen!

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

It was joy, it was love!

I saw a lot of people complaining this book has too much sex. 😏 Well, hello! This is a book about a rent boy and a wealthy businessman falling in love while meeting for their *ahem ahem* weekly appointments so what do you expect? 😂 They literally meet to have sex every week so of course, this book is going to be full of sex. 😁 And can I say how much I loved them? Silvia Violet is officially the queen of dirty talk! 👏 Hot! 🔥 Damn! 🔥 Sizzling! 🔥 Countless eargasms while listening to this delicious little audio! 😉



Thorn is a wealthy businessman who believes paying for sex is much better than actual dating. He once fell in love with a man who can’t love him back openly and when he died, he left Thorn broken-hearted and jaded to emotions. Now, he simply has no time to date anyone and no one knows he’s gay. So as a rich closeted man, he resorted to hiring companions once a week to scratch his body’s urges. And then he met Dash.

Dash is an aspiring chef who’s working part-time as an escort to pay for his culinary school tuition. When his best friend who’s also an escort moved to another city to be with his boyfriend, Dash had to go to his regular customer as a substitute. And when that door opened and the customer answered, he laid his eyes on the most gorgeous man he’s ever seen. But despite his physical perfection, Thorn is arrogant and used to getting what he wants and people doing his bidding. Dash would have none of it. 😁 He might be an escort and he could be hired for having sex, but that doesn’t mean he’d behave like a good, little puppy to his customers. He wants Thorn more than as a customer and he’s determined to have his way. Poor Thorn never knew what train he had coming his way. 😁


Despite being 20 years older than Dash and is a successful businessman, Thorn is a power bottom. 😏 He loves being fucked rough, raw and strong. 🔥 And Dash can deliver just that and more. And this escort is unlike anyone he’s ever met in his life. Stubborn, determined and unrelenting. And of course, that intrigued Thorn into finding out more about this young, talented man who can cook amazing dishes. And slowly but surely, Thorn found himself falling in love with this caring, kind man. 😌 But he’s a customer who’s paying Dash to have sex with him. Plus, he’s 20 years older than the guy and is closeted. There’s no future for them. This is not “Pretty woman” movie and he’s not Richard Gere. Or is he? 😁

I’ll be honest, I got a bit annoyed by how Dash acted haughty and know-it-all in the beginning but I quickly got over that. It was really difficult for Thorn to open up to his feelings and accept them but Silvia Violet did a beautiful job of the metamorphosis of Thorn. And my, the smut was sizzling! 🔥 So hot, so filthy and oh-so-delicious that I can’t get enough! 😁 And I absolutely love that they switch their positions too. Despite being really heavy on the smut, this story has a beautiful and endearing depth to it and how these two fell in love with each other was really heart-warming. 😌 And Greg Boudreaux did one hell of a job narrating this amazing story. 👏 The story itself was good but his narration elevated this book into a whole new level. 👍 Loved it so much. 💙 Can’t wait to listen more of these two and see the beautiful relationship journey of them. Really well done, Silvia And Greg! 👏😌



5 It was joy, it was love stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Entertaining

Good book. KILL THE FEM VOICE FOR DASH! It’s insulting and it makes no sense for someone with such a gem voice to be so aggressive. He’d be laughed out of the bed

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Well written story + great narration = hotness

Where does Professional Distance rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Top10% without doubt

What was one of the most memorable moments of Professional Distance?

A the scene where the young rent boy breaks down the main character's sexual and intimate defenses

Which character – as performed by Greg Boudreaux – was your favorite?

The main character. The rent boy's style of speech was slightly strange and distracting.

If you could rename Professional Distance, what would you call it?

I think the title fits the storyline pretty well already

Any additional comments?

The story was really hot. I liked the dom/sub aspect, which I think added a lot to the story.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fabulous story and narration

I first read this story about a year ago and, as I thoroughly enjoyed the plot and writing, I was eager to listen to the audio version.

In a way, this is your typical May/December businessman and rent boy trope. You know the guys are going to fall in love despite all their protestations at the start that this is purely a physical undertaking in exchange for payment. What I like about this storyline is the way Silvia Violet developed her characters and their relationship gradually over time. Yes, there’s insta-attraction, but the love takes time to bloom. The sizzling chemistry between Thorne and Dash—in and out of the bedroom—makes this story hot as well as compelling. The notion that they have to keep their interaction ‘professional’ and maintain a distance provides conflict for both characters. Each wants more than the physical, but are wary of suggesting anything as such. Thus Thorne feels compelled to pay for Dash’s time, even when they are spending time together as if they are friends. And this results in the inevitable ‘break up’ because Dash misconstrues Thorne’s special offer.

Because of the nature of the story there are many sex scenes, but each one builds on the experience of the previous one and demonstrates their blossoming affection and romance. These scenes are steamy with light BDSM elements and some sexy use of food and toys. Unexpectedly, it is Thorne who demands a more dominant role from Dash and, despite being only twenty-two, he fulfils all of Thorne’s needs delightfully.

Thorne is an intriguing character. He starts off as quite prickly in nature. He is the typical rich businessman who has no time or inclination for a proper relationship. Over time, he softens as he falls in love. I liked how he becomes protective and jealous of Dash and how he wants to spend more than just Friday evenings in his company.

Dash is a confident young man with plenty of experience for the role he claims is all part of the service. He’s only doing this job to fund his training to become a chef. He helps Thorne relax and not focus on his work so much. They soon seem to be friends and Thorne is not sure if this is just part of Dash’s job. He secretly hopes it’s leading to more, as does Dash.

Much of the story is set in Thorne’s apartment: his couch, his bedroom, or his kitchen, but they do get to visit restaurants, an art gallery, an aquarium, and lake/island as well as their places of work. We don’t find out too much about their pasts. It’s all about their interaction now, the romance, and how they are going to deal with their feelings. Neither of them feels confident enough to say they want to move beyond the professional and go on a proper date. Thorne feels he has to pay for Dash’s time. And because he’s rich he can afford to do just that.

I thought the ‘break up’ when it came was a little contrived and Dash’s reaction was a out of character. But it made for a few angst-filled weeks while they were apart. The making up was sweet, although I kept wondering why they wanted to take it slow this time around and delay their get together. The ending is HFN and there are two more stories in the series to enjoy.

The narration by Greg (aka Greg Tremblay) is excellent. He brings the storyline and characters to life. His voice and pace kept my attention throughout. Greg makes the love scenes sizzle even more, if that’s possible. The characters’ voices are distinctive and I particularly liked the sexy voice he gave to Thorne. There are quite a few internalized thoughts, but he made it perfectly when it was a character’s inner thoughts rather than spoken words.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Hot story

I enjoyed this story. Likes the writing and creation of the characters. Nice tone too by the narrator. Plan to get more from this author.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • S
  • 11-23-16

Great Narration!

***4.5 stars (rounded-up)***

The Story
Who doesn’t love a story that involves a rent boy and wait for it….an age gap! Oh, and did I mention that the younger man ends up being the controlling top? Hot, right?!?! Let me just say it starts off pretty hot and just builds up from there. I am talking toys, food play and some spanking.

The story is a bit angsty. By that I mean that they both have their own thoughts of what the other thinks about them, in regards to being with someone for more than just a fuck, given their age. The plot of the book is pretty much the norm: a closeted man (Thorne) falls for his rent boy (Dash) in which neither one of them thinks that the other could want anything more. Therefore the conflict of the book being little to no communication outside of their “business” arrangement, which honestly I felt something lacking here.

Silvia Violet is not a new author for me. I have read Meteor Strike, and let me just say that this story surpasses it. She did a good job with character development and it was nice to see how Thorne and Dash’s feelings developed toward one another over time.

As for the cliffhanger, it leaves them with a HFN. Which IMO if you wanted to stop after this book you could. That is if you didn’t want to know what is on the horizon for Thorne and Dash and where their relationship might take them.

The Narrator
Greg Boudreaux did an amazing job with the emotion he put into the story. I felt that he did a wonderful job with each character and their voices. However, it would have been nice if his female voices had a bit more variety.

I am one of many reviewers at Gay Book Reviews.

I received an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

love the narrators voice

this story was pretty good, the end was so sugar sweet I think I got the diabetes hahaha. the narrator really did it for me he has a nice smooth voice.
I am going to be looking for book 2 hopefully it has the same narrator.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

i loved it

Awesome audio book with superb narration. The characters voices were so wonderfully distinctive. Excellent story with amazing chemistry between the main characters. And lots of hot delicious sexy action that is woven seamlessly within the story. A must read erotic romance. 5 star narration and 5 star story.
Charo

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A Great Start!

A great start to the series! Highly entertaining, excellent character development and perfect narration! Diving right into the second book!

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