The First and Last Adventure of Kit Sawyer

By: S.E. Harmon

Narrated by: Joel Leslie

Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

In the archaeology community, Christopher “Kit” Sawyer’s family is a legacy. And while he may be a historian, not a treasure hunter, he thinks he does a pretty good job of living up to the Sawyer name. He's a book-smart research fanatic and does his best work at his tidy desk. No fedora and whip for him, if you please—a nice cup of coffee and a comfy chair will do. But decoding an ancient relic soon gives him more adventure than he bargained for.

Unwittingly, he unleashes a force he doesn't know how to control. And now he has to reunite the relic with a powerful Aztec God. The trouble with that? Kit doesn’t where to find the Tlaloc’s temple. No one does, in fact. Finding it could be a discovery for the ages. It could also lead to his untimely death. So...yay? But it’s not like he has a choice. So off to the Mexican jungle he goes.

At least he isn’t going alone.

Ethan Stone, former stepbrother and overall pain in the rump, horns in on the expedition. An experienced archaeologist, he's only coming along at their grandfather's request—which annoys Kit to no end. But he knows Ethan is just the right person to get them through the jungle safely. It’s just too bad someone is trying to beat them to the temple. And he’s willing to do anything to get there first.

Ethan thinks Kit is in over his head. Kit is secretly afraid he just may be right. In manners of archaeology...and manners of the heart….

©2023 S.E. Harmon (P)2024 S.E. Harmon

Love this kind of premise!

I went into this totally blind and was super excited to find the former stepbrothers trope, where feelings hide behind misunderstood animosity, and a most adventurous expedition to find a lost city. Glad I went with the narration, because Joel Leslie brought even more life to the story! That said, I am someone who likes all her i’s dotted and t’s crossed, so I would have liked for the more fantastical elements to have been expounded upon rather than allowed to lie where they were. But I still had a jolly good time with these two 😊

Good Story

This was not necessarily a great romance, but a great adventure! Suspenseful definitely, takes you on almost an anxiety ride waiting to find out how is following the main characters on their journey. I love S.E. Harmson’s stories and this one was no exception.

The Narration was great as well. Did not enjoy the voice he used to be Ethan, it sounded pompous, but great otherwise.

So fun, adventure and romance!

I really loved Kit and Ethan’s story. This was fun as a book but maybe even better in audio, all the adventure in the story really is perfect for listening. I really adored the two main characters and the narrator is wonderfully engaging in bringing them to life. Kit and Ethan’s story is an epic adventure across exotic locations but it is also, at its heart, a beautifully written and lovely romance. I loved it a lot.

Great story!

So exciting, full of action, twists and turns, a touch of paranormal and ancient Aztec history. I loved every single thing about it, not last the romance between Kit and Ethan, former stepbrothers, who have been in love with each other for most of their lives but have always has a relationship based on snark and bickering, for, well… reasons (no spoilers, read the book!). the forced proximity and danger of an expedition in the jungle to find a lost city and reunite an Aztec god with his crown forces them to admit their feelings… and in the process, has them risking their lives more than once!
I love the way Harmon tells an always enticing story and the way Joel Leslie brings it to life!

Exciting and Fun MM Romance Adventure

I’ve read this in both eBook and audiobook format and have combined reviews after listening to the audio.
This was a wild adventurous ride with a hint of the paranormal. I was so much fun to read. Everything seems to go wrong and it makes for entertaining reading. This has the bumbling adventurer trope, enemies to lovers, former step-brothers, forced proximity, danger plus a bit of the paranormal.

I thought this was a very good book after reading it for the first time. The audiobook is something special though. There is a lot of excitement and humor plus a lot of feelings in this book. Parts of this book had me in tears because I was able to relate to certain feeling expressed by the characters, but then a few pages later those tears turned to laughter.

Joel Leslie narrated this book and all I can really say is “wow!” He was able to bring so much of everything to the book. The humor and feeling felt more intense, the action was more exciting. All of the characters were made more real. I think this will become one of my new comfort listens because it is just that great.
I hope SE Harmon will decide to extend this into a series since it could be so much fun to read and the epilogue leaves room for Kit to have an unfortunate second adventure.

I was given a copy of this book and this is my honest opinion.

ᎥᑎᗪY, ᗯᕼO??

An absolutely adorable and riveting adventure story!! Some details don’t match up and/or pan out, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed it. Kit and Ethan are perfect and sooo believable.

BEAUTIFUL narration by Joel Leslie

Loved it!

This story was so much fun! I loved Kit and Ethan. I got serious Indy vibes and poor Kit just wants to go home. Also Joel Leslie always does an amazing job at narration on stories like this. I enjoyed it immensely.

fabulous adventure

Kit and Ethan are too much fun! The epitome of will they won't they and everyone sees it but him. With the stoey from Kit's point of view you can't help but relate to all his fears and feelings of inadequacy. As much as he thinks he does, a part of you wants to resent Ethan too until you start to see how much Ethan cares. I loved the paranormal aspect, it is minimal but fun and the Indiana Jones style adventure did not stop.
Joel Leslie does an amazing job and I can only hope for more.

A Captivating Adventure! Fantastic Story & Listen!

This is a fabulous story, and I loved everything about it, from S.E. Harmon’s wonderful writing style to the fabulous characters and storylines she created to the perfectly cast narrator who brings it all to life from the pages to our ears. The story grabbed my attention right from the start and held it captive the entire time. Christopher “Kit” Sawyer is quirky and full of snark and sass. While the Sawyer name carries weight in the archaeology community, he opts to discover treasures within the pages of books from the safety and comfort of his office. While working to decipher ancient writing on a rare Aztec artifact, he uncovers more than he bargained for, and it is leading him to the unknown in the deep jungles of Mexico. But he does not go alone, his stepbrother, Ethan Stone, who is an experienced archaeologist, invited himself or maybe it was their grandfather who told him to go, either way he was joining him on his journey. OMG, those two together were a riot, and the back-and-forth banter was hilarious, with Kit having an answer to everything. And let’s not mention the chemistry between them, which was smoking hot. Harmon’s descriptive details brings you alongside these characters, experiencing everything they did, basically taking you on their adventure and wow, what an adventure it was, an action-packed, adventure with non-stop drama, some angst, twists and turns, thrilling and suspenseful moments and a sweet romance. It is a cleverly plotted story with fantastic world building and character development. S.E, Harmon, thank you for this fabulously entertaining story and the wild ride. 

🎧📚🎧 Joel Leslie did an amazing job portraying the characters and did so with a complete understanding of who he was portraying. He absolutely nailed it as Kit, grasping all sides of his personality, including his quirkiness and sass, and he was just as fabulous in Ethan’s role, as well as all the secondary characters too. He set the perfect tone for the story, handled the witty dialogue and back-and-forth banter with ease, landing the snarky humor effortlessly. Joel Leslie is an entertaining storyteller and a pleasure to listen to. Thank you for another fantastic listen.

A delightful, geeky, romantic adventure

This was an extremely enjoyable story - I was taken in by the general dry humor straight away and then completely sucked in once the adventure portion really got going. The world around me pretty much disappeared once Kit's expedition began. It's like Indiana Jones, but if Indy were gay, far more socially inept, a bit less physically fit, not exactly psyched about going on an adventure, and had epilepsy. Oh and not as intentionally suave about seducing the potential love interest, (or entirely sure about how much potential there might be), but that only added to the fun for the reader; (unlike Indy, Kit is not a womanizer - or the comparable gay version).

Kit is not perfect and he makes mistakes, but he is capable of recognizing mistakes and tries to do better. I found him very likeable - one might occasionally want to lightly slap him, but the feeling doesn't last. Or at least it didn't for me. The story is entirely from Kit's point of view, but Ethan is pretty much an open book, at least to the reader, (or listener so far as the audiobook goes). For the reader/listener, the romance aspect of the story is kind of like those mysteries in which the reader knows more than the protagonist, because Kit is occasionally clueless.

The audio was good - if you're a Joel Leslie fan, you won't go wrong with this. For those who might be on the fence, it's not as raspy as some of his narrations & the characters didn't seem to sound too old for their age, which is something that sometimes seems to be the case with his narrations. There were a few times that when characters shouted or yelled, so did he and, while that's totally appropriate for the direction, I did have to adjust the volume from time to time - but that was mostly because I was at work and I'm never confident of how much can be heard by others when I wear my headphones. I have no reservations about recommending this audiobook.