Tag: contemporary (Page 9 of 119)

The Honeymoon Crashers by Christina Lauren with full cast narration

September 14, 2023 / Kaetrin

The Honeymoon Crashers by Christina Lauren, narrated by Adriana Sananes, Cynthia Farrell, Deacon Lee, Harry Shum Jr., Inés del Castillo, Jennifer Aquino, Jessica Marie Garcia, Kimberly Woods, Lee Osorio, Shaun Taylor-Corbett, Stephanie Németh-Parker & Tim Paige. The full cast recording was not what I expected (not in a good way) but I loved Harry Shum Jr’s performance.

I read the The Unhoneymooners recently and queued The Honeymoon Crashers up very soon after. In The Unhoneymooners, Olive and Ethan, the maid of honour and best man, respectively for their siblings Ami and Dane, end up on the honeymoon in Maui instead as the rest of the wedding party and all the other guests get horrible food poisoning. (Spoilers for The Unhoneymooners follow by the way.) Unfortunately, Dane ended up being a cheating dirtbag so the marriage went into the toilet too.

The Honeymoon Crashers takes place four years after the events of the first book and now, Olive and Ethan are getting married. Worried about the “Torres wedding curse” they decide to elope to Maui. But that’s not really what the couple wants and it’s certainly not how the Torres family works. Ami, ever the organiser, springs into action to get the family to Hawaii and organise a wedding in less than two weeks. In Maui, she meets Brody Keeton who is a friend of Ethan’s and who will be Ethan’s best man (Dane not being welcome in the wedding party for obvious reasons). Olive and Ethan ask that Brody help plan the wedding as he knows loads of people on the island and will help smooth the way given the tight budget and short notice.

Ami is initially less-than-thrilled to share the organising but Brody wins her over pretty quickly with his laid-back attitude and his buoyant sense of fun. There’s more to Brody than that – something has had him hiding in Maui for the previous six months and licking his wounds. In Ami and the wedding planning, Brody finds a delightful distraction and feels more like himself than he has in months.

The audiobook is novella length – just under five hours – and there is not a lot of time to fully develop a relationship. This is especially the case because it’s clear Brody is dealing with some heavy things. Those things are really only canvassed right near the end. To be completely honest, at about 38 minutes to go I was seriously wondering if this audiobook was going to be a kind of prequel. It wasn’t – there’s a solid HFN – but things were wrapped up very quickly. Brody and Ami could have used a little more time.

I usually enjoy a full cast narration and I expected to here. But I ended up being really confused by it. Usually in an audiobook, there is one narrator who does all the character voices or, two narrators who swap by POV – whoever’s POV the story is in, that narrator does all the narrative and dialogue for everyone and then when the POV shifts to the other protagonist, the other narrator takes over. Usually, with a full cast recording, the POV character’s narrator is responsible for the narrative/text and their own dialogue but all other dialogue is performed by a specific narrator cast for that particular role. And that’s what happened here – sometimes. I cannot for the life of me work out why this was so, but there were other times in the listen where Harry Shum Jr narrated entire sections including all dialogue (ie Ami’s too) or when Jessica Maria Garcia read another section and did all the dialogue (Brody’s, Diego’s). Then it would swap back to the full cast and vice versa. It wasn’t even chapter by chapter! It was just… sometimes it would be one way and sometimes it would be another and it was super weird.

I very much enjoyed Harry Shum Jr’s performance. He nailed Brody’s laid-back nature and sense of humour and, even though I was confused it was even present in the audiobook, I liked his female character voices. Mr. Shum Jr should definitely narrate more romance audiobooks is what I’m saying.

I didn’t feel the same way about Jessica Maria Garcia. (I believe she narrated Ami – except when it was Harry Shum Jr doing it that is. There’s a short video clip on the author’s website where Harry Shum Jr and Ms Garcia introduce themselves so it stands to reason they voice the main characters. I can’t be 100% sure though so apologies if I’ve got that wrong. I couldn’t find anywhere an actual cast list (Graphic Audio does this really well publishers please note). Anyway, Ms. Garcia’s volume was all over the place; sometimes she was too yell-y and other times her volume was less than a whisper, making it impossible to hear. Still other times, her voice trailed off so words were lost. Sometimes she spoke too quickly (seriously, one time she said “raw seafood” and it sounded like “rossi food” and it took me a minute to clue in).

The other narrators were all fine; there wasn’t a great deal from any one of them so I can’t really say more than that they did a good job.

I would like someone to explain to me the decision making involved in the way the narration style chopped and changed throughout the listen – I don’t even know what to call it. I mean, if you have a full cast – why not use it??

Grade: B-

Even if the Sky is Falling by Taj McCoy, Farah Heron, Lane Clarke, Charish Reid, Sarah Smith & Denise Williams

September 7, 2023 / Kaetrin

Even if the Sky is Falling by Taj McCoy, Farah Heron, Lane Clarke, Charish Reid, Sarah Smith & Denise Williams, narrated by Adenrele Ojo, Soneela Nankani, Karen Murray, Marissa Hampton, Donnabella Mortel, Joy Beharie & Teddy Hamilton. Loved the premise and there were some real gems in the anthology.

Even if the Sky is Falling is an anthology of stories by BIPOC authors which all have the same basic premise: an alarm blares alerting everyone that some space junk (or worse) is imminently going to crash into the earth and everyone should take shelter. Only the people in the first story know that it’s a false alarm and there’s no risk. Each story takes the forced proximity trope and the setup and takes it somewhere different. I love this idea; it’s illustrative of how romance itself is so diverse – just because the ending is the same doesn’t mean the stories are. Here the premise is the same but the stories are all very different.

Some of the stories are Black romance, others feature at least one character of colour, most are MF, one is FF. It’s difficult to talk about each story in detail here but I’ll at least mention each one briefly.

Taj McCoy’s All the Stars, narrated by Adenrele Ojo, kicks things off and sets up the world. NASA employees are putting the finishing touches on a nationwide emergency alert system for space debris, part of a wider worldwide effort. An accident happens and the alarm goes off. This story was the weakest of the anthology for me; the incompetence of the character who messes up (neither of the love interests fortunately) was astounding; I didn’t get how, in a team of four, the FMC and the MMC had so much downtime; especially as the FMC was the Team Leader. When the crap hit the fan why was she able to go for a nap rather than pitch in to help? This novella also featured a second chance trope and I found the reason for the break up unconvincing – I’m not sure the MMC deserved to be given that second chance. The narration was very good though.

Keep Calm and Curry On by Farah Heron, narrated by Soneela Nankani, was in my top two novellas from Even if the Sky is Falling. Set in a large undercover market, the protagonists, both of Pakistani heritage and the children of immigrants and former best friends each have a food truck. Their dads are no longer friends but can Tariq convince Maya that their generation doesn’t have to be at odds? Can Maya’s Masala Girls food truck coexist beside Tariq’s Curry Junction? Do they need to be in competition? There is also a hot guy in a Henley with the sleeves pushed up and a (the same) hot guy reading a romance novel! (I believe it’s a Tessa Dare book but it’s never named). There’s also a cat. I haven’t listened to Soneela Nankani before but her narration was excellent. She had great characterisation and bought into the somewhat meta nature of the story, adding a touch of humour to those beloved tropes so it never edged into too much.

My Lucky Stars by Lane Clark, narrated by Karen Murray is the only queer romance in the anthology. The only two Black girls in their law school class do not get along. Jones is prickly and aggressive, Diana is not. Enemies to lovers is something of a tricky trope for me at the best of times; I don’t like it when characters are mean to each other. Here, Jones was pretty mean to Diana and I didn’t really like her which made it difficult for me to root for them as a couple. I figure that people who don’t struggle with E2L will like this one a lot better than me. The narration was good though. Karen Murray is also a new-to-me narrator but I’d happily listen to her again.

Bunker Buddies by Charish Reid, narrated by Marissa Hampton was my other favourite of the anthology – my first story from this author. A bookshop owner with a bunker underneath (inherited from his prepper grandad) has been crushing on a customer for months. A university professor who keeps coming to the bookshop to order obscure books just to have an excuse to see said hot bookseller happens to be the only customer in the shop when the siren sounds. All alone together in the bunker while the world may or may not be ending. All that unresolved sexual tension has to go somewhere, right? The only thing that let this one down was the speed of the narration. Ms. Hampton’s pacing was too fast for me. Otherwise, her characterisation and voice differentiation were very good.

Interlude narrated by Sarah Smith, narrated by Donnabella Mortel – a composer and jingle writer spends the maybe-end of the world in her basement with her cat and the hot contractor who, when the alarm went off, was at her house to give her a quote on replacing her kitchen cabinets. I found this difficult to get into because precious word count was wasted on things which didn’t really matter. There was too much time spent on things which didn’t really impact the story and it made my eyes glaze over a bit. On the other hand, the narration was great. Ms. Mortel is another narrator I’ll be looking for again. The story didn’t work super well for me but she kept me entertained nonetheless.

Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better by Denise Williams, narrated by Joy Beharie & Teddy Hamilton was another that suffered (for me at least) as a result of the enemies to lovers start of the story. I’m not sure I really bought why she didn’t like him in school when he didn’t do anything beyond being related to the founder of the university. Trapped in an empty college together, the pair eventually work their way through the misunderstandings that plagued their school years (I’m also not a fan of the Big Mis) and find their way to a HFN – and likely HEA. The narration by both performers was very good, with solid tone, pacing and emotion. It’s difficult to say new things about Teddy Hamilton – AudioGals readers know he’s a favourite here!

Like many anthologies, Even if the Sky is Falling was a bit of a mixed bag but I loved the premise and I did find some new-to-me authors and narrators to follow which was an even bigger plus.

Grade: B/C

Spare Me by Tara Sivec, narrated by Tim Paige & Kelsey Navarro

August 16, 2023 / Kaetrin

Spare Me by Tara Sivec, narrated by Tim Paige & Kelsey Navarro. Enjoyable but the humour (always subjective) was at times a little overbroad for my taste.

I haven’t read or listened to a Tara Sivec book before. I know fellow AudioGal, Melinda, enjoys her books so I thought I’d give Spare Me a try when the blurb caught my eye.

Humour is very subjective of course. While I did laugh occasionally and overall, enjoyed the story, some of the humour was a little too much for me. I can (and do) enjoy a joke about balls from time to time but perhaps not as many as are crammed into Spare Me. It seems trite to say, but for those whose humour aligns more strongly with Ms Sivec’s writing, this book is going to be more successful. The reverse is also true. Me? I think I’m somewhere in the middle/middle-positive range.

Ryan Hutton is an amateur ten-pin-bowler and maths teacher on Summersweet Island. He is kind and nice and, frankly, a bit of a doormat. People walk on him all the time and in return he continues to be kind and generous. So, when a frenemy from college asks Ryan to let his little sister move into his (Ryan’s) house, sight-unseen, Ryan says yes. Because that’s a thing that happens.

Said sister, Danica Brewster, is an artist who has broken away from her rich, corporately-minded family. Her brother (Ryan’s frenemy) completely mischaracterises Dani to Ryan and so he thinks she’s in dire need of being talked into returning to the bosom of her family.

Dani is wild and free and spontaneous. She also isn’t afraid to call it how she sees it and over the course of the book, Ryan finds himself picking up some of her traits. The Ryan of page one would never say “choke on a dick, Chad” but he certainly does later on.

In Ryan, Dani finds a personal cheerleader and a sense of home, acceptance and belonging she has been unable to find within her own family.

Of course it doesn’t hurt that they are 100% hot for one another from the beginning.

Ryan is expected to take over his father’s mantle as the Mayor of Summersweet Island. Ryan doesn’t want to but hasn’t been able to tell his dad – he doesn’t want to disappoint. However, as time passes, it becomes an unavoidable conversation.

Ryan’s autocorrect woes are amusing even when they are also occasionally implausible and the wider cast, including an ex-football star who likes to craft add to the overall zaniness of the story.

Spare Me is a light-hearted romp and not meant to be taken all that seriously. There are some unlikely things within the story which don’t bear close examination. I admit, there were times I did examine a little too closely. (For example, I think a maths teacher who is arrested for indecent exposure would have some career issues as a result.)

The performance is good from both narrators but I preferred that of Tim Paige. Kelsey Navarro has a vocal fry (at least I think that’s what it is) which is not to my taste. I found it kind of wearing after a while. It was far less noticeable when she was speaking dialogue from a male character. That helped. Of course, this is very much a personal taste thing so other listeners will have less of an issue with it. Otherwise, Ms Navarro’s character differentiation and pacing were very good. I got a strong sense of who Dani was from her performance. So, even though I didn’t exactly like it, I can’t say it was, by any stretch, bad.

Tim Paige does “nice guy” really well and Ryan is, squarely, a nice guy. His earnestness and puppy-like qualities were obvious not just in the text but also in my ears. I could tell Mr Paige had a lot of fun leaning into these traits, but always keeping it just the right side of caricature. (The same can’t always be said of the text but that’s part of the schtick of the story.)

I can see that for some listeners Spare Me will be a complete giggle-fest. I wasn’t quite in that camp but I was nonetheless entertained and count the listen as a positive. That said, I think that Ms Sivec’s books are likely to become the kind of treat I’ll consume sparingly for maximum enjoyment.

Grade: B-

Review at Dear Author

August 16, 2023 / Kaetrin

I’m over at Dear Author with a review of Codename Charming by Lucy Parker. Aptly Named.

Review at Dear Author

July 19, 2023 / Kaetrin

I’m over at Dear Author with a review of The Summer Girl by Elle Kennedy. I made the happy book noise.

The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren, narrated by Cindy Kay and Jonathan Cole

July 4, 2023 / Kaetrin

The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren, narrated by Cindy Kay and Jonathan Cole. I loved it. One for the best of list.

I’ve had some great success with Christina Lauren books in the past – whether reading or listening to them and something about the blurb for The True Love Experiment called to me. A TV producer (single dad!! Yes!) and a romance author pair up to create a reality TV dating show, a la The Bachelorette. I’m not even a huge fan of reality TV, let alone dating shows. Still, I was super keen to try this one.

Connor Prince III is an English guy who has been living in the US for some years – he still has his yummy accent though. (Another yes!) He is divorced and has a remarkably great relationship with his ex-wife, Natalia– who is more like a best friend than anything else – and together they share custody of their 10-year-old daughter, Stevie.

Felicity “Fizzy” Chen is a popular romance author who is in both a dating and writing slump. She’s bubbly, energetic, generous and fun. She has never really thought that there would be a soulmate or “the one” for her but she likes romance and sex and is pretty disappointed that she’s had a significant dry spell.

Connor is a producer at a TV production company which had been specialising in environmental documentaries. Only, the boss, Blaine, has decided they need to get into reality TV to make a lot of money and Connor has been tasked with making a reality dating show. He’s not enthused but there is not a lot of work for producers in San Diego. If he leaves for LA where there is more work, he will be too far away from Stevie and that’s not what he wants at all. He’s a hands-on dad who sees his daughter every weekend (although there is a large amount of flexibility between him and Nat, as required, when one or the other has something on). His own father was absent and Connor will not be that guy. Plus, he loves Stevie to bits. He’s been promised money for his next nature documentary if he comes through on the dating show so he’s going to suck it up.

A chance encounter at a bar when he sees Fizzy across the room inspires him and before you know it, Fizzy is the lead in the dating show and, at her suggestion, he’s casting hero archetypes as her potential love interests.

Prior to the show commencing filming, Fizzy challenges Connor to undertake joyful (non-sexual) activities together and over this time each begins to feel more and more the pull of attraction.

Once filming starts, things only get worse – while the “heroes” are all well and good, none of them are Connor. What to do?

It was a delight.

Special shout out to River Pena, the hero from The Soulmate Equation (which I now definitely have to read) who is one of Fizzy’s BFFs. Her other BFF is his wife, Jess. Fizzy is not at all shy – about sex or anything else. She is delightfully blunt. Poor River tends to walk in on Fizzy and Jess in the middle of an explicit conversation – “It was the size of my fist!” – and immediately, without a word, turns around and leaves. It made me laugh out loud in glee.

The romance between Connor and Fizzy is wonderful. Sexy and charming and sweet and just great. I enjoyed the characters separately but together they were something even better.

I loved the narration. If I had one tiny criticism it would be that very occasionally – and I mean very occasionally, I thought the way a certain line was delivered didn’t quite fit the text but that is a tiny criticism as compared to my overall enjoyment.

Cindy Kay does a great English accent for Connor – this actually feels pretty rare to me. Commonly, a British narrator will do a good US accent but the reverse isn’t as often true. Her deeper tone for Connor worked great for me too. Fizzy is well named – she has this chaotic energy about her and Ms. Kay imbued her voice with just that quality without making her annoying or over the top.

I just went and checked my audio file because I could not for the life of me remember if Jonathan Cole used a US accent for Fizzy’s voice. And do you know, he does not. And I DID NOT NOTICE when I was listening. I did not care. How weird is that?? Ordinarily I’m a bit of a purist when it comes to accents. Perhaps it was merely that I found Mr. Cole’s accent overall delightful to listen to – he definitely had a touch of the Richard Armitage’s about him – that I was in a daze the entire time. Whatever is the case, I ought to probably have liked the listen less on the basis of Mr. Cole being unable to or choosing not to use an American accent for the American Fizzy. I ought to have but I didn’t.

Both narrators delivered on character. Mr. Cole was as able to express Fizzy’s energy as Ms. Kay. And Ms. Kay was as good at embodying (emvoicing?) Connor as Mr. Cole was.

I raced through this listen. Just about everything about it worked for me.

In hindsight, I would have liked to have had a little bit more information about how Blaine reacted to the denouement and what consequences, if any, it had (and if none, why) but when I was listening I didn’t really feel any lack.

The True Love Experiment is definitely going to make my best of list for this year, no doubt.

Grade: A