Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Zeke Gulden is a ruthless Wall Street exec. His hard-edged, no-nonsense attitude has served him well in the cutthroat business world, but less so in his personal life. When he finds out his ex-boyfriend cheated on him with a coworker, Zeke can’t let go—not until he finds a way to get even. However, his meddlesome father has other ideas. The new hire at the family-owned bagel store is somewhat colorful, but his dad is sure he’s the perfect man for Zeke.Benny Ruggieri is a fiercely proud New Yorker who dreams of making it big as a costume designer in the theater. In the meantime, he’s working two part-time jobs in the food biz. When his new boss sets him up with his successful son, Benny has zero expectations. If nothing else, he figures he can entertain himself by making the uptight businessman squirm. Instead, the two become unlikely friends with an inexplicable attraction they can’t ignore. Benny might be the one to help Zeke set aside his quest for revenge, if he’s willing to let go and forgive what he can’t forget… and give in to an unexpected kind of romance.
This story was a mixed bag for me. I really adored Benny’s character as well as all of the side characters. Zeke on the other hand was difficult for me to like until about 70% in to the book. He was rude and judgmental and often harsh. I really couldn’t see what Benny saw in him. Some of that may be personal tastes but I think some of it was due to the fact that we didn’t see a lot of the couple’s good moments on page. The story focused more on the difficulties they had and the sex scenes. I will say though that when Zeke stopped being a jerk and made some grand gestures he did those really well. They were very touching and romantic. By the end of the story I was on board with these two being a couple and I was happy with the hea.
This book was narrated by Seth Clayton and I really enjoyed his voices. I thought he did a great job with both of the main characters as well as all of the side characters. I always knew who was talking. I did have a pretty big problem with the audio as a whole though but it was not the narrator’s fault. The two MC’s “chuckled” 58x in this. I know this because it was bothering me so much that I pulled up the ebook and counted. Because of this the narrator was constantly “chuckling” through pretty much every scene the MC’s were in together. Even things that should have been serious sounded like smirking. I can’t blame the narrator because he was only doing what the story told him to but it really influenced my enjoyment (or lack thereof) of this audio.
Overall I enjoyed this and I would recommend the story. Even with the issues I had with it, I am still glad I read it and I will definitely be reading the next in this series. (Although this was book two in this series this can be read as a standalone.)
Cover art by Aaron Anderson is well done, works in design and color tone to capture a mood and pull you in.
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Audiobook Details:
9 hrs 1 min
Audible Audio, 10 pages
Published September 27th 2016 by Dreamspinner Press, LLC (first published June 6th 2016)
Original TitleA Kind of Romance
ASINB01M0VBU9Y
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesA Kind of Stories #2 settingNew York City, New York (United States)
Published September 27th 2016 by Dreamspinner Press, LLC (first published June 6th 2016)
Original TitleA Kind of Romance
ASINB01M0VBU9Y
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesA Kind of Stories #2 settingNew York City, New York (United States)
Filed under: Audio Books, Book Reviews, Books, Contemporary fiction, Dreamspinner Press, LGBTQ Audio Books, LGBTQ Book Reviews, M/M Book Reviews, M/M Contemporary Fiction, M/M Fiction, M/M Romance, Uncategorized Tagged: A Dreamspinner Press audiobook, A Kind of Romance (A Kind of Stories #2) by Lane Hayes and Seth Clayton (Narrator), An Ali Audiobook Review: A Kind of Romance (A Kind of Stories #2) by Lane Hayes and Seth Clayton (Narrator), An Ali Recommended Audiobook, author Lane Hayes, M/M Audiobook, Seth Clayton Narrator
