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The choice of narrator aside, this was solid Trek!

Revisado: 04-14-25

I feel like I need to start with my biggest frustration: the narrator. While, yes, Pike is in this book—of course—he is vastly outnumbered by scenes with Number One, La’an, an alien woman diplomat, a Vulcan woman diplomat, an asylum-seeking mother, that mother’s daughter, and Number One’s best girlfriend at the Academy. Uhura is in it, Pelia is in it; there are a couple of male alien characters as well, but what I’m saying here is Robert Petkoff is not particuarly strong when performing Una, La’an, or Uhura to begin with, and ultimately, you spend the majority of the time in this book listening to him do women’s voices and… why didn’t this get performed by a woman, given it’s very much an Una Chin Riley book? It could have been performed so much better.

ANYway, that said, I loved the story, really liked the weaving in of Una’s past alongside an unfolding diplomatic incident in the present; quite enjoyed the framework of the various takes on asylum, colonialism, the imperfect choices open to people trying to save those they love at the cost of having leave home behind—it’s all really, really great written Trek. It’s thoughtful, isn’t exactly all that far removed from real-world events, making it one of those grounded "Trek as a lens" tales, and it’s told very, very well.

If only they’d let someone better suited perform it.

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Exactly what it says on the tin!

Revisado: 11-25-24

A short, fun, spicy romance novella just the perfect length for an extended dog walk that takes some of the most fun tropes of holiday romance—being snowed in, silly jobs or costumes, ridiculous settings—and adds a hot nerd and stirs.

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Like Time Travel and Pride Had a Queer Baby

Revisado: 06-29-23

Everything about this was a delight. The setting, the characters, and—oh my Goddess, the performers—led to an experience that felt like time travel and Pride had a queer baby just for the queer community to enjoy. There were so many laugh-out-loud moments, and then there were the recordings from the march, which moved to tears.

I'd honestly forgotten how much I loved this strip when I read it years ago, and now I want to re-read the whole thing again. So, thank you.

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Struggled with this one

Revisado: 07-28-22

In the end, this was... okay. I had more than a few stumbles with it; a small town where the there are three sheriffs/deputies in total and two of them are gay men who have dated was my first 'uh-huh' moment, and then one of those men singing a duet at a straight bar on Karaoke night with another guy and then making out with him and neither of them even so much as think about whether or not that's a safe idea or not? Maybe it's the most welcoming small town America has ever seen, but... no. As a queer guy, reading scenes like the public-making-out-in-a-small-town-straight-bar just jolt me right out of the narrative.

Now, this was also very short, and that hampered the character growth on this one for me. I love me a short story, but Cooper's emotional arc didn't quite have enough time. His high school first kiss with another guy was amazing, incredible, and with someone he'd crushed out on for a couple of years in high school and then that guy proceeded to completely ignore him for the rest of high school. He is, understandably, wounded by that. And when he's back face-to-face with that fellow, it sometimes has emotional weight, and other times just doesn't. He hops into bed with him (admittedly, after getting drunk and making out in said straight bar), and only then seems to remember 'wait, this man really hurt me, and doesn't seem to give a crap about it or me.'

Ultimately, the two men talk it out and it felt very... brushed aside. The final hurdle they had to jump—the love interest dismissing Coop as "just some guy from high school" to his father—lacked enough context to understand why that happened with the love interest's father. "I didn't handle my dad well" is all he really says. Is his father not accepting? (If so, why in the world did his best friend invite the guy's dad to the wedding? Also, the father is the sheriff, so they work together every day, would he really go into that line of work if he and his father aren't good? I really, really didn't understand why he suddenly got cold and cruel just because his father showed up, to the point where I went back and replayed the scene in case I missed something. His father has to know he dated the other deputy. Why couldn't he say this was a friend, rather than "just some guy"?)

Also, for other queer readers, this one had a tonne of "unable to love = you're broken" in it, and that's just not true, and please remember aromantic folk exist and not to add to the hate.

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Adorable, Quick, and a Dash of Sizzle

Revisado: 04-05-22

I loved this. I mean, a disaster-cute, a woman with curves and an artistic flair for creating gorgeous furniture matched with both and a burly fella who is a comics geek and an adorable dog? Who can resist?

And I didn't want to. I loved them both. Loved them for each other. Loved their spark, their ridiculous "are we really going to share a dog?" that worked so well given the set-up Weatherspoon included of them having—independently—strong reasons of their own for needing this dog in their life and also having coincidentally chosen the same trainer, vet, etc. Those little touches of being 'on the same page' with the dog made it so much easier to nod-and-smile at how perfect they were for each other. They clearly already saw the world through similar lenses...

Weatherspoon also does her usual signature perfect "awesome group of friends" dynamic and perfectly frustrating-but-loving family both in this one (seriously, reading or listening to Weatherspoon is a master class in either) and the sizzle is there, too. I freaking adored these two. I want this to be a movie on the big screen. And can we talk about the perfection that is the cover art?

The performers for this one were solidly cast, and they gave a really enjoyable performance. I'm going to dive into whatever else they've done, too.

Also, a small note but how wonderful: casually, at one point, the heroine asks if the fellow has a girlfriend, wife, husband or someone special and he notes something like, "no he, she, or they in his life" and can we talk about how (a) effortless that level of queer inclusion was and (b) how both of them become all the more wonderful and likeable given neither of them blink at the question or the answer?

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Relied too Heavily on Previous Titles

Revisado: 04-02-22

I waffled between two and three stars here (keeping in mind two stars is "it was okay" which is my sentiment more or less) but I bumped it up to three because the audio performers are so good, especially as a team. Seriously love those two.

Ooooh-kay. The downside on this one? The author really, really, really overdid the references to other books. As a reader, I'm here for Easter Eggs that make me grin and think 'oh, that's so-and-so's restaurant, I loved that book!' but when it becomes just a series of name-drops and references without context—or, worse, long dialog explanations—it's less Easter Egg and more I feel like 'I forgot to do the homework.' This novella really hammered home on the latter, and it didn't work. (Also, this feeling came without warning. This didn't have "an Eternity Springs novella" or anything to point out it was part of this ongoing/shared series.)

The narrative itself was cute enough: Max, a man with a tea-leaf reading grandmother, has been told he's got a fated woman out there and it'll happen on Valentine's Day meets woman, Ali, who has multiple reasons to hate Valentine's Day and they spark into an insta-lust/love connection that she resists because see above, re: Valentine's Day. That could have been enough, and if the author had just spun it that way, it would have been—instead, we get references to Max's identical cousin who is a famous actor on a show and is in town for reasons and the rumours of that... don't come to anything. (I assume this is another book?) Also, we get a woman who meddles in love lives because she's... uh, well, she runs a spa or something and has a fixation on angels? Again, without the context of other books, so much of the dialog turned into "Wait, who is she?" from Ali and Max saying, "Well, Jim, as you know..." info-dumps. Honestly, it was unfortunate—I think there was a good cookie of a story in here, but it got buried under so many layers of icing and sprinkles from other stories that I found myself frustrated just as often as I was charmed.

And it didn't make me want to check out the other books in the series, either.

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High-Angst, and Performer Issues

Revisado: 01-24-22

While I did like this audiobook, I struggled with "Marry Me" a bit, and I think it comes down to two things, really: the first was personal preference as a reader, and the second was the performance, which was surprising for a Melissa Sternenberg audiobook.

The set up for this one is fairly straightforward, and covered in the blurb: Ally is getting married to Brent (who is the chisel-chinned, little bit bro-dude eldest son of the very wealthy and influential Carmichael family). Ally herself is a soft touch—she's a fourth grade teacher, used to playing second-fiddle to everyone else's needs but her own. Her older sister, Betsy, always stole the show, leaving Ally to be, well, the also-ran. And Ally is content in that role, enjoys her life, makes people happy and is looking forward to continuing the relationship she has with Brent—a comfortable, known thing where they both "get" each other, and where she's his gal-Friday and he's her animus—because beyond her job and helping her parents at their small and struggling health food store, Ally doesn't have a lot going on. This new life she's about to enter—rich, influential Carmichael life—is going to be a very big change. And because of who she's marrying, she scores Megan as her wedding planner.

Then falls in love with Megan. Completely, explosively, and with far, far more emotion than she's ever been in love before. Ally has never felt passion like this, and starts to realize her previous life isn't happiness and passion, but contentment and stability.

Megan is a bit of a control freak: she likes knowing all the risks, and doesn't take a chance unless things are a sure-bet, which sets up her struggle with Ally—she's never quite sure she can trust Ally isn't going to run back to Brent, despite Ally being very clear and communicative pretty much all the time, with everyone (including Brent).

I liked both characters, and even though he was a bit clueless in the way a rich cis white dude would be, Brent was quite likeable too, albeit with a few caveats. I'm not sure he ever asked Allison what she wanted—but in fairness, no one ever asked Allison what she wanted, including Megan. Instead, everyone seemed to delight in telling Allison what they thought she should do. Including some (unintentional, if I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt) pressure from her parents over how the Carmichael family connections would solve their financial distress. The less said about Allison's sister Betsy the better—I loathed her, and one of the reasons I struggled a bit with the book was Betsy never once had any consequences for her awful, awful actions and the way she brow-beat Allison down. By the end, Ally is glad to be on better terms with her sister, and that slipped into one of my frustration zones with fiction, and felt like a message I see too often: forgive your family, no matter what. That said, a lot of people do feel like family is super-important and worth forgiveness no matter the issue, so your mileage will definitely vary.

Ultimately, where I really wavered was in how long the crisis and angst lasted, and then how Megan timed her attempt of declaration, and then how Ally—even in doing the right thing—did something so incredibly cruel to someone who loved her and... Oof.

Basically, this one doubled down on everyone being in pain and suffering, and while Megan seemed to have a few people in her life who had her back—her parents, her coworkers—Ally has almost no support network at all, which certainly made sense for her always-please-others characterization, but left me wanting to smack most of the people in her life (her father's last-moment offer of support was one of the few times it felt like <I>anyone</I> offered Ally the opportunity to state what she wanted). Ally did have a queer friend she made during the time in the book, but she pushes her away rather effectively in the dark moment and that's it. In fact, when we do get to the wedding scene, we learn who is Megan's maid of honour—and it makes sense—but unless I missed it (I was walking the dog and listening on audiobook), there's no mention of one for Ally, and honestly that struck me as fitting.

I really liked them together at the start, and their journey with Ally learning how much broader her ability to love was, and I felt for them both feeling their way through something where no matter what they did someone would get hurt, but then the crisis moment hit and they all seemed to double down on doing the most harm, and it took a very long time to get out of the rough place. And given the lack of friend-groups or family support, it was a long ride to endure. Maybe it was also just being cold and frozen while walking the dog, but in parts this one hit depressing from how unrelentingly angsty the journey got.

While I normally praise Melissa Sternenberg (and she is an amazing performer usually, with great characterizations), this one had something I'd never encountered before: lots of mistakes. Multiple times she misattributed who was speaking, and I'd skip back thirty seconds, confused, only to hear it again. Dialog tagged with 'said Allison' when Allison wasn't present, or dialog with '"Listen to me Megan," said Megan' moments happened a few times, and each time it jarred me right out of the book and made me fumble my phone out of my pocket, get my glove off, and rewind to make sure I understood what was going on. I haven't had that happen before with her as a performer. I definitely think I would have enjoyed this one more not as an audiobook.

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Enjoyable Holiday Fun

Revisado: 12-15-21

Fun, light-hearted little women-loving-women holiday romance, with two great performers (I adored both of them) and a solid little story that chugs along, avoids having an over-angsty crisis moment that feels forced by allowing it to be more of a speed-bump than a grinding halt, and lets them get to their happy endings, darnit. I love novella-length holiday romance so very much for exactly this reason: the course is one of two people getting to where they need to go, rather than a whole bunch of twists and turns that draw the journey out overlong.

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A Tonal Mis-Match, But Still Somehow Magical?

Revisado: 12-15-21

Okay, I need to preface this review with how much I laughed while cooking and listening to this audiobook, but to point out that I'm almost certain it wasn't by design—it was the narrator.

So, at the start, we meet Mary. Her narrator is a lady with a perfectly chipper, upbeat, and sweet tone that matches the "Bless Your Heart" notes of Mary's situation: she's a brilliant chef who runs a catering business, just pulled off an amazing holiday party—and had to suffer through her ex and his new piece being there—but she kept her head high (and her curves on full display in an amazing dress) and got through it. She's about to head off to her family holiday, and the only wrinkle in the plan is her very pregnant (and very ugly) foster dog, who she couldn't not find room for at any doggy inn.

Cue unexpected blizzard and ending up on the doorstep of a man who runs a true-crime podcast, bears an uncanny resemblance to Santa (were Santa to get uber-fit while keeping the beard and twinkling eyes, that is) and then we switch to the male narrator and...

Y'all. I guffawed. I snorted. I laughed so much. Because the voice of his man would be so well-suited to "She walked into my office like five-foot-nothing's worth of trouble" noir mystery, or gritty thriller "I was two weeks away from retirement, and I knew this case was trouble" style narrative and instead, this man's voice is all "she was getting her perky elf dust all over my Grinch" and... it was too much. Like, I kept laughing out loud every time he called her 'sugar cookie' or referenced the 'elf dust.' So many elf dust references. So many!

The thing is? Despite the tonal mismatch—or, maybe because of it?—I had so very much fun listening to this audiobook. It was like some sort of mash-up was happening (heck, even the man's backstory included a drug-addicted ex who tricked him into having a kid while they were still married) and every time it went from 'I'm going to give this man some Christmas cheer!' Mary to 'Grr. Growl. I'm rough and tough, but her elf-dust is jingling my bells!' Nick, I would chuckle, choke, or laugh-out-loud again.

Whatever. I'm calling it holiday magic. Unintentional or not, it made me laugh, and the story itself was super-cute, the dog got a happy ending, too, and everything worked out beyond perfectly (seriously, they gilded the lily on this one with Nick's kid, the dogs, and pretty much everything working out in a Christmas Magic TM way) I just didn't care to be cynical about because...

I mean...

Elf dust.

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Fun Fauxmance

Revisado: 10-20-21

This was fun. At the start, I was 100% with Riley over Kennedy being a smug jerk—he was almost obnoxious enough that I didn't want them to end up together for a good first quarter of the audiobook—but eventually I got there. Fauxmance is a favourite trope for me, especially holiday fauxmance, so I waited it out and once they were at Riley's family's house, I warmed to him.

From there to almost the end, I was happily pulled along. Alas, right at the end, it strayed into "Everything happens for a reason" territory, which I really struggle with—I mean, the heroine's first love died in college, that's a hell of a thing to brush off as 'everything bad was just how fate got us to here'—but otherwise, the climactic scene had me laughing out loud (the literal white horse, especially). Overall, I really liked it.

The performers were decent, though I tend to find dual voices a bit less enjoyable than just one, as their opposite-character voices so rarely sound like how each other speaks, if that makes sense. Sebastian York's voice is this hyper-masculine rumbly take on Kennedy, and Andi Arndt can't match that, and vice-versa, her lovely, slightly snarky voice for Riley was nothing like how Sebastian York performed her when in Kennedy's POV. I think I would have preferred just one of them (either of them, really).

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