Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Leo Loves Aries 
SERIES: Signs of Love #1
AUTHOR: Anyta Sunday
NARRATOR: Rudy Sanda
PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio
RELEASE DATE: June 12, 2018
LENGTH: 8 hours, 14 minutes
BLURB:
A new person will enter your life in the early year, Leo. Look past any moments of frustration they might bring and laugh – this could be the start of a thriving friendship.
Theo Wallace usually laughs at the horoscopes his mom sends. Still hung up on his ex-girlfriend and practically friendless, this one begs him to reconsider. Because a friendship that stuck, that thrived…well, that would be a reason to leave past pains behind and look to the bright future.
When his sister Leone challenges him to find her the perfect date for a spring wedding, Theo uses it as a chance to make new friends. Theo’s ex-economics tutor and newest roommate, Mr. Jamie Cooper, seems to be a possible and convenient match. Real convenient. Like written in the stars, convenient. All he has to do is make sure this Jamie is good enough. Could really be “The One” for her and the friend for him. But watch out, Leo, the stars have a surprise in store….
REVIEW:
Are you blind? The signals are all there.
I read this book back when it was first published and I absolutely loved it. I adored Theo and all his cluelessness and this book just brought me joy and happiness and sappy smiles. When I heard it was going to be made into an audiobook I was over the moon and it just couldn’t get here fast enough. So it was a brutal and long fall back down to reality when I realized my expectations were not met, far from it, but more on that later, let’s start with the story.
I loved the story, it’s sweet, fun and the characters are just great. There is a lot of banter and antics which is always a favourite of mine. The story is told from the clueless, but lovable Theo. He’s living with his twin sister Leone while attending college. Once a year their mother sends them the new horoscope for her Leos and this year promised shocking news and new bonds to be made – if they took a chance. Jamie, their new roommate seems to fit the bill on many levels…
I loved Jamie and Theo together and not only together, together but in general. They made sense, they fit. They started out as friends, or at least that was what Theo thought. I usually can’t stand characters that are too stupid to live, but that was not the case here, Theo just missed a few signs that’s all… okay, so he missed all of them – and then some. But he’s just so adorable cute that you can’t help but love him for it anyway – even when you want to smack him over the head with a pillow, or maybe with something hard to get though that thick skull. There was one blind person in this book and it sure wasn’t the legally blind Leone….
Hairs tickled the balls of Theo’s toes as he ran his icy feet up Jamie’s shins. Jamie’s breath hitched
“Cold?”
“Hot, Theo. Really fucking hot.”
Theo loved Jamie’s dry sarcasm.
Their relationship is slow-burn. Everyone (but Theo) knows where it’s heading, can see and feel the tension, the connection between the two men. Their getting together is only a matter of time and questioning if the peanut butter war might have something to do with it. Anyway, this book wasn’t only about Jamie and Theo and their relationship, but about family and friends, letting go of the past and moving forward. There were some great characters in this book, especially Leone. She had a quiet strength and saw so much of the world, never letting her blindness hinder her in any endeavour.
This book was the first I listened to by Rudy Sanda and it will more than likely be my last. The story is told from Theo’s POV and Theo’s voice and the general narration, descriptions and whatnots, were all fine. I liked the voice, it fit Theo’s personality and there was the right amount of emotion to it to make him come alive. However that’s where all the good parts end. Sanda’s voice for Jamie was beyond bad. It was robotic, unnatural and sounded like it was an older man speaking. A lot of the times I spaced out when he was talking.
As for the rest of the voices in this book; they all sounded fake and made up. It made me think of kids playing dress-up, trying on different voices and accents that don’t sound quite right. None of the voices sounded natural, they all sounded forced to me. Some were, I’m sad to say, down-right cringe worthy. Sanda has a good voice (singular) for narrating, but I do believe he should avoid narrating books where different voices are required – or stick to using the voice he was born with.
The story itself is absolutely wonderful and funny and just great in every way, so if you haven’t already had the pleasure to read this book you definitely should – reading it mind you, note listening to it. The audio was not worth it, and in my opinion kind of destroyed the magic of this book. So this time around I would definitely say; eyes only!
Story: 5 hearts
Narration: 2 hearts
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: