Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: IRL: In Real Life 
SERIES: After Oscar #1
AUTHOR: Lucy Lennox & Molly Maddox
NARRATOR: Michael Pauley
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
RELEASE DATE: February 21, 2019
LENGTH: 8 hours, 48 minutes
BLURB:
Conor:
It starts with a drunken text pic. The kind I would normally never send. Only, instead of it going to the flirty hotel bartender, it goes to some random stranger who actually responds.
I tell myself an unexpected night of hot as hell back-and-forth is the perfect way to blow off a little steam while I’m in New York closing an important business deal. Little do I know the man on the other end of the line is none other than Wells Grange: the most controlling, egotistical, emotionless SOB I’ve ever met.
I spend my days squaring off against Wells in the boardroom, and my nights succumbing to the sexy stranger’s commanding texts in the bedroom. Within days, I’m falling for someone I shouldn’t, and I have to remind myself that none of this is real.
Wells:
The first thing I notice about Conor Newell when he sits down in my high-rise conference room is how delightfully nervous he is. Then I see his tie. The same geeky tie that’s held hostage on my phone. The one that belongs to my anonymous late-night texter. And it changes everything.
I should confess. Tell the truth about who I am. Instead, I decide there’s no harm in flirting. After all, once our business is concluded, he’ll be out of my life for good.
The more I get to know Conor, however, the more I start to fall for him. Which is a problem, because I made a vow long ago to never let emotions interfere with my life, either business or personal. Except I can’t stop thinking about him night and day. If it’s only in my head, though, it doesn’t count.
After all, it’s not like we’re falling for each other in real life…
REVIEW:
I’m a fan of the wrong number trope. The idea of a wrong number changing your life. Finding that one person meant for you. So I was looking forward to this book as soon as it got on my radar a while back, eagerly waiting for it to be released into audio.
Conor is in New York to sell his soul, or at least his mother’s life’s work to whom he and his family considers to be the devil incarnated. It’s their last way to pay for his mother’s increasing medical bills and so the presentation has to be good. The night before the presentation Conor finds himself in a bar to unwind. He’s flirting with the bartender and working up the nerve to ask the man out, and when he gets the man’s number he considers himself lucky. Back in his hotel room and with alcohol boosting his self-esteem, he sends of a dick-pic and an invitation to the guy. Only he realises later the text never went to the bartender, but a mysterious stranger that hits all his buttons and pushes his limits.
Wells has often been called cold and unfeeling. He hides behind giant walls and never ever mixes business with pleasure. And feelings doesn’t belong in either part. When he gets a suggestive text from an unknown number he decides it’s just what he needs, someone to play with for a while to take the edge off. Only problem is, he soon realises that the man he’s been sexting with is none other than the one he’s trying to broker a deal with for his company…
The first part of the book dragged a bit for me. There was too much focus on sex, the sexting, the thinking of sex, the having sex. It was too much for me. However, these are my personal preferences and I know that many readers/listeners out there will love it and wish for more. I expected more from this book, more depth, more plot. At times it also made me a tad uncomfortable with what Wells was doing, knowing who Conor was, but continuing on anyway. It felt wrong to me, like taking advantage of the situation, going behind his back. Again, my own personal feelings and preferences.
Michael Pauley is one of my go to narrators. I love his voice, it’s easy on the ears 😉 I love how he portrays the characters, he can really emanate their feelings onto the listener. You can hear and feel Conor’s nervousness for the presentation, the passion between him and Wells. He rarely fails in my book and it makes him one of the good ones.
If you are a fan of well written smexy books, narrated by the very talented Michael Pauley this is definitely a book you should pick up, because this book has all that and more.
RATING: 
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