Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  The Hitman’s Guide to Making Friends and Finding Love

SERIES:  The Hitman’s Guide

AUTHOR:  Alice Winters

NARRATOR:  Michael Ferraiuolo

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  10 hours and 43 minutes

RELEASE DATE: November 16, 2019

BLURB:

What happens when a snarky hit man and a by-the-book PI cross paths?

Leland
Being a hit man has its perks, but I never thought getting an accidental mooning by an attractive PI while he’s caught on a fence would be one of them. While it’s not exactly love at first sight, he’s captured my interest and won’t let go.

Suddenly, I find myself caught in a game of cat and mouse, determined to attract the attention of Jackson, the PI who should be my enemy. He pretends like he’s not flattered by my flowers and the mentions of my totally-not-fictitious blow-up doll, Randy (or was it Dandy?), but I know better. Why else would he be teaming up with me to bring down Hardek, one of the city’s most ruthless criminals?

Jackson
Even though the cops are telling me that the hit man is a notorious contract killer, I can’t help but admit that I’m drawn to him. He’s funny, charismatic, and attractive. There’s no way this ridiculous man can be the person the cops are after.

But when Leland ends up at my doorstep injured, I’m faced with a tough choice. It’s my duty to hand him over to law enforcement, but my heart has other plans. I want to keep him. To protect him. To be with him.

Though one question remains: Why in the world does the man have so many d*mn guns?

Contains: shenanigans on a swing that you would not find at a playground, a car chase that sadly doesn’t have flips or explosions, a horsey ride sans horse, cuddles, an exuberant mutt, a suspicious chief of police, and lots and lots of laughs.

REVIEW:  

Leland is a 27-year old hit man who happens to spy a PI sneaking in his target house.  He’s fascinated by this guy and he reaches out to him via one the “signature” notes that the Sandman (notorious hit man) leaves.  The targeted PI is Jackson.  He’s 39, former army, kind of a lone wolf who has set up his own business post his military career with a former army buddy. He’s not been lucky in love and his family is not accepting of his sexuality.

Jackson discovers that the note is from the Sandman from Henry, the Chief of Police, who has been a bit of a mentor to Jackson who while not estranged, is not close with his family.  He’s stunned that this guy has reached out to him – and continues to basically stalk him.  When Jackson gets into a bit of trouble trying to rescue his target for his PI case, Leland comes to his rescue.  Their banter and snark is hilarious. Leland manages to slip away and Jackson gets credit for the recovery.

While Leland is trying to still get to his target, he gets in a bit of trouble by way of a gunshot wound and Jackson has to rescue him.  While he’s recovering, they get closer and Leland wants to stay with Jackson.  Surprisingly Jackson finds himself wanting to take care of Leland and get him away from his hit man life.  They try to make a go of things while keeping Leland’s identity as the Sandman a secret.  However, there are a lot of problems with keeping Leland under wraps.

Oh. My. God.  I LOVED this story.  First of all, Michael Ferraiuolo is one of my absolute favorite narrators and he does an amazing job with this story.  Leland and Jackson are such different characters.  I adored Leland – I realize a strange reaction to a hit man.  He’s snarky and hilarious and supremely confident in so many ways – even if he might be a killer 😉  Jackson has been a bit of a lone wolf.  His family has not been supportive of him once he came out – with his mother in particular.  Leland is quite the wildcard to Jackson’s family and he just wants Jackson to be accepted for himself – and he does his best to help – albeit in some hilarious ways.  The banter and the snark had me in stitches.  Is it over the top?  Maybe, but I loved it  I was laughing so hard I was crying at times.  I highly recommend this fun, funny and engaging audio. It’s a great break from real life into some fun and games – especially right now.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS:

Audible

Amazon