Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: A Full Plate
SERIES: Dreamspun Desires
AUTHOR: Kim Fielding
NARRATOR: Kenneth Obi
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 5 hours, 19 minutes
RELEASE DATE: June 5, 2018
BLURB:
Bradford “Tully” Tolliver has everything – money, a beautiful condo, and a promising career as one of Portland’s hottest young lawyers. Sure, he puts in long hours and has no social life, but who needs romance when corporations pay top dollar for his expertise?
When a colleague asks if her cousin can live with him, he’s hesitant, but the arrangement will last less than a year, and then the cousin – Sage Filling – will return to his tiny hometown. But Sage is handsome and intriguing, and his cooking makes Tully swoon.
Sage has obligations back home though, and Tully has offers from a persistent – and very wealthy – ex that he might not refuse.
Tully and Sage each have a full plate, but will they make room for a side of love?
REVIEW:
Last night, the sad news that Kenneth Obi had passed away reached me. For a while now he’s been one of my favourite narrators and while I might have only known him for his voice that I’ve spent countless hours listening to, he will most definitely be missed. The genre has lost a wonderful voice. So I wanted to dedicate this weeks’ flashback Friday review to one of his earlier works.
Bradford Tolliver, or rather Tully, has it all; the fancy well paid job, the equally fancy apartment and the flashy car to go with it. So what if he doesn’t have a social life or social life to speak of. When a colleague and friend ask him for a favour – housing her cousin for a few months, he’s more than hesitant to comply. The negotiations of the terms for said stay was kind of hilarious. They weren’t lawyers or nothing. Anyway, Sage Filling is in town to help his family out, he’s also the polar opposite to Tully. Against his better judgement Tully agrees to take Sage in. And so begins the love story between him and Sage. They do say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach – and Sage has all the recipes.
This book was all cute and sweet, no angst, no drama and no hot and heavy parts either. But that fits with the quiet romance that built between Tully and Sage. Something that I also appreciated was the lack of drama or love triangle when Tully’s ex showed up on the scene committed to do anything to get Tully back. These things tend to get out of hand, cause major dramas and melt downs and not to forget the big Misunderstandings. I loved how that wasn’t the case with this story – so thank you Ms. Fielding for that!
Kenneth Obi’s narration made you dream away to a faraway land, where a lawyer and a chef move in together. He made your mouth water from all the foods and he made you want for a chef of your own. I love how he has different voices for the characters he’s portraying. It makes it so easy to follow the conversations and story overall. But my favourite talent of his was his ability to convey the emotions of the characters and the feel of the moments. Making the listener feel the tension, or happiness and love makes the experience of the book so much more. You become more invested. He made this story so much more with his lovely baritone voice.
Listening to A Full Plate was a bittersweet experience as his passing is so recent, but it was also wonderful hearing his voice. He will be missed.
RATING: 
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