Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Throwing Hearts
AUTHOR: N.R. Walker
NARRATOR: Glen Lloyd
PUBLISHER: Blueheart Press
LENGTH: 5 hours, 22 minutes
RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2020
BLURB:
A fun and sexy romance where the kiln isn’t the only thing that’s scorching hot.
Leo Secombe loves his life, and he’s convinced himself he’s happy to be single. In his spare time, he keeps himself busy at a local LGBTQ centre that pairs a younger person with a community elder to help them feel included in today’s rainbow family. Leo and Clyde have been buddies for a few years now, and signing up for a pottery class seems like fun.
Merrick Bowman has been so focused on getting his pottery business up and running that he’s forgotten how to date. How to live, even. But when a young, bubbly Leo and an older, grumpy Clyde walk through his door, Merrick has no idea how much Leo is about to centre his world.
Throwing clay has been Merrick’s entire life, but Leo’s about to change all that. Maybe Merrick’s ready to throw caution to the wind. And maybe he’s ready to finally throw his heart on the line.
REVIEW:
N.R. Walker has been one on my favourite go to authors for some fun contemporary mm romances ever since I first started out reading the genre. I’ve read and loved most of her books and for a long time I’ve never even read the blurb before picking up one of her books. But lately her books have been more of a hit or miss for me. Throwing Hearts sadly ended up in the latter category for me. Maybe that’s on me for expecting something more.
Throwing Hearts was in a way a perfect story and I think that’s one of my main problems with it, it was too perfect. There was no drama, no angst or conflict and nothing that needed to be resolved or overcome. Instead it was a perfectly fluffy tale about two men meeting and falling in love over coffee and pottery with some matchmaking for Uncle Donny and Clyde thrown in. Sure there was the whole waiting for “real” sex issue, but it felt contrived and didn’t really make much sense with the rest of the plot. Especially considering the amount of sex they did have. And I’ll spare you the “real sex” rant, but let’s just say I’m not a fan of the description.
Uncle Donny and Clyde might have been secondary characters in this story, but they caught my attention much more than our main characters Leo and Merrick did. I also feel like I know them much better. I loved watching them falling in love, that first speechless meeting and how they just found each other. It was clear both of them had stories to tell and I wish we’d heard them. They’d already lived and loved for a lifetime before meeting each other and starting over. It’s so rare finding stories with elderly people falling in love, but they too need happiness and love. I also wish this story would have been about them. To hear how they paved the way for future generations to live and love openly.
This is my second audiobook narrated by Glen Lloyd and I love his Aussie accent and would love to listen to many more books by him in the future. Lloyd, Donny and Clyde were by far the best things about this book.
Throwing Hearts might not have been one of my personal favourites by Walker, but I also know that many, probably most, of her fans will love it so don’t discount this book on my account, but give it a go and see for yourself.
RATING: 
Narration: 4 hearts
Story: 2.5 hearts
BUY LINK: