Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE:  A Guy Walks into My Bar

AUTHOR:  Lauren Blakely

NARRATOR:  Shane East, Joe Arden and Full Cast

PUBLISHER:  Lauren Blakely Books

LENGTH:  10 hrs and 26 mins

RELEASE DATE:  August 17, 2020

BLURB:

A passionate, utterly addictive stand-alone M/M romance from number one NYT best seller Lauren Blakely performed with duet narration by Shane East and Joe Arden as the two witty, charming, and sexy heroes!

Every bartender should follow one simple rule – don’t go home with the customers. That’s been easy for me to stick to, until the night a cocky, confident, and sinfully charming hockey star walks into my bar. This sexy athlete is too hard to resist, especially when he makes it clear how much he wants the “sarcastic, witty, hot AF” guy behind the bar – also known as me. Still, I’m not keen on breaking my own rules since I know where that can lead – no place good.

But when that man makes his case with one bone-searing kiss on the streets of London, I throw resistance out the window. What could go wrong with a hot, no-strings-attached fling before he leaves town in five days?

Trouble is, soon our nights together lead to days, to long conversations, to getting to know each other, and to something I never expected – falling ridiculously hard for a man who’s getting on a plane to America when I live a world away.

My life is here. His is there. And no amount of falling or feeling will change that one big problem.

Performed with a full supporting cast including: Vanessa Edwin, Emma Wilder, Ron Butler, Jakobi Diem, Zachary Webber, Vikas Adam, Maxine Mitchell, Stella Hunter, and with a special appearance from Sebastian York.

REVIEW:

In honor of the release of Lauren Blakely’s second MM romance One Time Only (released on audio 11/16 and on ebook today 11/18), I thought I’d refresh your memory about (or introduce you to) the audio for Lauren’s first foray into MM romance: the prior, related book, A Guy Walks into My Bar, of which One Time Only is a loose spin-off.  The two books are completely standalone, but there’s a link between them through Jackson, the star of One Time Only, who makes a very brief appearance at the end of A Guy Walks into My Bar.  I’ll have my audio review of One Time Only tomorrow, and that audio is fantastic, just sayin’ … (There’s also a novella Maybe This Time which is a prequel to One Time Only; no audio has been released for that yet, but is expected in 2021.)

So now let’s talk A Guy Walks into My Bar:  This audiobook is not simply narration;  it’s an immersive experience.  This is duet narration with a full supporting cast.  It’s a highly unusual format for an audiobook, particularly in the MM romance space, and it is a treat for the listener.  Unlike the two most common formats, single narration and dual narration (male narrator reads the chapters for his character’s perspective, but also does all the other voices in those chapters including the other male MC and any female voices), in duet narration, each narrator has his role and they interact with each other throughout the story, but they only voice the lines and thoughts of their character. Here, that is expanded further because every character in the book is voiced by a different narrator.  It’s like listening to a play; it’s radio theater.

Think about the complexity of recording a duet narrated book with a full cast and you’ll appreciate the labor intensiveness (and cost) of producing such a recording.  The narrators have to be together for the recording which slows down the process and likely creates a lot more editing work.  I tell you this so you can appreciate what a rare gem the audio format of A Guy Walks into My Bar is.  An interesting note:  this audiobook includes at the end a short “fireside chat” with Joe Arden and Shane East, the two main narrators, and a blooper reel – both of which are absolutely hysterical.  But they discuss creating this duet, full cast recording in the time of COVID-19, i.e. they could not be in the same recording space to record and had to use Zoom.  They discuss how it impacted their creative process but emphasized that because they have an off-microphone friendship (including an active, snarky Twitter based dialogue) and have worked together many times before, they were still able to successfully play off each other even though they weren’t in the same room while recording. These bonuses to the audio are really fascinating and fun.

Even a prized audio format is only as good as its narrators.  Here, top billing goes to Joe Arden and Shane East who voice our MCs, NHL star James Fitzgerald (“Fitz”) and Dean Collins, owner of a popular bar in London, respectively.  There’s a reason why Joe and Shane appear on the top of those Most Popular Male Narrators lists for romance.  They are highly talented and skilled narrators and they bring this amazing story of Dean and Fitz’s romance to life.  Their timing is just wow … it’s like they are plugged into each other’s minds, bantering back and forth with a natural ease.  The timbre of their voices perfectly fits this steamy, sultry story and the way they vocalize the desperate, ferocious sex scenes is amazing, not just because their voices are imbued with that husky tone but also because they pack an emotional punch.  They both convey a level of implied meaning into just a few words and it lands perfectly every time.  I loved them both, but I have to say that there’s something undefinable but superb about Joe Arden’s gravelly tone and the conviction in his delivery, especially when he makes certain declarations —  “I f*cking love you. That is all.”  It hits you hard.  It hits you deep. And it hits you long … it’s a lasting impact to your gut … and your heart.

Joe and Shane are given some great material to work with on this one, with punchy lines, sharp dialogue, and poignant interactions.  Lauren’s a terrific writer;  there’s a reason she’s uber popular in the romance literary world.  And it shows because she makes something that is completely different out of what is not a particularly unusual setup:  Fitz is a famous NHL player from New York, on vacation in London where he literally walks into Dean’s bar.  The two have strong insta-attraction but Dean fights it, primarily due to a bet he has with his bar co-owner to never get involved with the customers.  Well you can guess how well that works out for Dean.  He and Fitz are like magnets and there’s no denying the pull they have toward each other. Dean’s resolve is quickly worn down and then, once he capitulates to the passion brewing between them, they embark on a whirlwind, super-steamy, 5-day “fling”, that is supposed to be all hook-up with no lasting emotional hang-ups.  Fitz has to go back to his life in New York and Dean’s life is in London and never the twain shall meet. They both have their reasons for wanting something hot and heavy … but final – with the “fail-safe known as an expiration date”.  But as that expiration closes in on them, they realize maybe this whole fling has gotten away from them and despite their best efforts, they are now dealing with love, and inevitable heartache.

This book has all the feels, plenty of low-level angst, sweet romance, and a whole lot of carnal, hot, heavy sex … and let me tell you, the narration of those scenes will set your headphones on fire. 🔥🔥🔥  One of the best parts is the lengthy epilogue that looks forward many years, so we really get to see how Dean and Fitz’s happiness and love have taken shape in their everyday lives.

This book is amazing, but the audiobook absolutely floored me.  I finished it and wanted to immediately queue it up again.  Do not miss out on this rare gem.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

Audible

Amazon 

Publisher