Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE:  Fakers

SERIES:  Licking Thicket Book #1

AUTHOR:  Lucy Lennox and May Archer

NARRATOR:  Michael Dean

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

LENGTH:  9 hrs and 22 mins

RELEASE DATE:  July 27, 2020

BLURB:

Brooks Johnson’s words to live by:

When returning to Licking Thicket, TN, for the first time in 10 years to reunite with your nosy neighbors, heartbroken ex-girlfriend, and matchmaking mama who never quite believed you were gay, it’s best to bring a fake boyfriend as backup.

Just don’t be surprised when your ex-girlfriend does the same. And when her incredibly hot fake boyfriend becomes the one island of calm in a sea of bovine-based insanity, it’s best to exercise caution, especially when he pushes you up against the rough barn wall to check you very thoroughly for splinters.

Just don’t be surprised if you fall head-over-hooves in love with him.

REVIEW:

Fakers is the first book in the Licking Thicket series by Lucy Lennox and May Archer, aptly named after the small town of Licking Thicket, Tennessee, where these series books are set. Licking Thicket is your quintessential, quirky small town full of all-up-in-your-business townspeople and unique bovine-inspired town events and festivals. There’s matchmaking and good intentioned interfering, and an overall sense of belonging in this crazy town, and it’s that aspect that this book is really about.  Fakers is described as a fake boyfriend trope love story between Brooks Johnson and Malachi Forrester, and while it is that, the backbone of the story is really about falling in love with Licking Thicket.  It’s about finding yourself, finding home in a partner, and finding that you belong in a small hometown that you thought never wanted you, and that you thought you never wanted to be a part of.

My review here is about the terrific audiobook of Fakers narrated by Michael Dean. Michael does such a fantastic job of capturing and voicing the characters of Brooks and Mal that you need some context to fully appreciate it.  Brooks and Mal’s characters are complex and they are grappling with multiple issues simultaneously. That is not easy for a narrator to translate, but Michael does it beautifully.

Brooks Johnson was the high school golden boy of Licking Thicket, dating the beautiful Ava, all the while beginning to understand his sexuality.  Brooks didn’t know how to admit he’s gay, so he let the relationship with Ava go on too long. Ultimately, his revelation to Ava was ill-timed and inadvertently made in front of the whole town at an annual dance where Ava was expecting Brooks to give her a ring. No one believed Brooks was gay – they just thought he was a cad who unnecessarily broke Ava’s heart – so he fled town in frustration and embarrassment, and ultimately became a successful ad executive in New York City where he’s been for the last 10 years.  When the book starts, Brooks is summoned back home for the Lickin’ – an annual week-long Licking Thicket Festival – because his father is ill, and he drags his best friend and colleague Paul with him to pose as his fake boyfriend.

Brooks’ ex, Ava, also comes back to town and similarly drags her best friend Mal with her to pose as her fake boyfriend.  Mal also came from a small town, but that town and his family were downright hostile to his sexuality, so he fled to California. Mal has his own baggage about small towns that he struggles with, and he also struggles against the magnetic pull towards Brooks. Mal has been hurt badly, emotionally and physically, harassed and even beaten up in high school and rebuked by his own father at his mother’s funeral.  Needless to say, Mal has put some serious protections around his heart.

In order for a narrator to effectively communicate to the listener who Brooks and Mal are and why they end up where they do, understanding these struggles is crucial.  This is not a simple boy meets boy and falls in love story;  it is much deeper than that.  Michael Dean gets that and he communicates it flawlessly.  Part of that is due to his vast experience and part is due to his intuitiveness.  Michael Dean is a very well-known and well-loved narrator in the MM romance genre and if you look at his audiobook catalog, you’ll see that he’s produced over 450 audiobooks. That experience clearly shows through when you listen to his audio performance.

The Fakers audiobook is a one-man show.  Michael Dean has an acting background which is evident in how he delivers the story he’s narrating.  This is not reading lines.  You can hear him acting out the part, delivering the lines with appropriate intonation and emphasis and with a real-life energy.  What I find he is best at is intuiting what the character is feeling and delivering the dialogue or internal monologue with the emotional content packed in.  So take Brooks:  this is a guy that pulls masks on so he meets the expectations of everyone around him.  He’s a guy that doesn’t want to let anyone down and doesn’t know how to cope when he does – case in point: his fleeing town after the Ava fiasco.  When you hear Michael Dean narrate as Brooks, you hear a more even, rounded tone when Brooks has pulled on his trying-to-please everyone mask or in his advertising role, and a more vulnerable voice, with variation in volume, pacing and even vocal strain like voice cracks and breathy whispers when he is in his own head or has let his guard down with Mal.  There’s a definite, noticeable difference in the Brooks internal monologuing and his later communications with Mal than the Brooks we hear when he’s in his ad role or interacting with the townspeople.

Similarly, Michael Dean deliberately chose a deep, often sharp edged voice for Mal which reflects the barbed wire protection he’s put around his heart.  We hear a tight control in the delivery of his lines which perfectly reflects the control Mal so desperately holds on to.  But when he loses that control (for ex., the bleachers scene with Brooks) or lets himself be vulnerable, we hear a delivery that is softer and smoother.

Maybe it goes without saying that with such intuitiveness and skill, the pacing and tempo of the book are spot on.  And did I mention he sings too?  Michael Dean singing the Partridge Pit jingle is worth the price of admission in and of itself.  There are a few very minor flaws like a couple of wrong words said or words skipped, and his varied pronunciation of Mal’s name; he initially pronounces it like “Mall” but then corrects it later in the book to “Mal” (rhymes with “pal”) which I believe is the correct pronunciation given it’s short for Malachi.  But these are indeed very minor and will in no way impact your enjoyment of this audiobook.

I highly recommend that you indulge in this lovely Lucy Lennox and May Archer story and that you listen to the audiobook when you do.  In my view, the audiobook and Michael Dean’s stellar narration are essential to fully explore and experience Fakers.  Otherwise, you’re just missing out.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS: 

Audible

Amazon