Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  All the Wrong Places

SERIES:  Bluewater Bay

AUTHOR:  Ann Gallagher

NARRATOR:  Nick J. Russo

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  7 hrs and 20 min

RELEASE DATE:  February 24, 2021

BLURB:

Three cheating girlfriends in a row have given skateboarder Brennan Cross the same excuse: he wasn’t meeting their needs. Desperate and humiliated, he goes to the professionals at the local sex shop for advice.

Zafir Hamady, a sales clerk at Red Hot Bluewater, has an unusual theory: He doesn’t think Brennan is a bad lover. In fact, he doesn’t think Brennan is heterosexual. Or sexual at all, for that matter. He also can’t stop thinking about Brennan. But even if he’s right and Brennan really is asexual, that doesn’t mean Zafir has a chance. Brennan’s never dated a man, and Zafir’s never met anyone who’s game for a Muslim single father with a smart mouth and a GED.

Brennan’s always thought of himself as straight. But when sex is explicitly out of the mix, he finds himself drawn to Zafir for the qualities and interests they share. And Zafir can’t help enjoying Brennan’s company and the growing bond between Brennan and his son. They work well together, but with so many issues between them, doubts creep in, and Brennan’s struggle with his identity could push away the one person he didn’t know he could love.

This asexual romance was previously published.

REVIEW:

Brennan is confused.  He’s now caught his girlfriend cheating – saying that he just couldn’t “meet her needs” so she found someone else who could and brought them to their bed.  Nice!  Brennan then decides to go to the local sex shop to try to get some advice on what is missing.  There he finds Zafir, the asexual Muslim single dad who works there as one of his jobs 🙂  Definitely didn’t see THAT coming.

Zafir has had a couple of serious relationships in his life, including his son’s mother, his fiance and a boyfriend.  But none of them worked out.  As a teenager single father, he’s been through a lot and so has his son Tarik.  He’s definitely cautious about any relationships – because it’s not just him.  But when he meets Brennan and tries to help him figure out what’s going on with his relationships and sexuality, it seems like maybe he’s met someone he could see a future with.  It certainly helps that Brennan gets along great with his son, despite a few mini-disasters 🙂

But of course you know things can’t go smoothly and some people can’t help but stick their nose into things that aren’t their concern.  And there’s some jerks around too that do not help the situation.  Luckily, both Zafir and Brennan are not the type to give up too easily 🙂

This was a actually a really sweet story.  There aren’t a lot of romances out there featuring asexual main characters and this one had not one, but two.  I really liked Zafir as a struggling single dad (full disclosure, my nephew’s name is Tarik – although we pronounce it differently 🙂 ).  He was soooo nice to Brennan and really came across as a genuinely helpful and nonjudgmental guy.  Brennan is just so confused and I liked the way he was trying research and figure himself out.   Zafir is so understanding and patient with Brennan and I just loved that about him.  He’s really a great guy.  Brennan is skittish and resistant at first, but when he realizes that he enjoys Zafir’s company and feels more comfortable with him than he ever has with anyone, he figures that maybe this is the right fit for him.  Their romance and relationship was realistically built over time.  I also liked that the cultural differences were not a stumbling block for them and they took each other in stride 🙂

The one thing I had a little trouble with is WHY Brennan would listen to anything his ex had to say.  Because by that point, we’ve discovered that her decision making is not necessarily stellar.   Thankfully that wasn’t too long lived and Brennan came to his sense.  That said, I really really loved how these two managed to come together and figure out how they worked as a couple and ultimately as a family.  It’s a nice slow burn without the pressure of sex and it was very nicely done.  I also LOVED Nick Russo’s narration.  All his voices sounded so authentic – whether a 9-year old boy, a twenty-something skater girl or any of the other main and supporting characters.  All were distinct and appropriate, which is why he is one of my absolute favorite narrators.  Recommended for those who like low heat, slow burn, friends to “lovers” stories with a happy ending 😉

RATING: 

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