Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Stud

SERIES:  Four Bears Construction

AUTHOR:  K.M. Neuhold

NARRATORS:   Tim Paige and Liam DiCosimo

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  5 hours and 22 minutes

RELEASE DATE:  April 26, 2021

BLURB:

Stud: A boss, knob, or nail head…or, you know, the hot guy who’s way too young to keep asking me out with that adorably earnest smile…

It’s been three years since West walked into my bar and asked me out for the first time. I was relieved he stopped asking after the first few “no’s” and a way-too-good-to-be-real kiss. He’s 15 years younger than I am; it can only lead to trouble.

Of course, now he’s running through people off dating apps like it’s his job and wearing these lace panties that look really unfair on someone as furry and muscular as he is, and, um…what was I talking about?

I probably shouldn’t sabotage his dates, but I’m only human. I might not be ready to admit that I want him, but I’m definitely not ready to let anyone else have him either.

He’s too perfect, too hot, and I am in way too much trouble…

Note: Stud is a friends-to-lovers, construction-worker-in-panties, omg-so-much-swoon story that happens to be the fifth audiobook in the Four Bears Construction Series. Every audiobook in this series can be listened to as a stand-alone, but they’re a lot more fun together!

REVIEW:

Note: This is the 5th book in this series and as such contains major spoilers for the first 4 books. Recommended to be read in order. Do it – you’ll love all these guys 🙂

We met West in the second Four Bears Story, Screwed. He’s Dare’s nephew who is a bit aimless and needs some time to figure out what he wants. He becomes Dare’s apprentice and turns out he really loves working construction. He hits on Sawyer, the new owner of Wooley’s the gay bar that all the guys go to, but Sawyer is really overwhelmed with running the bar he’s just inherited after the owner has passed away. West doesn’t give up though and continues to ask him out. There is a lovely flashback to Ren & Cole’s wedding where West hopes to finally make headway with Sawyer, but to no avail. And they agree to be friends.

After a couple years of West and Sawyer spending all their off time together – eating dinner, watching movies, doing puzzles, etc., West’s friends decide that he needs to start dating. He’s young and hot and he’s not been dating for years. He’s not really wanting to do it, but he agrees after talking to Sawyer. What ensues is probably the most hilariously awesomely bad first dates on record 🙂 Seriously, the stuff that Sawyer comes up with to sabotage these dates get progressively more off the wall. And of course he’s there to comfort West after each one. LOL! Really. So many laugh out loud moments. Luckily West still has his best friend to turn to after all his disaster dates which does lead to some unexpected hanky-panky 😉

Parallel to West’s dating adventures, Sawyer decides it’s time to do something with Gus’s house that he also inherited and has been sitting empty for three years. It needs a LOT of work, but West volunteers to help him see just what really needs to be done. Luckily it seems like between West and some of the other guys at Four Bears, it’s a pretty doable job and won’t even cost a mint. So now Sawyer has yet another reason to keep hanging out with West. And While Sawyer hasn’t acknowledged that he wants West, he certainly doesn’t want anyone else to have him either.

As the house is being finished, it’s obvious that West and Sawyer and meant to be. There is also a bittersweet storyline around Gus that is revealed throughout the book as well. While all this is going on, there are more hilarious pranks at Four Bears, a potential patching up of family relationships, some wildlife turned pets with unintended consequences and some well-placed and not so well-placed former dates of West’s. And once Sawyer finally got out of his own way, some really sweet and romantic and honest moments between these two sealed the deal.

I love this series so much and each book has it’s own wonderful appeal.  I was so hoping that the Four Bears series would NOT stop at 4 books and I was thrilled to find that West and Sawyer got their own story.  I liked West from the previous books and although Sawyer is a supporting character in them, we really get to know him in this book and get to discover the baggage he’s been carrying and why he’s so afraid to put his heart on the line. Luckily West is a patient man 🙂 I loved their quiet nights watching movies and doing puzzles. It’s such a fallacy that everyone in their 20s wants to go out and party and “sew their wild oats”. Some people never ever want to do that at any age. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Sawyer’s guarded heart is also not so unusual – but luckily he found a man who was willing to do the work and exhibit the perseverance to break down those walls and open his eyes to what could be without the fear keeping him frozen. And there is so much humor. I laughed out loud so much during this book – probably more than all except Dare and Stone’s book – because seriously. Stone is crazy 🙂

Once again, Tim Paige and Liam DiCosimo do a fantastic job with the narration.  These guys have quickly become a favorite duo.  I love the way they each voice their chapters and how each of them convey the humor, affection, love and friendship between these two characters in particular.  I’m so happy they have been able to do this whole series, and I’m eagerly awaiting the next two books.  Highly recommended for a VERY satisfying friends to lover, age-gap, slowest of slow burn romances with a lot of humor and heart.  Listen to this whole series.  It’s great. I can’t wait to see who gets their HEA next <3

RATING:

BUY LINKS:

Amazon

Audible