Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE: Date Me

SERIES: Tattoos and Temptation Prequel, Book 0.5

AUTHOR: Mia Monroe

PUBLISHER: Self-published

LENGTH: 1 hour and 12 minutes

RELEASE DATE:  August 21, 2021

BLURB: 

He’s the hottest man I’ve ever seen. 

I’m shy, not hot, and eating entirely too many pastries every day just to see my crush. It’s ridiculous to pine for a guy so far out of my league, but here we are.

When I confide in my friend about my crush, he pumps me up, giving me the courage to find out if this is a passing infatuation or the beginning of something more.

All I have to do is ask Wyatt to Date Me.

Date Me is a prequel novella to the Tattoos and Temptation series. In it, you’ll get a sneak peek of future main characters, tons of pining, a sweet tattooed hunk, and enough steam to satisfy. Welcome to Miami.

REVIEW: 

Something unusual happened when I listened to Kale Williams’ captivating audio retelling of Mia Monroe’s Date Me, her charming prequel novella to her fantastic Tattoos & Temptation series.  I heard the story in a different way. 

With any good narrator behind the mic, an audiobook will undoubtedly add to the experience of the story.  It will augment all the best aspects of it, especially our connection with the characters.  Kale Williams is an excellent narrator and he definitely achieves all of this.  But he also manages to translate the story in a new way. I’m struggling to think of another time that has happened to me.

When I reviewed the ebook of Date Me (you can read that review here), I remarked that it feels very self-contained, almost tangential to the T&T series, which is why it works as a prequel even though written after the main series ended.  Indeed, Date Me precedes T&T chronologically and neither Wyatt nor Josh appear in the T&T series proper.  As such, I initially read the story as simply a vehicle to acclimate us to the T&T world and lay some groundwork for Briar and Jude’s story in Marry Me.  Also, it gives the reader some fun bonus content.  😍

What I didn’t appreciate, though, is the connection between the message of Date Me – and there is one (stupid me – this is Mia Monroe we’re talking about;  there’s always a message) – and the main T&T series.  That is until I heard Mr. Williams bring the story to life through his vocal performance.

Kale Willams’ voice is smooth and silky and wraps you up in warmth.  It’s enveloping, fluid, and completely accessible to a listener.  His spot-on portrayal of Wyatt conveys Wyatt’s confidence and determination to go after what he wants and not think too much about whether it’s the “norm”.  Mr. Williams uses a mid-range tone, dripping with sensuality and perhaps, more importantly, sincerity.  The pacing is moderate and even, just like Wyatt’s personality.

Mr. Williams then goes a bit higher in pitch for Josh and uses a lot of rising intonations perfectly suited to Josh’s insecurity and disbelief in Wyatt’s attraction to him.  He perfectly captures Josh’s pure, untainted, honest appreciation and attraction to Wyatt, a guy he thinks is totally out of his league.

When you hear Mr. Williams deliver the dialogue between Wyatt and Josh, what you hear are two very different people who are genuine, guileless, and transparent in their feelings for each other. Wyatt and Josh’s romance sets the stage for every T&T romance that follows because it showcases the core concept that lies at the heart of every romance in the series: Falling in love is the easiest and hardest thing to do when you do it in a way (e.g. instalove) or with a person that diverges from society’s arbitrary view of what is “right” or who you “should” be with based on arbitrary values, labels, or prejudices.   

Mr. Williams deftly balances Josh’s questioning and anxiety against Wyatt’s steady reassurance that outward appearance doesn’t reflect what’s inside, nor does society’s opinion matter.  What results is a lovely romance written in Ms. Monroe’s inimitable style.  The Date Me audiobook is an unexpected gem that I highly recommend.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

Amazon

Audible