Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE:  Pick Me

SERIES:  Sunday Brothers Book 1

AUTHOR: May Archer

NARRATOR:  Michael Dean

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  10 hours 26 minutes

RELEASE DATE:  October 11, 2021

BLURB:

The job at Sunday Orchard was supposed to be temporary.

A chance to gain some work experience. To have some fun. To get away from my overprotective brothers. To maybe, possibly encounter some lumberjacks in their natural habitat before moving on to the dream career that awaited me in the city. 

I had not expected to be welcomed into a family of gorgeous and weirdly efficient lumberjack-types myself. Or to find a purpose in the tiny Vermont town whose claim to fame seemed to be apple-based products and copious amounts of charm.

And I most definitely hadn’t expected to fall for Knox Sunday, my grumpy, burly, fifteen-years-older, reluctant roommate, with his infuriating lectures, his hot-as-fire body, his superior attitude, his snarky humor, and his stealthy cuddles.

Now I find myself making excuses to delay my big dreams….just for a little while.

But Knox has unfulfilled dreams of his own- a career he walked away from. A big city life in Boston he left behind, when he returned to his hometown to help his family. He claims he’s not looking for anything permanent, and I’ve never been one to put down roots.

My big life is waiting for me somewhere other than Little Pippin Hollow. So why does it feel like I’ve finally found the home of my heart?

And how can I get Knox Sunday to….pick me?

REVIEW:

Pick Me is quintessential May Archer. The delightful first book in Ms. Archer’s new Sunday Brothers series, which is a spin-off from her Whispering Key series, Pick Me feels a lot like Ms. Archer’s Love in O’Leary series with some of the Whispering Key series kookiness. If you’ve never read these two series from Ms. Archer, what that means is that Pick Me is a love story that is sweet and heartwarming with a small town, found family vibe, and some eccentricity thrown in for good measure.  

Pick Me picks up with Gage Goodman, the youngest of the Goodman clan featured in the Whispering Key series. Gage has made his exodus from the warm, cozy, craziness of Whispering Key, Florida to live at the Sunday Orchards in Little Pippen Hollow, Vermont. He’s hoping to get some space from his loving but all-up-in-your-business family and island residents, and maybe find a new place where he fits in. The fact that the eldest Sunday Brother, Knox, looks like Gage’s lumberjack fantasy come to life is a nice bonus. 😉

The story relies upon some oft-used tropes, but they are presented in an engaging way that makes them feel new and different in this context.  For example, Ms. Archer transforms this excellent age gap, grumpy/sunshine romance into a series of metaphors, all rooted in her apt title, Pick Me.  Gage and Knox are opposites in personality and experience, separated by fifteen years, with Gage exhibiting his cheery view on life and Knox showing a beleaguered grumpiness and snappish behavior, particularly towards Gage.  Yet they are completely compatible, fulfilling the needs of the other in an intrinsic way.  They are out of sync with each other because their timing is off.  And that’s really what Pick Me is all about: timing. 

It’s hoping for a ripe opportunity and then grasping it with two hands.  Falling in love, but recognizing it too late.  Waiting to be picked like a ripening apple.  Asking to be picked but getting passed over for superficial reasons.  Pick Me’s apple metaphors convey significant subtext for Gage and Knox’s romance, while also reflecting the pacing of the story arc itself. The story starts slowly, laying a foundation, planting the seeds for Gage and Knox’s relationship.  Knox takes an instant dislike to Gage and Gage can’t figure out why. It sets them on a course of discovery about each other, with the plot moving along steadily as the two men try to take the other’s measure, giving the relationship room and time to grow.  Allowing it to ripen until it is ready.  

Ms. Archer’s writing is as strong as always, with humor and some heartstring-pulling laced through the narrative.  The story features Ms. Archer’s crisp, witty writing and a thoughtful, well-rounded romantic relationship carefully crafted to address Gage and Knox’s complex backgrounds and emotions. 

Michael Dean delivers a top-notch vocal performance on the Pick Me audiobook. His performance is nuanced, exhibiting thoughtful and effective choices for the pitch and tone of Gage and Knox’s voices. The age gap between Gage and Knox provides the foundation for Knox to hold himself back from his attraction for Gage.  It gives him a ready (albeit foolish) excuse to keep Gage at arm’s length. It’s a crucial piece of Ms. Archer’s story, so it’s crucial that Gage and Knox sound different in age and attitude.  Indeed, when we listen to Mr. Dean act out their parts, he achieves that age difference through Gage and Knox’s voices, and conveys a whole lot more as well.  

For Gage, we hear a young, enthusiastic voice reflecting his youth and sunshiny, optimism.  Mr. Dean gives him a higher-pitched voice, not quite “twinky”, but with a brightness to it that reflects Gage’s open, guileless personality.  In contrast, Mr. Dean voices Knox with a deep, resonant, at times growly voice evocative of his lumberjack appearance.  It’s a seasoned voice, with more weight and seriousness to it, perfectly in keeping with the burden of Knox’s secret-keeping.  

Across the book, Mr. Dean consistently delivers their voices and also distinguishes between a host of secondary characters as well, including women and a child, Knox’s nephew Aidan.  But one of the things Mr. Dean does best is pacing, inflection, and intonation, particularly in dialogue, and most impressively, in relaying snark and humor.  What I found funny reading the book was laugh-out-loud funny through Mr. Dean’s delivery.  He infuses dynamics into every sentence and it really helps convey who the characters are and how they interact with the people around them.  He captures all of Pick Me’s sweet, sexy, and (minimally) angsty feels with spot-on character differentiation and powerful emotional connection.

Mr. Dean creates an immersive, engrossing experience in the Pick Me audiobook that you won’t want to miss. You’ll get all the feels, the swoony love declarations, and UST for days consummating in steamy, emotional scenes with meaning.  Pick Me is right up there with the best of May Archer/Michael Dean collaborations. I highly recommend you pick up this book.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

Audible 

Amazon