Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Clean Slate

SERIES:  The Goode Life

AUTHOR:  Isla Olsen

NARRATOR:  Kale Williams

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  4 hours and 3 minutes

RELEASE DATE: April 13, 2022

BLURB:

Zack

Twelve years ago, I thought I had everything figured out: I’d go off to college, get my marketing degree, come back to my charming little hometown of Finchley in California’s Gold Country, help my high school sweetheart build his carpentry business, and live happily ever after…

Ha! That’s teenage naivety for you.

Instead, on the eve of my college departure, Slater Goode (henceforth known as The Devil) ripped my heart out of my chest and stomped all over it. Figuratively.

But I don’t care about that anymore. At. All. I have a great life in Chicago…I mean, things aren’t exactly rosy right now, what with my boyfriend-slash-boss cheating on me, and then losing my job over that little vandalism incident…but that’s just a blip. Things will get better. They have to. I’ll be damned if I’ll be returning home to Finchley with my tail between my legs.

But then I get some news: The Devil’s grandfather, whom I love as if he were my own, has passed away in a tragic mishap of the coital nature, and missing his funeral is not an option.

Despite my desperate prayers, when I return home I’m appalled to find The Devil has not been the victim of some disfiguring flesh-eating disease. Nope, if anything, he’s even hotter. And he’s sweet, and funny, and everything I remember falling for back in high school. But he’s still The Devil who shattered my heart and there’s no way I’ll give him the chance to do it again.

Exes with benefits, though? Now that could be an idea…

Come visit Finchley, CA, where the sun’s always shining, the locals are always gossiping, and you won’t walk two steps without bumping into a member of the Goode family. If you’re lucky, you might find gold; or, even better…true love.

REVIEW:

Zach is not having a good week.  He’s caught his boss/boyfriend cheating with an intern and on a drunken revenge rampage gets caught vandalizing said bosses office.  So he’s got the hangover from hell and no job.  Then his mom calls to tell him that his neighbor and surrogate grandfather has passed away.  This precipitates a visit back to this hometown of Finchley, California.  He’s not been back for over a decade and he’s not looking forward to the trip.  Not just because it’ll be hard to say goodbye to Ted Goode, but because his ex is still there.  This would be the same ex that he thought he’d have a life with, but who basically broke up with him when he left for Chicago for college.

Slater Goode is happy in his hometown. He’s got a good business going and he’s got his large family and his friends.  He’s happy to see his first love back in town.  When Zach gets gets crazy drunk after seeing Slater for the first time in 12 years and they hookup, things get a little weird and messy.  He doesn’t have to rush back to Chicago since he no longer has a job. His BFF, Lawson, who is a rather successful MM romance author tries to convince him that he should just work for him now that he’s making enough to support a Social Media/Marketing person.  While contemplating this, Slater seems to have a hard time staying away from Zach and they kind of agree to have a no strings exes with benefits fling while Zach is in town.

In the meantime, there are many many funny situations in this return to the hometown – and that’s after some pretty hilarious goings-on in Chicago.   Between Slater’s huge family and all the nosey folks in the small town of Finchley, everyone seems to have some sort of vested interest in Slater and Zach getting back together, despite all their years apart and neither of them seeming to be any good at relationships.  Evan Lawson arrives in town to weigh in on the situation.  Zach and Slater have unfinished business.  And there are some things that neither knows because they didn’t communicate very well.  Zach is reluctant to give Slater the chance to break his heart again.  Slater doesn’t want to stand in the way of Zach’s opportunities and life in Chicago.  Will it stay that way?

I really liked this second chance love story (one of my favorite tropes) between Slater and Zach 🙂  One of the things I think that this author in particularly well is using today’s communication tools to add a quirky and fun twist to the dialogue.  In this instance, the townsfolk use a Private Facebook Group to post and communicate.   These interactions are priceless!  There are so many laugh out loud moments and they are so true to life 🙂  For anyone who is in any sort of FB group, these “conversation” can go off the rails so quickly.  It’s not quite as crazy as Neighborhood (that app is a doozy!), but it’s pretty entertaining in this case.   In a small town, these groups can get pretty heated!

I loved Ms. Olsen’s debut MM novel, Fake it ’til You Make Out back in 2020.  This book has a lot of the same humor and charm and another crazy big family who communicate via digital interface.  Zach and Slater have a hard time communicating at all.   Certainly their lack of contact over the years confirms it.  They definitely don’t exactly pick up where they left off, but obviously the chemistry between them is still there.  They’ve both grown quite a lot in the intervening years and some of that growth might just bring them back together 😉  I was laughing and laughing so much while listening to this audiobook.  Kale Williams was sooooo good narrating this lively and funny story.  His performance adding a whole other level to this already highly entertaining story.  He really does humor soooo well.  Mr. Williams is a fan favorite for a very good reason.   His ability to convey the absolute perfect mood and character of the story always seem to be on the money.  I thoroughly enjoyed every single minute of this audiobook.  Bravo and brava to Ms. Olen and Mr. Williams.  Highly recommended for a hilariously good time with a sweet and well earned HEA 🙂

RATING:

BUY LINK:

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