Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: Ace’s Place
AUTHOR: Gabbi Grey
NARRATOR: Michael Dean
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 1 hour and 26 minutes
RELEASE DATE: June 3, 2022
BLURB:
Derek Murphy has come to the godforsaken small town of Merritt, British Columbia, in search of a new beginning. The man is tired, jaded, and resigned to never having sex again. Until Friday night at the local sports bar changes everything.
Harold Graham, hometown boy made good, has lived in Merritt his entire life. When he meets the new guy in town, he’s compelled to reach out the hand of friendship. And maybe more.
But secrets and omissions cloud what could be the beginning of something special. Can they take a chance on being vulnerable enough to fall in love?
“Ace’s Place” is a 13,000-word short story about second chances, hockey, and an adorable but nosy Bouvier.
REVIEW:
Ace’s Place is a short story from Gabbi Grey featuring her oft-used instalust/instalove dynamic. It is a short, sweet, enjoyable story that works, but feels a bit incomplete. Here, Derek and Harold, aka Ace, fall in love surrounded by a found family of friends and Ace’s adorable dog. Unpleasant circumstances propel Derek into moving to Merritt, a small town in British Columbia which is where he meets Ace, a lifetime resident of Merritt. Derek is trying to start over in life and love. Derek, for his part, has given up on love, so it’s a new start for him as well.
The attraction and chemistry between these two men are evident, albeit a bit rushed. But Grey does a terrific job of solidifying our investment in these men even within the scant pages of the story. It’s easy to picture them together and root them on towards that end. As an aside, Grey tends to write a lot of short stories and novellas, and I sometimes lament that choice when there is clear opportunity to develop some great plot frameworks into longer, meatier stories. Ace’s Place is an example of that.
Michael Dean does his usual skilled job at voicing this story on the Ace’s Place audiobook. His emotional investment and acting ability show through regardless of whether the audio is 1 hour and 26 minutes or 12 hours and 6 minutes. He brings this story to life with clearly and consistently distinguished voices and an understanding of the characters and their story arcs. While the story told in Ace’s Place is too short for my liking, what Grey and Dean give us is well-done and enjoyable.
RATING: 
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