Reviewed by  Cheryl K

TITLE:  Antagonist: Dads of Stillwater, Book 1

SERIES:  Dads of Stillwater

AUTHOR:  Ana Ashley

NARRATOR:  John Solo

PUBLISHER:  Ana Ashley

LENGTH:  7 hrs

RELEASE DATE:  June 27, 2022

BLURB: 

One artist. One attorney. Two single dads.

Meeting at a bachelor auction for charity had trouble written all over it as far as I was concerned, especially when the guy that won the bid for me seemed to be after only one thing…a good time between the sheets.

Refusing Fletcher’s advances was easy the first time round. After all, we weren’t meant to see each other again.

Except I’ve just moved to Stillwater where Fletcher lives.

Except both our kids are in the same class.

Now the kids are fighting and I’m ready to throw my own punches.

If only Fletcher wasn’t as goddamn irresistible as he is irritating.

When the fight moves from the playground to the bedroom, who will come out on top?

Antagonist is book one in Ana Ashley’s new series, Dads of Stillwater.

Single dads, sassy kids, Ana’s usual cast of intriguing secondary characters—Stillwater has it all.

REVIEW:

Ana Ashley is a new to me author and I was intrigued to listen to this story, since it was narrated by John Solo. Ana brings a nice depth and well-rounded single dad trope to life in this story.  Fletcher and Harrison meet in the most spectacular way… a bachelor auction. Harrison is the bachelor and Fletcher is the successful bidder. From the moment these two meet, the banter between them is extremely well done.  Ana’s world building was fantastic.  Creating the small town of Stillwater and all the parts that go into making a small-town home and a shared community environment, made me wish it was more than just a little town in a book.  The characters that Ana creates are fleshed out and you are made to feel like you could be lifelong friends with not only Fletcher and Harrison, but also all of the side characters.  Then throw in the kids characters and this is one well-conceived and executed story and series.  Ana creates an intriguing, snark, banter filled world in this first in the series book.

With such well written words and details, it’s not surprising to me that John Solo excelled with his performance of this first book in the Dads of Stillwater series.  In this performance, you could hear how well his voice choices came through and helped to drive the story forward.  From a subtle southern accent to a growly sexy voice, he found his groove with this story.  John’s voice selections were really on point for the side characters as well.  Voicing children and women, can be a struggle for some narrators, but I found the voices to be age and gender appropriate.  John excels at pulling off the banter and snark that abounds in this book.

I’m pleased to say that I am now a fan of Ms. Ashley’s, and I am excited to hear John perform more of her books.  I highly recommend this book and the audio performance.  If you want to find out what happens after the bachelor auction, pick up this gem and give it a listen.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

Audible

Amazon