Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Whit 
SERIES: Unexpected
AUTHOR: Cora Rose
NARRATORS: Alexander Cendese & Liam DiCosimo
PUBLISHER: Podium Audio
LENGTH: 7 hours and 29 minutes
RELEASE DATE: December 6, 2022
BLURB:
Straight guys don’t have crushes on other dudes, right?
Except my roommate, Whit, is intriguing, and I find myself watching him constantly. He’s a mystery I can’t figure out and these feelings I’m having about him are confusing.
Then, one night, I find myself wrapped around him, and after that, I can’t get enough.
But Whit has secrets. He doesn’t let people in, and the more I fall for him, the less I know.
I can’t let him go, though. Until I realize I’m going to be the one broken at the end of our story.
REVIEW:
Caleb is a 21-year-old college guy who has moved away from his family for his last year and is living with Whit in his really nice apartment. They appear to pretty much be opposites in most ways. Caleb is kind of a life of the party guy and Whit is a studious debate team kind of guy. They get along fine – mostly because Whit sort of ignores Caleb and his attempts to interact with him. Caleb sees Whit as a mystery he needs to solve.
Caleb goes out with his friends and then he gets sick when he is home. But he never gets sick from drinking and he’s burning up. Whit takes care of him while he’s sick and delirious for a few days. So much so, that he stays with him in the bed for that time because Caleb won’t let go of him. Caleb’s family comes to check on him so Whit now knows his cousins and his Aunt Del. Because Caleb was stuck to Whit like a limpet, they assume that they are now together. Caleb should care about that, right? I mean he’s straight right? Isn’t he? So then why is so focused on Whit now? Why does he want to spend all his free time with Whit? He does still want to figure out what makes Whit tick, but he also wants to touch him. Whit seems to humor him while assuming that this is just Caleb being Caleb. But Caleb is now jealous of Whit’s friends and the one twinky guy that seems to have had some sort of relationship with Whit in the past.
Caleb’s cousins and family continue to reach out to Whit to check on Caleb 🙂 They show up at the apartment and insist that Caleb and Whit are together – which at that point they are not. They invite Whit to come with Caleb when he comes out to visit for the weekend. Caleb agrees and it’s there that things change. Whit and Caleb’s relationship definitely takes a turn and Caleb can’t seem to get enough of Whit. But Whit won’t let Caleb reciprocate and touch him – not that Caleb is sure that he’s ready for that. All he knows is that his head is full of Caleb and he really wants more of whatever this is between them.
Meanwhile Caleb keeps wondering what is going on with him. He’s not attracted to any other guys. He just wants Whit. And he wants Whit to open up to him. Caleb is an open book and Whit is definitely a closed and locked book. There are reasons as he slowly discovers. Whit may have money, but he had a miserable childhood and he’s got a lot of demons that he’s dealt with. His parents still have some control over him and he isn’t sure what he really wants to do – he’s been following “the plan” for so long. If he doesn’t continue to toe the line, things will change drastically for him. And if he does toe the line, he’ll break Caleb’s heart.
So I was a little late to this party as this book and series debuted last year. I think five books were published between April and November. This is the first book available in Audio. I saw a lot of positive buzz, so I wanted to review this book. Then I saw that there were some super negative reviews. Bottom line is that this seems to be a polarizing story for some folks. I have to say that I really enjoyed the audio book and a lot of that is because of the quality of the narrator performances. The story is told largely from Caleb’s POV. There are far fewer chapters told from Whit’s point of view and that is definitely done for a reason. Alexander Cendese performs the Caleb POV and I have to say, I think this might be my favorite performance of his. Caleb is like a puppy dog – happy, full of energy, inquisitive, free with his affection. Whit is repressed and secretive and doesn’t want to give in to Caleb, but he can’t help but turn toward the sunshine like a starving plant. Whit and Caleb go along getting more and more into each other’s lives until Whit has to come clean. And when he does, Caleb is devastated. But it’s not one sided. And Whit has to figure out what he really wants in live. Caleb is such a lovable clueless guy and I really loved him. Whit’s backstory is a bit underdeveloped, but I’m not sure we need all the gory details to figure out that he’s pretty damaged and is trying to just get on with his live – when a big obstacle of Caleb comes along. The story was good, but the performances bumped it up another half star for me. Liam DiCosimo doesn’t get as much of a chance to shine here, but his performance of Whit’s devastation was spot on. I really loved these performances by two narrators who are some of the best in the biz. Recommended.
RATING: 
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