Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Companion Required 
AUTHOR: Brian Lancaster
NARRATOR: Richard Reynolds
PUBLISHER: Pride Publishing
LENGTH: 7 hours and 23 minutes
RELEASE DATE: October 24, 2023
BLURB:
Successful CEO Kennedy Grey thought he had his life planned out nicely—until he hired supposedly straight Kieran West as this year’s holiday companion.
For the past five years, CEO Kennedy Grey has advertised for a gay male holiday companion to join him on his single annual break. Although Kennedy claims to be neutral in his choice, he has certain non-negotiable requirements. Applicants must be between 21 and 25, nonsmoking, social drinker, either versatile or passive, and able to pull off the role of dutiful boyfriend in front of his clutch of gay friends. What does the candidate get out of the deal? An all-expenses-paid holiday and five grand in cash at the end, more if the candidate exceeds his expectations—a safe enough addendum, because for the past three years no one ever has.
Kieran West sits in a quiet corner of the coffee shop, trying to finish an assignment. At 29, he is single once again. By now he should have settled down. But when his girlfriend of three years gives him an ultimatum—ring or road—he chooses the road. Worst of all, he has no qualms about doing so. As for his finances? Saddled with a string of outstanding student loans, he is struggling to finish his master’s while also supporting his brother through university. Losing his work at the estate agents’ could not have come at a worse time. Then he overhears the man at a nearby table recruiting for a job that pays a cool five grand. What does he have to lose?
REVIEW:
This story could have been a same old same old, but thankfully it was not. Kieran is in need of money. Kennedy is in need of a paid companion for an annual holiday trip of a month around Asia. While Kieran watches Kennedy “interview” perspective candidates, he decides to throw his hat into the ring 😉 Never mind that he’s been couch surfing and now is staying with this sister after a breakup with his most recent girlfriend. He’s trying to finish his Master’s and he’s really low on funds. It’s a pretty ballsy move to just plonk himself down and plead his case to Kennedy. Kennedy is somewhat amused and he’s also not that happy with the other candidates. There’s just one little thing – Kieran is not gay.
Kennedy strikes out with his choice for the holiday and so he calls Kieran. Kieran has to confess a few things to Kennedy – who decides that it will be better to have Kieran with him than go alone. They meet up and come up with a plan for the holiday. Kieran is unlike Kennedy’s usual plus one. He’s not a twink who is only interested in Kennedy’s money for one thing. He also knows who Kennedy is and what he’s accomplished. The first tip off that this is going to be something different occurs on their first stop of the trip – a visit to Kennedy’s family compound in Singapore. Kennedy’s family really like Kieran and he also likes them. Apparently they never liked Patrick, Kennedy’s long term boyfriend that left him 5 years before. He’s always concentrated on business, but after Patrick left he really has been in work mode.
Once they join the cruise, Kieran meets the rest of Kennedy’s usual friends. They all like Kieran as well. Unfortunately the aforementioned Patrick also shows up with his posse and that leads to a lot of tension. These friends are really kind of douche canoes – particularly to Kennedy and Kieran. The one bright spot is Patrick’s new boyfriend Joey, who seems to be genuine. He and Kieran hit it off, but there is a six degrees situation there and Kieran is really worried about being outed as not gay. Except, as the cruise goes on, he finds himself being physically attracted to Kennedy. And that lead to a whole new level of drama 😉
But this holiday has an expiration date and despite both men developing feelings, they have made a bargain. And they are both men of their word. What are they to do when they get home and on to their jobs, but feel like something is missing? Someone is going to have to make the first move 😀
This was really delightful. It started out a tiny bit slow, but I was pleasantly surprised by how things revved up once the trip started. I loved Kennedy’s family that he’s been somewhat estranged from. Kieran was an absolutely lovely guy and everyone responded to how genuine he was and also how smart. He fit in well with Kennedy’s friends despite his nerves at the beginning. I loved how he handled the whole situation with Patrick even though it wasn’t pretty. Kennedy still had a lot going on in his head with the situation with Patrick and how blindsided he’d been by Patrick walking out. He also had a lot of guilt about how he contributed to their breakup. But ultimately he was able to see the inevitability of their situation. He realized he was falling for Kieran, but he didn’t want to pressure him and they had a deal. Thankfully he realized that maybe he should put a new deal on the table 😉 There are some really lovely descriptions of the locales in this book also that make me want to return to some of these beautiful places. The setting was really another character in this story 😀
This narrator was completely new to me. It took me a bit to get used to his voice and cadence, but at the end of the day, I really enjoyed the performance. There are a LOT of character, and I thought this narrator did a really good job on the vocal characteristic of the whole cast. The performance definitely added another level to the story which I really enjoyed. Recommended.
RATING: 
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