Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE:  Limited Edition Husband

SERIES:  Winner Takes All, Book 4

AUTHOR:  Lauren Blakely writing as L. Blakely

NARRATOR:  Teddy Hamilton, James Joseph

PUBLISHER:  Lauren Blakely Books

LENGTH:  7 hours and 23 minutes

RELEASE DATE:  May 3, 2023

BLURB:

A fake-marriage stand-alone performed in duet by Teddy Hamilton and James Joseph!

One night with no strings was supposed to be the plan.

After barely escaping my last train wreck of a romance, I’ve got a new dating goal—play it cool.

I stick to that strategy when I bump into a charming Brit I met once before. He’s newly out and eager for all the things he’s never done, so I make the helpful suggestion we jet off to the city of sin for the night, then say good-bye.

But instead, thanks to a bet and some bourbon, we’re saying “I do.”

And in the morning I’m asking myself, what the hell have I done? But we’ll just undo the holy matrimony right this stinking second.

Except, the pics of our nuptials are splashed all over the internet—the pro football player eloped!

Great, just great.

Now, my agent says we need to stay mister and mister until the brouhaha blows over.

Thirty days as fake husbands with the sexy, irresistible guy who’s determined to prove that he’s nothing like my ex?

My bruised heart can handle that as long as I don’t fall for my husband.

And I won’t. When we split for real, he’ll be an ocean away.

REVIEW:

I cannot get enough of Lauren Blakely’s aesthetic for her MM romance audiobooks (which she now pens under “L. Blakely”). In Limited Edition Husband, she capitalizes on it in a big way.  This fourth book in her Winner Takes All sports romance series hits ALL the right notes. The delectable covers. (Look at gorgeous Nate oozing sexiness.  *fans self*)  The hot AF storylines. Here, we have a Las Vegas woke-up married/fake relationship trope spun in a totally new and different way – the Lauren Blakely way.  The dynamic characters. Nate and Hunter are spicy, funny, and super sweet together with intriguing backstories all their own. 

Blakely doesn’t shy away from tropes.  Rather, she wrangles them into submission.  She takes all triteness out of them, so you’re left with an engrossing story based on a fact pattern that you’ve never heard before.  But what makes a top-notch audiobook isn’t simply the inspired, superbly executed source material. It’s the narrators, and it doesn’t get much better than what Blakely has brought to the mic for us here.

Teddy Hamilton as Nate (teammate and BFF of Jason from the previous series book, The Boyfriend Comeback) and James Joseph as Hunter.  Yummy. But the best part? (Wait for it … ) DUET NARRATION!!  There is nothing like the experience of hearing a terrific book performed by exceptional narrators as if they were acting the story out in a play.  With duet narration, Hamilton and Joseph always stay in character.  You hear them both in every chapter and every interaction between Nate and Hunter.  Hamilton is always Nate. Joseph is always Hunter.  They are having conversations, engaging in banter and witty repertoire, and responding in real-time to the events playing out on the page.  

Hamilton often narrates Blakely’s stories and most of her MM titles.  He understands her writing style and intuits her intentions.  Here, Hamilton is superb.  Nate, like Jason in The Boyfriend Comeback, sits right in Hamilton’s vocal sweet spot. He’s a confident, borderline arrogant pro baller with a straight-shooting attitude. But he’s reeling from his divorce from his toxic ex who’s airing all of their dirty laundry all over social media.  Nate may appear super-confident but he’s vulnerable. Hamilton gets that and conveys it without losing any of Nate’s inherent swagger. 

Joseph has been in many of Blakely’s full-cast audiobook recordings, like the Hopelessly Bromantic duet, so this is not the first time I’ve heard his narration. But something about his performance here is transcendent. He is 100% locked in as Hunter, channeling Hunter’s confidence layered over insecurity about his worth. He becomes Hunter, and it takes the story to a whole new place because of how he embodies his character and interprets Hunter’s role in the storyline.

Joseph’s Hunter has an open, rounded tone that’s breathy, lively, and emotionally potent. It sounds like wonder, like what magic would be if it were translated into a voice. That enthusiasm, wide-eyed openness with a willingness to jump in with two feet – to try even the craziest adventure, shows confidence that Blakely deftly juxtaposes with Hunter’s vulnerability borne of insecurity and doubt that he is enough. 

This complex mixture oozes from every syllable of Joseph’s performance.  He perfectly encapsulates Hunter’s character – the ironically insecure risk-taker, the go-getter with an inferiority complex.  I adored everything about Hunter’s forthrightness, his honesty, and his verbal explosion of his thoughts and feelings when what he’s bottled up is finally given an outlet.  He’s sweet, sexy, funny, kind, and, most of all, humble.  Nate is the perfect foil for him.  They have fun, and it’s that fun and the developing love between them that leaps off the pages – it’s what we hear in Hamilton and Joseph’s voices.

Hamilton and Joseph showcase their mastery of the fundamentals – pacing, dramatic effect, inflections, pitch, volume, and a clear understanding of the characters they inhabit – as easy as breathing.  What makes this audiobook stratospheric is the seamless blending of Blakely’s addictive story with to-die-for leading men, fantabulous side characters, sublime vocal performances AND the duet format.

Limited Edition Husband is low angst, plenty steamy, and overwhelmingly swoony.  It is a must-have listen.  One of the best I’ve heard this year.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

Audible 

Amazon