Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: Cherry Picked
SERIES: Sunday Brothers, Book 3
AUTHOR: May Archer
NARRATOR: Michael Dean
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 9 hours and 32 minutes
RELEASE DATE: May 16, 2023
BLURB:
Never ask your brother’s best friend to… pick your cherry.
When I asked Jack Wyatt to help me lose my pesky v-card, I didn’t expect him to keel over in shocked disapproval and nearly tumble us down a mountain.
You might think a guy who’s been reading romance novels his whole life would’ve figured out a smoother way to broach the subject, but in my defense, I’ve been pining for Jack for seven long years, just waiting for him to notice me.
Jack sees me as sweet, shy Hawk Sunday: his Pride and Prejudice-obsessed hiking buddy; his dependable employee; the honorary little brother he’s determined to protect, not…deflower.
But to me, Jack is everything a romantic hero should be: tall, gorgeous, kind, and brilliant.
Or at least I thought he was brilliant… until he started getting so many things so boneheadedly wrong.
Like refusing to do the deflowering himself, but also, erm… blocking any other potential plant-lovers from getting all up in my garden.
And like continuing to see me as someone who needs protecting, rather than a man who needs possessing…
A man who’s determined to get his cherry well and truly picked this summer, whether Jack Wyatt likes it or not.
REVIEW:
May Archer does it again with Cherry Picked, the latest book in her inspired Sunday Brothers series. The books in this series keep getting better and better. Hawk and Jack’s romance is fun, sweet, swoony and sexy, and it plays out a bit differently than you might expect. Hawk is kind, funny, and completely adorable in all his guileless goodness. His inability to hold in his thoughts is hysterical, especially when oblivious-then-in-steadfast-denial Jack is hit with the barrage of Hawk’s thoughts about having his, er cherry picked by Jack. Hawk’s passive-aggressive morphing into downright angry behavior has you cheering as he stands up for himself and proves that he’s not a kid and is deserving of respect for exactly who he is in all of his Jane Austin Pride and Prejudice-loving glory.
Archer really hits it out of the park here with this novel take on an age gap, best friends to lovers, first-times romance. Of course, the rest of the Sunday clan and the all-up-in-your-business townsfolk add plenty of color and humor. There’s an underlying plot concerning the proposed development of the gorgeous mountains surrounding the town. I didn’t find it to be particularly engaging, but it is useful as a means to create misunderstandings that give Jack the kick in the a** he needs to admit his feelings to Hawk.
Without question, I always rely on the audiobooks for Archer’s romances because Michael Dean, her go-to narrator, takes everything that’s great about her stories (read: everything) and makes it even better, bigger, brighter, more impactful and real. One of the things Dean does best are nuances that he communicates through superb use of intonation, emphasis, and phrasing. He gets the voices right here —Hawk is exactly how I anticipated he’d sound and Dean consistently distinguishes him from Jack, who similarly is exactly as I anticipated. Dean’s ability to have us laughing, crying, and rejoicing while seamlessly telling Archer’s story is notable, and he does it all with aplomb. Dean creates an immersive, encompassing, highly enjoyable listening experience that makes you feel like you are in the story, not listening to the story.
I highly recommend the Cherry Picked audiobook. I loved loved loved everything about this delicious romance.
RATING: 
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