Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: Falling for Raine
AUTHOR: Lane Hayes
NARRATOR: Joel Leslie
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
LENGTH: 6 hours and 15 minutes
RELEASE DATE: March 11, 2024
BLURB:
The gentleman, the hot mess, and a little British adventure…
Raine
Moving to London is scary and daunting, but I desperately need this job–and a redo. Okay, so I may have oversold my qualifications. That shouldn’t be a big deal, though. I mean, being an assistant’s assistant seems easy enough, and I’m a fast learner.
Hold up!
I’m already in over my head with spreadsheets, new pronunciations, and temperamental appliances. And just as I’m mentally preparing to face going home early, the big boss offers me an opportunity I can’t refuse. And I definitely should because Graham Horsham is an infuriating, complicated grumpy bear with a razor-sharp tongue, a wickedly dry sense of humor, and…I like him far too much.
Graham
I’ve been bamboozled. I’m not quite sure how I ended up with an assistant who spills coffee daily, wears wrinkled shirts, and chatters nonstop. He can’t stay, but I don’t want him to go and that’s madness. The Horsham Group is closing one of our biggest deals ever and I won’t jeopardize it. This one is personal.
Yet so is Raine.
He’s a breath of fresh air—silly, impetuous, lighthearted, good-natured, and…quite lovely. I like him more than I want to admit. For some reason, I can let my guard down with him. It’s unnerving and probably unprofessional.
But not to worry…I will not, under any circumstances, fall for Raine.
Falling for Raine is an MM, age-gap romance featuring a British gentleman, a desperate but adorable American, and a UK adventure!
REVIEW:
The Falling for Raine audiobook is a delight – a sweet, London-based, novella-length MM rom-com from Lane Hayes told by the inimitable, uber-talented Joel Leslie. Falling for Raine is the third of Lane Hayes’ lovely London stories. Admittedly, following in the footsteps of Hayes’ two previous – the stellar Fairy Cakes in Winter, which remains one of my favorite of Hayes’ romances to date, and the also inspiring, highly enjoyable The London Chance – Falling for Raine lacks some originality. Indeed, there are many similarities across these three stories (particularly between the romance arc of Fairy Cakes and of Falling for Raine), but a story doesn’t have to be groundbreaking to be lovely, and Falling for Raine is definitely that.
The novella features a delightful, low-angst grumpy/sunshine romance with an age gap between young Raine, who’s a bit of a hot mess, and older, successful British businessman Graham Horsham. Hayes excels at her detailed, realistic, richly textured characterization of these two men. They are complete opposites, and yet Hayes makes us understand how perfectly they fit together. Interestingly, Graham is the one who undergoes the biggest journey in this story, despite Raine’s physical move across the ocean. Indeed, Hayes aptly titles this story because Graham’s falling for Raine is the unexpected, life-changing event that drives everything that happens here, including how Graham handles the subplot concerning the high-stakes corporate acquisition of his rival/nemesis.
Raine is over the top in many respects, but his charisma is undeniable. It’s that magnetism that makes plausible Graham’s fascination with him. To seal the deal on authenticity, Hayes employs Leslie to narrate the audiobook. “Narrate” really doesn’t do justice to Leslie’s work product, though; what he delivers here is aural theater. Leslie becomes Raine and Graham – he simply disappears into the background and all we hear are the characters as they navigate their way to a HEA. If you want authentic accents, Leslie’s your guy. Graham’s is nuanced, and Leslie is in deep with the details of the vowels and consonants.
Overall, Falling for Raine is a fluffy treat with relatable, fully realized, loveable characters, lots of humor and heart, and a divine vocal performance from Leslie to bring it home. Highly recommended.
RATING: 
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