Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: In the Eye of the Beholder
SERIES: Until I Saw You, Book 2
AUTHOR: Dianna Roman
NARRATOR: Greg Boudreaux
PUBLISHER: Podium Audio
LENGTH: 11 hours and 36 minutes
RELEASE DATE: April 2, 2024
BLURB:
Daniel Ellis trusts no one and trusts love even less.
His longstanding commitment to self-reliance backfires when a series of events finds an unlikely savior offering him assistance at every turn. How can the aggravating widower who’s sat at the end of his bar the past few years be his knight in shining armor?
Reluctantly taking a job as Eric Jordan’s assistant becomes more than just a means to a safe haven. Working for his aloof bar patron broadens Daniel’s perspectives, threatening to tear down every wall he’s built around his heart as he begins to learn more about a man he’s always purposely ignored. All Daniel wanted was to hide from the trouble that was following him, not have the rest of his world turned upside down by the wealthy older man who ended up being nothing he expected and everything he didn’t realize he might need.
In the Eye of the Beholder is an emotional slow burn, age gap, hurt/comfort journey of two broken hearts who find that the road to healing might require joining forces.
REVIEW:
Dianna Roman’s latest gem, In the Eye of the Beholder, will have you beholden to Roman for the gift of this story. She keeps us guessing, defying expectations even before we crack the cover. Roman is an evil genius because the excerpts, teasers, and trailers for this book tap into the lascivious, dare I say smutty. Then she performs the bait and switch like a boss. She makes In the Eye of the Beholder appear to be one thing but delivers something very different.
The book itself is the perfect foil for the story it tells, and it’s all rooted in perception. The idea that belief borne of subjective interpretation of what one beholds often doesn’t match the reality of the thing being observed. Being beholden to an image or impression can have disastrous results. In the Eye of the Beholder emphasizes that what you see isn’t what others see, nor is it the truth of the matter. Daniel himself, his personality and his experiences, don’t match what he outwardly projects. Similarly, Eric is so very different from what Daniel sees in him and what he thinks he understands about him, and also from what we expect from this cigar-smoking, reticent older man with a clear fascination (if not obsession) for Daniel. I lost count of the many ways Roman plays on this theme, from her clever marketing to her stellar writing and a storyline that transfixes with twists you won’t see coming. Even Eric’s talent for lingerie design flirts with the perception concept – it supports people’s desire to be seen the way they want to be.
In the Eye of the Beholder is a superb, emotionally meaningful story with a can’t-put-it-down storyline and two fascinating characters you will love (even despite Daniel’s hostility and brattiness). We get a good amount of Harper and Riley in this story, and Riley’s presence in particular, is critical. Like the first book Until I Saw You, which also plays with the theme of sight and perception through Riley’s blindness, Riley models how to use perception in positive ways, honing his senses and his instincts to interpret things accurately. He helps teach Daniel how to trust that things can be as they seem and happiness is not just smoke and mirrors.
This book focuses on duality, which is an interesting juxtaposition not just in relation to appearances but also impression through sound. Greg Boudreaux reprises his role as narrator of this series, taking on the lead roles of both Daniel and Eric – he’s a veritable one-man show of immersive aural theater. Interestingly, when I began reading In the Eye of the Beholder, my initial reaction to Daniel was one of confusion – this is the same Daniel from Until I Saw You? the stalwart fierce BFF of Harper? He didn’t feel the same like the same character to me until I realized that Roman told us very little about Daniel at all. All we got was the veneer – what Daniel wanted people to think and see. But we really know nothing about Daniel from the first book other than his protectiveness and defense of Harper. We don’t know of his scars, his fears, his sadness and alienation. But we do quickly learn all of that here with Boudreaux skillfully giving life to that characterization.
Similarly, Harper is a different man from the first book. He has trauma scars from his abusive ex-boyfriend, but he’s now happy and settled with Riley who is indefatigably optimistic, happy and funny. They are so very much in love that they are OTT in their expression of it. Harper was Boudreaux’s main character in the audiobook of Until I Saw You but I think you’ll hear a modified version in Boudreaux’s portrayal here. Similar to my reaction to Daniel, I had a “who is this Harper?” moment in the first chapter of the audiobook because Boudreaux gives Harper’s voice some twink attitude that at times feels almost OTT. However, if you understand Harper’s character journey, the effusiveness in his voice feels authentic. He’s still Harper – just brighter and happier. Overarchingly, I feel Boudreaux gets Harper right, but you have to recognize the dichotomy in Harper – before Riley and after – to get the voice to line up with the personality.
Boudreaux showcases his extreme talent at storytelling in this audio. He’s a stellar vocal actor and he embraces the characters and the plot and delivers the scenes with emotional connection, intuitive interpretation, and exquisite execution. I much prefer the single narrator format Roman chose for In the Eye of the Beholder, rather than the dual narration of Until I Saw You. Boudreaux is consistent, nuanced and delivers a well-rounded performance that this makes the almost twelve hours of listening time fly by. I truly could listen to him narrate the phonebook so when you pair his talent and skill with a phenomenal, complex love story, it’s a win-win.
This series sits atop my best-of list with a duo of stunning books, completely different in tone and content, yet so similar in devastating effect and overwhelming enjoyment. In the Eye of the Beholder is a welcome surprise and with Boudreaux at the mic, an audiobook I highly recommend.
“Thank you for not being at all what I expected.”
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