Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: The Amazing Alpha Tau Romeo and Juliet Project
SERIES: Alpha Tau #4
AUTHORS: Lisa Henry & Sarah Honey
NARRATOR: Nick J. Russo
PUBLISHER: Podium
LENGTH: 6 hours and 20 minutes
RELEASE DATE: September 17, 2024
BLURB:
When Charlie Mercer meets a cute guy at a party during summer break, sparks fly. But Tanner never calls him.
Typical. At least he has his sophomore year at Lassiter and his fraternity brothers at Alpha Tau to distract him—and maybe this will be the year he finally meets someone.
College is meant to be a new chapter in Tanner North’s life, except he’s still stuck in the shadow of his older brother, Colt. Not only is Tanner going to Lassiter like Colt did, but he’s also pledging to Kappa Beta Rho because Colt was the chapter president there. Whatever. Tanner’s not interested in getting involved in the dumb frat rivalry that Kappa Beta Rho has going on with Alpha Tau. He’s just going to keep his head down and his grades up until he graduates.
It’s a solid plan, right up until Tanner realizes that Charlie is a member of Alpha Tau. And it turns out that keeping their hands off each other is harder than they thought.
The Amazing Alpha Tau Romeo and Juliet Project is a lighthearted contemporary m/m romance containing a ruined phone, two melodramatic frat boys, and a romance that spans the width of an entire street. Or something.
Includes a bonus short story, “Pinch Hitter.”
REVIEW:
Note: This book contains spoilers for the previous books and I recommend listening in order.
Tanner has been keeping a lid on his sexuality while he’s in High School. At an end of the year party, he meets Charlie, an adorable guy who is a cousin of an acquaintance. They share a kiss – Tanner’s first with a guy – and Charlie gives him his number. Then a “friend” of Tanner’s gets in a fight with him and his phone gets smashed 🙁 There goes his summer.
When Tanner arrives on campus at Lassiter, he’s excited to be on his own. He’s on a baseball scholarship – he’s not the greatest student – and so he really needs to keep his head down, his grades up and do what’s asked of him by his coach. His older brother Colt was in a frat, Kappa Beta Rho, and so that’s where Tanner ends up too.
While doing a prank, he has to sneak into the Alpha Tau house. Alpha Tau and Kappa Beta Rho have been a war for some time – largely caused by Tanner’s older brother who is a jerk. When he’s making his escape, who should he run into? None other Charlie. It appears that Charlie is pissed – not because of the prank but because from where he’s standing Tanner just ghosted him over the summer.
Then Tanner joins a tutoring group that is led by Charlie. Charlie is none too happy to see him, but he does believe him when his buddy Nash confirms that Tanner had no idea that Charlie ran the group and this wasn’t some sort of stalking thing 😉 Tanner finally gets Charlie to listen to him about the phone problem and they sort of call a truce. They would like to do more, but they can’t be seen together because of the animosity of the frats. Also the totoring is for a Shakespeare class – hence the Romeo + Juliet project 😀
Poor Tanner and Charlie cannot catch a break. Every time they try to get together, something goes awry. They are both inexperienced and they are happy to explore things together – although it’s tough since they can’t date and they can’t bring each other into their frat house. Then Ethan, Tanner’s obnoxious roommate really messes things up. Can they get back on track?
I absolutely LOVED this story 🙂 This whole series has been so much fun 🙂 I’m going to miss these guys. Luckily the authors have given us one final treat of the Reunion 🙂 Tanner is a sweetheart. He’s trying to stay on the baseball team and get his degree. He knows the odds of making it in the professional sports world. Charlie is a scholarship student too. We met him in the previous book – The Amazing Alpha Tau Pledge Project. Tanner doesn’t have any idea what Charlie went through when he was a freshman and that does come into play. Charlie really likes Tanner and as they grow closer he begins to trust him. Until he doesn’t. There is a BIG misunderstanding and I loved that Briar, from the previous book was a big help getting Charlie and Tanner to get themselves together and stop letting outside forces impact their relationship. As usual Marty O’Brien and Squirrel provide plenty of comic relief. At this point in the series, there are lots of familiar players and all the guys provide support to Tanner and Charlie once they figure out who is actually the problem child 😉
There is a lovely little story about Nash, Tanner’s teammate and buddy that is a bonus in this audio 😉 It’s a sweet and hot story of Nash finding what he’s looking for 😉 No spoilers but being stood up from by an Grindr date might be the best thing that ever happened to him.
Nick J. Russo does such a great job of narrating this book. This type of story is so very much in his wheelhouse. I love his performance of all these college guys and their many moods. Whether they are depressed and bored, frustrated with their studies, enthusiastic about a new love or just having fun, this narrator is a pro at conveying each emotion. Each characters is distinct and consistent throughout this series. Loved it! This is a perfect combination of these authors and this narrator. This is the second series from them that I have absolutely adored. Highly recommended! Sweet, hot, sexy, fun and just an all around good time.
RATING: 
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