Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Awfully Ambrose
SERIES: Bad Boyfriends, Inc.
AUTHORS: Lisa Henry and Sarah Honey
NARRATOR: Grant Cartwright
PUBLISHER: Tantor Media
LENGTH: 6 hours and 57 minutes1
RELEASE DATE: February 25, 2025
BLURB:
Bad Boyfriends, Inc—When you can’t find a good boyfriend, why not hire a bad one instead?
Ambrose Newman is a bad boyfriend. Professionally. If someone’s parents don’t approve of that long-haired unemployed bass player they want to date, that’s where Ambrose comes in. For a few hundred dollars a night, he’ll go to dinner with a client and their parents and show them that the grass is definitely not greener on his side of the fence. It’s dead. When Ambrose brings a date to a fancy restaurant, it isn’t sparks that fly—it’s glassware.
After his last boyfriend turned out to be a cheat, Liam Connelly has no interest in dating again, but his parents are determined to see him paired off. When they come to visit, he hires Ambrose to act as his boyfriend. If Ambrose can be a bad boyfriend, he can be a tolerable one too, right? But Ambrose plays the part too well and scores an invitation to spend the Easter weekend with the Connolly family at their winery, and Liam finds himself developing real affection for his fake boyfriend.
But does Ambrose return those feelings, or is it all an act?
REVIEW:
Liam is a uni student working as a waiter – not because he really needs to the money, but he likes the job and it’s some real world experience. One night the most obnoxious customer ever shows up with Kelly, one of his classmates, for dinner with her parents. Liam is gobsmacked because he’s met her former boyfriend – a broke musician that she adored and he seemed to adore here. This guy – Ambrose – has come out of nowhere and he’s made a shambles of the date and the restaurant. Liam is so worried that he approaches Kelly with domestic violence pamphlets thinking she may be involved with someone who is controlling and abusing her. He’s further shocked when she reveals that Ambrose is a bad boyfriend for hire. He is an acting student who hires himself out as the worst most obnoxious date in the world. That way when the REAL boyfriend shows up, the parents will be thrilled!
Liam’s mother is constantly on him about not having a boyfriend. His last boyfriend cheated on him – in their bed. Liam figures he’s too busy to date right now and also he now has trust issues. Not so much with others, but with himself. He doesn’t trust that he will be able to even identify a decent boyfriend, since clearly Jonah was a huge miss. So he tells his mom that he’s seeing someone and she insists he bring the person to dinner. He decides to hire Ambrose. But his family love Ambrose so much that they invite him for Easter weekend.
Liam’s idea is that Ambrose will morph into the jerk bad boyfriend while they are away and then Liam will be off the hook. But that’s not how it goes. Ambrose really likes Liam’s family. He doesn’t want to be a jerk. There is a lot that Liam doesn’t know about Ambrose and some of it comes to light during the weekend. When it’s clear that they might actually like each other – and want to date for real – well other obstacles get in the way. But all’s well that ends well 
What a wonderful kick-off to a new contemporary series from Lisa Henry and Sarah Honey. Their collaborations have been a delight and this is another super fun audio book. I found myself laughing out lout many times during this audio. Ambrose is a hoot! He truly is the best bad boyfriend ever! His antics in the first chapter are so cringeworthy. The fact that he is charmingly awful is just perfect. Liam’s mother pushing her kids into relationships is so believable. I think maybe a little less so today, but there are still a LOT of parents who want their 20 somethings paired off and producing grandchildren. Liam’s family is so well written. I loved Bridget and her husband Orhan and sisters Reilly and Neve too. Liam’s parents and his grandfather are so funny too – trying to figure out what Ambrose’s game is after he seems so nice at their first meeting.
Clearly Ambrose has very mixed feelings about his “job” being Liam’s bad boyfriend. He really likes Liam and his family. He’s not quite sure how to act/react since it’s so far from his own experience. His mother’s struggles have definitely affected him and it leaves him a bit shell-shocked as he observes how the Connellys behave. Plus their is the whole rich guy/poor struggling student/actor dynamic too. Liam thinks his plan is fullproof until he realizes he really DOES want his family to like Ambrose because he clearly likes Ambrose. 
Then there is Marcus. The less said about him the better! I do love it when karma comes to call and serves it up with an audience
Grant Cartwright is a new to me narrator. I loves they way he performed the heck out of this story. The voice choices were really spot on for me and matched the characters so well. The accent was legit and I was there for it. There is a lot of humor and heart in this story and I really though Mr. Cartwright did a great job capturing the funny and the somber notes of this audiobook. I am so looking forward to the next one! Seems like a perfect matchup of narrator and story and I’m happy to happily recommend this book experience.
RATING: 
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