Reviewed by Ro
TITLE: Unlocked and Unlost
AUTHOR: Gabbi Grey
NARRATOR: Zachary Zaba
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 2 hours, 51 minutes
RELEASE DATE: April 29, 2026
BLURB:
Kingston
I love being a locksmith. My job is to help people fix their lives when things go awry. A badly sprained ankle has me laid up, but I dislike being idle. A friend suggests I hire an assistant. Little do I know how truly chaotic my life is about to become. I think he’s cute, but never does it occur to me how important he might just become in my life.
Ethan
I’ve held a series of jobs since graduating from business college, but none has captured my attention. Assisting a grouchy locksmith proves to be one of the more interesting challenges. Only when I discover something truly astounding about him, my entire world view changes.
Unlocked and Unlost is an opposites attract, grumpy/sunshine, age gap, paranormal shifter gay romance with a stodgy racoon shifter and the glorious squirrel shifter fated mate he didn’t see coming.
REVIEW:
So I read the blurb of this book a while ago and thought it sounded adorable. Then, as it happens, I forgot about it, buried down in my TBR pile. So when the audio became available, it reminded me I wanted to read it. Now, I am so glad I waited. Zachary Zaba performs the voice of Ethan to perfection. This is a squirrel shifter (it’s in the blurb but not immediately evident in the book, which I liked) who talks like you think a squirrel would. FAST. Listening to Ethan’s voice reminded me of the squirrels who rush around our property to get to the bird feeders. I laughed at one point when Kingston, the injured locksmith to the stars who has to accept help from Ethan, is just weary at listening to him.
This is just a sweet, funny book. Ethan congratulating some homeowners because “…your kids have two playrooms?” makes me laugh. Errr, not the right kind of playroom, Ethan. As mentioned, we aren’t aware right away that Ethan is a shifter. But there are moments, like when he pulls packets of peanuts out of his pocket to share with their first (very famous) clients of the day.
Kingston is grumpy, but underneath, he is softer. The locksmith business was passed down from his grandfather to his father to him and you can just feel the pride he has in continuing this family legacy. He is discreet, trustworthy, and shows up. So the chaos that is Ethan doesn’t seem to fit. Be warned that Kingston spends the majority of their time together being, well, grumpy. Even rude at times. Ethan is used to it, which made me kind of sad. “No, I’m fine. I just don’t know where his off-switch is. Apologies.” I should’ve felt hurt, but I kind of didn’t because hell, even I knew I could be a little much.”. This was to a client after Kingston sends Ethan off just to get some quiet.
They end up “meeting” each other again in different circumstances as fated mates, and things change. And really, not for the better. Kingston lost some points for me here. Grumpy turns into a major jerk. Shock or not, it was a bad reaction. Ethan is always cute, if exhausting. Kingston, well, Ethan loves him, so…we will accept his change of heart.
There are cameos by other Gabbi Grey characters, so if you’ve read her, it’s nice to revisit. This is very short, under 3 hours, and was a light, funny between-heavy books jaunt.
RATING: 
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