by Ali Hazelwood
Read by Elizabeth Lamont & Eric Nolan
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is a lot of swearing, including multiple f-bombs, as well as some pretty detailed on-page sex. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Maya’s brother Eli and his fiance Rue are getting married in Italy, and everything about this is perfect. Except that Eli’s best friend, Connor, is going to be there. The Connor that Maya has been in love with for three years, and who Connor has very gently, but very firmly, discouraged. See: Connor is 38, and Maya is 23. Connor can’t get over the age difference, so even though they spent years talking daily, and they’re pretty perfectly matched, he won’t give in. Much to Maya’s dismay. She wants nothing more than to be with Connor, his imperfections and all.

First off: the book is, in fact, problematic. I’ve been thinking about it since I finished, and I’m not sure why I couldn’t get over the age gap. It’s the same as in Emma, why is that 21-to-37 age gap okay (I mean, Mr. Knightly literally saw Emma grow up!) and this one is not okay? I was talking to another friend about it, and she pointed out that if we switched the roles – Maya was older, and Connor was the younger one pining and not letting her “no” be final – then it would be really problematic. I don’t know. It could just be the way Hazelwood wrote Maya and Connor – she’s very flirty and aggressive and he is very reserved and protective. Maybe I’m not comfortable with that? (Which, yes, says more about me than the book. Maybe all of this says more about me than the book.)

That said, I adored the narrators on this one. Lamont was fantastic as Maya/the general narrator and though I don’t usually like a duet narration, I liked the way Nolan did the men. Maybe I’m just a sucker for an Irish brogue. So, even with the whole problematic part of it, I did end up enjoying the book. If only because the narrators were just amazing.