Narrated by Marc Bachmann and Iggy Toma
Having really enjoyed Annabeth Albert’s recently concluded Out of Uniform series, I’ve been seeking out her backlist titles in audio (my preferred way of playing catch-up!), and decided to try Trust with a Chaser, the story of a guy who returns to his home town to set up a business, and his under-the-radar romance with the Mr. Grumpy-Pants local police chief. The fact that Iggy Toma – who has quickly become a firm favourite – is one of the narrators certainly factored into my decision, although I haven’t listened to Marc Bachmann before, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect on that score. I did have a few niggles about his performance in the end, but it didn’t affect my overall enjoyment of what proved to be a tender, sexy romance with a May/December (or maybe June/October!) vibe.
Unlike his two brothers – one of whom is behind bars – Mason Hanks is a good guy. He and two of his closest friends have bought and renovated the old tavern in Rainbow Cove, Portland, and have set about establishing it as an LGBTQ-friendly restaurant. It’s not easy – small towns are generally slow to accept change – and Mason is run ragged trying to do his best for his family as well as pull his weight helping to run the business. His brother, Jimmy, is a demanding, selfish pain in the arse, his father isn’t much better, but most of all, Mason is looking out for his young niece, Lilac, (Jimmy’s daughter) who is in danger of being put into the foster system because of the behaviour of her irresponsible – and currently separated – parents.
The local chief of police – nicknamed Sheriff Sexy by Mason’s friends – Nash Flint, isn’t a big fan of change, but can’t deny that the food at the new restaurant is much better than at the old one – even if it’s a bit fancy for his taste. He also can’t deny the pull of attraction he feels towards Mason Hanks, a pull he shouldn’t feel and can’t act on. The Hanks family – well, Jimmy and his dad – hate Flint’s guts and blame him for the fact that Frank, the other son, is in prison, and besides, they’re a bunch of ne’er-do-wells who are responsible for a lot of petty crime and misdemeanours in the local area. And as if those things weren’t enough, Mason is at least a decade younger than Nash is and even if Nash hadn’t been firmly closeted, all those factors make Mason strictly off limits.
But no matter how often or how strongly he reminds himself of all the reasons he absolutely can NOT allow himself to be attracted to Mason Hanks, Nash finds it impossible to ignore him and worse – he can’t stop thinking about him. It’s easy to see that Mason is nothing like his father and brothers; he’s a kind, conscientious and hard-working young man with a sympathetic ear, a ready smile and a sexy confidence that start to break down all Nash’s defences.
The attraction between the two builds slowly but steadily; Nash tries hard to resist Mason’s kindness and charm, but it proves impossible and it’s not too long before they’re burning up the sheets… in secret. Mason understands why Nash is reluctant to come out and isn’t about to do anything that could lead to discovery, but still, it’s hard for him not to be able to acknowledge Nash in public as anything other than a passing acquaintance. For Nash, being with Mason is a revelation – not just the sex, which is hotter and more satisfying than any he’s ever had – but because he genuinely likes him and wants to spend time with him. For the first time, he starts to realise what he’s missing by not being able to openly be with the man he’s falling in love with.
The conflict in the story is pretty much all external, albeit for reasons that are believable and easy to understand, and although the ‘black moment’ in the last part of the book is easy to see coming, it’s well prepared for so I didn’t mind it being somewhat predictable.
Both men have difficult family situations, and in addition, there’s that whole adversarial thing going on because of the Hanks family’s tendency towards law-breaking and Nash’s job being to uphold it. Mason’s father and brother are leeches who expect him to feed and finance them; Nash’s mother knows he’s gay, but wants him to keep it hidden because she’s worried it will cost him the respect of the townspeople and his reputation. Mason is loyal to his family, although he will only let them push him so far, while Nash still struggles to throw off the weight of his hyper-masculine father’s expectations, even though he (Nash) is nearly forty and his father has been dead for years. He’s resisted coming out because he just doesn’t like the idea of people viewing him differently and because he believes his private life should be nobody’s business but his own. He’s more or less resigned to spending his life alone; his last relationship eventually failed because he wasn’t willing to put his partner before his job, but the understanding and companionship Mason offers him give him a glimpse of what his life could be like if only he could reach out and grab it.
As I said earlier, the names Annabeth Albert and Iggy Toma were what drew me to listening to Trust with a Chaser. It’s a dual narration, with new-to-me narrator Marc Bachmann narrating the chapters from Mason’s PoV and Iggy Toma those from Nash’s, although quite honestly, I’d have been perfectly happy had Mr. Toma been the sole narrator; his vocal characterisations of Mason and Nash are so different that at times I almost forgot I was listening to a single performer during the sections narrated from Nash’s PoV! It’s a very popular style of narration these days, especially for contemporary romances (although I generally still prefer solo efforts, especially when the narrators are as good as Mr. Toma is) and I can understand the appeal, but having two narrators who are equally good – or whose voices appeal equally to the listener – isn’t necessarily a given. Marc Bachmann turns in a decent performance, but I didn’t find his voice quite as pleasing as his co-narrator’s, and – I can’t think of a better way to put this – he makes Mason sound a bit too camp. His voice is smooth and his pacing and character differentiation are good, but sometimes, he emphasises the wrong word in a phrase or sentence, or puts a pause in the wrong place. Iggy Toma, on the other hand, doesn’t put a foot wrong, giving Nash a deep, gravelly tone that beautifully conveys his loneliness and his deep yearning for something more. I found it just a little bit jarring sometimes when the narration switched from Nash to Mason. Both narrators do a great job when it comes to supplying appropriate voices for and differentiating between the secondary characters; Jimmy Hanks sounds like the nasty piece of work he is, Mason’s co-workers are easy to tell apart, and the few female characters in the story are portrayed convincingly.
Trust with a Chaser is perhaps a little formulaic, but the romance is well-developed and the author has created a strong and believable connection between two attractive and engaging leads. It’s a charming, fairly low-angst story, and in spite of my reservations about Marc Bachmann’s portion of the narration, it’s still an audiobook I’d recommend. I’ll be checking out the second book in the series soon.
