Narrated by Jason Clarke and Amanda Ronconi
Never Have I Ever is the latest Audible Original story from the powerhouse of contemporary romance, Lauren Blakely. It’s a charming, funny and sexy enemies-to-lovers tale that follows the development of the romance between a vivacious, successful wedding planner and a widowed hot-shot divorce lawyer. The principals are likeable, the story is low on drama but still packs an emotional punch here and there, and the narration is excellent, so fans of the author and audio rom-coms alike are sure to be delighted with this latest offering.
Around ten years before the story proper begins, fledgling wedding planner Piper Radcliffe is basking in the glow of a job well done – a wedding well planned – only to have that glow stomped on during the reception by Zach Nolan, who predicts the marriage won’t last. Piper and Zach don’t know each other all that well, even though they have a number of mutual friends and have known each other vaguely since college, and Piper is naturally pissed off by his message of doom and gloom. For the next decade or so, they avoid each other or behave coolly whenever they meet (which is as infrequently as they can manage) until they end up taking office space in the same building.
By the time the story opens, Zach has been a widower for two years, and is the father of two children, Lucy – ten, and Harry – seven, who are his pride and joy and his top priority in life. He’s a great dad and is determined to be there for his kids no matter what, and even though their mother’s death hit them hard, they’re doing well and moving forward, and so (for the most part) is Zach. The fact that he and Piper have offices in the same building mean they’re at least cordial to one another – and Lucy has really hit it off with Piper, loving that her office is always full of pretty things – but mostly Zach and Piper are still a bit prickly around each other and their relationship consists mostly of slightly antagonistic banter and snark.
But things between them start to change when two of their best friends announce their engagement. Zach is asked to be Best Man, and Piper is asked not only to plan the wedding, but to be Maid of Honour as well, which is going to throw them together more often than they would like. Part of the pre-wedding celebration is to include a trip to London for the bride, groom and several close friends (with a wedding on a remote Caribbean island to follow) – and it’s during the London trip that Zach and Piper start to see each other in a new light and realise that they’re strongly attracted to one another – and that maybe there’s the chance for something more than attraction to grow between them.
To be honest, I didn’t get too much of an “enemies” vibe from Piper and Zach to start with; they seemed more like two people who didn’t know each other that well and just hadn’t clicked, which – given their professions at the “opposite ends” of marriage – wasn’t surprising. But that didn’t stop me from enjoying their slow-burn attraction in the first half of the story as it built up to something far hotter. The second half, however was a bit of a disappointment and dragged somewhat; I was worried at one point that the rest of the book was going to be bogged down in misunderstandings and wrongly-attributed assumptions (Piper is, at one point, thinking that she’s probably going to want more from Zach than he can give, and he’s wondering if he can give Piper all she’s going to want) – but fortunately, both characters man up and realise that they need to actually talk to one another about where they want to go from here (Here being hot sexxin in a London hotel room!) I really appreciated that they both realised that although they had baggage, it was important to allow themselves to be vulnerable with one another and open up to the possibility of second chances. So often in romance novels, conflict is created by characters who can’t – or won’t – let certain things go, so it was a big relief that didn’t happen here. I also have to give props to Ms. Blakely for the way she handles Zach’s widowerhood and his feelings towards his late wife. Tender and touching, but not maudlin and guilt-laden over moving on, she got that element of the story just right.
I haven’t listened to either narrator before, although I know that Amanda Ronconi is a favourite here at AG, so I was confident going in that I would enjoy her performance, and I did. Her voice sits in a range that’s pleasant to listen to, her pacing is just right, her differentiation is sound and her comic timing is excellent. She delivers the humour and snark in the text perfectly and without going over the top, and is equally good in the quieter moment of introspection and vulnerability. I also can’t think of anything about Jason Clarke’s performance I didn’t like. Not only does he have an incredibly sexy voice (*swoon*) he also conveys the various facets of Zach’s character really well, from doting dad to take-no-prisoners-lawyer to passionate lover; this romantic hero is all that and a bag of chips, gorgeous, thoughtful and well-adjusted in spite of the tragic loss in his past. Both narrators do a great job when it comes to voicing the children and characters of the opposite sex and their English accents aren’t bad either ;)
In the version of the audiobook I listened to, there were some fairly irritating issues with the sound quality. The chapters read by Amanda Ronconi sounded somewhat distorted throughout; each time she raised her voice slightly, the sound distorted in much the same way as, say, it would if you played music way too loud for the speakers you were using. (Although it happens at much lower volumes.) Jason Clarke’s chapters were fine to start with – but the same issue crept in after a few chapters. I can’t say it completely spoiled the listen for me, but it was one of those things I couldn’t just “unhear”, and was aware of all the way through.
BUT. I’ve been told that this issue is being corrected, so it’s likely that there will be a new version available by the time this review runs. I’m only mentioning it here so that anyone who has the first-release version of the audiobook can go back to Audible and re-download the corrected version.
Never Have I Ever is funny, sexy and poignant; a romance between grown-ups who are prepared to take a chance on something new. At time of writing, it’s available as part as Audible Escape (formerly the Romance Package) and is audio ONLY – the book comes out later this year – but honestly, given the choice between reading it and listening to Jason Clarke’s sexy rumble I know which I’d pick!
Caz
Buy Never Have I Ever by Lauren Blakely on Amazon
