Narrated by Andi Arndt
One of the new batches of 1001 Dark Nights audiobooks, The Rhythm Method is a novella-length tale in the Stage Dive series. We go back to the first couple (from Lick) – David and Evelyn. It’s been 7 years since they were married but they have no plans for children yet. That’s 4-5 years away – or so goes the plan. But we all know what happens to plans, right?
Not quite 9 months after the prologue, Evie is prostrate on the bathroom floor (again!) and in terrible pain. She doesn’t know it yet but she’s about to become a new mother and everything in her well-ordered world, including her marriage, is about to be turned on its head.
It is possible to not know one is pregnant. It could not have been so for me but I believe it is possible so I didn’t fuss about it appearing in the story. And, Mal delivering the baby was pretty hilarious and that’s about the only scenario where Evie would have allowed it.
David, unfortunately, isn’t there for the baby’s arrival. Stage Dive has to cut the final leg of their tour short and the other band members come flying home, stat. (Mal had only been in town for a meeting and had been heading out to join the band when he was waylaid by Evie.)
I well remember how disruptive and disconcerting new parenthood is and I can only imagine the extra layer of difficulty if one is also completely unprepared for it. Fortunately for Evie and David, they have found family and blood family with recent experience and they’re all hands on deck to help.
David and Evie struggle to find their rhythm and for a while there is trouble in paradise. I was a little shocked at how quickly Evie went to 11. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been – being sleep deprived is torture for a reason. But after that initial argument I was even more shocked by David’s behaviour which seemed to be a series of unilateral decisions which just made me angry. Evie was actually way more forgiving than I was inclined to be.
They put the pieces back together though. Of course they do. I had to roll my eyes when David was talking to Evie about how having a new baby means they can’t just go out to see a band on the spur of the moment or take a trip to Maui. Um, David? You are super wealthy. Your baby is no impediment to either of these things.
The narration by Andi Arndt was to its usual entertaining standard. She has narrated the entire series and knows these characters well. It is perhaps most obvious whenever Mal turns up. He’s my favourite character (and I suspect, the author’s too). Mal is exhausting but hilarious. (Ann deserves a medal.) Andi always manages to depict him as being a good guy though, no matter how annoying he can be.
The Rhythm Method felt a little too rushed. I wasn’t quite ready for the problems and then, when they arrived, I wasn’t entirely convinced by the resolution to them. Even the strong narration performance wasn’t enough to quite get me over those issues. On the other hand, I did get to spend more time with Mal and that’s never a bad thing (in fiction).
Kaetrin
Buy The Rhythm Method by Kylie Scott on Amazon
