Narrated by Lauren Sweet & Lance Greenfield
Change With Me is a 1001 Dark Nights novella set in Kristen Proby’s With Me In Seattle series. I don’t think I’ve read or listened to any of the other books in the Seattle series (yet) but it’s not necessary to have done so to enjoy this one – it stands alone well.
At 2 hours 44 minutes it’s a pleasantly short listen – easy to slip into the rotation because it’s not a big commitment – but it goes all the way from the meet cute to HEA nonetheless. Because it is a novella though, everything is a bit truncated so a number of big leaps are taken to move the story along.
It’s well placed in the 1001 Dark Nights series too as there is a strong fairy-tale vibe to the book – suspension of disbelief is necessary, particularly to go along with the set up of a first grade teacher moving into a rented Seattle condo which happens to also have been rented by a Hollywood movie star. The Venn diagram had a lot of work to do to make it both a place he would live and that she could afford is all I’m saying.
Zane Cooper is Hollywood royalty – in Change With Me he’s referred to as being Captain America (as in the Marvel movie) so I wasn’t sure if he was modelled on Chris Evans or not? It was a little jarring to be honest as he otherwise didn’t seem much like the actor as I understand him (for instance, Zane was a child actor, whereas Chris Evans was not.). Zane has left LA on the recommendation of his agent after some kind of scandal and plans to lay low in Seattle for 6 months. (The “scandal”, it turns out, was not much of one in the end and I could have done without it but it was necessary to get Zane to Seattle I guess.)
Aubrey Stansfield has moved from Arizona to take a job in Seattle after the death of her grandfather who had been her only family. She’s in her mid-20s and is still a virgin. The book/Aubrey suggests this is because Aubrey is not hot but Zane clearly disagrees on that score.
Rather improbably, Zane and Aubrey decide to share the apartment they have both accidentally rented. They get to know one another well very quickly what with living together and all and when Zane pulls some Captain America moves to impress Aubrey by being a hero at her school, things take a romantic turn.
The novella is very short so necessarily there’s not room for a massive conflict or a big story arc but the pair do get their HEA after a short blip when Zane’s fears about being used for his celebrity get in the way.
I’ve enjoyed Lance Greenfield’s narration before but I’ve only previously heard him perform Kristen Ashley books so I admit it was a bit of a shock to hear him here without that distinctive Kristen Ashley cadence. I had a bit of a mental disconnect because I kept expecting it to come out! However, he does well with the material, making Zane sympathetic and approachable. His female character voices are fairly good as well.
I think this is my first Lauren Sweet listen. I liked her vocal tone, particularly for the female cast members. Her hero voice is lighter than many but still distinctly different and effective.
Both the story and the narration landed firmly in the “good” range for me – entertaining without being stellar.
Kaetrin
Buy Change With Me by Kristen Proby on Amazon
