There Galapagos My Heart by Philip William Stover

Narrated by Cooper North

There Galapagos My Heart is a cute, tropey second-chance romance that takes place during a cruise when two exes find themselves unexpectedly on the same work trip. It’s novella-length – coming in at just over four hours – and, while the story is predictable, the terrific narration by Cooper North keeps things moving nicely.

Mike Davis gave up his dreams of being an artist to take a soul-destroying job so he could support his mother and sisters after his dad walked out. To call his boss demanding is an understatement – the man doesn’t seem to understand the concept of personal time or boundaries – but the money is decent, and it pays the bills and allows him to help his family. Mike has just accepted a long-awaited promotion when his aunt Penny, who organises cruises for wealthy clients, talks him into going along on an upcoming cruise to the Galapagos Islands as an art instructor, to teach some classes on watercolours. Mike isn’t too keen, but he’d do anything for Penny, so he reluctantly agrees to go along.

Mike has no idea that his ex-boyfriend, zoologist Benton Aldridge, has been hired as the wildlife expert for the cruise. Mike and Benton split up several months earlier; Benton returned to England to take up a position at the University of London, and Mike still misses him a great deal. They broke up because Benton kept insisting that Mike should quit the job that was clearly stressing him out and making him miserable to pursue a career as an artist, and Mike was angry that Benton was never supportive of him and never understood Mike’s need for financial security. Sure, Mike wishes he had more time to paint, but he’s good at his job, he can afford to splurge on presents for his siblings from time to time and doesn’t have to worry about keeping body and soul together. But even Penny keeps telling him he’s not happy, and how much better off he’d be with a less-exacting job that would give him time to paint, and, deep down, Mike can’t help wondering if maybe she’s right.

Seeing Benton again – handsome, charming and confident as ever – is something of a shock, but he’s determined not to fall under his spell again. Fate – or, rather, Penny – takes a hand when she announces that they’ll have to share a suite on the ship (and of course, there’s Only One Bed) and (also of course) Mike’s resistance starts to crumble.

The story is told entirely in Mike’s PoV, so we only see Benton through his eyes, and quite honestly, he’s a bit of a dick a lot of the time. It’s very clear that Mike’s job doesn’t make him happy and that his boss takes advantage of him big time, but the idea that Benton would break up with Mike because Mike wouldn’t leave his job didn’t sit right with me. It’s hard to watch a loved one in a situation like that, and natural to want them to see they’re worth more and encourage them to take time for themselves, but instead of being supportive, Benton was – and is – judgmental and is basically telling Mike he’s wrong for not living his life the way Benton thinks he should.

That isn’t to say that Mike is without his faults. He comes dangerously close to the manic pixie type at times, and reading a telegram intended for Benton and then hiding it and lying about it is far from his finest hour. The telegram is also the source of the Big Mis in the story – and I honestly thought Mike deserved to feel upset; he should have minded his own business!

The biggest issue I had with the romance, though, is that there’s very little chemistry between the two leads. A good second chance romance should show the characters learning more about each other, and using that new knowledge to work out what went wrong the first time and how to do better, but that doesn’t happen here. Mike does come to see that he’s not happy and that he needs to make a change – for himself – but Benton is basically two-dimensional and is the same person at the end as he was at the beginning. They don’t grow or change together. I liked the book’s underlying message about the need to take time for yourself and to do what makes you happy, but the way it’s presented, with everyone around Mike insisting they know best, telling him how unhappy he is, and how he should quit his job and be a painter, kind of rubbed me the wrong way.

The best thing about this audiobook is Cooper North’s performance. It’s well-paced, strongly characterised and expressive, and the English accent he adopts for Benton is excellent. I’m a stickler for accents – as you’ll know if you’ve been around here for any length of time – and I’m delighted to be able to add Mr. North to my list of “American narrators who don’t mangle an English accent”! There’s a fairly small secondary cast, who are all clearly differentiated and easy to identify, and I really liked the way Mike is portrayed – he’s animated and fun, and while there isn’t a lot of humour in the story, Mr. North makes the most of what there is.

There Galapagos My Heart is a reasonably entertaining listen if you’re up for something short and (mostly) sweet, but I can’t, in all honesty, recommend it for anything other than the superb narration.

Caz

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