Book Smart Kate

Book: 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫 Audiobook performance: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Spice: 🌶️🌶️

by Mallory Marlowe (August 20, 2024) Many thanks to @berkleyromance and @prhaudio for the #gifted digital and audio copies. Below is my honest review. 

Hallie Barrett produced a popular web series until the series star fired her – and he was her boyfriend. Now, with no boyfriend and no show, she’s moved in with a friend and needs to generate a new show idea ASAP, or she’ll be out of a job. Up late trying to think up show ideas, she stumbles across a late-night conspiracy theory show and its guest, Hayden Hargrove, who hosts a popular paranormal podcast. His voice and looks were made for the camera, and Hallie thinks she can take his ridiculous aliens, bigfoot, and Loc Ness monster nonsense and make it a hit. It turns out he is terrible on camera unless Hallie, the non-believer, is there with him, pushing back on all of his theories. As their show begins to take off, they open up to each other and realize that, paranormal aside, they might be the perfect match.

Approaching this book with no expectations, but a deep love for The X-Files and Roswell (the original, NOT the remake), I was delighted to find a story that was tender, complex, quirky, sweet and spicy. The perfect balance of humor and romance kept me thoroughly entertained. Watching Hallie and Hayden challenge each other, care for each other, and realize their newfound reliance was a joy. The book was a blast from start to finish, a perfect read for the spooky season that captures the spirit without being spooky!

The audiobook was expertly narrated by Alex Finke, who also perfectly narrated Ready or Not earlier this year. Her voicing perfectly captured Hallie’s skepticism and Hayden’s tender humor.