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3 Stars / Contemporary / Review

Audiobook Review: Buy a Boyfriend by Everly Ashton šŸŽ§

It wasnā€™t my expectation to fall into bed with the woman who won me at the bachelor auction.

I was only doing my grandma a favor, not looking for more than a shared dinner with the winner. Then again, I wasnā€™t expecting someone as hot as Isla to be my date.

She makes it clear that sheā€™s down for a night in the sheets but bolts, leaving me holding my junkā€”literally. Which I figure, in the end, is all fine and good because love burned me before, and I have no plans to repeat that soul-crushing heartbreak.

I took a much-needed vacation from the handyman business I own with my brothers, Rent A Husband, only to return to find out theyā€™d hired Isla, making me her boss.

And now I have to see her every day, and itā€™s getting harder to pretend Iā€™m not still drawn to her. But I burned that bridge the night she was briefly in my bed, and any lust she had for me has turned to hatred.

Which is for the best because she has a new boyfriend, which is all the motivation I need to stay away from her. Until itā€™s not.

Title:Buy a Boyfriend
Author:Everly Ashton
Narrator(s):Maxine Mitchell
Lee Samuels
Series:Abbot Brothers (Book 2)
Pages / Length: 248 / 5h 41m
Category / Genre(s):Contemporary
Audiobook
Trope(s):Second Chance Romance
Workplace Romance
Point of View:First Person, Dual Viewpoint
Narration Type:Duet
Location:Near Seattle, Washington, USA
HEA:āœ”
Release Date:26 September, 2024
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A few too many irks

3 stars

This is my first book by Everly Ashton and the second in her Abbot Brothers series, the first being Rent a Husband. I listened to the audiobook version of this story, narrated by Maxine Mitchell and Lee Samuels.

Travis and Isla first meet at the Bachelor Auction hosted by some horny grannies. (And why are most grannies from romance novels horny?) Itā€™s a bit of a set-up as Travis is actually being bought for Isla to go on a date with. Their first date starts off slow but by the end of the evening itā€™s back to Travisā€™s house for a sleepover. But the night ends abruptly, mid-session, when Isla bolts with no explanation. Chalk it up to a bad almost one night stand, until Travis goes into work one day to find Isla is the companyā€™s new hire. Uh oh!

The premise of this story was super cute and was what originally drew me to the story. But apart from being the meet cute – the auction really has no bearing on the rest of the story. And while itā€™s well paced, we move forward in time in chunks – up to as much as a year. It made the flow of the story quite odd at times.

As we got to know Travis, he really didnā€™t endear himself to me at first. He was unnecessarily grumpy and I couldnā€™t understand why. But after he was ditched by Isla, I was 100% team Travis. But he also got a lot less grumpy after this event. Or maybe it was that he now had something to be legitimately grumpy about. But he was a likeable character, trying to deny his attraction to Isla but unable to do so. I was happy to root for him. Lee Samuels was the perfect voice for Travis. He was believable, performed the part well and his voice was extremely easy to listen to.

“There were some issues that stopped it getting a higher rating from me…”

I enjoyed the character of Isla for the most part. She was fun to get to know and came across as kind and loving. But she was completely clouded for me by her reasoning for ditching Travis. Not only was it extremely juvenile but the way she gaslit him into thinking it was his somehow his fault by going on a pseudo-feminist rant. I. Was. Peeved. She had to work hard to get my back on side after that. But she did for the most part. Helpfully, she was voiced by the incomparable Maxine Mitchell. I love her narration and she really became Isla for me.

I liked Travis and Isla as a couple when they finally got together. They had good chemistry and seemed to be a good match. It was also nice that we got to see them being a couple for a good while. Itā€™s something you donā€™t always get to see so I enjoyed that. The audio was in duet meaning that it was like our couple were talking to each other. Sometimes it felt a little stilted – showing that that the recordings had been spliced together rather than free flowing like a true conversation. But it was still easy to listen to.

This was a nice introduction into Everly Ashtonā€™s stories. There were some issues that stopped it getting a higher rating from me (not least the stupidity towards the end and the abrupt ending after that!) but the writing was good and I could definitely be tempted by another of her stories in the future. The narration was exemplary but as a whole, itā€™s 3 stars for this book.

3 stars

Everly Ashton is the pseudonym for a USA Today Bestselling Author duo writing sexy rom-coms for Kindle Unlimited. Head to her website at EverlyAshtonAuthor.com to join her newsletter for access to exclusive giveaways, bonus scenes and other fun stuff!!

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Abbot Brothers Series:

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