A fun beach read

Wanted: Bad Boyfriend was a fun story. I liked the characters even the bride to be, she held a very important role in the story. The storyline was sweet, fun with a couple of twists and an allover good romance with a touch of heat.
Where I liked the story a lot, I was not fond of the narration at all. The pacing was good but the voices? They would have been better off leaving it just a simple narration without the voice changes. Where Nate and Flynn's voices were Ok and I liked the accent, Max sounded like a girl, he also sounded like the mom and I couldn't tell them apart from getting confused at who was speaking, and the headlines at the top of each chapter like gossip were really fun but lost in the narration. This was one I would have rather read myself. Now having said that, if you are short on time and really want to read the story but just don't have time, it's always good to listen while doing chores or sitting at appointments or driving and the story is good.

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Why is Flynn so disliked?

This is a fake boyfriend romance about a guy who doesn't want a boyfriend but wants the people around him off his back so he asks the one guy everyone but his mom seems to dislike to play along and ends up falling for him was cute, and had some humor, but ultimately wasn't my cup of tea.

Michael Mola does a good job providing distinct character voices for each character and the pacing of the audiobook flows well. There are some twists and turns, some tension and light angst, and Mola highlights that tension just as well as the humor in the writing. All in all it was a good listen, but the story didn't live up to my expectation.

Out of all of the characters in the book I only liked Nate's mom (who had limited page time), Flynn, and Nate. While I was very happy Nate and Flynn get their happy ending, I honestly didn't understand why everyone hates Flynn so much. Seriously, why is Flynn Delaney so universally disliked? Dude saves people and fixes things for a living. Sure, he's blunt and doesn't let anyone walk all over him, but I...just didn't understand the reason why the other islanders think the worst of him or all the rumors and gossip that circulate around him.

In the end the open plot points and mysteriousness surrounding why an entire island of people were hateful to Flynn just didn't work for me, but I seem to be in a minority, and hopefully you have better luck.

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Underrated!

I’ve passed this story by multiple times...it looked like a good premise, but I was a little scared off by the narrator (re: Crossing Swords). On a whim, I grabbed it and listened to it in one sitting. The author is new to me, but this deserves so much more attention than it’s gotten! Great storyline, more than adequate amounts of man-on-man loving, and two characters that have you totally rooting for them. I’ve seen some reviews stating that they didn’t understand how the whole island could hate Flynn, but it seemed pretty accurate of small town life to me. The angst was on the low side (another win!) and it wasn’t overrun with misunderstandings and lack of communication. Michael Mola did a much better job with the narration than I expected, although some of the accents seemed off. And some of the male characters’ voices were just way too high for my ears. That aside, it didn’t detract from the story at all.

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An engaging fun romance with a twist.

Nathan Moffat is a wedding planner for the island of Ceremony’s Granshire Hotel. His life revolves around the hotel, the weddings and taking care of his mother, who is in remission from cancer. His mother doesn’t really need all his help and is determined to find Nathan a boyfriend, and a life. At 37, Nat is sick and tired of everyone in his life interfering and decides the answer to his problem is to find a bad boyfriend; one nobody in his life will approve of. If he can earn their disapproval perhaps they’ll finally leave him in peace with pizza and his tv the only company he needs. It’s a great idea, unless he begins to fall for said bad boyfriend.

Flynn Delaney is the 43 year old owner of the island’s garage. He’s used having the islanders think the worst of him and silently laughs off all the ridiculous rumours and gossip that circulate around him. Fixing cars and relaxing at home with the odd trip to the mainland for hook-ups has suited him well enough so far and he can’t see life changing anytime soon. When Nat Moffat makes him a proposition Flynn can’t see a downside. A bit of fun at the islanders expense sounds like just the distraction he needs. Hanging out with the hunky young wedding planner certainly won’t be a hardship. What could possibly go wrong? With Flynn holding some explosive secrets close to his chest and things with Nat heating up in a way neither man expected it turns out a lot actually. Against a background of a wedding that seems destined for disaster and infighting and plotting behind Nat’s back, we can only hope these two surprisingly well suited men find their way to the HEA they deserve.

Wanted - Bad Boyfriend was an engaging weekend listen that had me completely invested in Nat and Flynn’s HEA. I enjoyed Michael Mola’s narration though one or two of the character’s voices and accents didn’t ring entirely true for me. I’m perfectly willing to admit that this may have been my issue rather than the narrators. His performance overall was very engaging and believable. I enjoyed the story and listened to it over one relaxing day. The ending left me satisfied and with a smile on my face.

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This was so bad...

This was so boring, the voices were so bad, if I wasn't a person who hate DNF to death I would not finish this. I really don't understand this good reviews, the story makes no sense, and nothing happens really. Maybe I'm being to harsh on this but I was expecting so much more, 2 people I follow on goodreads that have similar tastes in books give this 4 and 5 stars so I was expecting something amazing... This wasn't even "meh"

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Loved the narration

Nathan Moffatt has had enough. He feels like everyone he knows is trying to see him settled and tries to set him up with every gay man they come across. To make them stop he goes down the fake boyfriend route. But he’s not looking for the perfect boyfriend everyone will love, quite the opposite. He needs a boyfriend so bad everyone will be relieved when the relationship ends. As you might already have guessed, things didn’t go quite as planned.

To start, Flynn, his bad boyfriend wasn’t as bad as he had hoped, instead Flynn was everything he needed. They had chemistry and had a hard time keeping their hands off each other. I loved that both MCs were around their 40’s, they felt more settled – in a way. Then again, going down the fake boyfriend road feels, to me, like something they should have outgrown. But I do love that trope, so I’m not complaining.

I did wish for more background about Flynn especially. There were so many hints to his past. A past that basically turned the town against him. Yet no one seemed to know what it was – readers/listeners included, and we never really got to know it either, so in the end I had this feeling of incompleteness.

I normally don’t like the whole miscommunication thing, but there was one very memorable instance of a very honest and very funny miscommunication. The kid in the well. Flynn, among his many talents, also volunteers as a rescue worker and gets a call that a kid had fallen down a well. Appropriately horrified he along with the fire apartment etc races to the rescue and do not expect to find what they do. I loved everything about this event, it had me smiling and chuckling.

Michael Mola is undoubtedly a very talented narrator. He has a wide range of voices for the different characters and the pacing is spot on. I love how he lives in the story and not only read the words on his screen, it makes the story and characters come alive. The British accents were by far what I loved the most. They were plenty, and to a non-native they sounded like the real deal, he took you to UK with those accents and I could easily listen to them all day. I do wish the entire book was narrated in British though. As it was, everything that wasn’t dialogue was narrated in American English. And to me it made the story lose some of it’s shine, and sense of place.

All in all, this was a pleasant interlude without much fuss or muss. It’s a book to pick up when you are looking for a quick an easy listen.

A copy of this book was generously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review for Love Bytes.

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In the eye of the beholder

I liked the twist and turns the book had. I found all the gossip quite entertaining but I did which for the end to just come already.
I liked Flint and Nathan very much and loved the fact that Nathan saw the real man under the bad boyfriend.
But I don’t think it was really the book but more the narrator. All the men is this book is older and yet the narrator made Max and Nathan sound like boys in there twenty’s. Max sounded like a tiny twink yet he almost always knocks Nathan off balance with just a arm around his shoulder. So the voices really did not fit well the the characters in the book.

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A Definite Favorite

The story, the narration, the light-hearted tone makes this an audiobook I will revisit. From the comments from the locals at the beginning of every chapter to the slow dance of overcoming preconceived notions to see what's right in front of you, this story hit me right in the feels. Two far from perfect characters find exactly what they didn't even know they needed. All wrapped up with believable, sometimes humorous secondary characters, the kind of which you can say, "Hey! That sounds just like my neighbor/best friend/meddling mother, too!"

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Great book. Good narration.

Lovely sort of story with just enough conflict to keep me engaged. Narrator had a few miss steps, but was good overall. Definitely worth the listen!

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Enjoyable

This was an all around enjoyable story and audio. I am a fan of Ms. Moore and this is no exception.

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