Second Chance Boyfriend by Monica Murphy

Narrated by Kate Rudd, Luke Daniels and Tanya Eby

Spoiler Alert: Spoilers for One Week Girlfriend follow

Second Chance Boyfriend begins about two months after the end of the first book in the series, One Week Girlfriend. At the end of One Week Girlfriend, Drew and Fable are not together but Fable has plans to get him back. When Second Chance Boyfriend begins, she has basically given up because Drew has not responded to her at all.

Fable is offered a job at a fancy new restaurant where she can earn a lot more money in salary and tips by the somewhat mysterious Colin. I was never quite sure what Colin was doing in the story and I don’t think he added much to it except confusion.

Fortunately for me, Drew and Fable didn’t spend a lot of time apart. As soon as they saw each other again, they were back together. Each had things to work through and it wasn’t all smooth sailing but it wasn’t the frustration I had been sort of expecting. That said, their togetherness resulted in a lack of tension.

Drew has started seeing a therapist and he’s getting better at coping with what Adele, his stepmother, did to him. However, he is thrown for a loop when his dad tells him that he’s divorcing Adele. Drew is worried his “secret” will come out.

I didn’t find the book particularly heartbreaking – perhaps I am too hard – but it always felt to me like Drew and Fable would work it out and I didn’t worry about that. Their journey here was much more low key with a couple of red herrings that were more frustrations than anything else.

Once again, the narration was extremely well done. I’d like to listen to more of Luke Daniels (this is my only Daniels experience) and Kate Rudd is fast becoming a favoured narrator for me. There is also one shortish chapter narrated by Tanya Eby in Adele’s POV. I am always happy to listen to Tanya Eby but I felt the inclusion of the chapter in the story somewhat odd.

Luke Daniels had the challenge of narrating dialogue from the overly emotional (and largely unsympathetic) Mr. Callahan senior. Drew’s dad was kind of cloying and needy in many places but also a bit of a jerk otherwise. I felt for Drew having to be the strong one for his dad. It really ought to have been the other way around. Mr. Daniels depicted the complicated emotions we have for family – even family who let us down greatly. Similarly, Kate Rudd demonstrated the same kind of empathy when Owen, Fable’s brother, is sad about something (crappy) their mother does.

As good as the narration was however, I did wonder if Drew and Fable were a bit co-dependent. It made me nervous that they had only been in a relationship for such a short time. The epilogue gave me some comfort but there were many stones left unturned.

I think Tanya Eby deserves mad props for narrating such a difficult character so well. It was only a chapter but she aptly portrayed a woman who was surely mentally ill and deluded in her motivations.

While this story was entertaining enough, it wasn’t quite as good as One Week Girlfriend. Still, the narration was so good that I’d be more than happy to listen to both again (and I plan to).

[section label=’Audiobook Information’ anchor=’Audiobook Information’]

Kaetrin

AUDIOBOOK INFORMATION

TITLE: Second Chance Boyfriend

AUTHOR: Monica Murphy

NARRATED BY: Kate Rudd and Luke Daniels and Tanya Eby

GENRE: Contemporary Romance - New Adult

STEAM FACTOR: Glad I had my earbuds in

REVIEWER: Kaetrin [button type=’link’ link=’http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G2SKGLW/?tag=audiogalsnet-20′ size=’btn-lg’ variation=’btn-default’ target=’blank’]Buy Second Chance Boyfriend by Monica Murphy on Amazon[/button]