Unraveled by Lauren Dane

Narrated by Simone Lewis

Maybe Dolan (that’s her name: Maybe) works at Whiskey Sharp, a trendy barber shop and after-hours whiskey bar in Seattle’s Pioneer Square (the shop is fictional; the square is not). Her boss is Alexsei Petrov, a Russian transplant, now a US citizen. There has always been a spark of attraction between Maybe and Alexsei but when they first met, Alexsei was dating someone else. Apart from the prologue which shows Maybe marketing herself into working a chair at Whiskey Sharp, the rest of Unraveled fast forwards two years, to when Alexsei is now single.

After his break-up, Alexsei spent a few months having random hookups and sowing some wild oats, but he’s ready to turn his attention to a more serious relationship now and Maybe is in his sights. Maybe feels the same way – there really isn’t anything keeping them apart. They are good friends and even though Alexsei is technically Maybe’s boss, she apparently isn’t in danger of losing her job if things turn don’t work out between them and each of them are confident they will always at least be friends.

The main conflict in the book comes from their respective relatives. A mild irritation is Alexsei’s mother who comes for a visit and is a bit demanding. The major one comes from Maybe’s parents, particularly her father. Maybe moved to Seattle with her sister, Rachel. Rachel was an FBI agent who was kidnapped and held by a serial killer for three weeks before killing her abductor. The details of her injuries were not specified in Unraveled but it was clear they were significant; Rachel spent months in hospital and then in a rehabilitation facility. Now Rachel is physically well but still suffers from PTSD. She’s no longer an FBI agent, having changed her life completely and taken a job as a tattoo artist.

Rachel and Maybe live together in a house which happens to be next door to Alexsei’s aunt, who basically raised Alexsei and his brother Christian when they arrived from Moscow all those years before. Aunt Irena works in a bakery operated by her son, Viktor. Viktor and Alexsei are close, like brothers – and it is clear that Vik has a thing for Rachel. (Said thing is explored in book two of the series, Jagged, which is on my TBL.)

Maybe’s father has always apparently disliked her. The reasons for this intense dislike are not at all clear. Basically, Maybe’s dad comes across as unhinged. He is resentful of Maybe’s relationship with Rachel and believes Maybe is working to keep Rachel and her parents apart. This is not at all true but it’s what Maybe’s dad believes. Maybe left home in LA when she was a young teen and went and lived with her paternal aunt and uncle in Spokane. Until Rachel’s kidnapping, Maybe had basically nothing to do with her parents from then on. I admit it was difficult to understand Mr. Dolan’s motivations. They did not seem rational at all and as almost the entire conflict in the book hinged on this, it made it something of a struggle for me to buy into. It felt a little like manufactured drama rather than organic.

However, even though Maybe and Alexsei were perfect together from the start and had little challenge in navigating their relationship, they were quite charming together and I enjoyed their chemistry. There were a few conversations between them which felt a little like wish-fulfillment rather than seeming realistic to me but on the plus side they do communicate well; working out any potential problems openly and honestly. There’s a small issue of Alexsei’s ex (who is a friend of the family) being a bit of a cow but it is never a serious issue between them. Alexsei clearly only has eyes for Maybe.

Maybe is a strong and confident character who commands respect and doesn’t take any crap – except from her parents. There, she is still the child who doesn’t understand why her parents are such awful human beings to her. I had some sympathy for this as, frankly, I didn’t either. I enjoyed Maybe’s relationship with her sister and I admired the passion with which she approached life, including her enjoyment of being the drummer in a local punk rock band.

I liked the narration by Simone Lewis. Her Russian accent impressed me; it wasn’t a caricature and it sounded authentic to my ears. Alexsei arrived in the USA in his early teens so it stands to reason he’d have an accent. Viktor on the other hand – from what I can tell – was born in the USA (or, at least, has spent a lot more time there) and therefore, does not. Alexsei is not just distinguished by his accent however. His voice, as are all of the male cast, is lower in register as well.

While I enjoyed the character voice Ms. Lewis used for Maybe, the same can’t be said for all of the female characters. Aunt Robbie sounded a little too ‘fake’ to me; it’s something I put down to a narrator trying to come up with different sounds for different people. I guess it’s not a surprise that not every one will work for me.

I stumbled a little during the listen with Maybe’s name. It was not always easy to tell when the word “maybe” was being used as opposed to the name “Maybe”. In print, it would be easier; the name is capitalised so the only opportunity for confusion would be where Maybe appears at the start of a sentence. On audio however, I had to tell by context because I obviously can’t “hear” a capital letter. Sometimes the context was obvious but there were plenty of times when I was mentally backtracking and reframing the sentence in my head with an internal “Oh! That was Maybe not maybe!” I’m not sure what the answer is; it’s not that I didn’t like the character’s quirky nickname. I actually did. But audio was perhaps not the best medium for it, all things considered.

The strange machinations of the Dolan sisters’ father will be explored further in Jagged, which focuses more on Rachel (and Viktor) so don’t expect a complete resolution of the family drama in Unraveled. The romance between Alexsei and Maybe is however a complete story and ends with a satisfying HEA which I happily bought into – really, they are made for one another.

Unraveled is an entertaining contemporary romance with a dash of women’s fiction/family drama thrown in – but there’s plenty for romance lovers, never fear!

Kaetrin