Narrated by Angéle Masters
After enjoying It Takes Two so much (in print) last year, I was hanging out to know what Gia Gallo’s deal was and to see (or in this case, hear) her get her HEA so I was happy to have the opportunity to review the audiobook of Three Little Words.
Because I like lots of the main characters together, any kind of forced proximity trope tends to work well for me and a road trip is one of my favourites. A week out from Wendy and Noah’s wedding in Florida, Gia Gallo (bridesmaid and member of the four-woman best friend group about whom the series revolves) and Bennett Buchanan (best man and Noah’s best buddy) are both in New York unable to fly because of snowmageddon. Gia has the wedding dress and Bennett has the rings so apart from that they are needed personally at the wedding because of how much they mean to the bride and groom, there are also practical reasons they need to get to Florida. After a further aborted attempt to fly to the destination wedding, they decide to hire a car and drive. So: Road Trip!!
Gia is an international supermodel (although as she has no social media presence perhaps that’s a misnomer). In any event, she has had a successful and lucrative career as a model but is finding it increasingly difficult as she gets older. She’s just about to turn 30 and her metabolism has slowed as she’s aged. She’s under tremendous pressure to be thin and this has led to disordered eating which is a major theme of the book. It’s difficult for me to say whether or not this issue is handled well in the book because I’m no expert but even if it is, it could still be an issue for some listeners and for that reason caution is advised.
Bennett was introduced in It Takes Two, as Noah’s best friend. He’s a chef with a history of drug and alcohol abuse who got clean and sober and believes in community and giving back. Gia believes she only has her beauty to offer and if she can’t be a model, she doesn’t know what else she’s good for. I thought the book did well to make Gia sympathetic without being too “poor little rich girl’. Gia is well aware of her privilege and does not discount it.
Gia is not a relationship woman and Bennett is a relationship-only guy so obviously they totally belong together. Their banter and connection are so delightful. I just loved them together. There’s one scene where Gia decides to wake Bennett up with a blowjob and he, as I expect is not uncommon in real life, reacts in surprised defence and nearly kicks her in the face (but only nearly). Gia’s reaction is to crack up laughing. The whole scene reveals so much about their character and their growing relationship. They have hot sex but they also laugh together. It’s a large part of why I believed in them as a couple so quickly.
They also have heavy conversations and reveal their truths to one another and over the course of the book both Bennett and Gia help each other with their problems, both practical and emotional.
I ended up enjoying the narration by Angéle Masters very much even though I was initially on the fence about the character voice she gave to Bennett. Bennett is a Charleston boy so he has a southern accent (which was fine) but he also had a deep, scratchy/husky voice which reminded me so much of the way Renee Raudman narrated the character of Mahon (a bear shifter) in the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews (and I don’t see Mahon as a romance hero) that it was initially a little off-putting for me. However, everything else about his characterisation was very good and the tone and emotion used for him and for the rest of the cast was excellent so I got past it.
I liked very much that Gia was given a different voice to the narrative. It was a little deeper and throatier, a little cynical, and perfect for Gia.
There were a couple of mispronunciations in the early part of the book but nothing major and they were one-off words in the story in any event.
There was a section where Gia was reading texts between her and Bennett and Ms. Masters used only Gia’s voice in narrating them rather than using Bennett’s voice for his texts which I thought was a little odd, but again, it wasn’t a big deal in the context of the whole listen.
What was wonderful was the way Ms. Master delivered on the humour and emotional connection between the cast members – not just Bennett and Gia but everyone in the wider friend group. There were numerous times in the listen where I thought “that, that’s exactly what it ought to sound like”.
I loved Three Little Words. It has a road trip, funny sex and even romantic PowerPoint. Highly recommended.
Kaetrin
Buy Three Little Words by Jenny Holiday on Amazon
