Total Creative Control by Joanna Chambers and Sally Malcolm

Narrated by Simon Goldhill

Individually, Joanna Chambers and Sally Malcolm are two of my favourite authors, so I was delighted when, back in 2021, they announced that they were collaborating on a series of contemporary m/m romances set in and around the world of TV production. Total Creative Control is the first book in the Creative Types series, one they’ve described as an “angsty rom-com”, in which a grumpy boss – showrunner of a popular TV show – and his sunshiny PA fall for each other… despite trying very hard not to.

Lewis Hunter is the creator and head writer of the TV series Leeches (an urban fantasy/vampire show), which has been running for three years when the story begins. Lewis is driven, hugely talented and charismatic – but he’s also demanding, brusque, unfiltered and very difficult to work for, so unsurprisingly, his PAs don’t last long. On this particular morning, his most recent one – the latest in a string of temps – has just quit and HR quickly rustles up a replacement in the form of one Aaron Page, who is to work for Lewis for the rest of the week. Aaron is quick on the uptake and not at all fazed by Lewis’ abrupt manner, and he’s also, to Lewis’ surprise and delight, a big fan of Leeches. Lewis has never had anyone working for him who actually knows much about the show, and he suggests that if things work out this week, he can arrange for Aaron to stay until September, when Aaron is due to start the teaching job he’s got lined up. Aaron is very much on board with that idea.

Three years later finds Aaron still working for Lewis, and Leeches still going strong. In that time, Aaron has proved himself to be totally indispensable – not only because he knows that Lewis likes plain ham sandwiches and that the only hot drink he likes is hot chocolate, but because his love for and knowledge of the show is second only to Lewis’ own, and he’s provided a lot of valuable feedback and insight into the storylines and characterisations over the years. He’s far more than a PA now, but, as colleagues have been pointing out for a while, even though he’s being well paid for his expanded role, shouldn’t he be looking to move into a job that will stretch him creatively and make better use of his talents? Aaron insists he’s happy where he is and refuses to dwell on his reasons for wanting to stay put – that leaving Leeches would mean leaving Lewis – but he can’t bring himself to deny that the attraction he’s felt to the other man since the day they met hasn’t gone away, despite Lewis’ warning that he NEVER sleeps with people he works with, and three years of hard work maintaining and never crossing the fine line they’ve drawn between ‘colleague’ and ‘friend’. They’ve deliberately not entertained any curiosity about each other’s lives outside the office, never attended work functions together and carefully avoided anything resembling intimacy. It’s worked, for the most part, and has enabled the two of them to continue to work together while pretending their work relationship is the only one they have.

But then, Lewis is persuaded to invite Aaron to accompany him on a working weekend at the country pile of the TV executive who is developing Leeches for the US market – and the walls they’ve so painstakingly built start to crumble. Lewis, already on edge because the exec – a complete wanker he can’t stand – is pressuring him to make some fundamental changes to the show and characters, is forced into a number of difficult and uncomfortable situations that culminate in the unexpected resurgence of some untreated past trauma, something Lewis has spent most of his life trying to ignore. Fortunately, Aaron is at his side for all of it, supporting him, grounding him and taking care of him in a way no-one has in a very long time – but this sudden closeness forces them both to confront some long-buried truths about their feelings for each other, and delivers a wake-up call to Aaron, forcing him to realise he needs to start putting himself and his career first.

Both authors excel at writing heartfelt emotion and angsty goodness, and they do a terrific job of balancing out the more intense moments in the story with notes of humour and genuine affection. Lewis and Aaron are likeable and three dimensional, their chemistry is scorching and there’s a real depth to their emotional connection – these two ‘get’ each other on an instinctual level. Aaron is a sweetheart – warm, insightful and funny – and I liked the way his love of fanfiction is incorporated into the story. He’s undoubtedly one of its best exponents, someone who really knows and understands the characters, who gets inside their heads to produce stories that are as good as anything that ends up on the show. This does provide an area of conflict between him and Lewis – who thinks all fanfic is crap (or porn) – until he comes to understand why Aaron and so many others love it.

Lewis is perhaps a little more stereotypical as a character – the creative genius with no social skills (because he really couldn’t give a shit what people think of him) – and his ‘I don’t do relationships because I’m too closed off/everybody leaves me’ thing is a bit of a genre cliché. Even so, the authors make it work, and your heart will hurt for Lewis even as you’re yelling at him to stop getting in his own way.

The narration by Simon Goldhill – who also narrated Joanna Chambers’ A Gathering Storm – is excellent. His voice is pleasant to listen to, his pacing is good, his enunciation is clear and he portrays the various characters distinctly, utilising a variety of accent and timbre. His interpretation of the two leads is spot on; he injects a suitably gruff note into Lewis’ Estuary accented speech, Aaron’s upbeat good-humour comes through strongly and there’s a strong sense of connection in their scenes together. The supporting cast is well characterised and clearly differentiated – I liked his interpretation of Toni, Lewis’ long-suffering boss, and the faux-chumminess and enthusiasm of the obnoxious TV exec Charlie Alexander is cringemaking in all the right ways. This is only the second time I’ve listened to Mr. Goldhill, but he’s definitely a narrator I’m eager to listen to again.

Total Creative Control is a delightful listening experience, a warm, funny and tender romance with depth and heart, wrapped up in a polished, intelligent performance from Simon Goldhill. I really hope the authors are planning to continue the series in audio.

Caz