Narrated by Greg Boudreaux
Aisle Be There is the first book in the new Runaway Grooms series, which is in turn a spinoff of the Four Kings Security series. I have not yet read the first series, but I had no trouble following the story in this book.
Gage Kingston is a former naval procurement officer whose specialty has been creating order out of chaos, but given his life right now, you’d never know he has that skill set. We meet him in a tent on the beach dressed in a suit entirely made of shells, while Gage’s Instagram Influencer fiancé waits impatiently at the altar. Gage is asking for advice from his best friend Kayden, and it’s safe to say he’s definitely having cold feet – and ‘second thoughts’ doesn’t begin to cover how panicked he is. Not to mention Gage hatesarthropods, including the sea-going varieties like crabs – like the little hermit crab that decides to take a peek out of one of the many shells on his pants. In an instant Gage is stripping out of his shell-covered suit and dashing away dressed only in his boxers. During his getaway, not only from his fiancé but his fiancé’s father’s goons, he literally stumbles onto his former lover and now superstar rocker, Jett Stevens a little ways down the beach. Jett is also looking for an escape – from a promotional interview that’s taken a bad turn, and on impulse he whisks Gage away with him in the limo.
This sets up the basic plot where Gage agrees to play Jett’s boyfriend for the next four weeks on tour. The double benefit is Jett getting to spend time with someone he’s never forgotten, while also thwarting the machinations of his band manager and uncle, Bass. Jett is the lead singer in a band called Queen’s Hart, originally founded by his dad, Hart Stevens, and took over as lead singer after his father’s sudden death years ago. Since then he’s been pushed to tour almost nonstop by Bass, and has had no life outside of “continuing his father’s legacy”. Jett loves the septuagenarian bandmates who are his real family, but he’s tired and his performances have grown stale.
Jett and Gage’s relationship is sweet to listen to, and they have nice chemistry, but their romance follows a fairly predictable pattern: they make assumptions and fail to simply sit down and talk about what they want. Still, I liked them as a couple and they were easy to root for.
Aisle Be There is a mixed bag: part silly romcom, part second-chance love story, and occasionally a serious look into the lives of Gage and Jett. The reader also gets the idea something isn’t quite right about the villainous Bass, and that eventually comes to a head. During the book I really did forget Gage was once a naval officer because he acts young and scattered at times. Still, there are more than a few scenes where I did laugh out loud! The band members are obviously based on well known aging rockers like Brian May, (Queen’s Hart guitarist is a double PhD) and Keith Richards, but along with Bass they are pretty one-dimensional.
Greg Boudreaux is an amazing talent and I’ve enjoyed his narrations many times. Overall I enjoyed this one as well. He delivers on the emotional content and does excellent character voices for just about everyone, including the English accents for the rockers (at least to my untrained ears). Unfortunately he doesn’t quite get Jett’s voice right. Jett has a less pronounced English accent that often disappears altogether, except for a few words here and there. For example, Greg might end a sentence with a sort of English-y sound, like “bettah” for better, which unfortunately sounds pretty fake.
Aisle Be There is mostly fluffy fun, with a few pacing issues and a predictable plot, but if you want some laughs you may find it’s an enjoyable way to spend a few hours, as I did. Even with my small caveat, Greg Boudreaux’s narration is a definite plus, as well.
Carrie
Buy Aisle Be There by Charlie Cochet on Amazon
