L-L-L-Little Reviews #32: 3 Audiobooks, a Prequel Novella, and a Rom-Com

Posted July 30, 2021 by Lisa Mandina in Review / 4 Comments

Okay, I’m getting caught up! With yesterday and today’s posts done I will have all my books needing reviews, other than my DNFs, finished. Perfect for getting ready to start my new job next week!

Live and Let Grow by Penny Reid:

L-L-L-Little Reviews #32: 3 Audiobooks, a Prequel Novella, and a Rom-ComLive and Let Grow by Penny Reid
Narrator: Joe Arden, Fiona Fischer
Published by Cipher-Naught on April 29, 2021
Genres: Adult Bully Romance, Adult Contemporary, Adult Contemporary Romance
Length: 01:33
Source: Audible, Audible Escape, Audible Plus
Format: ARC, Audiobook
My Rating: four-stars
Goodreads
Buy on AmazonBuy on Barnes & NobleBuy on Audible

Read for FREE in Penny's Newsletter!
Alice is in love with her best friend. Now all she needs to do is tell him.
Best buds Milo Manganiello and Alice Hooper have been the one constant in each other’s lives for over fifteen years. The charismatic and compassionate physics professor was there when Alice got married, and he was there ten years later when she got divorced. Likewise, the candid and kind computer science professor has always been there for Milo. She babysits his apartment and plethora of houseplants when he’s traveling and they share breakfast together every day he’s in town. Alice wasn’t always in love with Milo, but the feeling has grown, and when Milo returns from his latest globe-trotting adventure, Alice decides it’s time to spill the seeds.
Does Alice have the grit to confess? And will feelings take root? Or is hers a love destined never to bloom?
‘Live And Let Grow’ is a 14k word (short) contemporary romance of long-suffering unrequited love and can be read as a standalone.

My Review:

So actually, as the blurb says, you could read this for free in the author Penny Reid’s newsletter. Which I did, until it was available as an audiobook, and as part of Audible Plus I could download it and listen. So I did. It was a short and sweet story. Not connected to any of Reid’s other books really, so just a little standalone novella. A very quick listen as well.

Just Folking Around (Good Folk: Modern Folktales #0.5) by Penny Reid:

L-L-L-Little Reviews #32: 3 Audiobooks, a Prequel Novella, and a Rom-ComJust Folking Around by Penny Reid
Series: Good Folk: Modern Folktales #0.5
Published by Cipher-Naught on June 23, 2021
Genres: Adult Romance, Adult Romantic Comedy
Pages: 68
Source: Publisher, Purchased
Format: E-galley, eBook
My Rating: five-stars
Goodreads
Buy on AmazonBuy on Barnes & Noble

One night? No strings? A sexy game of chess? No problem.
If you've never read a Penny Reid book before, this is the place to start! An all new series starter snack from the author of the WINSTON BROTHERS and KNITTING IN THE CITY series. . .
Raquel Ezra loves to fish. With so many fish in the sea, she’s never had a problem baiting the hook or reeling them in. Raquel is a good actress, she can be anyone’s fantasy for a single night as long as they agree to be hers. Which is why she doesn’t think twice about spending an evening in nowhere Tennessee with a smokin’ hot, well-mannered, and intriguing sheriff’s deputy by the name of Jackson James.
Except, when the time comes, Raquel discovers that reality might just be better than any fantasy, and maybe she’s not ready to release this catch.
JUST FOLKING AROUND is a 16k words, contemporary romance, a complete standalone, and is the prequel to TOTALLY FOLKED, book #1 in the Good Folk: Modern Folktales series.

My Review:

This was a freebie, still is on Amazon. It is a prequel leading up to the new series which begins with Totally Folked. I’ve already read it, but my review will be on here as part of a blog tour in August. But I loved this little prequel. Jackson James was very hot and steamy in this story, and I decided I definitely wanted him after learning about one of his physical attributes, and not what you’re probably thinking!

Love and Lists (Chocoholics #1) by Tara Sivec:

L-L-L-Little Reviews #32: 3 Audiobooks, a Prequel Novella, and a Rom-ComLove and Lists by Tara Sivec
Series: Chocoholics #1
Narrator: James Fouhey, C.J. Bloom
Published by Audible Studios on May 12, 2014
Genres: Adult Romantic Comedy
Length: 05:24
Source: Purchased
Format: Audiobook
My Rating: five-stars
Goodreads
Buy on AmazonBuy on Audible

Love and Lists is the first book in the Chocolate Lovers spinoff - Chocoholics: The foul-mouthed offspring tell their stories.
Twenty-five-year-old Gavin Ellis has always had the love and support of his family ever since he was a little boy and couldn't stop talking about his penis. He's also always had their unsolicited advice and uncanny knack of embarrassing him at all costs. Now that he's an adult and trying to convince the love of his life to love him back, things haven't changed very much from when he was younger.
When Gavin's best friend Tyler suggests he make a to-do list of items that will ensure he wins the girl, Gavin is one-hundred-percent on board: after a few six packs.
After puking in the shrubs, a bad experience with Viagra, a Sex-Ed course gone wrong, and a slew of other mishaps courtesy of his family and friends, Gavin is pretty sure this list will be the death of him.
Sometimes, trying to make someone love you with a list isn't always the best idea. Especially when "Show her your penis" is the first "to-do" item...

My Review:

So, a while back I bought the book Passion and Ponies, thinking it was the next book in the series that Seduction and Snacks was in. Well, it wasn’t, it was a separate series, and then I realized I needed to find the first one, which is what Love and Lists is. When Audible had their awesome sale last month, guess what I bought? Yeah, this one! And oh my gosh, why oh why have I not been just devouring every one of Sivec’s books as soon as I can get my hands on them? I laughed at this audiobook so much as I listened that if people in cars next to me had looked over, they might have thought I was having a fit. Now that Passionflix has filmed a movie for the very first book, Seduction and Snacks, it was really fun listening to this one since it is the little boy from that book all grown up. So many hilarious scenes in this book. The food scene, and then when the guy dressed as the Grim Reaper was following them around at the Halloween festival thing at the end. Oh my gosh. As I’m now reading the book I bought, Passion and Ponies, I’ve decided that Tara Sivec is the Kevin Smith of romance books. Very raunchy, but hilarious, and right up my sense of humor! Warning, the raunchiness may not be a lot of people’s taste, just so you know. Oh yeah, I also kind of wished the thing going on with the crush for these characters would be what happened with a recent crush I had, but I know now it isn’t, so, oh well.

Passion & Ponies (Chocoholics #2) by Tara Sivec:

L-L-L-Little Reviews #32: 3 Audiobooks, a Prequel Novella, and a Rom-ComPassion and Ponies by Tara Sivec
Series: Chocoholics #2
Published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform on March 12, 2014
Genres: Adult Romantic Comedy
Pages: 210
Source: Purchased
Format: Paperback
My Rating: five-stars
Goodreads
Buy on AmazonBuy on Barnes & Noble

Ava Gilmore has the perfect life. She’s surrounded by people who love her, she’s having sex on a regular basis and her Coach bag collection just grew by three. The problem? She’s expected to follow in her family’s footsteps at Seduction and Snacks, working with sex toys and baked goods.
Ava loves vibrators and cupcakes as much as the next person, she’d just rather play with them than sell them. With her shopping addiction reaching an all time high and her credit card bills piling up, Ava decides to put her obsession to good use and start a fashion blog. But she has one other problem - the guy she’s having sex with has a My Little Pony addiction.
While dealing with her family’s disappointment and confusion over her choices, she finds support in the unlikeliest of places – Tyler Branson. Tyler has slowly wormed his way into her bed, her a$$ and her heart and he refuses to leave. Tyler has his own family problems to deal with and for the first time ever, Ava finds herself feeling bad for the annoying, immature guy and chanting “Friendship is magic!” during the sex she’d swore to stop having with him.
Ava needs to get her life in order once and for all before she finds herself doing something she never wanted to do – fall in love with a Brony.

My Review:

So, I picked this one up as soon as I finished the audiobook above. I was going to just keep it in the bathroom and read a bit at a time, but I had a few DNFs this month and so ended up just picking this up when I couldn’t get into another book because I knew I could just get sucked into this. But again, so freaking funny! You can’t read Sivec’s books if you don’t have a raunchy sense of humor or are easily offended. I’ll say that. And well, let’s just say that I am seriously wondering why I don’t just burn through them all right now! Because I am cracking up so hard at these stories! I also realize I have one or two from the original series I need to go back and read soon as well. This book had all the Brony stuff that was really big a while back, or at least that you were hearing about then. I’m sure there are probably still people into it? It talked about red wings, and then there was the name of the supposed sperm donor, Dean O’Saur, and Gavin’s suggested name, Terry Dactyl. I was just losing it as I read this book. So freaking hilarious! Oh, and Aunt Jenny’s Facebook wall with pictures! You know that commercial with the old lady who had that on her wall? Yeah, that!

The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren:

L-L-L-Little Reviews #32: 3 Audiobooks, a Prequel Novella, and a Rom-ComThe Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren
Narrator: Patti Murin
on May 18, 2021
Genres: Adult Contemporary Romance
Length: 09:45
Source: Purchased
Format: Audiobook
My Rating: five-stars
Goodreads
Buy on AmazonBuy on Barnes & NobleBuy on Audible

9 hours, 39 minutes
The New York Times best-selling author of The Unhoneymooners returns with a witty and effervescent novel about what happens when two people with everything on the line are thrown together by science - or is it fate? Perfect for fans of The Rosie Project and One Plus One.
Single mom Jess Davis is a data and statistics wizard, but no amount of number crunching can convince her to step back into the dating world. Raised by her grandparents - who now help raise her seven-year-old daughter, Juno - Jess has been left behind too often to feel comfortable letting anyone in. After all, her father’s never been around, her hard-partying mother disappeared when she was six, and her ex decided he wasn’t “father material” before Juno was even born. Jess holds her loved ones close, but working constantly to stay afloat is hard...and lonely.
But then Jess hears about GeneticAlly, a buzzy new DNA-based matchmaking company that’s predicted to change dating forever. Finding a soul mate through DNA? The reliability of numbers: This Jess understands.
At least she thought she did, until her test shows an unheard-of 98 percent compatibility with another subject in the database: GeneticAlly’s founder, Dr. River Pena. This is one number she can’t wrap her head around, because she already knows Dr. Pena. The stuck-up, stubborn man is without a doubt not her soul mate. But GeneticAlly has a proposition: Get to know him and we’ll pay you. Jess - who is barely making ends meet - is in no position to turn it down, despite her skepticism about the project and her dislike for River. As the pair are dragged from one event to the next as the “Diamond” pairing that could make GeneticAlly a mint in stock prices, Jess begins to realize that there might be more to the scientist - and the science behind a soul mate - than she thought.
Funny, warm, and full of heart, The Soulmate Equation proves that the delicate balance between fate and choice can never be calculated.

My Review:

I loved the idea behind this story from the start. In fact, I wish this was a real thing! It was more than just a dating app, because it would include people from all over the world. Something I’ve always wondered, what if my other half is somewhere I’ll never meet them? Well this could be the solution. If the DNA stuff was real that is. But the book had a lot more to it than I thought it would. A little twist at the end, which I still would have liked to know the exact number at the end, even if it was a Diamond still. The characters were good, although at times River, especially toward the end, with how he reacted, made me mad. But when he kind of explained and apologized, I got it, but I also got why Jess didn’t want to give him another chance. Especially after her mom. Her daughter Juno was adorable, and was an original youngster compared to some of the stories I’ve read lately. It was fun when the story even mentioned an app that I use, the NextDoor app. I thought how appropriate!

Please follow and like us:
0
fb-share-icon0
Tweet 0
Pin Share20

Tags:


4 responses to “L-L-L-Little Reviews #32: 3 Audiobooks, a Prequel Novella, and a Rom-Com

  1. John Smith

    I think of these books, I’d start with the Christina Lauren one first. I’ve read another of her books and it was pretty fun!

Leave a Reply

(Enter your URL then click here to include a link to one of your blog posts.)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.