Audiobook Review: Good as Gold by Sarina Bowen

Good as Gold by Sarina Bowen
Published by Tuxbury Publishing LLC on June 1, 2023
Pages: 310
Format: ALC
Narrator: Jason Clarke, Lessa Lamb
Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
Genres: Romance


Amazon Audible

A swoony, heart-wrenching small-town romance .

Leila:
What I meant to do: Quietly divorce my lout of a husband and then have a child all on my own. What happens instead: My crush comes back to town when I’m at my most vulnerable. After too many cocktails, I ask him to be my baby’s father. In my defense, it’s been a rough couple of months. Seeing Matteo Rossi again after fourteen years has done a number on my emotions. And my libido. In the morning, I’m hoping he’s forgotten the whole thing. But no such luck. In fact, Matteo has a few clarifying questions. And a few naughty ideas, too…

Matteo:
What I meant to do: visit Vermont for my brother’s wedding. Make amends to my family, and mourn the loss of a friend. What happens instead: a hot affair with the one who got away. But it can’t last. My life is two thousand miles away, and Leila deserves everything. She’s as good as gold.

Good as Gold features a single woman with a planned pregnancy premise—my personal catnip. As an added bonus, it’s part of the True North universe. This series has long held a soft spot in my heart, and I’m always excited to reunite with the Shipley and Rossi families in their small Vermont town.

Matteo Rossi and Leila Giltmaker were best friends growing up. Neither was aware their attraction was mutual, and Matteo let Leila slip away when he left for college. She fell in love with someone else and married, and Matteo never returned to his hometown because of it. Now, Matteo has come home for his brother’s wedding only to discover Leila is newly divorced. He decides to stay a little longer to make amends with his family and spend time with Leila. Leila is desperate to become a mother, so she asks Matteo to father her child. How could he refuse?

I loved the friends-to-lovers aspect. Leila and Matteo desperately try to compartmentalize the easy rapport of their friendship versus having hot sex solely for the purpose of making a baby. Their chemistry is too strong for that to last. I also enjoyed the roasting Matteo’s siblings give him in their text threads and how he takes it in stride.

Their small town is getting more trendy with each book. I would be a happy regular at the coffee shop and bar. And now there’s a line of craft beers created by Leila’s father that’s all the rage. The Giltmaker Brewery is quite lucrative, so I’m hopeful that the family sticks around for awhile. Maybe Leila’s brother will get his own book, and the True North universe will continue to grow.

Sarina Bowen doesn’t discard old characters and details from previous books, but instead finds ways to lovingly incorporate them into the current story. Reading this series is like comfort food for my soul.

About the audiobook:
I hate to say it, but I’m not a fan of the narration. Jason Clarke is as flawless as always. However, Lessa Lamb leaves something to be desired. She can be over the top in her delivery, but the most distracting thing is that she speaks so slowly with loooong pauses. I tried speeding up the audio so it sounded more normal, but then I had to lower the speed again when Jason narrates. It’s problematic.

Recommended for fans of:
Friends to lovers
Planned pregnancies
Snowboarding
Beer

I received an advanced listener copy. This does not affect my review.

 

Grab your copy of Good as Gold!

Amazon: https://geni.us/Good-as-Gold-Amazon
Audio: https://geni.us/GoodasGold-Audbl

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