Manda Wolfgram is a struggling literary agent who is looking for the perfect manuscript to land in her lapand the perfect man to land in her bed. When the sixth-floor hottie finally asks her out, she gets more than she bargained for. How can a girl wrap her brain around a Shakespearean actor who writes erotica? Harry Sackes leads a double life: making a career as an author by day and dipping … and dipping into the dark
underworld of criminals at night. The moment he sees Manda in his twin brother’s arms, his whole life
becomes his personal Shakespearean trag-comedy of mistaken identity and unrequited love in this fast-
paced chick lit romance.
more
This review is based on the audio version of the book.
Let me start with the good news. The good news is that I enjoyed the story. More good news is that I enjoyed the quotes that start each chapter. Then there are the characters. With the audio, I enjoyed how Ms. Mason would change things up so so we would feel as if we were listening through a door. I also liked the fact that she didn’t attempt to change her voice for the characters.
Ms. Mason was very hard to listen to in the beginning – took me a while to warm up to her voice. Her voice took my mind away from what she was reading. I couldn’t picture her as a literary agent, an erotic writer, or an actor. Once I started thinking of her as a storyteller than it made it a little easier to get through the book. She has the type of voice that I don’t think would lend to that and it certainly wouldn’t have me trying to picture what the characters would look like. Maybe that’s one reason I couldn’t think of this story as a romantic comedy. Then, while listening I was getting terrible static and it continued to get worse. It didn’t happen if I listened online which made me wonder if it was the app. The only thing with that is that it didn’t happen with other books.
I will say that I was a little confused at the beginning. Not sure if it was the story or the narration. In fairness to the author, I think I have to go back and read the book. I’ve never tried to listen and read at the same time but maybe that’s what’s I need to try here. I don’t want to give up on the author because of this experience plus I want to see what else this series has to offer.
I voluntarily reviewed an Audiobook copy of this book.
This is a fun book that has a bit of darkness to it.
The male lead is a bit of a mystery There is an event that takes place in the past which formed him in such a way that he is haunted by it, yet it never gets explained.
The female lead is strong and independent and I liked her because she is willing to speak her mind. She has an amazing job (seriously, it’s my dream job @172K/yr), good friends and a devoted family.
This is almost two different stories in one book and the only thing that ties it together is the two main characters. It has a bit of suspense and mystery as well as funny misunderstandings and yummy cupcakes and princess dresses.
I will absolutely be watching out for the next book in the series.
3.5 stars. So, this story was a little different than I expected. In the end I did enjoy it, but it took a bit to get into. There were definitely humorous parts, a few that had me laughing out loud. There were some emotional parts as well, bringing a tear to my eye. But I wasn’t expecting it to quite go in the direction it went. It sounds like it will be the usual romantic comedy from the synopsis. But if you read the synopsis carefully, you’ll find the one line that kind of slipped past my attention on first glance. Now that I read back through it, I see where that came from. I wish maybe we’d gotten a little more background for Harry, earlier in the story, or maybe more throughout it. I feel like fleshing some of that out would have maybe made it a little better.
As I mentioned before, it was still good, and I loved the bit of adventure we had at the very end. As it seems to be a series, I can say I might be interested in reading on. The characters, what we got of them, were funny and endearing, and everything really did all tie together in a pretty bow at the end. It was an easy read, other than the few bits toward the beginning that I wasn’t quite sure what was happening, until we got a little bit more filled in later in the story.
Quick, fun read with a wealth of insightful characters
NOT FOR ME is the first book in The Windy City Chronicles series. These will each stand on their own as individual stories in the lives of couples in the Windy City.
Don’t judge this book by its cover or any of the characters within by who they seem at first introduction.
Harry and Dane are confusing… and for more than just being identical twins. The story would feel that it was leading in one direction and would suddenly veer a sharp left. I’m still not sure where this roller coaster twisted off. I do know that the meet cute in the elevator was perfectly executed and the adventure at the end was well done. The middle still has me scratching my head.
Romance, human-trafficking, and princesses stories come together in a romantic comedy that entertained and had me hoping for happy endings for everyone.
Of the writing style, if I had to guess, I would say that Ms. deFalla is a pantser type of writer, as opposed to a plotter. No judgement, but either type needs to have alpha and beta readers to look for their plot bunnies and chase them back into their holes. Perhaps with a bit more work, this would be a solid five crown/star read. I would definitely choose another look into this series if given a chance.
Narration: Sullie Mason has a nice clear voice that is easy to listen to on a long commute. Though the cadence was a little unusual, it wasn’t monotone – thank God. There were audio quality issues, but I liked her use of sound props for text messages. That was a nice touch.
Note: While I received this book as a gifted audiobook copy via Audiobookworm productions, my opinions are my own and are given freely.
Title: NOT FOR ME
Series: The Windy City Chronicles #1
Category /Genre: Contemporary Romance
Recommended for: 18+ due to sexual content
Listenability: NSFW
Received from: Kat de Falla (as an Audible gifted copy)