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Audiobook Review: Undercover Boyfriend by Jacob Z. Flores, Narrated by Rusty Topsfield

Two men, one lie, and a whole bunch of trouble. Marty Valdez is in serious trouble.

His sister's wedding is around the corner, and everyone expects to meet Marty's super-successful underwear model boyfriend - whom Marty invented. Now Marty has to produce a half-naked hottie or suffer the worst humiliation of his life.

FBI agent Luke Myers is in serious trouble. He's been working undercover to take down a dangerous drug cartel, but his cover's blown and he needs to disappear. Luckily, a geeky yet intriguing comic book artist gives him the perfect opportunity. Luke just has to pretend to be his boyfriend, and pretending is what he does best. But between Marty's mother and his ex, Luke might've bitten off more than he can chew, and Marty's knack for finding trouble might ruin more than just his sister's wedding.

Listening Length: 5 hours and 51 minutes
Narrator: Rusty Topsfield


For the story!
For the narration!

I can't help but have extra hearts going on for this one. The story is a solid 4 hearts, but the narration overall wasn't a fit, hence the 2.

This gem fits in perfectly with the Dreamspun Series of stories. There’s just the right amount of extra with the dramatics and the sweetness to make it fit right in. These stories always make me wish there was a Hallmark channel to turn these into movies. I want to sit on my buns, drink cocoa with hooch in it and wallow in the love.

Undercover Boyfriend delivers the ‘opposites attract’ beautifully. Marty is a geeky loner and Luke is a mystery stud. They have no business being together, but of course, plots happen, the two meet and Luke is pretending to be Marty’s boyfriend so his meddling family will get off his back already. Of course Luke, being the mystery stud that he is, has mysterious shenanigans going on and it doesn’t take long for Marty to be dragged into it. The author did a really good job of balancing the MC’s growing attraction and the action, it worked really well.

The UST was delicious and their banter was charming. Marty may have been inexperienced but he was no push over and his feistiness kept him from being a caricature. I could easily believe in Luke’s attraction to Marty even though it took Marty a little convincing.

Now, for the narration; this was my first Topsfield and while it won’t be my last, I don’t think he was a great fit for this one. My main issue was the accent that he adopted for Marty’s side of the family and the Hispanic characters throughout. If you are going to have a narrator read characters from another culture, please, please, please make sure it’s right. When names are pronounced incorrectly and the accent sounds forced it takes me out of the story. It gave the story some odd tension here and there and the humor sounded forced instead of natural which was unfortunate, because I would have found it much more amusing if I’d read it instead of listening.

I liked the narrator’s voice very much and his Luke was perfect and even his Marty worked. I am looking forward to listening to something else of his that may be a better match for me.

For more information on Undercover Boyfriend, check it out over at Dreamspinner Press.

**a copy of this story was provided for an honest review**



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