Happy Monday! I’m going to be switching back and forth between two romance series that I’ve been listening to on audio since the beginning of the year. You already read my first review installment of the Big Rock series, and today we have the first book in the Fusion series, by Kristen Proby.
In Listen to Me, Addison Wade is part owner of Seduction, a sexy restaurant in Portland, Oregon. She is just getting out of a terrible relationship with a deadbeat musician and swears off musicians for the rest of her life. That is, until Jake Keller – stage name, Jake Knox, former lead singer of the band Hard Knox – walks into Seduction to audition for the spot of weekend live musician. Addie can’t believe her luck… and also can’t believe that Jake would have any interest in her. Plus, she swore off musicians…
Jake, for his part, walked away from the limelight years earlier, and now wants to just return to the music. He’s been writing and producing for other artists, but what he misses is playing for people on a stage. He thinks the weekend gig at Seduction is the perfect way to get a little bit of everything that he wants… including Addie.
Things seem great, until suddenly, they’re not. Can Jake and Addie split their differences and make it work?
(Spoiler alert: this book has a happy ending and I was so thrilled about it!)
3 Things I Loved
- The friendship between the five owners of Seduction. This is a theme throughout the series, and I loved it so so much. The five women, Addie, plus her friends Cami, Kat, Riley, and Mia, are all spitfires, business owners, and just all around kick-ass ladies. I loved reading their individual stories (except Mia’s, because it’s the last one and was just released and isn’t on audio yet!) and I am so hoping there are more books that take place in this world. Swoon.
- Addie. Addie’s got colored streaks in her hair, a crazy fun wardrobe, and is stubborn to no end. I loved her. She truly was dating a deadbeat before Jake, though, so I was glad to have that end early in the book. She deserved better, and got it.
- Jake. Jake is the kind of hero I enjoy reading about. He’s got a dark past, but he’s trying to move forward, and he knows that he wants. And all he wants are music and Addie. Goodness, I love him, and he only gets better as the books go on!
Dislikes/Problematic Content
The problems are what I tend to find in mainstream romance – it’s white and it’s heterosexual. The whole series is like that. Come on, like one of those five women isn’t gay? I don’t buy that. In any case, I liked the book for what it was, but I wish it had been more inclusive.
As for dislikes, JAKE’S NICKNAMES FOR ADDIE KILLED ME. There was one point where, without warning, he called her “Sweetness.” Really? NO. I sometimes call one of my dogs Sweetness, but another person. NOPE. But that’s a small quibble in the realm of a larger story, lol.
Rating
A reminder of the rating scale:
- Red = DNF, I hated everything
- Orange = Ugh, no thank you
- Yellow = I mean, I’ve read worse, but there were problems
- Green = This was good!
- Blue = Oh my gosh, I loved this book!
- Purple = This is the unicorn of books and I will be rereading it until the binding falls apart and EVERYONE should be reading it!
I liked Listen to Me enough to listen to the rest of the series on audio, but I didn’t like it so much that I’m going to recommend it to my mailman or anything. That means that I’m giving Listen to Me a GREEN rating. It was good! But it wasn’t outstanding. And I really wanted more diversity (this will be a theme in these reviews, I fear…).
Has anyone else read this series? What did you think of Addie and Jake?
Happy reading!
Snark & Squee 
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