Audio Review: Making Nice by Elizah J. Davis – Narrated by Michael Ferraiuolo

Author: Elizah J. Davis

Narrator: Michael Ferraiuolo

Run Time: 10 hours and 31 minutes

At a Glance: A great story that could have been about five hours shorter.

Reviewed By: Amy

Blurb: Twins Blake and Bianca Dunlap have always been there for each other, ready to lend support and make sacrifices. Blake can’t imagine a bigger sacrifice than getting along with Bianca’s fiancé, Matt. However, Matt turns out to be more than the meathead Blake had dismissed him as, but Matt’s best friend, Ryan Everett, is a different story. Ryan seems intent on being an insufferable jerk as often as possible. The fact that Blake is undeniably attracted to Ryan only makes the whole situation more annoying.

Since they’ll all be stuck together for the long haul, Blake is determined to make nice. Unfortunately he overshoots, and he and Ryan end up on much friendlier terms than Blake intended. While he and Ryan agree there’s no harm in having a strings-free fling that changes when Matt and Bianca find out about it. As more complications arise, Blake and Ryan become more determined to do what it takes to avoid letting them down. But the only way to ensure getting through a joyous wedding and avoid the questions neither of them want to answer is to convince everyone it’s something more.

Review: I had a hard time with this book. The guts of this book are solid. I was intrigued and loved every character. I love the dynamic of Blake and Bianca in conjunction with Matt and Ryan. I enjoyed Blake and Ryan falling in love. The hate you/love you was well done. I even enjoyed them trying to hide the relationship from Bianca and Matt. In theory, everything about this book works. Unfortunately, though, there is a point where the book stops working. A book with this content could easily have been half its length. Outside of these characters doing some silly lying and push/pull in their relationship, I felt that there was no real story. Any plot outside of their relationship was forced and things were added to make the story longer. For example, the situation where Ryan was fixing up his basement and then Blake misunderstanding, thinking he was cheating. After the argument and then, surprisingly, Ryan breaking things off, nothing drastic changed for Ryan to take Blake back. Growth was implied but not shown.

Narration: Michael Ferraiuolo did a great job of narrating. I hadn’t listened to him previously, and was pleasantly surprised by his work, but after about five hours, his voice could no longer hold the story up. I would definitely listen to Michael Ferraiuolo again.