Audio Review: Second Hand by Heidi Cullinan and Marie Sexton – Narrated by Iggy Toma

Title: Second Hand (A Tucker Springs Novel)

Author: Heidi Cullinan and Marie Sexton

Narrator:: Iggy Toma

Publisher: Riptide Publishing

Run Time: 5 hours and 11 minutes

At a Glance: Second Hand is a great listen, one I would recommend, and Tucker Springs is a great series made new in audiobooks.

Reviewed By: Kathie

Blurb: Paul Hannon moved to Tucker Springs for his girlfriend, but she’s left him with a house he can’t afford and a pantry full of useless gadgets. All Paul wants is to get back to normal, even if he’s not sure what that is anymore. When he wanders into Tucker Pawn for a gift to win her back, he meets El Rozal, pawn shop owner and all-around cynic.

El Rozal doesn’t do relationships, especially not with clueless straight boys still pining for their ex. El may make his living dealing in castoffs, but that doesn’t apply to men. Still, when Paul starts clearing out his old life, pawning kitchen equipment he never wanted in the first place, El is drawn to Paul in spite of himself.

Paul and El have nothing in common except a past full of disappointments. There’s no reason to believe the two of them could fit, but in El’s line of work, one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. When it comes to love, El and Paul may learn that secondhand doesn’t mean second best.

Review: I fell in love with Tucker Springs while reading the first book in the series, Where Nerves End, by LA Witt. I read the whole series and mourned the end with It’s Complicated, also by LA Witt.

Second Hand is a pretty simple story: no one dies, or gets shot at, or gets disowned by their family for coming out. It’s simply a lovely story about a young man, Paul Hannon, coming to terms with himself and his attraction to El Rozal. In my opinion, the lesson of this story is that sometimes we need to rid ourselves and our lives of clutter to discover what truly matters.

The narrator, Iggy Toma, was great to listen to. He captured the voices and personalities of the characters. My only negative thought was that the voice of El Rozal sounded like Johnny Depp. Throughout the book, whenever El Rozal would talk I would think of Johnny Depp lounging back, smoking a cigarette. Not a bad imagine, mind you, just not how I thought the authors were trying to portray El Rozal.

Second Hand is a great listen, one I would recommend, and Tucker Springs is a great series made new in audiobooks.