Audio Review: Wild and Precious by CJane Elliott – Narrated by K.C. Kelly

Author: CJane Elliott

Narrator: K.C. Kelly

Pages/Word Count: 2 hours and 34 minutes

Category: Contemporary Romance

At a Glance: An enjoyable, low-angst story of young people growing up and discovering who they are and what they want in life.

Reviewed By: Sadonna

Blurb: Aspiring writer Brent Granger has good friends and a great job at an arts magazine in DC, but he’s batting zero in the arena of love. Brent begins to get a clue why things aren’t working with women from his strong attraction to his gorgeous, gay, and already attached boss, Graham Stoneford. When he sees a personal ad from a man that quotes his favorite poet, Brent decides to do something wild and answer.

Enter Cody Bellstrom, easygoing bisexual musician, who is happy to initiate Brent in the ways of gay sex. Brent now has a new problem: he realizes he’s gay and no one in his life knows it. Cody tires of hiding their relationship, but Brent finds it challenging to come out to family, friends, and especially to Graham. In the end, Brent must confront the truth of where—and with whom—his heart lies.

Review: Brent is a young writer for a Washington DC arts magazine. He likes his job a lot, but he really aspires to write his own stories and maybe some poetry. He’s 24 and he’s been on plenty of dates, but he isn’t connecting with anyone. And, in fact, his dates seem to be getting worse instead of better and he can’t figure out why. On the weekend, he runs into his boss at the magazine, Graham, who is a 30-year-old out gay man who Brent just feels tongue-tied around. They end up doing things together and becoming friends outside of work, with Graham introducing him to different museums and restaurants and other unusual cultural venues. Graham is outgoing, confident, extremely attractive, fun to be with—and in a relationship.

Brent then sees a match on his dating profile from a bisexual guy who is looking for friends, and quotes his favorite poet. He figures at least if he can maybe make a friend, he’ll be doing better than he has been. But what he does get, instead, is an instant connection. He’s attracted to Cody, a musician, right away, and he’s a little bit scared by that and a lot intrigued. What he ends up with is a whole lot more than friendship.

He starts seeing Cody regularly, but he doesn’t tell anyone. He still has Sunday’s with Graham, for the most part. Then a few things happen—running into a work colleague at a market and hiding the fact that they are together, finding out that Brent’s brother is getting married the next week—that make Cody think that Brent is indeed ashamed of their relationship and maybe even of being with a guy. This causes a strain in their relationship, and Brent has some fences to mend. He does so in spectacular style—with some unforeseen repercussions. All does not run smoothly, and despite pursuing his dream of becoming a writer with renewed vigor and success, things with Cody begin to wane somewhat. Brent is not at all sure what it is he wants or what he should do about it. The changes that he’s made still may not be enough to make things right for him.

This is the first book I’ve read/listened to from this author. Although I’ve had the book for a while, I hadn’t read it yet and when offered the chance for the audiobook, and knowing I had some commuting time coming up, I decided to try it. I’m really glad I did. I enjoyed the story and the narrator. I thought the voice characterizations were definitive without being over the top, and I would definitely listen to another book narrated by Mr. Kelly.

I liked both Cody and Brent, though my only small complaint is the brevity of the story. I simply would have liked more scenes, especially with Graham. I would have liked to have more time with Brent and Graham, and Brent and Cody, to get a better understanding of the relationship dynamics.

This is a nice, low angst read about characters who are growing up and finding themselves. I will say that I went right out and got the next story in this series and read it straight away.

You can buy Wild and Precious here:
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