Author: Garrett Leigh
Narrator: Craig Beck
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Run Time: 6 hours and 43 minutes
Category: Contemporary, Polyamory
At a Glance: I highly, highly recommend this audio, whether you have or haven’t read the book already. It’s so worth a listen!
Reviewed By: Jules
Blurb: Restaurant owner Tom Fearnes has loved his partner Cass for as long as he can remember, but their work often keeps them apart. When he meets a striking young man named Jake on the vibrant streets of Camden Town, their heady first encounter takes an unexpected turn.
Jake Thompson can hardly believe his luck when he wakes up in Tom’s bed. Tom is gorgeous, kind, and…taken. Tom’s explanation of his open relationship leaves Jake cold, but Tom is too tempting, and when hard times force Jake to accept Tom’s helping hand, he finds himself between two men who’ve lost their way.
Cass Pearson is a troubled soul. He loves Tom with all he has, but some days it feels like he hasn’t much to give. Jake seems like the perfect solution. Cass risks everything to push Jake and Tom together, but Jake resists, wary, until the darkness of Cass’s deprived childhood comes to call. Then Jake finds himself the last man standing, guiding square pegs into round holes, and it’s time to dig deep and shine a light for the men he’s grown to love.
Review: I’m super choosy about audiobooks—mostly since I’m so picky about narrators—and I try to stick with audios of books I haven’t previously read. But, when I saw that Garrett Leigh’s Misfits was out on audio, I HAD to have it. No question. Misfits was one of my absolute favorite books of 2015, and listening to the audio reminded me why. I am once again completely in awe of this story and these characters. Since I already reviewed the e-book, I’ll try not to be super repetitive here, but I’m sure I won’t be able to help gushing over some of the same things!
The love story is gorgeous, and swoony, and hot as hell, but there are also tons of other things to fall for in this book. I still totally dug all the restaurant stuff in the story, for example. This is a subject that Leigh knows and writes SO well. I could vividly picture all of Urban Soul’s restaurants and business endeavors, especially the new Camden Town project Tom is researching in the beginning of the book when he meets Jake, and which Jake ends up spearheading and bringing to fruition. The author also did an incredible job with her representation of TS. Jake’s Tourette’s is obviously a huge part of his character, but it doesn’t define him. As I said in my review of the e-book that Jake is a fascinating character, and the voice that Craig Beck gives him is fantastic. His was probably my favorite voice of the audio.
I can’t say enough about the strength of the character development in this story. From minute to minute I couldn’t decide who the backbone of the story, or the relationship, was. At first it definitely felt like it was Tom. He was the one who brought them all together after all. But, at other times Jake was the obvious glue holding them all together. Tom and Cass were madly in love before they met Jake—but, they never realized how badly they needed him until he was there, making Cass come home from the restaurant on a regular basis, and making them see the life they could have. After listening to Craig Beck’s incredible narration, I even more so can’t imagination these three not being together. Leigh crafts the relationship so perfectly, their coming together seems inevitable and effortless. Their love develops so naturally and believably, and Beck brings them to life so brilliantly that you can’t help but see the beauty of their union. I will be on the lookout for more books performed by this narrator. He did an absolutely wonderful job.
Misfits was one of the first books with a polyamorous relationship that I read, and have to say that it set the bar incredibly high. After reading quite a few more since then, it’s still one of the most well-written, and probably my favorite. I highly, highly recommend this audio, whether you have or haven’t read the book already. It’s so worth a listen! And, I’m even more excited about the upcoming release of Strays now, if that’s even possible. I can’t wait to dig into Nero’s story, of course, but I’ll also be greedy for any little peek into Tom, Cass and Jake’s life the author will give us.
You can buy Misfits here:
[zilla_button url=”http://adbl.co/2ikMNPU” style=”blue” size=”medium” type=”round” target=”_blank”] Audible [/zilla_button][zilla_button url=”http://apple.co/2ikMhl8″ style=”blue” size=”medium” type=”round” target=”_blank”] iTunes [/zilla_button][zilla_button url=”http://amzn.to/2ih4gwI” style=”blue” size=”medium” type=”round” target=”_blank”] Amazon US [/zilla_button][zilla_button url=”http://authl.it/B01KI5WZX6?d” style=”blue” size=”medium” type=”round” target=”_blank”] Amazon Int’l [/zilla_button]