Tell Me It’s Real by TJ Klune
Narrator: Michael Lesley
At First Sight #1
Romantic Comedy
Listening Length: 10 hours and 24 minutes
Print Book Review
About the Book: Do you believe in love at first sight?
Paul Auster doesn’t. Paul doesn’t believe in much at all. He’s thirty, slightly overweight, and his best features are his acerbic wit and the color commentary he provides as life passes him by. His closest friends are a two-legged dog named Wheels and a quasibipolar drag queen named Helena Handbasket. He works a dead-end job in a soul-sucking cubicle, and if his grandmother’s homophobic parrot insults him one more time, Paul is going to wring its stupid neck.
Enter Vince Taylor.
Vince is everything Paul isn’t: Sexy, confident, and dumber than the proverbial box of rocks. And for some reason, Vince pursues Paul relentlessly. Vince must be messing with him, because there is no way Vince could want someone like Paul.
But when Paul hits Vince with his car – in a completely unintentional if-he-died-it’d-only-be-manslaughter kind of way – he’s forced to see Vince in a whole new light. The only thing stopping Paul from believing in Vince is himself – and that is one obstacle Paul can’t quite seem to overcome. But when tragedy strikes Vince’s family, Paul must put aside any notions he has about himself and stand next to the man who thinks he’s perfect the way he is.
Confession time first: I started listening to The Lightning Struck Heart a while ago, and I couldn’t get into it. I wasn’t sure if it was Michael Lesley’s narration or maybe I’m just not into that series of books as much as other Klunatics -which I hate admitting. So, when I randomly listened to the sample of Tell Me It’s Real and enjoyed it, I knew I had to try Michael Lesley in a different world.
And, it worked out perfectly!
The audio of Tell Me It’s Real was even funnier than reading it! Michael Lesley breathed new life into lines like, “Be gone, He-Bitch!” There was no way you weren’t bursting into laughter and making it your new catch phrase!
Tell Me It’s Real was funnier, but it was also more emotional in all ways. Unlike while reading the book, I even found myself tearing up when Michael Lesley narrated Vince’s family heartbreak. He put the perfect hitch into Vince’s deep voice that punched you right in the gut. I had to cry. He gave me no choice.
Actually, I loved how Lesley read Vince all around. He nailed Vince’s innocence and sex appeal. Whenever he flashed those dimples and told Paul how he was gonna Freddie Prince Junior him so hard my heart swooned. I was mesmerized by how effectively he took Paul’s breath away, and I was even more hypnotized when they fell in love.
Michael Lesley’s Vince was infectious!
It’s likely I loved Vince as much as I did because of Paul as the narrator. The way Paul describes Vince, with so much awe and love, it was impossible not to see Vince the same way. Lesley made me feel like I knew Paul and Vince so intimately I’ve now found it hard to move on. I’m not sure I want to listen to another At First Sight book if it doesn’t star Paul and Vince. That’s how much I enjoyed this audio book.
If you like audio, and you want to listen to an over the top romantic comedy, this one is definitely for you. This Birdie highly recommends.
Thank you to Dreamspinner for providing an audio copy in exchange for an honest review.
Birdie Bookworm 