Happily Ever Maybe?

A Calico Cove Standalone

By: Hailey Shore

Narrated by: Wayne Mitchell, Samantha Brentmoor

Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

He’s the billionaire Beast of Calico Cove, and I’m his sacrificial lamb…I mean, his new employee.

Malcolm Bettencourt is a recluse with a nasty scar across his face and a bad attitude. He has a bone to pick with my family over a loan my dad can't pay back, so to save our lobster business, I agree to be his live-in housekeeper and cook.

We have nothing in common, and there’s no reason to think he would want anything to do with someone like me. Except I can’t stop thinking about him, and he can’t stop looking at me.

This Beauty and the Beast retelling includes a grumpy hero, a sassy heroine looking to lose her v-card, and a Pretty Woman moment with a black Am-Ex. Oh, and an age-gap romance with someone who may or may not be her lobster.

©2022 Hailey Shore (P)2023 Podium Audio

Trouble Connecting with the Characters

I struggled with this book. The fmc often annoyed me. I guess the tricks she played on the mmc made her appear immature and I just couldn’t get on her side.

I could understand the MMC and often wondered why he put up with her.

This was my first Hailey Shore read and I’m hoping this is just a character disconnect for me and the next book I’ll connect better with.

Narration was ok. I wasn’t a fan of the male narrator’s female voice….

No Audio Issues for Me

A super cute slow-burn grumpy-sunshine romance. I really love the cheekiness of the FMC and the male narrator's impression of her really drives home just how annoying the MMC finds her.
I didn't experience any glitching audio in my copy. Looking forward to book 2!

Cute story, horrible male narrator

The story was cute and kept my interest. There were a few times that it got cheesy to the point that I was rolling my eyes, but it was good enough for me to want to finish.
The female narrator was really good. She did good with the main female character, but also did good voices for other characters including the male characters.
I have listened to one book with this male narrator before, and honestly I would not have bought this is I remembered that. As soon as he started talking during his first turn I groaned. His voice for the main character is a mix of breathy, bored and annoyed all at the same time, and it doesn’t sound natural at all. He didn’t do a lot of other voices during this specific book since the H is mostly reclusive, but I don’t like even when he does other male characters. But is female voices are horrendous! I physically cringe when the female characters talk during his narration. I will for sure not get any other audio book that he narrates. As much as I did like the story, it was hard to finish with him. It it weren’t for a good female narrator doing more than 50%, I wouldn’t have finished this one.

Loved this Beauty and the Beast retelling!

Happily Ever...Maybe? by Hailey Shore was a sweet and sexy Beauty and the Beast retelling that did deliciously good things to my heart! Mal and Jolie were such an easy couple to love, and their journey to HEA was filled with witty banter, steamy first times, and being comfortable in your own skin!

This audiobook is narrated by Samantha Brentmoor and Wayne Mitchell, and I enjoyed their performances. Samantha brings a playful, confident tone to Jolie which at times acts as a shield to her inner, more vulnerable persona. Samantha peels back those layers brilliantly as you learn more about Jolie and her desires. Wayne brings the grump and the broody to his performance of the recluse, tormented Mal. However, his female voice for Jolie wasn't always pleasing to the ears. Both narrators did a great job conveying the undeniable pull between these two.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. If you are a fan of a Beauty and the Beast retelling romance with a damaged millionaire hero, a spunky upbeat aspiring chef, small towns, slow burn first times, lighthouses, weddings, debts to be paid, and a HEA that is fairytale worthy, then you will love Mal and Jolie's romance. I am looking forward to more from Hailey Shore.