Home Grown Talent

Creative Types, Book 2

By: Joanna Chambers, Sally Malcolm

Narrated by: Simon Goldhill

Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

Are you for real?

From the outside, it looks like model and influencer Mason Nash has it all—beauty, fame, and fortune. With his star rapidly rising, and a big contract up for grabs, Mason’s on the verge of hitting the big time.

When an opportunity arises to co-host a gardening slot on daytime TV with his ex’s brother, Owen Hunter, Mason is definitely on-board. And he intends to use every trick in the book to make the show a hit—including agreeing to his ruthless producer’s demand to fake a ‘will-they/won’t-they’ romance with his co-host…

Owen Hunter is a gardener with a huge heart and both feet planted firmly on the well-tilled ground. He’s proud of the life he’s built and has absolutely no desire to be on TV—yet somehow he finds himself agreeing to do the show.

It’s definitely not because he’s interested in Mason Nash. The guy might be beautiful—and yeah, his spoiled brat routine presses all Owen’s buttons in the bedroom—but Owen has no interest in a short-term fling with a fame-hungry model.

As the two men get closer, though, Owen starts to believe there’s more to Mason than his beautiful appearance and carefully-curated online persona—that beneath the glitz and glamour is a sweet, sensitive man longing to be loved.

A man Owen might be falling for. A man who might even feel the same.

But in a world of media spin and half-truths, Owen is dangerously out of his depth. And when a ridiculous scandal explodes online, with Owen at its heart, it starts to look as though everything he thought was real is built on lies—including his budding romance with Mason…

©2022 Joanna Chambers and Sally Malcolm (P)2024 Joanna Chambers and Sally Malcolm

Fantastic

First of all I did not read the first book in the creative types series nor have a read anything by these two authors Joanna Chambers and Sally Malcolm. With that being said Going into this completely blind. I absolutely loved this story I actually listen to it on audio and the narrator Simon goldhill Was completely amazing. I loved how he had a different voice for each character And his voice for Owen was really sexy. Just by the voices he made the characters come alive.
I enjoyed the intricate story and the complex characters. I had an overwhelming passionate desire to see These Wonderful MC's Get there happily ever after. I was rooting for them the whole way. Sometimes I felt like I was on their Insta, being a fan. The story and the narrator Both together we're able to just pull me right in and be a part of the story. I really enjoyed this sweet, Quirky, Emotional, And funny romcom. I listen to it So fast I wished I had drawn it out a little bit and it wasn't over already It was that amazing.
Owen is my new book boyfriend. Who wouldn't want A sexy hunky gardener?
I don't wanna say too many details Just because I would end up giving a spoiler. So with that I highly recommend listening to this story. Now I'm off to go read the whole series.

This book was very enjoyable to listen to.

Once again, as in book one, I found myself liking one of the characters much more than the other. Of course, being the old geezer that I am, I couldn’t really connect with Mason and his social media life. Of course, reading on, I got to warm up to him and understood him better, but let’s just say I connected with Owen much better.
The story is enjoyable, quite emotional at times, but not overly angsty. There are some frankly quite awful characters (Misty, I am looking at you!) and some lovely ones I would like to meet again.
Great performance by Simon Goldhill

I Liked It

I liked it, I enjoyed first book a bit more, but this was a good installment in the series. I liked the humor and lightness of the story and since one of the main characters is a gardener, just for that I am giving this book an extra star. I am learning to garden right now and I appreciated few tips and tidbits of info here and there, it made the story much more enjoyable for me. I liked both Mason and Owen, they are interesting characters and I was looking forward to seeing their relationship grow and develop. Unfortunately I didn't feel a lot of chemistry between them, so that was a bit disappointing. Narrator did a good job with the voices and the story. Overall this was a good listen and I am looking forward to the next installment in the Creative Types series.

Great story, well performed

I loved this book and the audio really brought Owen and Mason to life. Owen’s role in his brother Lewis’ life is well established in the previous book (Total Creative Control), but what we really knew of him was limited to his care of Lewis at a dark time in their lives. This book does explore the further growth in their relationship as well, which is gratifying.

We also are privileged to see a completely different side of Mason – why he models, why he’s so addicted to growing his socials, and suddenly a lot makes sense. It’s not an easy relationship, however, as Owen is about as anti-media as he can be, and while Mason has to explore his own motivations, Owen has to embrace the difference between support and mere acceptance.

Simon Goldhill did a fantastic job at different voices and accents (though I am not qualified to say whether they are accurate), and conveys both emotion and humor easily and without fuss. I really enjoyed listening to this story, and powered through it faster than usual by not being able to turn it off when I got home from commuting, or at the office – which made for a few awkward moments!

Victory over Pineapplegate

Mason and Owen are adorable and I love how they find their footing in this new to me series. I’d requested the audible version from Gay Romance Reviews even though it’s not on KU because the story sounded so cute and it didn’t disappoint. I was initially worried because while I listen to A LOT of audio books, typically it’s books I’ve either read or listened to before because I have fairly poor auditory retention. I was a little worried at the very beginning about my ability to keep the characters and relationships straight (especially when they were all together at an event) but in the end it was no problem and I was INVESTED. Mason is well written and develops enough throughout the book that we get to see a little how he presents himself to the world as an influencer and his vulnerabilities as a person. I absolutely get Owen who ironically doesn’t have social media and is focused on “real life” but agrees to do a television show with Mason (yes, the appropriate chaos ensues). You can see the major plot point coming like a train wreck that can’t be stopped and yet you just really want to see them work it out. Without spoilers, they do get their HEA and the epilogue was satisfying. It is book two in the series and there are connections to the characters from book one but I didn’t feel like I was missing out—though now I feel invested and want to go back and read/listen to book one!

A phenomenal narrative experience!

[4.25] Ever since we were first introduced to Owen in Total Creative Control, I vowed to swoop in and snap him up if nobody claimed him by year end. Much to my chagrin, he is a taken man now, but since this story was such a pleasure, I won't complain *too* much 😉

The story begins with landscape gardener Owen getting roped into a gardening TV segment with his brother’s ex, Mason. Little does he know, the director requests Mason to play up their chemistry for the cameras (with some teasing off-camera) to amass viewership for the show. In an industry of half-truths and illusions, readers will cotton on to the central conflict pretty fast, and the stress was akin to waiting for a train crash to happen. I’m not a fan of Third Act Shenanigans done for the sake of conflict, but in this case, the blowup held a sense of inevitability based on where the characters were at and fit into the story as a necessity.

I had a soft spot for Mason, because while a few of his decisions/actions did make me uncomfortable—the deception, the guilt trips—gaining insight into his toxic family dynamics and the immense weight placed on the success of his curated image was heartbreakingly illuminating. As much as I didn’t agree with his approach, I could grasp his desperation at the bottom of the food chain. People often preach that you don’t need money to be happy, but there's so much to be said for the comforts and security it brings to the table.

While this can be read as a standalone, I guarantee that you will enjoy this more with previous knowledge of Aaron and Lewis. their cameos were spectacularly integrated and honestly made me proud of how far they've come. As a sucker for sibling heart-to-heart conversations, I was happy as a clam 😌

Down to Earth Romantic Fun!

There is nothing more romantic than a hardworking, down to earth kind of guy reeling in a guy who is used to basing his life on his looks and social interactions. I loved Owen from the beginning, he was genuine and real from start to finish. Mason slowly grew on me because I loved seeing his life and love goals alter and his personality changes as he interacted with Owen. This is a strong opposite's attract story since they both really have lived very different lives so far. I was pleasantly surprised that Owen was a bit freaky in bed! The steam was strong in this one! I really enjoyed Simon's narrating voice. He has the perfect simple yet unique accents for these two guys.

A good performance of a good book

I enjoyed the book version of this and was very happy to get a complimentary copy of the audiobook via Gay Romance Reviews. On listening, I felt that the plot could have benefited from some more fleshing out in the getting-to-know-each-other section (which would have made the betrayal/breakup more meaningful), but it was still thoroughly enjoyable. As for the narration, it was (at least to this American's ear) solid. It was especially fun to revisit this story after having read book three.

Discovering the Real Mason

Mason and Owen have great chemistry. It was delightful to see Mason develop into a character with more depth. Owen is sweetness personified. This book is a lovely low angst listen.

Narration had me so invested in the characters!

I loved this narration, I really was immediately hooked when I started listening. I agree with another reviewer who said there's a scene at the beginning with a ton of characters and was fearful of being able to keep track. I admit I had to listen to that scene a couple times, but other than that one, this story was very easy to follow. I was also really pleased on how much they brought back the main two characters into the story, enriching the believability of the characters even more.