The Secret Life of Mac

By: Melinda Metz

Narrated by: Elise Arsenault

Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

He's the cat thief of love.

MacGyver the tabby is feeling very pleased with himself. His human, Jamie Snyder, has found the perfect packmate - and it's all thanks to Mac. By stealing personal items from the home of Jamie's handsome neighbor David, the matchmaking cat brought these two LA singles together. Now, while the newlyweds are off on their honeymoon, MacGyver is ready for a well-deserved cat nap. That is, until he meets his cat sitter Briony. Like most humans, she's hopeless when it comes to romance. And Mac can't resist a challenge....

She's found the escape claws.

Briony feels terrible about leaving her fiance at the altar. When her cousin Jamie offers her the chance to cat sit MacGyver, the runaway bride leaps at the chance to cuddle up with the only male creature she trusts herself around. But MacGyver has other plans. He lures Briony to a friendly neighborhood retirement community - run by a charming, young hottie named Nate. Briony and Nate hit it off instantly. But Briony's still not sure she's ready for a relationship. And Nate's got problems of his own - someone is sabotaging his community.

Crazy humans. Why can't they follow their instincts and go after the love they deserve? MacGyver is on the case. And this time, he's not pussyfooting around....

©2018 Melinda Metz (P)2019 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Well…

Setting: Storybook Court, a charming enclave of Los Angeles, CA. Contemporary to 2018
Genre: rom-com with a bit of cozy mystery
Briony Kleeman, having had a major panic attack while walking down the aisle to marry The Perfect Man, comes to her cousin Jamie’s house to pet-sit during what should have been her honeymoon — while the cousin goes on hers (see Talk to the Paw). Deogee, the dog of indeterminate breed is pretty low maintenance - feed, walk, play. But MacGyver is a different story. Aside from feeding twice daily and pats on demand, he needs to be watched carefully because he is an escape artist. But since they blocked the chimney, as long as she watches out when she opens the door, he should be fine. But nothing stops Mac…
Briony smells sad, so Mac decides that she needs a person, and he finds one at The Gardens, the family-owned retirement living/community center that backs up to Storybook Court. Nate Acosta has been the director since he was 19, when his grandfather died and his father deserted both professional and personal responsibilities nine years ago. He puts all his energy into running The Gardens, as well as crisis management for his twin sister and her kids, and being at his mother’s beck and call.
When Nate and Briony meet there is instant attraction — NOT. She got a call from Nate to pick up Mac from a resident he was visiting. She was still wearing the dress she had meant to wear on the way to her Paris honeymoon (now torn and grass-stained from a fall in her panicked run to get Mac), her professionally applied makeup (now smeared into tear streaks and raccoon eyes), and her beautiful wedding hairstyle (now smashed and misshapen from falling asleep on Jamie’s couch). Their second meeting is much better, one thing leads to another, and soon Nate is waking up in the wrong bed searching for his ringing phone. It was a fade-to-black romantic scene because this is a clean “sweet” romance. No vulgar or profane speech, no overt sex. Briony decides that, since she is in California for just a few weeks before going back to Wisconsin, she will have a vacation fling. She does feel a little guilty that it’s only a few days since she was supposed to marry The Perfect Man, and debates telling Nate but decides not to. So in the personal realm feelings start to grow despite the tacit agreement to keep things light. It feel alright to Briony. It feels good for Nate. However, other aspects of his life are not going so smoothly. He is constantly having to deal with the crises of his twin trying to find love, and someone is watching his mother. Add to that, he keeps getting letters and emails from a real estate developer who wants to buy him out, and someone is committing sabotage at The Gardens which is putting residents in danger.
As for Mac, with Briony and Nate seeming to be happy, he has moved on to matchmaking for some of the residents of the community.
This is not a bad story. With a cozy mystery frame to lean on, the rest of the plot has some cohesion. However, Briony and Nate’s romance becomes almost subsumed by the secondary romances and the lives of the residents and staff. In regards to the cozy mystery, it’s easy to figure out what’s going on. The suspense lies in how long it will take the plot to be revealed to the characters. There is a red herring, but it really is not very red herring-ish, and it comes so late in the story that it doesn’t even cast doubt.
The narration is just…I felt like Ms Arsenault was reading down to her audience. Just because this is a sweet romance does not mean listeners are immature. I imagine this being appropriate for 16+, so I’m pretty sure we can handle a tone more seasoned than story time. Also, just a quibble (or is it?) — half the time when she said Briony it sounded like “briny”. Yeah, the character wasn’t at all salty.