Micah

By: Garrett Leigh

Narrated by: Dan Calley

Falling for his roommate gives ex-footballer Micah the second chance he deserves, and what could be better than loving your best friend?

Micah

I’m a broke ex-football player with a bum leg and PTSD. Last summer, I had two choices: the streets, or find a cheap room to rent in the city. I chose the second option, which landed me with a brand-new problem, because I hadn’t banked on my roommate becoming my best friend. Or that before long, I’d find myself head over heels in love with him.

Trouble is, even if Sam likes me back, I ain’t fit to be no one’s boyfriend. I don’t know how. All I do is wade through every precious moment and hope that he doesn’t regret the day he ever met me.

Sam

I’m a gay book nerd with no business falling in love with hunky athletes. Micah is the dictionary definition of beautiful, inside and out. He just doesn’t know it. And he definitely doesn’t know I’m ridiculously in love with him. The embarrassing kind of love.

He’s all I can think about.

But it’s not as simple as loving someone who doesn’t love me back. Micah is damaged goods - at least, that’s how he’d put it. The world has chewed him up and spat him out, and he thinks he deserved it. That he’s still the battered mess he was a year ago.

I want to shake him, and shout in his face that he’s not. To force the truth on him and make him believe in himself the way I do. But I can’t save Micah. One day, perhaps, he’ll realize that he already saved himself.

©2019 Garrett Leigh (P)2020 Garrett Leigh

Some stories are best read and some are...

are as good or better enjoyed on audio and there are those...

that work incredibly well in either format and Garret Leigh seems to consistently achieve this with her stories.

I read Micah's story back in April of this year when it was first released and I knew back then that if there was an audio release that I wouldn't hesitate to revisit it in audio format.

"Falling For My Roommate" is a story of starting over, second chances, finding love, comfort and healing.

Of course it goes without saying that I've already reviewed this story and I admit I'm not above borrowing from that review in my efforts to once again explain why and how much I've enjoyed this audio book.

As I said in my original review "Falling For My Roommate" may not be my favorite Garrett Leigh book but given that I happily gave it 4 stars, I'd hardly call it anything less than enjoyable.

Micah's story is one that we've all seen to one degree or another in today's headlines...a well known athlete who looses his focus on his sport to the glitter and gloss of fame and all that it brings...sex, drugs, booze, parties, faceless and meaningless sex all combining in career ending tragedy.

Ready to restart his life as just another regular guy Micah finds himself sharing an apartment with Sam...a well packaged, gay, book-nerdish, bartending, English Lit student who doesn't see Micah the sports star. He sees Micah the man and he falls and falls hard. But Sam also recognizes that Micah's still fragile so he's determined to be the friend that Micah needs. While Micah sees himself as unworthy of someone as wonderful as Sam and is determined to keep his feelings to himself and just be Sam's roommate and hopefully a good friend.

Dan Calley was the narrator for this story and while he's not entirely a new to me narrator. I've also listened to 3 previous books of Ms Leigh's that he's narrated and I've found everyone of them to be well done and extremely enjoyable. Mr. Calley gives these characters depth and personality adding yet another layer to an already rich and evocative story.

"Falling For My Roommate" was neither a sweet nor fluffy story but it was a story with the best kind of HEA...one that could happen. Micah had to slay his own dragons and for as much as I appreciated Sam it wasn't because he was someone's white knight charging to the rescue. It was because he was strong enough to be there for someone he cared about, not just the man he loved but the man he considered to be his friend and he knew that he couldn't be Micah's salvation but rather a loving and supportive friend.

For me this story felt real...it's out there and one has only to look for it and some have already lived it.

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An audiobook of "Falling For My Roommate" was graciously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Real, Raw, and Gritty

Garrett Leigh is quite possibly my favorite author out there. Every single thing she writes calls to my soul like she knows how I feel about angst and broken beyond measure characters finally getting their happy endings. Micah is no exception and I absolutely loved Sam and Micah. Most M/M romances are about the perfect guys with perfect bodies who have all their crap together and Garrett writes real gritty characters with flaws and mental illness and real life problems. Micah is messed up in so many ways but Sam was half in love with him within a week or two of him moving in, not giving a damn about about the fact that he’s a former famous footballer who is now ‘washed up and broken’ and Micah doesn’t think he’s worthy of love. Watching them navigate their tentative relationship and how Micah deals with or doesn’t actually deal with his mental illness is heartbreaking at points and also really freaking satisfying when they finally break through. We get to spend some time with Don again and also learn a bit more about Freddie, Micah’s former teammate and one of his only friends. I think he’ll get the next book in this universe and my interest is growing!

Sam and Micah don’t have it all together, but together they have everything they need to be happy, they just have to wade through the crap and get to their happy ending! Brilliantly written book with extremely well fleshed out characters and you can tell a lot of care was taken to research what Micah would be feeling and going through.

Dan Calley’s narration brings this book to life in the best of ways! His voice is amazing and his version just gives it another layer of perfection. He’s one of my all time favorite narrators and an absolute auto-buy for me!

5 huge stars from me :)

Grabs you and won't let go!

Another great listen by Garrett Leigh and perfect narration by Dan Calley who is one of my all time favorite Narrators! He joins a very short list of favorites and I've listened to over seventy on Audible last count. I love when these two collaborate...it is pure alchemy! I fell head-over-heels for both Micah the ex-football hunk and Sam the beautiful student/bartender. Sam's loving and stable upbringing provided him a well-grounded foundation where his steadfast patience, loyalty and gentle nature flourished. All of which was needed when he developed feelings for the wounded man he found himself sharing his flat with. Throughout all of Micah's highs and lows with depression and PTSD Sam is a guiding light of unconditional love and support which is just the beacon Micah craves even if it takes him a while to realize and accept it. As with all of Garrett Leighs books, this had depth and emotional tugs on your heart that she never shys away from. Her novels are real, raw and gritty... and always with well created worlds that provide an undertone and atmosphere you can feel in your very bones. She brings us fabulous characters and I've come to expect and rely on a deep satisfying read with every one of her books. So grateful I discovered her...she is in my top three list of favorite authors!

Very realistic love story

This is a lovely, very honest love story. It's got all you need: the pining, the misunderstandings, the heat. But it has got something else: two realistic characters. They are two blokes like everybody else and they communicate like that. And the misunderstanding trope isn't overly used. They talk to each other, honestly, and that's a pretty good feat ;)
And the audiobook is narrated by the fantastic Dan Calley who has such an incredible british accent <3

Sam and Micah need to communicate more.

I originally read and reviewed this book when the ebook was released back in March. I really enjoyed Dan Calley's performance of the story. He does great voices and accents for the different characters. There isn't much more I can say about it so I'm including the text of my original review of the ebook below.

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I enjoyed reading Falling for My Roommate but it didn't pack the same emotional punch for me as other books I've read by Garrett Leigh. As I was reading it felt like I'd read the story before but couldn't put my finger on what book of hers it might be similar to. In any case, it was still a good story in its own right.

Falling For My Roommate is told in first person POV, alternating between Sam and Micah. Take a look at the blurb for details about the story. The biggest issue I had with Sam and Micah is that they didn't communicate with each other the way they needed to. I guess that's really par for what happens in real life as well. They are attracted to each other but are afraid to tell.

Micah has suffered a terrible injury to his leg and it ended his football (soccer in the US) career. He loves living with Sam and wants to tell him how he feels but he can't seem to open up fully about his injury and other things that happened before he left football.

The fact that Micah is holding back something bothers Sam but he loves Micah so much that he won't push him because he's afraid it might make Micah run away.

Once these two finally decide to be honest with each other about their feelings I enjoyed the story more. There's a fair amount of angst due to all of the problems that Micah has but it seemed to be the right amount for the book. Having seen depression up close and personal, I appreciated the realistic way that Garrett Leigh treated Micah's illness in the story.

A copy of this audiobook was provided to me but my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author.

***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com*** (Posting on May 24, 2020.)